Farrdin lacked the knowledge to understand the terror of the speed of light, but how could a modern person like Riven not understand?
This was an instantaneous strike that could not be dodged by reacting; one had to move even before the attack was launched to have a chance at survival.
Even before the smoke cleared, Riven threw a black magic stone toward Sylvie.
[Snatch: Activated]
Based on the subtle movements of the golem after taking a hit, Riven, with his experience as a former chosen undead, understood that it would fire that light beam at Sylvie again.
As the red light surged forward, Sylvie didn't even have time to comprehend what was happening before a black magic stone flashed across the golem's eye.
It obscured the red beam and prevented it from advancing. It was only 0.01 seconds, but that was enough for Farrdin to push Sylvie away.
She tumbled to the ground, the jagged floor scraping her flawless white skin. She felt a brief flash of pain, only to see the light blast the spot where she had just been standing.
Sylvie broke into a cold sweat. She looked toward Riven and Farrdin, nodding her head in gratitude.
At the same time, Lan's arrow arrived. The golem's two arms were slowly reconstituting, but they were obviously too late.
The hiss of the air was so fast that the arrow had already passed for a moment before the sound reached everyone's ears.
The sound of impact echoed as the arrow fell to the ground, but the magic stone was not completely destroyed; it only had a small crack in the center.
Farrdin shouted.
"It's fine! Just one more arrow hitting that exact crack and everything will end!"
"The shell is thick, but with just a small crack, an attack there will completely destroy everything from the inside!"
Everyone looked at Lan with trust. Because she was too far away, they couldn't speak for her to hear, but their eyes said everything.
Even the golem looked at Lan, but not with trust like the others; its eyes flashed.
The red light lunged toward Lan, but before it could expand, it was obscured by the magic stone Riven threw.
Lan was not yet in a focused state, so she dodged easily. She looked at Riven from afar, secretly ashamed for having misunderstood a good person.
Her favorability toward Riven increased, though her expression was hard to see from the distance.
Everyone now had a different view of Riven. Once could be luck, but twice in a row was unquestionable.
Furthermore, his accuracy and reaction speed were terrifying. Farrdin even realized Riven threw the stones 3 to 4 seconds before the golem fired the light from its eyes.
This made him admire Riven's power of judgment. Lan immediately entered her stance.
Riven understood that her expression must be one of gratitude or something complex. No matter what kind of person someone was, how could they not be grateful after having their life saved?
The "Ting" sounds rang out continuously.
[Side Quest: Gain the trust of any 4 members | Progress 2/4] [Side Quest: Gain the trust of any 4 members | Progress 3/4]
The golem roared in fury. Two arms grew back instantly, and hundreds of sharp stone spikes sprouted from the ground, attacking Riven and Canis.
The speed of these spikes wasn't fast, so both quickly evaded.
Seeing their teammates attacked, Farrdin and Sylvie tried to draw its attention but were forced to retreat.
The newly recovered right arm smashed down near them, making them struggle as well.
"Everyone, this thing's strength and speed are not normal. Its level might be higher than 22, but if we keep the rhythm, defeating it is not impossible!"
Farrdin spoke a long sentence, unsure if his teammates could hear. The sound of cracking earth was too loud, but he had to provide information.
With one hand, Farrdin manipulated his puppet while the other remained on guard.
The golem continued to protect its core, leaving Lan with no opportunity to strike. She patiently waited.
Lan understood that one quality shot was worth more than a hundred poor ones.
Lan had been taught patience and the ability to judge the moment of release.
Despite the chaotic battlefield, she focused solely on her target, the core, waiting for the moment a single arrow could destroy it.
Riven and Canis remained close together, dodging the spikes from the golem.
Canis tried to persuade Riven to move away so the golem would be forced to split its focus on more targets.
He was shut down by Riven, who used the excuse of staying close to receive the speed boost from Canis's buff.
But how could Canis know how dark Riven's intentions were? Standing close was merely waiting for a chance to kick him while he was down.
Suddenly, the golem turned toward the two of them, its eyes flashing red.
Canis knew what it was about to do, but he couldn't dodge because his physical reaction speed was too slow to keep up with his thoughts.
Believing Riven would help him was foolish. He lunged forward to avoid the strike.
Suddenly, Canis's vision went pitch black, causing him to falter for a few milliseconds before returning to normal.
[Vision Theft]
Riven, after backing away, shouted. "Master Canis, watch out!"
Blood rushed to his brain, adrenaline spiked. Everything happened too fast for Canis to understand what had just occurred.
He only knew he might die. He lunged forward as fast as possible.
When his sight returned, a numb sensation slowly turned into a sting and then transformed into a horrific pain that surged into Canis's head.
Looking back, his left arm was gone. Blood gushed out.
In his heart, he felt lucky to have escaped death by a hair's breadth. He looked at Riven with fury.
No matter how foolish Canis was, he couldn't fail to understand what had just happened.
His killing intent toward Riven was now exposed.
If it were just a broken bone or a cut, he could still reattach it, but now the arm had been completely destroyed by the red light.
He would be crippled for life.
Farrdin, who was struggling, also looked at Riven with suspicion.
Why hadn't he saved Canis the way he saved the two girls?
But in the middle of a fight, it wasn't the time for internal strife. When this was over, Farrdin would definitely question him thoroughly.
For now, they had to force the golem to use its remaining arm.
Riven approached Canis and spoke in a sarcastic tone that only the two of them could hear.
"How careless, you kind and lovely priest. Let's finish this, and then we will settle this privately."
Canis did not respond. He only slowly stood up, his face that always wore a smile now becoming a face that warned others to stay away.
His mask had been pulled down, making Riven feel gloating as he looked at him in his current state.
Raising his weak remaining arm, Canis fired a fireball at the golem.
Riven knew this man was extremely enraged. If he provoked him further, he feared the man would unmask him right then and there.
He needed to deal with him when no one was paying attention. Riven only looked at Canis and smiled coldly as if looking at a corpse.
With both arms restrained on either side, the golem's chest was exposed once again.
Sharp spikes grew wildly from the ground, tearing the skin of Canis and Sylvie as they directly attacked it.
Finally, when the wind had stabilized, Lan released her hand. The arrow flew straight toward the core without doubt.
Spikes grew around the chest to protect the core, but they were easily pierced by the arrow.
"Crack!"
The sound of shattering glass rang out. The golem's massive body lost its connection and collapsed, creating a cloud of smoke.
Ting!
Contributed to the defeat of the Challenge Golem. The golem automatically adjusts its strength to the challenger to make the battle a challenge rather than an execution.
Because you did not attack directly, you contributed the least and will receive the least experience.
Riven's level jumped straight to Level 13.
Farrdin reached 16, Canis reached 15, Sylvie reached 12, and Lan increased the most, jumping from 11 to 15.
In the smoke and dust, Riven quietly stepped forward and collected all those white magic stone fragments.
As the dust cleared, everyone gathered together. After a while, Lan approached.
When everyone was present, Farrdin began to encourage them.
"Well done, everyone. We have defeated an artifact with a level even higher than 22. Even if we meet an Undead Wyvern, we won't be unable to cope."
Lan looked directly at Riven's face for a moment, her cheeks slightly flushing. She lowered her head and spoke softly.
At this moment, she felt Riven was suddenly much more attractive than before.
"Th... thank you."
Sylvie also nodded in approval. "Sora, me too. I am very grateful to you."
Riven flashed a slight smile. "It's fine. It's fate that we met, if..."
Before Riven could finish his sentence, Canis interrupted furiously.
"Stop the nonsense!"
Hearing Canis's words, the women were about to protest, but then they looked at his body missing an arm.
The two were silenced, partially understanding his current mood.
They didn't feel Canis had broken his image; after all, not many people in that situation could remain calm.
Seeing the time was right, Farrdin questioned him with a suspicious tone.
"Sora, from what I saw, you easily threw stones to block the heat beam when it attacked the two ladies, but why couldn't you support Canis even though he was the one closest to you?"
Riven said nothing. He quietly took off his outer coat.
Inside, he wore only a tight tank top that revealed his toned body, making the two girls feel embarrassed but also somewhat curious.
When they looked at his two arms, the entire group was in deep shock.
Both arms were bruised and battered, with numerous wounds, and in some places, the blood had not yet fully clotted.
This made Sylvie and Lan feel even more guilty.
Lan blamed herself even more. A friend she had just met for a few days was willing to endure such horrific injuries to save her.
Farrdin also understood. How could a Scout have such arm strength and accuracy?
Of course, that power came from a special skill, and the price for it was not cheap.
The answer was clear. It wasn't that Sora didn't want to save Canis, but that he couldn't.
As for Canis, he clearly didn't believe Riven, but he couldn't prove it.
Seeing everyone's reaction, Riven appeared upright on the outside, but in his heart, he couldn't stop laughing.
Playing the victim to gain sympathy was the best way to manipulate emotions.
How could his arms be injured after using [Snatch] twice?
Of course, he had spammed Snatch on his own arms to create these injuries.
"I misunderstood you, Sora. Put your coat back on."
After they finished talking, Riven lit a campfire while everyone began to heal each other.
Actually, Sylvie healed everyone since Canis had to take care of himself because he was the most seriously injured.
Canis really wanted to make a scene, but everyone's favorability toward Riven was rising.
To him, only the helpless spoke; the strong would act. After waiting for a while, his opportunity finally came.
Riven suddenly stood up and said.
"I'm going to the bathroom for a moment. I'll be back soon."
"Sora, wait! I haven't treated your wounds yet!"
"Is Sylvie worried about me? How cute. But let's do it later. At that time, maybe I'll really need your care."
Hearing this, Sylvie no longer resisted as before but gently accepted it.
After Riven had been gone for a while, Canis also suddenly stood up.
"I need to use the bathroom for a bit."
Lan felt something was not right and raised her hand to say something, but was stopped by Sylvie.
"Don't worry. Canis is someone who knows right from wrong. He definitely won't be blinded by anger."