Chapter 177 Second Form
Cecil's top skill as a Shield Bearer was "Immovable Rock."
William knew this well.
It was why he felt confident coming here today.
If the Apostle of Light was defense-oriented, the Shield Bearer was all about defense. Every new skill in this profession focused solely on defense.
In the post-apocalyptic world, no one really wanted to learn this profession.
To level up, you needed Magic Crystals, which you got by killing zombies or other mutated creatures.
But if all your skills were defensive, how would you kill zombies?
Sure, this profession was crucial for the team's safety.
But it also meant relying on others for your gains.
No one wanted to depend on others' goodwill in life-or-death situations.
Even Cecil had told William in his past life that he only learned this profession because his old leader, Stuart, needed a tank.
But maybe because of this, the defensive skills were super strong. In the past life, Cecil, a six-star Evolving person, had a skill called "Golden Barrier" that even a nine-star Evolving person couldn't break in one hit.
"Immovable Rock" was the first skill of the Shield Bearer. Even as a starter skill, its defense was impressive.
At William's shout, Cecil roared, blood spraying from his mouth. He slammed his giant shield into the ground, channeling mental power into it.
"Immovable... rock!" Cecil yelled, eyes wide with fury.
His swaying body suddenly stood firm like a mountain, and the shield glowed brightly.
A phantom of the shield appeared beside it, then another, and another...
Soon, a row of semi-transparent giant shield phantoms, like Air Shields, surrounded the team. Then another layer appeared, followed by a third, fourth, and fifth layer.
In no time, five rows of shield phantoms cut the team off from the mutated creatures.
The shield phantoms flickered but held firm.
The team, no longer fighting desperately, felt relieved and amazed by Cecil's skill. They'd never seen anything like it.
Compared to Cecil's skill, Lucy's Air Shield seemed small, but it had its own perks like mobility and automatic defense.
The monsters didn't stop attacking just because the new skill appeared. Pushed back by the shield phantoms, they got even angrier. To them, these humans were just easy prey. They thought they could break through any second and feast on them.
They didn't think much of the shield phantoms. How strong could a skill from low-level humans be?
The monsters made all sorts of noises, ready to pounce and shatter the phantoms.
One monster casually swatted away something that had been kicked out earlier. It hit another monster and fell to the ground, unnoticed.
The team retreated under Devil's Gamble, with only Cecil at the front. Behind him was William, holding a black sniper rifle he got from Hope Base.
Cecil was bleeding heavily.
"Immovable Rock" didn't need mental power to activate but consumed it continuously. The stronger the attacks, the more mental power it used.
With twenty or thirty monsters attacking, Cecil's mental power was draining fast. The five rows of shield phantoms wouldn't last long.
If not for Cecil's strong willpower and the Shield Bearer's defensive edge, he might already be dead.
But Cecil was just a one-star Evolving person. After two seconds, he felt like he was burning up and shouted, "It's coming!"
William knew Cecil had reached his limit.
"Immovable Rock" had two stages.
The first stage surrounded and protected the target. Each phantom's defense was as strong as the shield itself.
The second stage kicked in when the first stage couldn't hold anymore.
When the first form couldn't hold up, "Immovable Rock" switched to its second form, shrinking the defensive area but boosting its strength.
The five rows of phantom shields exploded, forcing some monsters back. The fragments fell like rain, forming a semi-circular light shield around everyone.
As the forms switched, a gunshot rang out!
The sniper rifle's thunderous roar made everyone's ears ring.
Almost at the same time, William shouted frantically, "Add shield, Restoration spell!"
Lucy, from behind, desperately added shields and cast Restoration spells on Cecil, using her mental power like there was no tomorrow.
The loud explosion drowned out everything.
The switch of "Immovable Rock," William's gunshot, the shouting, Lucy's shields, and the explosion all happened almost simultaneously.
The light shield of the second form shook violently amidst the explosion, and so did Cecil. If you were in front of him, you'd see his eyes losing their luster, his body half-crouched, shoulders braced against the shield, using his entire body to keep it standing.
If the shield fell, the light shield would shatter.
Beams of light hit Cecil, pulling him back from the brink of death. But the Grim Reaper was still looming over him, both sides battling for his life.
Dust filled the air. The forest, the sun, the wheel, the monsters; all were invisible. Everyone could only feel the ground shaking violently beneath their feet. All other sensations vanished, leaving only the primal instinct to survive.
Suddenly, a massive shockwave hit, catching everyone off guard and pushing them backward. They rolled and tumbled, crashing into trees and breaking them. If not for their Evolving person physiques, they would've been killed by the impact.
After the shockwave, the battlefield fell silent, with only a few burning trees and some unknown objects emitting a pungent smell.
William's dazed mind gradually cleared. He tried to sit up but felt severe pain in his left arm. He reached out and found it was just dislocated. He pressed it, and with a combined effort of his shoulder and right hand, popped it back into place.
He pulled out Edge of the Moon and scanned the area.
Next to him were Michelle and Natalie. After the explosion, they had collided, and William had protected them, causing his arm's dislocation.
He checked Natalie; she was unconscious with a few cuts but nothing serious. The worst was a bleeding hole in her leg from a monster's stab.
Michelle had blood covering half her face from a forehead cut. Her eyes were open but dazed. William parted her hair and saw it was just a cut from a stone; scary but not serious. She'd be fine once she came to.
He stood up, staying alert while looking out for the others. He quickly found Candice and Jack. Jack, with his strong vitality, had no visible injuries and was already checking on the unconscious Candice.
Candice, already injured and hit by the explosion, looked worse.
William's eyes shifted to Cecil and Lucy, along with the pitifully injured pill, hanging by one front paw.
He rushed over, first checking Cecil. He sighed in relief; Cecil was alive but mentally exhausted and severely injured internally.
Lucy hadn't fainted but looked a mess. Her knees were scraped, and she was crawling on the ground, muttering, "Where's the red-haired Iron corpse? She blocked a big rock for me."
William had told Lucy to focus on saving Cecil, while the red-haired Iron corpse protected her.
"Here!" Lucy exclaimed, stumbling over to find the twisted body of the red-haired Iron corpse behind a tree.
"William, you..." Lucy paused.
Just as she was about to call William for help, she saw him disappearing into the settling dust.
Then, she heard the roars and dying screams of monsters.
With help from the arriving David and others, gathered the unconscious and severely injured, William slowly walked back. His face was splattered with various colors of blood, his forehead and chin had burn marks, his left arm hung limply, and he walked with a limp.
In his right hand, instead of Edge of the Moon, he held a Magic Crystal.
A black Magic Crystal!
