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ArabicGenshin Impacti: This Priest is Cringe, But She's Also Unbeatable — Chapter 41
Chapter 41: Who Is the Prey?
Outside the rock formation, the four members of the Shadow Wind Team exchanged glances, their contemptuous smiles stretching into predatory grins.
“Playing hide-and-seek?”
The assassin captain let out a cold snort and gestured to the three men behind him, his orders crisp and laced with disdain.
“Archer, use a parabolic shot to flush them out. Rangers, free fire to seal their escape routes. I’ll go slaughter that priest; once she falls, that tin can of a knight will be a sitting duck.”
The plan was simple, brutal, and, in their eyes, utterly foolproof. How much trouble could one little priest possibly be?
“Swish! Swish!”
The two rangers abandoned any pretense of careful aiming, opting instead for high-frequency suppressive fire. Arrows whistled through the air, striking the massive boulder where the two sisters were taking cover. Sparks flew with sharp, metallic pings, peppering every inch of open space and pinning them down.
Meanwhile, the archer at the rear took a deep, steadying breath. He drew his bowstring back until it kissed his cheek, the bow forming a perfect full moon. With a clean release, he sent an arrow soaring high into the sky.
The projectile traced an arc almost impossible for the naked eye to follow, clearing the top of the giant rock before plunging vertically downward, aimed squarely at Celeste’s head. It was an advanced technique: the parabolic shot, designed to negate all forms of cover.
“Sister, watch out above!” Selene, her senses spread across the battlefield, detected the threat the instant the arrow left the bow.
Celeste didn’t even bother to look up.
Her footsteps shifted, an almost imperceptible slide to the side. Her entire body moved like a boneless willow branch, a horizontal shuffle of less than half a step.
Thwip!
The arrow, humming with immense force, grazed the hem of her priest robe and slammed deep into the mud behind her. The fletching quivered violently, emitting a buzz of frustrated energy.
At that exact moment, a blur of distorted air shimmered in the shadows to their flank and then vanished completely.
The assassin had entered stealth.
“A support, daring to be so arrogant?” the archer in the distance muttered, his brow furrowed in brief confusion. A cold smirk immediately curled his lips. In his mind, a dodge that precise could only be a stroke of dumb luck.
Selene held the greatshield, Immovable Mountain, before her. Its broad face was like a cliff wall, deflecting every arrow that came at them from the front. Her focus was absolute, yet she still couldn’t lock onto the assassin’s trail.
“Sister, that assassin…”
“Let him play by himself,” Celeste’s voice replied, as placid as a calm lake, showing no sign of tension. “Walk around this rock. Keep up with my rhythm.”
She began to move at a steady pace, circling the giant boulder, which spanned over five meters in diameter. It was a textbook “pillar-kiting” maneuver, straight out of a gamer’s handbook.
Though Selene didn’t understand the term, her trust in her sister was absolute. She immediately shouldered her shield and fell into step behind her.
The two moved in tandem, their figures appearing and disappearing behind the massive stone.
The rangers and the archer on the perimeter were utterly dumbfounded. Their arrows either thudded uselessly against the rock or sailed wide, unable to predict the sisters’ positions. This tactic, so simple it was almost shameless, was infuriatingly effective, completely neutralizing their ranged firepower.
“Damn it! She’s playing with us!” one of the rangers growled, his face tight with frustration.
While everyone’s attention was fixed on this comical two-person-merry-go-round, the cloaked ghost had already crept silently to the other side of the giant rock.
‘An opening!’
A cold light flashed in the assassin’s eyes. He had precisely calculated the exact moment Celeste would step out from behind cover. His poisoned dagger was already humming in his hand, thirsty and impatient. He was certain that within a single second, he could execute a perfect combo of Backstab and Eviscerate to send this arrogant priest to her grave.
Three steps… two steps… one step… Now!
He erupted from the shadows, his entire form becoming a lethal phantom as he pounced toward Celeste’s completely unguarded back. A grin of victory was already spreading across his face.
However, just as his dagger was about to kiss the thin fabric of her priest robe, Celeste, who had been walking forward at a perfectly steady pace, stopped dead in her tracks.
She didn’t even turn around.
That pink staff, the one he had dismissed as a mere decoration, thrust backward. It moved with lightning speed and a raw, brutal force that was utterly inconsistent with its purpose as a focus for magic.
There were no flashy spell effects, no complex incantations.
It was just a simple, savage, and impossibly swift straight thrust.
CRACK!
A dull, teeth-grinding thud echoed in the clearing.
The butt of the staff struck the assassin captain’s chest with pinpoint accuracy. The satisfying sensation of a dagger sinking into flesh never came. Instead, a terrifying force slammed into him, as if he’d been hit head-on by a siege hammer.
The victorious grin on the assassin’s face froze, instantly replaced by a mask of absurd shock. A sharp, explosive pain erupted from his chest and abdomen; he could have sworn he felt his sternum crack.
He was violently knocked out of stealth, his body curling like a cooked shrimp as he staggered backward several steps, barely managing to stay on his feet. He looked down in horror.
On the chest of his fine leather armor, a clear, circular dent had been punched into the material.
That pink… staff… its tip was impossibly hard.
“You…” He clutched his aching chest, his face draining of all color.
[Ding! The Host has used a “plain and unremarkable” physical attack to interrupt an assassin’s sneak attack, causing serious psychological trauma. Elation Coins +122!]
Celeste’s expression remained utterly placid. ‘…’
“What happened?!”
The rangers and archer on the perimeter stared, stunned. Their captain, while in stealth, had just been poked out of it by a priest wielding a staff? Was this some kind of sick joke?
“That priest is trouble! Her strength is all wrong! That staff is a melee weapon!” the assassin captain roared, a mixture of shock, rage, and a primal fear that only a hunter can feel when they realize they’ve become the hunted.
He activated Gale Step, his figure blurring into a phantom as he retreated without a second’s hesitation, putting dozens of meters between them. His eyes, now filled with wariness, never left Celeste.
“All of you, together! Surround her and kill her in melee!”
The captain finally understood. They hadn’t just kicked an iron plate; they had tried to mug a dragon wrapped in cotton.
“You two, switch to melee weapons and join me! Archer, find an opening to shoot! Suppress her! Don’t give her a single chance to cast!” he commanded, his voice strained. He reasoned that the priest must have used some kind of special burst skill to land that blow. It couldn’t possibly last.
The two rangers exchanged a look, hearing the raw shock and fury in their captain’s tone. They wasted no more time, stowing their shortbows and drawing the twin shortswords from their waists, their eyes turning fierce.
The three formed a triangular pincer, abandoning their ranged advantage to launch a ferocious assault on Celeste from three directions. In their minds, no matter how strong a priest was, facing a coordinated attack by three melee specialists was a death sentence.
In the distance, the archer drew his longbow again, the arrowhead glinting as he searched for a one-shot-kill opportunity.
The battle instantly devolved into brutal, hand-to-hand combat.
“Getting serious now, are they?” Selene licked her somewhat dry lips. There was no fear in her eyes, only a blazing fighting spirit. As a Paladin, close-quarters combat was what she lived for.
“Sister, I’ll hold off two! You find a chance to take one out!” Selene growled, stepping forward to meet the charge.
“You deal with that one,” Celeste’s tone was calm, her gaze sweeping toward the lone ranger on the right. “Finish it quickly.”
Selene froze for a second. ‘Sister, you want to take on two of them? You’re a priest!’
Before she could protest, Celeste turned her wrist. The pink staff danced in her hands, carving a brilliant arc through the air as she single-handedly met the assassin captain’s dagger and the other ranger’s shortsword.
Ding! Clang!
The crisp sound of metal on metal rang out, as dense and rapid as a torrential downpour.
Celeste’s footsteps were light, her figure drifting like a phantom. The staff in her hands sometimes struck like a viper lashing out from its den, its tip jabbing with unerring accuracy at the enemies’ wrists and joints. Other times, it swept wide like a gale scattering fallen leaves, forcing the two men into a desperate, flurried defense, making them retreat again and again.
The more they fought, the more alarmed they became.
This priest’s combat skills were so polished, so brutally efficient, that she didn’t seem like a spellcaster at all. Every strike was cunning and ruthless, and the strength behind each blow was shocking. Their agility, their greatest asset, was completely nullified by the elusive, ever-present tip of her staff.
What truly humiliated them was the fact that they, two high-burst agility specialists, were being thoroughly suppressed and beaten by a single priest.
On the other side, the situation was an even more one-sided slaughter.
Selene versus the lone ranger was like a giant bear toying with a wild rabbit. The ranger’s speed was meaningless against Selene, who was empowered by the Gale Step aura. Every one of his tricky attacks was effortlessly blocked by Immovable Mountain, the impact sending numbing vibrations up his arms. In return, every simple swing from Selene’s greatsword forced him into a life-or-death scramble. The blade in her hand, Light of Dawn, was peerlessly sharp; a mere graze was enough to slice through his leather armor and draw blood.
Rip—
The ranger failed to dodge in time. A deep gash was carved into his arm, and the searing pain made him cry out.
“Captain! Save me! This girl is a monster! I can’t hold out!” he screamed in terror, his health bar plummeting at a horrifying rate.
The archer, watching from afar, felt his expression twist. He realized that in this terrain littered with scattered rocks, he couldn’t find a clean line of sight. His teammates and the enemies were tangled in a chaotic melee; a single careless shot could easily hit one of his own.
Seeing his ranger comrade about to be cut down by the Paladin, he could no longer stand by.
“Damn it, I’m going in!”
The archer roared, slinging his longbow over his back. He actually pulled a standard-issue spear from its harness and charged toward the battlefield. While archers learned some basic melee for self-defense, this was a move of pure desperation. He was going to join the siege, hoping their four-on-two numerical advantage could forcibly turn the tide.
Watching the archer rush over, spear in hand, the corners of Celeste’s lips finally curled into an icy, satisfied arc.
‘Very good.”The fish have all entered the net.’
This was the moment she had been waiting for.