Samantha was confused as to why they stopped. Gilbert on the other hand was more aware of the situation, the priest in front of them was the leader of the group of cultists stationed in this place. He was the one who had been interrogating him all this time and thus Gilbert understood how precarious their current situation was.
"Who are you?" The Priest asked, and after seeing Gilbert and Samantha he chuckled. "Oh, you come to rescue them?"
Crap! Jack thought, out of all the cultists that were in this place, why did it have to be him? He was truly convinced now that his luck had run dry after obtaining the Container of Souls, but he was not one to just give up without trying anything.
"Continue with the plan! Run as fast as you can!" Jack said to Gilbert and Samantha as he lunged at the Priest and made a slash.
Since the start, the Priest didn't show any sign of alarm. Even as Jack came at him, his face maintained his calm. Before Jack's sword made contact with his body, his hand quivered and a long mace appeared. He swung the mace with a speed that was almost untraceable to human's eyes.
His mace made contact with Jack's sword. Jack felt like he was hit by a truck as the mace slapped his sword aside and the momentum pulled him several meters back. Gilbert and Samantha who were about to make their run froze when they saw it.
Jack kept his balance with difficulty to prevent himself from falling to the ground. His hand still trembled from the impact. He was flabbergasted, he thought that because the cultist name was Priest, he should be magic-based class. But clearly the guy was a physical class, his plan to harass the Priest in melee was useless now.
Some hasty footsteps were heard from all directions, soon numerous Acolytes appeared from inside the warehouse and its sides. They were just about to attack when the Priest stopped them.
He then looked at Gilbert and said, "our patience is running thin, Gilbert. Our God had sent instruction if you were still unwilling to hand out the item, we will execute you today."
Gilbert's expression was deviant as he said, "you are wasting your breath. I'll never cooperate with you, you fanatic scum!"
"Suit yourself," the Priest's tone turned steely. "I will start by killing this woman in front of you first!"
The Priest took a step forward as he lifted his long mace high. Samantha cowered from the sight, her legs were about to give in when a shadow came in front of him just as the mace swept down.
Jack was holding his staff with two hands as it received the Priest's blow with Magic Shield. His knees buckled from the force as he half knelt down on the ground. The damage from the mace completely exceeded the tolerance of which the shield could hold, a damage of 68 appeared above Jack's head.
Jack didn't stay passive though, as the momentum dissipated, his right hand let go of the staff and reequipped the Storm Breaker. He sent Power Strike to the Priest's open waist. The Priest was pushed back two steps as he suffered 98 damage. Jack was dismayed, the powerful strike which could score around 140 damage to the Acolyte was much less when applied on this Priest. With the Priest's 24,000 HP, this damage was just a scratch.
The Priest looked at the sword mark on his waist.
"Interesting," he grinned. "Let's change the first person to be killed then."
Unlike Bowler and Flame, Jack couldn't send his current two companions with a silent message, so he had no choice but to shout out his intention, "make for that small door! I will hold them!"
"Ridiculous," the Priest said when he heard Jack's words.
Jack lunged at the Priest, hoping that Gilbert and Samantha didn't waste these precious seconds by staying in their places. At the same time, he cast Energy Bolts to his side, the Bolts would automatically search for enemies in that direction, he hoped the spell was enough to hinder the Acolytes while he kept the Priest busy. In this way, Gilbert and Samantha should have enough windows to run to the exit door.
The Priest responded by lifting his mace high. Jack had known that he was no match for the Priest's strength and speed. He had been paying attention to the priest's shoulder, once it moved, he was ready to perform an evasive move.
The key was to quickly identify whether the Priest was making a horizontal or vertical swing. Jack's reaction was pretty fast as he side-stepped and narrowly evaded the Priest's vertical swing. The ground cracked as the mace slammed onto it. He was just about to counterattack when he saw the Priest's arm moved again. He canceled his attack and put his weapon by his side just before the mace slammed onto him.
He was sent flying to the fence with damage of 82. He had used defensive skills on both occasions, but the damages were still so high, he couldn't imagine how much the damage would be if he suffered a direct hit. His 590 HP would soon be depleted at this rate. Good thing was Gilbert and Samantha didn't freeze in place, the old man was pulling on the baker's hand as they rushed towards the small door on the fence.
Jack was just about to get back up to his feet when he felt pressure from above. He looked up and saw a ball of light came down like a meteor. It crashed right before the fence's door, creating a shockwave that pushed the two fleeing pair back several steps. The ground before the fence's door caved in due to the blast, the Priest's long mace was seen protruding at the center of the crater. It was deeply embedded in the ground.
"You think you can escape so easily?" The Priest laughed. The other Acolytes were advancing, but they were again stopped by the Priest. He was very confident that he alone was enough to keep these three mice from escaping.
Samantha was disoriented from the blast, Gilbert held onto her body to keep her from falling to the ground. Jack came up again, putting himself between the Priest and them. Gilbert was astonished by the action. The young adventurer in front of him was a stranger to them, yet he was willing to put his life on the line for both of them. If he was to focus on escaping and leaving them behind, he should still be able to make it out of here, but instead, he insisted on protecting them.
Little did they know that Jack was not that noble, he simply thought that even if he died in this clash, as long as the duo managed to escape, it was still worth it. He needed them both to complete his quests. Although there would still be a penalty for dying in the city, due to having Immortal Soul, he would only lose 50% of his experience instead of losing one whole level. This trade was worth it as long as he could complete his quests.
"He has lost his weapon. Go through the door! Don't worry about me," Jack said to the two.
"Heh," the Priest still wore his mocking grin.
Jack cast Mana Bullet at the Priest. Now that the Priest no longer held his mace, his menace should be much reduced. Or so Jack thought, before the Priest disappeared abruptly, the Mana Bullet only hit his afterimage. He suddenly appeared beside Jack.
Jack's reaction was fast enough that he made an instinctive slash towards the Priest who suddenly appeared, but his sword was stopped by the Priest's hand. Jack felt as if his sword had hit solid steel instead of an arm of a human.
The Priest sent a simple punch to Jack's guts. Jack lost his breath as his body bent forward. He then felt two rapid blows on his face. His mind was blank when his back hit the ground, but he immediately regained his focus and pushed himself up. His HP was only half now.
He was dumbfounded, though the damages had been reduced, the Priest movements were even faster after he let go of his mace. Furthermore, the way he used his unarm strikes was like a professional boxer, he was completely dominating Jack in this close combat brawl.