The Doppelganger disappeared, dissolving like a mirage. Ronnie felt someone invisible pass next to him and at the same moment, a level twenty-five player with the nickname Destroyer with two katars in his hands made of black steel and a half-length body flew forward like lightning, throwing the invisible enemy a couple of meters away. From the heavy collision, the fog cleared and Ronnie examined the mysterious player. The "dexterity" stat, as expected, was twenty, the magic was pumped up to one. He was dressed in black rags, under which a light-alloy steel armor was visible. The red scarf wrapped around his neck fluttered in the wind. He had long gray hair on his head, some of which stood up straight, and the other covered one red eye. A strange purple liquid, very similar to poison, was flowing down from the katars.
"Oh-ho! Someone didn't have enough strength!"
"A strong son of a bitch!"
"You don't take risks, you don't drink vodka."
Xenonna rested the butt of the SVT-40 on her right shoulder, aimed, said that the first shot was hers, and shot the stunned Doppelganger. A 7.62 x 54 mm bullet whizzed past her comrades at an insane speed and almost pierced the enemy's head, but the windy aura repelled the attack. Less than a second later, the figure of Destroyer appeared in front of him and made several lunges. The Doppelganger dodged everything – his eyes did not leave the blades of the katars - then he jumped to the side trying to break the distance, but the trained player of the "assassin" class did not retreat and used the "Furious Rhythm" skill and conducted a series of supersonic attacks aiming at different points on the opponent's body. The unidentified monster twisted the pole with such speed that the eyes did not have time to follow. Everyone in the const-party gasped at what was happening.
"Shit! There's not a fucking scratch on it!" Denzie swore.
The Doppelganger gathered wind magic in its freehand and threw the Destroyer a few meters back and strained its ears. A click. The machine gunner touched the trigger and bullets rained down on the enemy. The monster without hesitation morphed its shoulder into an exact copy of WildDron’s shield and absorbed two bursts fired from Denzie’s DP-27. Ronnie sat down in the Bedouin pose, took aim, and supported the const-party with fire. He won't be able to keep track of all the attacks. The Doppelganger heard another click, but this time he did not have time to do anything about it. He flew four meters back and hit its spine against a wall. All the members of Guild 666 looked at Ronnie's rifle for the first time and looked at him with a look of complete surprise. Xenonna's mouth opened and did not close at all.
"What the hell is in your hands?" she asked with a cry. "Where does such power come from?"
Ronnie did not answer, took aim, and fired another shot at the Doppelganger pinning it to the wall. Three rounds left. Destroyer shouted the words: "Don't even hope for the shot of vodka. It has always been, is, and will be mine!", tossed four throwing knives with micro explosives and after the explosion engulfed the weakened monster, ran up to it and aimed at its legs – but the blades did not penetrate the armor - then struck him on the head. All to no avail. Then the "assassin" used the magic spell "wind speed" and, flickering with white flashes, began to move in zigzags, showering the target from all sides with stabbing blows. Xenonna and Denzie shouted to support their comrade, but the smile faded from their faces as soon as they saw that the Doppelganger, twisting the pole, repelled one attack after another, and then its eyes flashed purple, moved slightly, and plunged the edge of the pole into Destroyer’s stomach and threw him a couple of yards away. Assassin moaned and arched; he could not get up. DP-27 in the hands of Denzie started firing, bullets rushed forward. The monster didn't even look at the attack, transformed its body, and flew away in a flock of crows that headed to the backline of their formation.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
"How does this bastard fight so well! This is simply unthinkable!" Xennona was swearing.
"Destroyer, how are you?" WildDron asked and saw the assassin give a thumbs up. "Ho-ho, that's my boy!"
Fremaho - a guild magician dressed in a long white hoodie and with a gray Van Dyck beard - threw a flask of napalm under him, folded his hands in a prayer pose, and transformed the flame into a dozen fire pillars which burned one bird after another. Umka stood next to him and protected him. It was a red-skinned old native American, about seventy years old, in traditional clothes and a headdress with Morndaenka feathers (in other words, black hunters, according to AI, are a kind of dangerous birds that like to attack strong opponents in a huge flock, they were last seen on the southern coast of the continent five hundred miles from Otron). He spun around his axis with two one-handed swords in his hands. However, the Doppelganger had given him a surprise. He materialized in a new humanoid form behind him. This time, rags and bandages covered the monster's body, palms tightly gripped the shaft of a scythe, a black, non-translucent veil with a golden crown on its head. It stopped the whirlwind of blades with its hand, jumped and locked its powerful legs around Umka's neck, and did a somersault, if not for the magician's protective field, the first head would have rolled off the shoulders. Xenonna fired two aimed shots and wounded the creature. It jumped back and tried to disappear. The sniper of 666 Guild did not lose her head and pulled out a water bottle from her waist bag, opened it, and threw it to Fremaho, who sprayed drops in all directions discovering the hidden body of the Doppelganger. Denzie fired the last clip at the enemy, at the same time it threw the scythe and hit the ground with its palm lifting a huge earth wall with the gravity magic, which absorbed all the bullets. The fighting was at its peak. Ronnie, WildDron were both left behind. Destroyer was at his limits.
Fremaho prepared for a new attack. He touched the flames and began to recite a spell, as he unexpectedly noticed the attack of the Doppelganger from behind, but it was too late because the blade of the scythe flashed before his eyes. Ronnie and WildDron turned away, just not to see this primal beheading.
"Bastard," WildDron swore.
"I wasn't going to drink to the repose today!"
"Gather yourselves, comrades!"
Umka, paralyzed by what he saw, hesitated, lingered, and did not have time to come to the magician's aid, and the enemy was already rushing towards him at full speed. The Doppelganger transformed into a heavy knight with thick white armor, repelled the stabbing blow of a one-handed sword with a magic shoulder pad, grabbed the opponent's hand, broke his wrist, and in a round turn struck a cutting blow with a two-handed sword. Umka, moaning in pain, twisted, freed himself from the vice, and jumped to the side, but did not notice how he stepped on the trap of the icy aura, slowing down his actions.
"He creates spells out of nothing!" Destroyer shouted.
The Doppelganger headed towards the wounded swordsman. Denzie took a spare Colt M1911 weapon out of his holster and started firing, but a windy aura shoot down the trajectory of the bullets. Xenonna lay on the ground, took aim, and shot at the monster. He did not react in time and flew forward five yards. Ronnie also wanted to provide support fire, but WildDron stopped him and told him not to waste large-caliber cartridges, they will come in handy.
Umka took the chance, got out of the trap, and used "Wind Speed" and "Furious Rhythm" at the same time. He closed the distance at an incredible speed and jumped, attacking the Doppelganger from above. Nevertheless, the enemy transformed into a high-speed form with a sakkat on his head, his body began to seem to leave afterimages after each movement. He dodged in a roll, repelled several melee attacks. The eyes of the others did not have time to catch what was happening. The Doppelganger outsmarted Umka in the next attack. When the Indian unleashed a flurry of blows, the monster, knowing about his broken wrist, concentrated black magic around the shaft of his weapon. He spun the pole with an eight motion and in a round-turn, with a short but powerful movement, struck at the wounded swordsman's right side, thereby knocking down his rhythm. Umka received a "micro stun" debuff. The Doppelganger continued the attack, he made several pirouettes, rushing past the immobilized enemy like a whirlwind and, without looking back, poked the swordsman with the tip of the pole. The Indian saw how the metal point came out through his chest and went back. He felt a burning pain and clutched at his heart. Umka's eyes darkened and he fell and crumbled to dust.