Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 1548 - 334 Never Retreat

Of course, he knew all too well that the idea of Nellie coming to her senses the next moment was unrealistic. So far, her gaze remained cold and firm, her moves in battle without a hint of hesitation. Faced with Pannis’s sudden switch from defense to offense, Nellie wasn’t flustered. Though unable to block in time, she refused to step back, pivoting instead to raise her elbow, side-swiping Pannis’s right hand, and simultaneously driving the butt of her spear towards Pannis’s abdomen as he deflected the Hunting Arrow.

This response hadn’t left Pannis’s calculations—after all, Nellie was a Guardian Knight, the sturdiest shield in the team. If the shield fled first in the face of danger, the fight would be a laughingstock. So no matter what unfolded, a knight as a bastion could not step back, only opting for a frontal confrontation and defense. Pannis had predicted Nellie’s counter and ignored the spear butt aimed at him, his right hand tracing an arc from the outside, aiming again for Nellie’s neck. As her spear butt pierced his lower abdomen, it was certain that the Hunting Arrow would stab into Nellie’s neck as well.

The instinct-driven knight frowned for the first time, clearly uncomfortable with Pannis’s unreasonable fighting style. However, the discomfort was only enough to make her frown, not enough to truly pressure her. Facing Pannis’s suicidal attack of exchanging wound for wound, the instinct aiming to preserve life would not choose to trade places with him, but she didn’t need to react too drastically—simply halting the spear thrust and swinging a straightforward punch with her other hand would suffice.

Even as a Demigod, no one dare underestimate any of their casual movements; the simplest punch often carried devastating power, let alone Nellie who was no longer just a Demigod. She might still be inexperienced with wielding the power of a Deity in battle, but her body had already become a perfect Divine Body, far exceeding the realm of mere mortals. Thus, with just a simple punch, Nellie completely neutralized Pannis’s strategy of trading wound for wound. Pannis had no choice but to retract his attack; otherwise, based on the current velocity, Nellie’s fist would certainly hit his chest first, sending him flying with a punch, while his own attack would fail to disrupt her and he would simply endure an unnecessary hit.

But Pannis did not retreat either. If he chose to fall back now, he might have a short respite, but the price would be the battle rhythm falling back into Nellie’s control. Following that brief ease would be an even more agonizing fight. Instead of succumbing to that, he’d rather maintain the initiative he had reclaimed with his life and wit, forcing Nellie’s body to fight according to his own terms. So, Pannis stood his ground, withdrawing his attack and positioning the Hunting Arrow vertically in front of his chest, the nock propped against his own breast. If Nellie’s fist didn’t stop, it would smash precisely onto the tip of the Hunting Arrow.

Nellie obviously held a great fear for what should have been an ineffective Hunting Arrow, her brows furrowing even tighter. The fists that were swinging at high speed returned to her sides, ignoring inertia, while her knee covertly lifted, quietly aiming at Pannis’s lower abdomen. Pannis’s face stiffened, the muscles at the corner of his mouth twitched, and if looks could talk, he’d certainly be saying something like ’you’re being too harsh.’ Unfortunately, looks can’t make a sound, and the almost imperceptible switch between attack and defense didn’t allow him to waste words, so he could only maintain a troubled expression. Clearly, this attack targeting a man’s greatest weakness posed a great threat, both physically and mentally.

Despite that, Pannis still stood his ground as if glued to the floor, firmly resolved not to retreat. Although he held the Hunting Arrow in front of his chest in defense against Nellie’s fists, that didn’t stop him from twisting his waist as far to one side as possible. His bones seemed to have vanished at that moment, his waist bending at an angle less than ninety degrees to avoid the knee strike, while also lowering his body height by nearly one-third, temporarily escaping the range of Nellie’s punches.

However, Nellie didn’t care about the awkwardness of his current posture and had no intention of launching an attack targeting his strange pose. Her fighting instinct was terrifying—without needing to think, she could guess that if an enemy dared to adopt such a stance, it must mean the position didn’t expose a weakness, or if it did, it was merely a trap. Therefore, she directly abandoned the idea of striking at the potentially weak spot that had appeared on Pannis and instead aimed for a real, undeniable weakness.

Undoubtedly, Pannis’s biggest weakness at this moment was his left side. Losing his left arm had allowed him to temporarily control the rhythm of the attack, but the price he paid was the inability to defend against strikes from his left, leaving half of his body exposed to Nellie’s threat. Not only that, but the incompleteness of his body also caused a series of chain reactions: the difficulty of maintaining balance during high-speed movement, the unattended wound continuing to bleed, the excruciating pain from the bloody injury. While these chain reactions could be overcome with willpower in an incredibly short span, given a bit more time, the consequences would inevitably start to show.

Thus, instinct led Nellie to make the correct choice, her subsequent attacks targeted exclusively at Pannis’s left side. Every fierce strike forced him to react defensively, and the slight edge he’d managed to grasp increasingly slipped away under the onslaught of her blows.

If things continued this way, they would become more troublesome. Pannis was aware of that; in his current state, he couldn’t even manage to draw the Bow of Release, let alone truly threaten Nellie. A false deterrence could never last, and he urgently needed to reset the balance of power between them. Realizing this, Pannis bit down on his teeth, making a most risky decision.