White Phantom pushed him away, Travis stepped back a few times before snapping out his daze.
He had gotten to this point just to take revenge on the Guilds. The people who wouldn't hesitate to use anything to gain an advantage. The people who caused his old friends to turn against him.
Now that was done, why did he still fight?
Travis started laughing, "I get it now."
White Phantom kept their guard up, "What is wrong with you?"
His fights, his growth, his path. It became clear to him how. He simply loved to fight! The feeling of breaking past his limits, it was addictive! To stand above everyone wasn't so he couldn't be challenged. It was so he could challenge those even higher! He enjoyed the feeling of being unbeatable, to be at the apex!
'Good! You've passed my first test!'
A new voice entered his head.
A ghostly figure appeared next to him. They were immediately recognizable. It was Averoth!
'Fighting is truly the best thing. Now that you realize why you fight, your path only leads you up from here!'
'Why are you here?'
'That ring holds a piece of my soul, it has a specific purpose. But I shall not reveal that. Now focus! Your opponent lies ahead of you, will you succeed in this battle?'
"I will do my best!"
'Ha! Regardless of the outcome we will speak again. For now I must recover my energy.'
Averoth's figure disappeared, and Travis gripped his swords. His wounds were bleeding heavily, his body felt like it was falling apart. Yet still he couldn't help but smile, "Let's finish this White Phantom!"
Hank felt a change around Dot. The previous anger seemed to disappear. All that remained was a sense of joy.
He ignored this change, what mattered was that he succeeded!
The two clashed again, their efforts somehow even greater than last time! Their movements turned blurry, sparks littered the blood soaked floor. Dot stabbed forward, seizing an opportunity. Yet it was one Hank purposely created! He moved quickly, wind following his every movement! His dagger shone with a menacing gleam.
Everything seemed to be still for a moment. A strange calm settled on the battlefield. A bit of serenity.
Wind suddenly burst out in all directions, strong enough to make all the trees lose their leaves. It turned the area in to a barren piece of land.
Dot collapsed onto his knees, "Haha. . . Hahahaha!"
Hank's [Killer Coded] ended. He too collapsed, breathing heavily.
"Mission, complete."
Dot fell to the ground, no longer moving.
Hank lied down, how long had it been since he moved like that? Such an intense fight—he didn't want to experience it ever again.
He opened the recording interface, he had the whole battle recorded for more data. The battle had lasted six minutes in total. . .
His heart stopped, six minutes?! His Skill nullification only lasted five minutes! Even including the few seconds at the start of battle before he executed the Skill, there was still a window for Dot to use Skills!
A white light descended onto Dot. His hands twitched and he stood back up. Hank watched this and his heart dropped, of course Dot would have a revival Skill!
Shaking he stood back up, his mission wasn't done just yet.
Dot patted his shoulder, "You were the greatest fight I have had yet."
Hank trembled for a moment.
Dot laughed and stood up, "Let's end thing here, you can't fight me like that. Unlike before where I was wrong, it's obvious this time. I won't kill you though."
"Why?"
"Let's say it's out of respect. A warrior who managed to best me. Although you may not get the event rewards, we will say this battle is my loss."
Dot turned to leave but paused for a moment, "I'm still certain you work for Eternal Candle, so tell them this: I'll be heading towards them for some answers."
Dot vanished and Hank collapsed onto the ground. This time he didn't have the strength to stand back up. His HP slowly drained away due to the several wounds bleeding.
Who would've thought that [Killer Coded] had a third outcome. He didn't gain nor lose any stats, all because he both failed to kill his target, and successfully did so.
Hank relaxed and accepted his death. He would have to report to the Young Miss.
Travis sighed, it felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders.
Ever since he obtained his new class he realized just how expensive the Skills were. Besides re-obtaining a few that he lost, he mainly saved for one specific Skill.
[Abyssal Blessing: Rebirth]
It was something he only obtained shortly after leaving the Demonic Plane. The vast leveling there allowed him to obtain it. It was a revival Skill, one that had a weeklong cooldown. He hadn't expected it to be used during the event.
Finding a safe place he logged off for a while, he wouldn't be gaining any points in the meantime, but he needed some rest after the two back-to-back battles.
As he took off the helmet he murmured, "White Phantom. . . we will meet again sooner than you think."
Next time the outcome won't be the same.
~ ~ ~
Hank kneeled and bowed his head, "I failed Young Miss."
The girl put a hand on his head, "It's fine Hank, but I assume you obtained the data?"
"I've already sent it."
"Wonderful, Dot's combat ability is not to be underestimated. The more info we have the better future conflicts will be."
"He stated that he will be visiting Eternal Candle soon. I am not sure what that means exactly."
She paused, a face of shock clearly obvious, "That name was being discussed by Father and I alone! How does he know it?!"
"I am not sure, he was confident that I was apart of it."
"Dot's threat is higher than I thought. I'll speak to Father about this. You need to rest however, take the rest of the day off."
"But Young Miss-"
"It's an order!"
". . .Yes Young Miss."
~ ~ ~
"Aw man, this is so frustrating."
Ryolu smiled, "There is always bigger fish."
"I used everything and we still lost!"
"Do you regret the fight?"
"No?! Why would I? That was great! Not many semi-immortals are capable of fighting on my level. It's such a shame I couldn't fight him at full power."
"So what are you going to do?"
"Get stronger of course! I just don't know how to go about it."
"I might know a place, if it's still around."
"I like the sound of that, where we going?"
"You'd have to see. Shall we head off?"
"Let's not fly, we can take our time. Who knows what we might stumble upon?"
"That works too."
~ ~ ~
Dot became an even more fearsome individual. His very presence was enough to scare many of the semi-immortals into running.
An opponent no one could beat, that was what described him. The Apex of the playerbase.
Several days passed as Dot continued his rampage. The reaper that everyone wanted to escape from. If you came across Dot, you could only blame your poor luck.
Desk Guy laughed at the post, "It's truly been chaotic."
Werrison couldn't help but smirk, "Two Tries is truly the number one player."
"It seems like my favorite team isn't making a move either. It's such a shame!"
"Did they reply?"
"See for yourself."
Pulling up the chat Desk Guy leaned to give Werrison a better view.
DeskDev: Are you going to partake in the event?
Akiol: Hunting Dot? Why would I?
DeskDev: You usually join in events.
Akiol: Those times were different. This time it's hunting a singular individual.
DeskDev: That didn't stop you before?
Akiol: I don't intentionally seek out conflict.
DeskDev: Not sure if I believe that one.
Akiol: Sometimes it's unavoidable. But I don't go challenging every strong opponent I come across.
DeskDev: So you're avoiding this event purely because you have no desire for needless conflict?
Akiol: Are you asking because you want me to participate?
DeskDev: I'll be honest if you promise to be.
Akiol: Deal
DeskDev: yes, yes I do.
Akiol: Haha!
Akiol: Truth be told we owe the guy one. The conflict with Rygeth nearly had us. I bet on Dot winning the battle to revive us. If he wasn't there: we wouldn't be.
DeskDev: That's such a shame! I figured you'd be able to put up a good fight.
Akiol: That monster has quite a bit of strength, not sure if I can contend against that.
DeskDev: Even with your newfound strength?
Akiol: No idea!
DeskDev: Alright I'll leave you alone, I had hoped to see a good battle.
Akiol: There's quite a bit of good fighters out there. I'm sure someone is capable of beating Dot.
DeskDev: Far and few between.
-End-
Desk Guy turned and shrugged, "If he has no real reason to, we can't force him to act."
"I guess Dot remains at the top eh?"
"I wonder what reward the System will deem worthy of his score. Currently he's gone further than we expected."
"It would probably give him something worthwhile."
"The only thing he could benefit from is entering the Holy Realm. But that's a little much to ask."
"If he keeps up this pace he might just be granted the key."
"He doesn't need to grow stronger, so I hope not."
"I personally wouldn't mind to see what heights he can reach."
"Your obsessiveness grows borderline creepy."
"Oh like you're one to talk. If I remember correctly who became a mindless working zombie when his idols went AWOL?"
"Yeah yeah, I certainly don't remember any of that."
"Mhm, probably zoned out for most of it."
"At this rate you're just picking a fight."
"Like you and your herbal teas are going to do something."
"What about your caffeine driven muscles? You gonna start jittering without your daily cup?"
Erina coughed, "Enough you two, you're making a scene."
Desk Guy sniffled and returned to work, "Yes ma'am!"