(Malech's POV):
"Chronoglass Reset!"
Instantly refilling my body with energy, I prepared myself with the next batch of opponents that will strike. In front of me is nothing but a single apparition that's glitching. It has a shape of a person but I know damn well.
That thing is the clone of Chrominus!
A single baton that's also glitching around, a featureless body that glitches around it's own body. This is gonna be one of those huh.
The clone immediately closes in the position and lands a hit on my nape, I wasn't able to react on time. Being hit like that, I was put down to the ground easily and got knocked a few meters to the side.
"Time Zero!"
The world pauses except for me and my weapons for a second. Without wasting time, I flung the scythe towards the clone while standing up. The time continued as the clone was about to be sliced by the scythe but, it still managed to dodge it nicely even though it flinched for a split second.
I grabbed the other end of the chain and made a 270° turn from the left and tossed the other end of the chain which is a hook to catch weapons. I aimed the hook towards the weapon which was to the right of the clone that's running with arms behind it.
I pulled the chain that has the scythe at the end since it missed the forward strike.
The clone struck the chain behind the hook downwards to avoid it being clamped and locked. I held the scythe by the handle and rotated it a bit for redirection and dodging.
The clone tried to strike me on the left. If I normally block it, it would teleport its baton to my right. So I made a motion where it blocks from the left and prevents any attack from my right by a swiping motion.
I then struck the abdomen with my knee.
I took some distance and pulled both ends of the chain, forming a stance to be prepared against this troublesome opponent. The clone starts glitching even more and emits electric particles.
"Pinnacle Skill: Time Rift!"
The clone blinked. This time, the speed is beyond human comprehension. I was only able to hold off due to Time Rift.
"Time Half!"
This also allows me to manipulate the speed of time. The clone appeared behind me so I flung the chain around in a rotating motion to block the baton. The clone immediately blinked to my side, aiming for a different spot.
This continued repetitively for a short time. The clone teleported itself around endlessly. I kept reacting to the attacks by moving the chains around while flinging it in a rotation to deflect.
I stepped backwards with my right leg but slipped in the process.
Before I touched the ground, the clone teleported above me and swung down the baton. I pulled the chain with the hook so I could try to latch on the weapon. I let my left hand off so I could tap on the ground while resetting my footing. Made a summersault while kicking the baton away while latching on it with the hook. The baton flew so high that it overtook the entire length of the chain and sickle, making it fly in the air for some time. With my other leg, I kicked the clone in the back of its knee before landing on an upright position.
The clone was still mid-air which is its weakness. So I shot myself off the ground and tackled the clone to pin it. Then, I lent the clone a beat-down. But the arms, being able to enter impossible angles due to being inhuman, was able to grab a Chrono Grenade.
It squashed the grenade and stunned me in the middle of time. The clone pushed me off and kicked me backwards with a powerful back kick.
I got launched off the ground and received heavy pain. I landed on the ground but slid backwards even further.
"Time Reverse."
I reversed the speed of time on my body, increasing its recovery by double. I then started running towards the kusarigama without looking back to the terrifying clone in blinking multiple times in a zigzag without stopping.
Shit! My stomach hurts from that hit.
I managed to reach onto the chain and flung both ends back to me. I then took the glitching baton and swung it to the clone...
The clone stopped it effortlessly with the left hand, telling me that it was a mistake. At this point, I ran out of mana which may have been my ending in this server.
"Shit."
An axe kick struck my left shoulder which caused me to fall easily.
Coughing out blood, I resigned myself to my failure as I was raised up while being grasped in the neck. I closed my eyes in resignation but was saved by some familiar presence.
This isn't Jerald or Vince, but the person whom I thought was dead.
"Flora!"
I coughed out more blood but felt gentle air surrounding me.
"You know, you have to be careful with your actions sometimes! But I'm sorry, I was a bit late knowing your danger and all." - Flora
This person, who I thought died during a raid on this castle. The elementalist who hung out with my group before.
Flora Arianne, he's the elementalist in our backline.
"You sick bastard, you left the group and made us think that you died for being stupid enough."
I stood up and prepared the chain scythe. The gentle wind healed up my injuries and health instantly, allowing me to fight again. The air waves push enemies away and prevent them from entering the healing range.
A perfect protection spell in the element of Wind.
"So this thing?" - Flora
"According to Denzel, they're faster, stronger, and deadlier than an average level 100 player."
"I'll set up the first strike." - Flora
The barrier was lowered, allowing the clone to start charging in to our position.
"Nature Pinnacle Skill! Nature's Frenzy!" - Flora
The ground starts creating large vines that extend to a ten meter radius. Eight vines rose up from the ground surrounding the circle. The vines flung itself upwards, causing the clone to fly for a bit. Some stood up started shooting thorns toward the clone without stopping.
My chance!
I charged in and flung the chain to strike the clone with the sickle at it's maximum range.
The clone's movements are highly restrained due to the amount of thorns flying above the roots that also restrain the movement of footing.
I also had footing problems when I charged in initially, but I got used to it quickly since my role is an assassin. Because of that, I missed the throw but pulled the scythe back with the chain to retrieve it.
I kept my distance at maximum range of the chain since it will be horrible if the clone closed its position when I haven't fully recovered myself.
Obviously, I vomited some blood from the impact earlier, downgrading my entire performance by quite a bit.
The clone slowly gets through the attacks of the impalers but I continue to cut off its tracks by flinging the scythe with the chain. Repeating the process multiple time, I finally heard Flora's next pinnacle skill going through.
"Water Pinnacle Skill! Ocean's Wrath!" - Flora
A large tsunami was formed right behind me, a height boasting up to five meters. It then plows forward, gradually going faster while shrinking bit by bit.
"Time Barrier!"
I made a barrier that will simply allow me to phase through anything for about five seconds.
I entered the tsunami and saw a bunch of large sharks inside the tsunami. Specially the ferocious ones like tiger sharks and piranhas.
I got off the tsunami before the barrier dispersed into particles. Without resting, I flung up the scythe as high as I can and swung it down at maximum range and momentum.
The clone was taken in by the tsunami and was chomped on by the aquatic creatures inside. I awaited the kusarigama to hit the clone. The whole chain and sickle is pretty long, reaching at least eight meters according to Denzel's improvements on the weapon.
A normal kusarigama might be incomparable to this but, it's fantasy after all. Not like I could actually use a chain and sickle that long in real life.
The clone finally got off the tsunami after having multiple bite marks and missing parts in the body. It lost the left arm, holes all around the featureless body, and a piece of green orb inside the chest part. That a core?
"Flora, looks like your wrath missed the core."
The clone dashed forward even faster than before, like some weight was lifted off the glitching body. But it was struck down by my scythe, I overshot it, causing it to be a bit off by a few millimeters. But it still pinned the clone.
I pulled the scythe but it was also stopped by the core.
"That core is hard!"
"You need more momentum than that!" - Flora
The scythe was removed by the glitching hand. The clone stood up again and closed its position to me easily. The scythe wasn't able to return in time along with my reaction from the punch in the gut.
I wasn't knocked back, but it was enough to get me on my knees.
"Light Pinnacle Skill! Solar Flare! Hyperion!" - Flora
Flora was sweating with staggered breathing, he was panicking on what to do and made a suicidal move without hesitation. Yes, Flora is a dude.
"It's gonna miss!"
Is what I said in my mind but, the moment the clone dashed towards Flora. The solar flare struck the clone and dealt extreme damage before it was able to reach him. Without wasting any time, I made up some momentum and flung the scythe again towards the clone. This time for sure!
The solar flare ended. The clone was on the ground with lots of holes in the body. The core was completely exposed and it has no feet to run with.
I swung down the scythe to strike the core from a distance, breaking it completely.
The last problem is that, I dashed towards Flora who couldn't move due to mana overuse. He exceeded the maximum mana requirement and filled the hole with stamina instead. Which makes him defenseless in a delayed final explosion.
"Time Zero!"
In that split second, I took Flora's foot and dragged him on the ground by the foot without looking back.
"Ow ow! The hell!" - Flora
It seems he can still feel pain so he's good.
After distancing from the explosion, I sat down on relief and exhaustion.
"You good?"
"Dragging me by the foot, you think I'm?!" - Flora
"You seem to have energy to blabber so maybe you are."
The two of us summoned Jerald and Vince who seemed to have finished their side of clearing to get us back to the castle.
Damn, why is this guy having a female avatar. He even wore panties for fucks sake.