I took my spear and aimed it inward.
("I don't think I've ever committed suicide before, but there's a first time for everything.") [Solace]
I took a deep breath before plunging my spear tip into my heart.
"Urgh!" [Solace]
To be honest, it wasn't as bad as I thought.
"Alert: |Blooming Undying| activation confirmed. All debuffs have been dispelled. Health and mana have been restored. All stats increased by fifty percent. Sanity has dropped by ten percent." [Spirit Guide]
I ripped out my spear and did it again.
"Alert: |Blooming Undying| activation confirmed. All debuffs have been dispelled. Health and mana have been restored. All stats increased by fifty percent. Sanity has dropped by ten percent." [Spirit Guide]
Once more.
"Alert: |Blooming Undying| activation confirmed. All debuffs have been dispelled. Health and mana have been restored. All stats increased by fifty percent. Sanity has dropped by ten percent." [Spirit Guide]
I was feeling a little weird after that one. I felt like giggling, but I had to stay on track. I took out my spear and let my wounds close.
"...What are you doing? Keep going." [Balyagha]
"I've changed my mind." [Solace]
"So you've decided to forsake your comrade?" [Balyagha]
"Here's my answer." [Solace]
I aimed my spear at Balyagha.
"|Grygand|." [Solace]
Faster than ever before, pure strength coursed through me. So much so that it was almost impossible for Balyagha to react. He raised his sword and braced with both arms.
"Such…! Power…!" [Balyagha]
An explosive amount of mana was poured into the spear tip, immediately shattering the |Spirit Field|. Within the next instant, we found ourselves back in the first hero's tomb.
"Oh, I did it!" [Solace]
I didn't even know that was going to happen. I was going for a one shot one hit kill. Other than that, Balyagha lost his sword as he was sent flying into a wall from my thrust.
"Milord!" [Yandel]
The necromancer cried out as Balyagha hit the floor. As he collected himself, Balyagha clutched his missing arm as blood began to spill again.
"...Your strength is like a bottomless well." [Balyagha]
"Don't expect your flattery to save your life." [Solace]
I brandished my spear as I approached.
"I don't expect it to. But have you forgotten?" [Balyagha]
He nodded his head at Wilharrow.
"Your beloved hero is dying. Without a cure, the |Demonic Energy| will seep into him before eventually claiming his life." [Balyagha]
I paused.
"You might be right about that." [Solace]
I opened my |Item Box| and pulled out Fina's travel pack.
"Fina, take your stuff and tend to Wilharrow. It's a bit irresponsible, but I'm counting on you to fix him." [Solace]
"What?" [Fina]
I tossed her the travel pack without speaking further. Good thing she caught it.
"Really? You're going to trust your friend who's wet behind the ears?" [Balyagha]
He may have been right. It's just that my mind felt a little foggy like I just couldn't focus properly or think straight. It was like I thought of the solution without actually caring about how or if it could be done.
"If it doesn't work, I'll do something about it." [Solace]
I then continued my march towards Balyagha.
"My lord! No!" [Yandel]
The necromancer resisted against his ropes, but Leon made him still. Balyagha was no slouch either. He propped himself against the wall and forced himself to stand. It wasn't until I was a bit closer that I noticed his eyes wandering.
("Where is he looking?") [Solace]
Following his eyes, I realized he was staring at Raon.
"By my |Royal Order|, you will give me the relic!" [Balyagha]
"Huh? What is this guy-" [Raon]
Before Raon's mind could process it, he threw the cube into Balyagha's open hand.
"|Temporal Stasis-!" [Balyagha]
I couldn't even hear the end of what he said before finding myself in a confusing position. I was on the ground several meters away from my original spot, and the necromancer was freed by Balyagha's side. There was also a throbbing pain on my chest.
"Urgh…!" [Solace]
I sat up with a grunt, glancing around in confusion. It appeared my allies were unharmed, which was good. It's just that they were as confused as I was.
"He… He disappeared!" [Leon]
"...Teleportation?" [Raon]
"No, he used the power of the relic! He stopped time!" [Fina]
Oh. I should've killed him sooner.
"I'm rather thankful to you all. It was unlikely for me to acquire this relic without ascending those cursed stairs." [Balyagha]
Maybe we should've made Raon leave the relic up there and join in the fight.
"Hah! You fools! Now that my lord has the relic, he's unstoppable!" [Yandel]
"Indeed. However, I've chosen to spare you all and take my leave. Think of it as a parting gift for graciously handing me what I've come for. I'll even forgive you for taking my arm." [Balyagha]
Yeah, he was directing that one at me.
"He's bluffing! The relic most likely has a buffering period to cast! Something as powerful as that can't be used consecutively! Now is the only chance we have to take it back!" [Fina]
As expected of our walking encyclopedia.
"Raon! Help me take it back!" [Solace]
Raon didn't even need to reply. He immediately swung into action by throwing his dagger at Balyagha.
"|Cross Slash|!" [Raon]
In that moment, Balyagha regrew his arm with |Demonic Energy| before ramming his fist into Raon's gut. Raon's skill was a teleport type skill, meaning that there would be little time to react. How did this happen?
"Ugh!" [Raon]
As Raon dropped, I lunged. Throwing in consecutive thrusts at blinding speeds, Balyagha managed to evade without a scratch. Eventually, he found an opening and kicked me.
"Ngh!" [Solace]
I grabbed Raon and leapt back in order to create distance. It would be troublesome if he got in the way.
("I can't give him any time to react!") [Solace]
I aimed a finger at him while rushing back in, thinking of using |Liquid Bullet|. However, I noticed that Balyagha was already dodging before I even said anything.
"|Liquid Bullet|!" [Solace]
I turned my arm to fire where Balyagha moved, but I found that he instead froze in place. With that, my |Liquid Bullet| only struck the predicted spot. In other words, I missed.
("Is he predicting it?!") [Solace]
I had to make sure. I went with something different by chucking my spear at him and switching to hand to hand combat.
"|Vortex Arts|!" [Solace]
My hands moved to latch on as Balyagha ducked under my spear. Though it was a great opportunity to deal some damage, Balyagha moved out of reach without even glancing my way.
("What?!") [Solace]
My hands struck the stone wall as Balyagha slipped past me. He then grabbed the cloth on my back before throwing me across the room.
"Seriously?!" [Solace]
I hit the ground and slid to Leon's feet. There was also Raon trying to pick himself up after eating a heavy blow.
"Need help?" [Leon]
"I'm considering it." [Solace]
It was so strange. How was Balyagha able to combat me when I was overpowering him just a moment ago?
"You should've just let us leave. You won't be getting this relic back." [Balyagha]
This change started when he got the relic. I can get time stop, but that shouldn't affect his skills. Besides that, I could see that he was starting to look haggard.
("Relic… Relic…!") [Solace]
I was starting to piece something together.
("Timestop. Time… Time… manipulation?") [Solace]
If he could manipulate time into stopping it, maybe that's not the only thing he could do.
"...I get it. I get it…! This bastard has been rewinding time!" [Solace]
There was a surprised look on Balyagha's face.
"...How do you know if I'm not just seeing the future?" [Balyagha]
"You wouldn't have been surprised when I gave that answer." [Solace]
Balyagha opened to make another reply, but I cut him off.
"There's also the part where you're certainly looking more tired than before. The only reason why you haven't restarted this conversation is because using that relic probably takes tons of stamina. Am I wrong?" [Solace]
Balyagha remained silent.
"...I admit it. You're correct. Now that you know of it, you plan to wear me down. In which case, my defeat is inevitable." [Balyagha]
He then looked at Yandel, his necromancer.
"My loyal servant. Open your hands." [Balyagha]
"Yes, milord." [Yandel]
I was wondering what was happening until Balyagha dropped the relic into the necromancer's hands.
"Wait, is he going to run with it?!" [Raon]
That would be a great problem. Yandel turning into smoke and dipping right there would be extremely hard to catch. Well, that wasn't what happened though.
"|Mana Assimilation|." [Yandel]
Suddenly, I felt a great amount of power swirl around the necromancer.
"He's… manipulating the mana within the relic!" [Fina]
"Stop him!" [Raon]
We both lunged, unable to reach as the necromancer finished his chant.
"Obey my command, First Hero. |Raise Undead|." [Yandel]