Tainted ghoul had an extraordinary defence stat. Even more than the Frenzied Ghoul. This made Zaen even more determined to end the ghoul once and for all. If he didn't, this ghoul would inevitably end up evolving into something far worse than the Frenzied Ghoul. If that happened, Zaen had his doubts if anyone would be able to stop the ghoul after its evolution.
In his last strike, Zaen gave it all to try and end the Ghoul in one smooth blow, but even that could only reduce the ghoul's health by around 46%. His ace, Shadow Step, was also on cooldown and so were most of his offensive skills. And there he was, clinging onto the ghoul's back not knowing what to do next. The Tainted ghoul, however, had no such problem. It was enraged because of Zaen's surprise attack.
Before Zaen could come up with his next move, the ghoul sunk its claws deep into his shoulders and slammed him on the ground. The impact was strong and very painful. Zaen's dagger slipped out of his hands and fell on the floor which had shattered into pieces upon impact, just like Zaen's collarbone. Zaen cursed out in pain, as blood gushed from his mouth.
[Remaining HP: 1910/2350]
[Caution! You've been stunned for 3 seconds due to the Tainted Ghoul's brutish strength. You cannot move.]
[You're stunned. You cannot use bandages to heal your wounds.]
He had severely underestimated the ghoul's strength and now, he was in a bad spot because of it. He thought since the ghoul was still in the process of evolving, he could easily take care of it. And this overconfidence led him to where he was now, below the ghoul's blood-soaked feet.
The ghoul, however, wasn't done yet. Just slamming Zaen down wasn't enough to quell its anger. It effortlessly grabbed Zaen by his head and threw him towards the wall. Zaen closed his eyes and prepared for the impact, there wasn't much he could do at that point either way. He was still stunned, after all.
BOOM!
[Remaining HP: 1470/2350]
[Caution! You've been stunned for 4 seconds due to the Tainted Ghoul's brutish strength. You cannot move.]
Zaen broke through the walls with a sound resembling a thunderclap. A huge cloud of dust and smoke clouded his vision. He kept rolling on the ground like a discarded wheel for a while before finally coming to a stop. He didn't know which bones of his body were broken anymore, as he could feel his entire body screaming in pain.
The thrashing he received by the hands of the Frenzied Ghoul didn't even remotely came close to how he was feeling now. Partly because, back then he could use bandages to quickly heal himself, but now, since he was stunned, he couldn't even use the healing items to mitigate the pain. His head was still spinning when the dust began to settle. He knew the ghoul would attack him again in mere moments, and he was helpless to do anything to stop it from happening.
[You're not stunned anymore.]
Moments passed but nothing happened. However, Zaen wasn't complaining. Zaen rejoiced the unknown reason why the ghoul didn't pursue him, before quickly using a bunch of bandages to heal himself. He was still in pain but at least, now his bones were more or less back to where they belonged. Then he looked back towards the house he was thrown outside of mere moments ago.
The Tainted Ghoul, was standing near the broken wall. It looked as if the ghoul was hiding in the shadows to stay protected from something, all while staring intently at Zaen. Its mouth drooling in anticipation of feasting on Zaen's flesh. However, it didn't take a single step towards Zaen, despite its hunger.
"Oh right, ghouls hate light! That's why that hideous basta*d didn't made a move while I was vulnerable." A light bulb went off inside Zaen's head, "This makes it interesting, doesn't it?"
Zaen could go in and attack the ghoul recklessly, only to get the repeat telecast of his beating. Or he could stay under the protective guise of the Sun until his skills were out of cooldown. He wasn't hoping to do much damage to the ghoul without his dagger. But at least, he finally had a plan.
"I think the choice is clear. I still have more than enough time to take care of the ghoul. I might as well calm my nerves for a bit." Zaen mumbled and sat down on the dusty road while staring at the ghoul, as it stared back at him.
"Brother, what was that sound!?" Aeron's voice came through the earphones.
"Nothing much. Just a party went out of hand. What about the Special Force? any news on them?" Zaen replied.
"Not yet. I could gather that they are somewhere around the city park by hacking into the local police's radio grid. Maybe you should wrap it up and head over there too?"
"Yeah, will do. Alright then, I'll get in contact after I'm done here." Saying so, he once again yanked the earphones off.
Zaen stomped on the ground, sprinting towards the ghoul with all his strength. The ghoul snarled at him, revealing its deadly claws once again. Zaen's momentum increased with each step. The ghoul was snapping its jaws in excitement. It was dead set on killing Zaen with the next move, but once again Zaen disappeared from its sight.
[Shadow Step (Level 1) has been activated. Your next attack will deal 2.1x damage.]
The next moment, Zaen appeared behind the ghoul. The Ghoul had anticipated the move since Zaen had used this move before and turned around to attack him before it was too late. But against Zaen's momentum, it couldn't do anything. Zaen leapt high, and with one swift motion, delivered a flying roundhouse kick right on the ghoul's head.
[Shadow Step (Level 1), Powerhouse (Level 2) and Frenzied's Slayer effects applied. Damage against humanoid monsters increased by 130%. The Ghoul's armour is tougher than expected. Damage reduced by 200 points.]
[Total Damage Dealt: 308]
[Tainted Ghoul HP: 884/2000]
The damage wasn't much, but it was within Zaen's expectations. Either way, inflicting damage to the ghoul wasn't the purpose of his kick. He just wanted to shove the ghoul outside in the sun and watch the ghoul turn into a shish kebab.