After probing his character's status, Solis smiled confidently to himself. He then moved his gaze to the heated duel between Young Master Valedd and the horseman carrying a giant axe. Focusing his eyes, he looked over their current conditions to assess the situation.
***
(Young Master Valedd of the Nebuchadnezzar Aswang Clan, LVL. 10)
Type: Special
State: Injured
Health: 318/500
Mana: 115/250
Physical Defense: 35
Magic Resistance: 30
Skill/s: Lifesteal, Crisscross Slash, Aswang's Heightened Senses, Ghoul Transformation
***
'Huh. He's actually not doing too bad it seems, and his health has somewhat restored. Maybe he took a restorative item.'
Done with Young Master Valedd, Solis then turned to the brawny horseman. However, something totally unexpected happened.
'What the… Why the hell can't I see his character window?'
That's right. Unlike the fat ogre Yahtorn and the aswang Valedd, which he didn't have any problems checking their information, this horseman somehow didn't reveal an ounce of data on him no matter how hard he stared. As a result, he was left blankly staring without a clue about his condition other than what he appeared to be showing on the surface.
'Damn, what the hell is this? How come this guy doesn't have a character window to show? I need vital information on this guy if I want to know how I'll proceed!'
Solis couldn't stop himself from frowning and revaluating the circumstances. The plan to ascertain the opponent's present condition to take proper actions and measurements was out of the picture. And now, he needed to approach things carefully from here on out.
'Hmm… At least I can judge that this guy is definitely at a different power level compared to that useless fat ogre that I fought. The fat ogre had no finesse at all when it came to combat and just shot everything at me without taking the time to entrap me despite his amazing abilities. The horseman, however, is the opposite. I can see that he uses his skills wisely and doesn't just waste them. He mixes in basic attacks and fluid motions with his skills to achieve concrete, effective results.'
Overall, he was absolutely a tough opponent to deal with, and there was still a real chance that he would die from the horseman's assault even though he just leveled up and gained more power for himself.
Instead of having things easy after defeating his first enemy, things were still looking dangerous for him; maybe even more compared to the previous battle.
While watching the duel, for now, Solis witnessed Valedd lowering down himself and his sword. Then, he abruptly rushed forward at an incredibly fast pace towards his adversary who took some distance away from him.
"Crisscross Slash!"
His figure quickly vanished from the spot as if he were a ghost, and a flashing afterimage full of killing intent pounced on its prey. Meanwhile, on the receiving end of this attack, Gaius had no way of dodging or evading this lightning-quick skill that was about to land on him in the next instant. Thus, he deduced that his only choice of mitigating the damage was to employ an ability of his own to counter the incoming strike.
"Terraform!"
A yellow-brown glow of light enveloped his entire being and shielded him from what was about to come.
Shing! Shing! Shing! Shing!
Multiple swift sword slashes landed directly on Gaius' hulking body, leaving bloody trails of wounds in its wake. Normally, this would have incapacitated anyone if they were to be hit by this skill, and yet Gaius somehow endured that barrage and remained standing on his feet.
Without waiting for his enemy to get out of range, Gaius lifted his humungous axe as if it weighed nothing and slammed it down with an unequal force bolstered by a powerful strength.
"Halve the Sea!"
Valedd's eyes widened in surprise at his miscalculation. In his mind, he was already imagining his opponent kneeling down on the ground while drenched in blood; and he was half-right. Only, it was a blood-drenched horseman who was still standing tall and straight like a god of war that fiercely swung his weapon of destruction.
With that being the case, Valedd had no time to move out of the way after he just used a skill. Because of executing an advanced sword move his limbs were momentarily exhausted, thus rendering him immobile for a fraction of a second—and that was all Gaius needed to kill his opponent.
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
A resonating sound disturbs the peace of the forest. Around the source or area of the crushing blow, a vibration in the ground could suddenly be felt. Then, as the dust settled, a mangled figure could be seen inside the cavity of the earth. Without a doubt, that person whose life was hanging by a thin thread was Young Master Valedd, and towering over his crushed body was Gaius shouldering his axe. The deed was done.
"I'm sorry that it had to be like this, Young Master Valedd. But, money in addition to a great opportunity speaks volumes. The offer presented to me was just too good to be passed on, y'know? Anyway, thank you for taking care of me and my boys during our servitude to the Aswang Clan."
Gaius said to him one-sidedly, as Valedd wasn't able to muster up a reply due to his mortally injured state. It could even be questioned if he had heard anything that Gaius was saying to him at that point.
It won't be long now until this generation's genius of the Aswang Clan in the town of Nebuchadnezzar, the prodigy named Young Master Valedd, would breathe his last breath. If he were to be left alone, he would definitely bleed to death by himself. Even so, as to not let anything unforeseen happen, Gaius lifted up his giant axe once more to deliver the final blow.
But of course, things wouldn't just end there, now would it?
"Speed of a Devil!"
He abruptly heard a strong shout, yet Gaius didn't stop his axe from descending. That was his first mistake.