Every muscle in my body screamed out in pain as I struggled to stand up.
"...I'm not finished yet, fuckface..." I wiped away a trickle of blood from the corner of my lips.
The archbishop ignored my remark and sent me flying with a kick that broke several bones.
Fuck! I just healed them!
I literally just needed to get past this bozo so I could grab Aurelia and leave, but he was making it real difficult.
The ambient mana in the room was starting to dip heavily due to my repeated usage of [Devouring Healing], meaning that I couldn't carelessly recover now.
I grimaced as I stood, the pain in my chest clearly telling me that I had more than a few ribs broken.
"I wonder where that arrogance went, child."
"Right up your ass, fucko. Aren't you Black Constellation dickheads obsessed with Forbidden magic or something? Why don't you try some of your shitty techniques, huh?"
It was a gamble.
Once, a cultist had struck me with Forbidden magic, but it only served to invigorate me.
However, I was willing to bet that the effects escalated depending on how strong they were. If the archbishop hit me with some powerful ass Forbidden magic, I'd probably get healed.
Maybe.
I would've liked to confirm it using [Rulebook], but I couldn't find anything on the subject. It probably wasn't something that was built into the system.
"You dare insult Agunta's arts?"
"Yeah. What're you gonna do about it? If they're so great, why don't you show me how strong they are, huh? Or are they actually so shitty that you'd be embarrassed to use those 'arts' of yours?"
The massively bulging vein in Taunes' forehead told me that my goading had worked.
He thrust his palm toward me and generated a pulsing sphere of pure, compressed Darkness.
"This is more than enough for you, heretic! Taste the wrath of Lord Agunta's magic! [Night's Lance]!"
What a chuuni name. It was kinda cool though.
The sphere fired out in a straight line, transforming into a spear-like bolt that pierced through me.
"G-Gah!" I gasped in pain.
A smirk grew on Taunes' face as he stepped toward me.
"Now then, heretic, have you—"
BAM!
He was promptly interrupted by my full-power uppercut using [Demonic Enhancement] and [Fa jin].
Surprisingly, the blow struck satisfyingly and even sent him staggering backward a few paces.
"Just kidding, dumbass."
I thumbed my nose at him, patting my previously injured areas. It seemed that my theory was correct.
It was honestly kind of disappointing that I couldn't rely on [Rulebook] for everything, but then again, I already knew that.
When Taunes recovered, his face was contorted in the purest expression of rage. Blood dripped from his nose which he promptly wiped off.
"To think... that such a lowly creature would dare to damage me!" He roared.
"Damn, you must be worse than shit if such a 'lowly' creature could damage you."
"No more. NO. MORE. I will not stand and be insulted by a heretic!"
After that outburst of anger, a sudden calm then came over the archbishop.
I felt a chill run down my spine.
"I shall end this farce." He pointed a finger toward me. "[Eternal Eclipse]."
The space around me shuddered for a moment before everything turned black.
I was still conscious, but it was like the world I knew no longer existed. Instead, it was replaced by this perpetual sphere of Darkness that constantly shrunk.
Hold up, am I going to be crushed!?
I started panicking as the sphere grew smaller and smaller. I could hear the archbishop's gloating laughter from the outside.
It was clear that he would stick around until my last moments.
Wait... It doesn't hurt?
Contrary to what I thought would happen, the sphere of Darkness was actually being absorbed into my body. It grew smaller and smaller until it was fully absorbed inside me, causing it to become dispelled.
The archbishop stared at me in shock and disbelief.
"W-What...? Impossible!"
A familiar blue screen popped up in front of me.
[ERROR: Darkness value exceeds system limit. Unpermitted excess Darkness will now be converted into a temporary buff.]
A second later, the world around me exploded.
Massive waves of kinetic energy shook the air around me and sent the archbishop flying backwards, wracking my body with pain.
All I saw were black and red spots as I was dangled in the air by an unseen entity, pain shooting through all of my nerves with every passing second.
Although the phenomenon had only elapsed for five seconds, it felt like an eternity. I collapsed on the ground, but as the pain subsided, I felt stronger than ever.
The archbishop had picked himself up and I did the same, pushing myself into a standing position with only one hand.
The archbishop advanced.
I frowned.
Although he was running toward me, his movements looked so slow, as if he were attempting to run through a tub of viscous honey.
I took this time to inspect my statistic block just to see what this "temporary buff" was, and the moment I saw my numbers, there was no way I could hide my smirk.
Strength. 99.
Dexterity. 99.
Constitution. 99.
In other words, he was fucked.
I appeared next to the archbishop and slammed my fist into his face. The moment my strike connected, he accelerated away from me like a bullet, crashing through the stone walls one by one until he finally stopped.
Damn. I'm fuckin' overpowered. Is this an asspull? Yeah. This is an asspull.
Asspull or not, I didn't care. I needed this right now, and I'd find out just what the fuck was up with me and Darkness after I beat the shit out of Mr. Big and Tall.
"This... This shouldn't be possible..."
"Need another wake up call, then?"
The archbishop spat the blood from his mouth and then launched himself at me.
Instead of attacking, I simply avoided his attacks. With my incredibly enhanced reflexes, there was just no way for him to land a hit on me.
Man, he's open everywhere, isn't he?
I dodged his latest attack: a straight right which passed by me harmlessly. I could've counterattacked him in at least twenty different ways, but there was no point.
Right now, the difference between us was like heaven and earth.
It was really taking all of my willpower to not get on a power high, but the fact that this buff was temporary and that our ultimate goal was to get Aurelia the hell out of here pulled me back down to earth.
Instead of indulging myself in beating the shit out of the archbishop, I instead moved over to where Aurelia was and picked her up.
Moving over to the hole that I created earlier, I leapt out of the castle, but the archbishop fired something at me.
It was a hand made from Darkness. He was probably trying to use it to grab me and bring me back down there, but it didn't really matter.
Alright, I'll just lean to the side and—
[Alert: Your Darkness value has returned to its base value. Your temporary buff has now expired.]
The hand accelerated with such speed that I couldn't even react.
One second, Aurelia was in my arms. The next, she was gone.
The archbishop stared up at me in triumph as I sailed through the air alone and away from the castle.
Away from Aurelia.
He held Lucrezia's sister in his arms... and smirked.
Oh, it's ON, you son of a bitch!