The battle seemed to be heading towards a bleak end. Kyle had been fighting the Dictator of the first floor for fifteen minutes already. He had light scratches on his arms and cheek, nothing serious. But, the battle would end up with his loss if things continued the way they were.
He had been unable to even leave a scratch on the opponent, let alone landing an attack.
"You are going to lose soon.." The Dictator said with a playful smile.
"Yeah!" Kyle replied. It was the truth that both of them knew. There was no use of denying it, but he won't give up till the last second. Kyle did not know if he would get more than one attempt at killing the Dictator to fulfil the conditional rewards. He had a gut feeling that he won't be getting a second chance, so he absolutely couldn't lose this fight...
Kyle charged forward, twisted his body and kicked towards the old man's jaws. His attack connected, but to the knee of the Dictator who jerked his leg a little to push Kyle back and unfolded his leg to deliver a stomp at Kyle's chest. Kyle ducked down and swung his sword at the Dictator's ankles.
The Dictator brought down his leg in an attempt to catch the sword between his two legs, but suddenly his expression turned into a confused frown.
Another sword similar to Kyle's sword appeared. This new sword wasn't held in Kyle's hand, but followed the trajectory of the swing precisely.
[Equipment: Doppelganger blade]
[(Sword/mortal/tier 1)]
[Special effect: creates another similar copy that follows a trajectory decided by the wielder's mind.]
[Duration: 10 seconds.]
Kyle had triggered the special effect of his sword. He had been pouring a part of his mana in his sword without using any skill since the battle started.
Even if his mana moved from him to his sword and back to him, it was useless if he wasn't performing a skill, but after a prolonged circulation of the mana, the sword formed a small vortex to absorb mana from the surroundings. This mana was then used to trigger the special effect of the sword. This was an ingenious method that Kyle had learned from his father..
The first sword was firmly clasped between the legs of the Dictator. With an interval of microseconds, the second sword made contact with the Dictator's unguarded leg. Just a second before that, Kyle released his grip on the first sword and clutched the second one in his hand.
The Dictator knew that he had been baited to block the fake one. He tried to adjust his leg, but Kyle's sword still left a few inches deep and a dozen inches long cut was made on the calf of his leg.
The Dictator regained his cool after the momentary surprise and took a kicking stance, but at this time, Kyle reached out for the first sword once again. After gripping the first sword, Kyle swung it at the other leg of the Dictator. The Dictator threw a punch towards Kyle's head. Kyle's sword left a scary looking wound on the Dictator's leg, stopping only when it cut a few millimetres into the bone.
'Clangggg!'
Kyle felt a strong pain in his forearm and shoulders. He had successfully blocked the punch from hitting his head, but his sword had to be supported by his shoulders to bear the full impact of the punch. Kyle felt as if his left hand and left shoulder were no longer in usable condition, but that didn't matter right now.
Kyle pointed the sword in his right hand upward and stabbed it towards the chin of the Dictator. The latter jumped back in order to avoid the sword. It was at this moment that the result was decided.
As he jumped backwards, the Dictator swung his leg at Kyle's head while ignoring the pain he was feeling from the cuts on his legs. He looked at Kyle who was still in a crouching position, staring at his abdominal region.
Suddenly, the Dictator felt a chill pass his spine. Kyle's eyes were emitting a strange light as they seemed to have locked onto his abdominal region. Still mid air, the Dictator tried to twist his body in order to evade the oncoming attack, but it was too late.
A beam of light shot out of Kyle's eyes straight at the hulking humanoid before him. At this last moment, the Dictator showed his hidden card. All the scales spread throughout his body gathered at his abdominal region. But, it was too bad.....[Prime Rage] wasn't an attack that could be blocked or evaded.
The beam travelling at the speed of light struck the scales of the Dictator. After the light dispersed, a large hole was left in the abdominal region of the Dictator of the first floor.
[-200]
Kyle saw a text in blood red colour appear above the head of his opponent. The hulking frame disintegrated into particles of light, leaving behind three small vials of colourful liquids.
[Draconian(incomplete)×1 killed]
[1000(400) exp gained]
[Mission: 'A Monarch's Ascension' completed]
[Mission description: Infiltrate the Dictator's sanctuary and defeat the Dictator of the current floor.]
[No. of participants: 1]
[Mission rating: SS+]
[Mission Rewards: 1.Potion of Ascendance
2.Unlock one ability.]
[Checking for completion conditions of the Monarch's Path.....]
[Conditions fulfilled: 5/5]
[Issuing an Ascension gift....]
A series of system notifications appeared before Kyle who had been frozen as the aftereffect of [Prime Rage].
At this moment, all that he had done for the completion of this mission struck Kyle at once. Kyle felt as if everything he had done after entering the Dictator's sanctuary was replaying before his eyes....once again and....again.
Kyle stayed frozen in his position even after the ten seconds had passed.
"Just what am I doing...." Kyle muttered as he stood up and walked to the 'drops' and picked them all up without a change in his expression.
"Lobby!" Kyle muttered expressionlessly. Blinding light covered the entirety of Kyle's body. He started to spin rapidly before teleporting away.
Kyle appeared in a closed room with a bed and a door. Kyle opened the door and walked out. He was greeted by the sight of a vast open ground filled with stalls of various sizes and vendors selling a myriad of things. He walked towards the edge of the ground and further in a mediaeval style castle which had the logo of the 'Soulence Castle guild.'
Kyle passed through the security measures and arrived inside the lobby of the castle. Here, he was greeted with two passageways. A group of about fifty teenagers were entering the lobby from one passage. Kyle walked to the other passage and arrived before a familiar door. Kyle knocked on the door twice.
"Come in." A feminine voice came from the other end. Kyle pushed the door and entered inside.
"Oh! Come in.. Are you here to join a guild or for some counselling?" A middle aged woman asked Kyle with a professional attitude.
"Counselling." Kyle replied and walked straight towards one of the two chairs placed on his side of the table.
"Oh, what for?" The woman asked, still maintaining the professional aura about her.
"I killed human inhabitants..."
"Professor Nealie right? Do you mind if I borrow your student? Don't worry, I will counsel him to the best of my abilities. " Kyle heard a familiar male voice from behind him cutting him short.
Kyle turned to face a stern looking middle-aged man who was looking back at him. The professor was a bit annoyed upon the unwelcome entry, but as soon as she faced the person, her face changed drastically. She stood up from her chair in a hurry and gave the man a military salute.
"Of-of course not director..." She said in a flattering tone. Kyle also turned back and was slightly surprised when he looked at the man before him.
'Why is he here?'
"What, why can't I be here?" The man let out a pleased smile when he looked at Kyle's expression.
"I-i will wait outside." Although the professor was excited, she held back her excitement and walked towards the door. For whatever reason, the director wanted to talk with Kyle Zehern and she didn't dare to waste a second of the director's time.
"Oh don't be so polite. We will take a walk outside as we speak."
When Kyle heard this sentence, he quickly got up from his seat and walked outside the room.
Outside the regular office door, there were two long lines of secretaries and bodyguards waiting for their master.
"Don't mind them." The man from inside pushed the door and placed his hand on Kyle's shoulder.
"How come you are here in the lobby?" Kyle asked with a slightly respectful and slightly happy tone.
"Oh, I went home, but you weren't there so I came here to meet you." The man said.
"Huh you healed it!" Kyle looked at his shoulder which had nearly been crushed while fighting the Dictator, it was the same one where his grandfather placed his hand a few moments ago and now it was completely healed.
"Of course." Karvess Zehern replied with a proud look.
"Is this some spatial motion?" Kyle asked while looking around. The group of bodyguards and secretaries following them around was too eye-catching, and yet people behaved that all of them including Kyle and Karvess were invisible.
"Yes, it is a super rare skill from the twenty-eight floor." The old man wasn't going to hide these things from Kyle, especially when he was trying to show his skill off to his grandson.
"So, what do you need Counseling for?" Karvess sat before Kyle and asked.
"Recently, I had to kill a number of humans to complete a mission. The mission was only for killing one man, but I had to kill those patrolling the area as well. None of them was a criminal and I feel like I am just doing what happened to me to other families.." Kyle said in a gloomy tone.