Rhino let out a mighty roar as he was gaining so many boosts from so many different sources, that it was overwhelming for him; hence, the ear-deafening roar.
With Rhino stronger than ever, Mako and Bill couldn't hold back as they prepared for the dangerous fight ahead of them.
Rhino finished his transformation, and without wasting a single second started rushing towards his opponents. With the increase in attributes from the determination ability, he was faster than ever. Knowing that Bill won't be able to block the incoming attack, Mako ran a safe distance ahead and placed his hands on the ground again.
Rhino recognized the stance and this time he won't allow Mako to execute his ability since he was already moving toward him very fast. Mako was trying to use the flame pillar ability again, but this time since he was moving so fast, he won't be able to lock onto him. In Reality; however, the scene played out a lot differently.
Mako may have been dumb enough to punch a tree but he wasn't dumb enough to reuse the same move twice. As Rhino appeared near him, sparks emanated from Mako's body as in the next instance a pulse of an electric field erupted from Mako and spread in all directions. The wave of electricity washed over Rhino's body and he could feel every fiber within his muscles starting to constrict itself.
[Electrical Discharge has been activated]
Rhino had been paralyzed for the next 15 seconds, but Mako didn't let go of the ground as he started charging up again. While he was doing that, he turned towards Bill and shouted at the top of his lungs," He's immobilized! Hurry and get rid of his partner! He is fueling him with more strength and I won't be able to keep him at bay for too long!"
Bill didn't have to be told twice as he used his Wind and Earth ability to propel him toward Liam at high speeds. Mako could only keep Rhino at bay for around a minute since he would have to use Electrical Discharge multiple times in order to do that.
Keep in mind that Electrical Discharge was a strong ability that required a good amount of energy and using it 4 times would almost deplete one-third of his total energy pool, and he wanted to always have some energy as a backup.
Bill didn't take long as he reached Liam in 10 seconds. He moved quickly as he conjured an Earth club, ready to knock Liam out of the fight. Liam knew that he couldn't win against him in hand-to-hand combat since he only had a single support ability which was also only Level 2. Liam's eyes started glowing blue again as this his target was Bill.
"Your friend seemed to have figured out that I can increase strength, but what you don't know is that I can take it away as well," Liam said as Bill's eyes also started glowing blue. A wave of drowsiness and laziness washed over Bill's body as even he couldn't even lift his earth club anymore and he fell down on one knee.
Liam was now using his ability to take Bill's determination away and make him weak so that he couldn't physically hurt him. This of course was challenging for him since he was tackling 2 people with his ability which put a lot of load on his mental state. He was strengthening Rhino's mind to break through the paralysis faster while also weakening Bill's mind so that he couldn't hurt him.
Mako used another Electrical Discharge to hold Rhino in place but in a short period of time after the first paralysis wore off and the second one took effect, Rhino had already covered a significant distance between himself and Mako, Seeing the dire situation, Mako yelled out in desperation towards Bill who looked as if he was daydreaming.
"Bill! I can't hold him forever! Take him out while we have the chance!"
Mako's words and Bill's own willpower were countering Liam's ability but it was very slow as Bill was only starting to crawl towards Liam ever so slowly. Liam on the other hand was also cheering on Rhino and giving him more strength so that he would break free from the paralysis faster. This was also working as even while being paralyzed, Rhino's body started shaking as he broke through the paralysis 2 seconds early.
[Electrical Discharge has been activated]
Mako utilized it another time, but Rhino was getting too close for comfort and all he could do was count on Bill to get the job done. Drowsiness continued to wash over Bill as he struggled to reach Liam. Sweat dripped down Liam's head as it was becoming more and more difficult for him to maintain his ability.
'Come on, Bill! Get up!!!' Bill kept repeating these thoughts to himself as he also started to move slightly faster and faster.
10 seconds had gone by and Rhino had already broken through again as he was almost right on top of the kneeling Mako. Bill could see the desperate look on his friend's face as he started recalling all the terrible feelings he had accumulated as to why he was forced to fight here today. His past life, his father's lack of interest in him, his experience as a slave, etc.
All these feelings started to well up inside Bill as his power started to erupt from his chest. A painful yell came out of Bill as the glow in his eyes faded and he rushed towards Liam with his club in his hand. Seeing this Liam let out one last desperate scream and focused all his power on Rhino so that he could break free in time.
Time slowed down as Bill approached Liam with his club in his hand. Rhino's body started vibrating as the effects of the paralysis started to wear off again and Mako couldn't re-paralyze him again since he was too close.
The club slowly approached Liam's face as Rhino also unleashed his fist toward Mako's kneeling figure.
*SMASH!*
The club made contact with Liam's body as he was launched several feet into the air and out of the stadium, but this wasn't the only *smash* sound that resounded as Rhino had also successfully thrown out a punch and now dust was completely covering him.
Bill watched with anticipation as he didn't even know if Mako could even survive such a punch without armor and was hoping to see him at least still alive.
The dust settled down and what it revealed shocked Bill and the people so much that they couldn't even believe their eyes and thought that they were just imagining things, but this was no illusion. Rhino was still in his transformed state with his arm stuck in the ground as this was the one he used for the punch, but the punch had hit nothing but the concrete floor. Beside Rhino's extended arm, stood a bloody Mako with his dagger in his hand that he had stabbed right into the bicep muscle of Rhino.
Right before the punch had even reached Mako, the shockwave carried by the wind had such force behind it that it started peeling his skin causing cuts all over his upper body which started leaking blood. Mako used Motion Sense combined with Phantom Shift to barely dodge the punch. He appeared right next to where Rhino struck and immediately got up while doing a spin.
He spun so that he could swiftly remove his Blue Horn Mammoth Knife from his belt and also gain some momentum. The spin alone wasn't enough so Mako used Dash as well so that he would have enough speed to pierce Rhino's skin. It ended up being enough and Mako successfully stabbed Rhino.
[Passive skill has been activated]
Ice quickly started to cover Rhino's entire right arm and since the skill activated right after being stabbed, Rhino didn't even realize that he had been stabbed before the dust had completely settled. By that time, the ice had already covered his complete right arm rendering it useless in battle.
Rhino yelled out a painful roar as Mako removed the blade and with Dash still being active, he rushed towards Bill's side. Mako didn't come out scot-free from such an exchange either as with just the shockwave of the punch, he had suffered major damage and lost 75 Health Points.
As he arrived next to Bill, he collapsed onto the ground from over-exerting himself with the constant use of his abilities. Bill helped him back on his feet as they turned around to see Rhino clenching his arm tightly while giving them a death stare.
"I can handle both of you with one arm!" Rhino shouted with confidence, but he didn't look in the best shape. His arm was frozen, he felt weak and sluggish, and he was sweating profusely which was a side-effect of Liam's ability.
Bill was also sweating and breathing hard while Mako looked the worse as he was covered in his own blood all over and he could barely stand at this point.
All three of them were weakened and Rhino didn't want the fight to drag on for much longer so he charged toward them one last time.
Both Mako and Bill raised their hands at the exact same time trying to use their ability to stop Rhino in his tracks. Mako used his Fire ability and did a vertical slicing motion while casting the Flame Wheel to launch a vertical arc of fire toward Rhino while Bill did the exact same thing using his Wind ability and casting his Vacuum Cutter skill.
Two blades, one of fire and one made of wind were cast at the exact same time by Bill and Mako and they started to fan out toward their intended target. As the two elemental blades approached Rhino's body, they got closer and closer, and just before they were about to hit him, their paths overlapped each other as they collided with themselves right before hitting Rhino.
The result of such a collision was unexpected as rather than canceling each other out, the fire multiplied in size rapidly as soon Rhino was enveloped in a giant blade made of fire that started scorching him instantly.
Painful cries resounded from within the flames as Mako received a notification through the system.
*Ding!*
[A Collaborative Skill has been discovered]