The orange soul energy spreads from its eyes to surround its entire body.
Its three horns atop its head grow larger and begin to turn into a shimmering orange metallic color.
The creature's eyes look sharper, and I can tell that it is now operating on a whole new level that just fractions of a second ago...
The attack I threw at its base form, hoping to incinerate it to pieces, collides with the outer layer of its orange shielding, and an eruption of black fire, orange soul energy, and white Qi disperses from the attack.
My ultimate strike manages to slice through its shielding, but large amounts of its firepower are blasted away.
Less than half of the attack even makes it through to make contact with the monster itself. An impressive wound still rips the horned beast in half, disintegrating most of its left side, but this is far from what I was hoping to see.
Even a direct hit in its most vulnerable position using my most powerful attack is not going to be enough to kill this monster.
It immediately heals and thrusts its spear forward at me with far greater strength and speed than it did in our exchanges before. The orange energy from the Lich King is boosting its natural strength and energy control by at least two times.
It's clear it was holding back before because it believed I wasn't capable of dealing any real damage to its body, but now it's getting serious.
Its spear tip collides with my Greater Form's sword, and the energies that collide make a shockwave of energy that spreads through what's left of the melted sand all around us.
It pushes forward, staring at me with its emotionless gaze while my shadow manifested form's twisting face emotionlessly stares back at it.
We don't move for a full second, both stuck in place pushing our power against the other with equal force. Eventually, the force builds up too great, and we're both propelled backward.
The bottoms of my mana manifested boots grip the glass shards, rocks, and sand of the desert, activating wind magic to keep myself upright and facing forward. The horned creature digs its feet into the ground too, staring ahead and staying on guard.
I decide to speak up for the first time in our fight, replying to its earlier nonsense with my [Screech] skill to project my voice across the battlefield.
"Looks like you're just as weak as this puny human, even borrowing power from your lord. I thought you said you could defeat me while keeping the Dark One's soul energy dormant, what happened to that resolve?"
Its grip tightens, and it lunges forward again.
"There will be no one left to witness this scene. The Dark One has ordered me to dispose of you, and I shall do it by any means necessary now."
It thrusts its spear straight at the center of my head, and I swing up my sword to block.
We bounce from each other in an energy-filled clash again, but the monster jumps back in at me without missing a beat.
Over and over, switching positions like a machine; it aims for my heart, head, and back. However, I endure and stay focused.
Once I've figured out its attack pattern, I begin launching counters of my own.
Its two weaknesses I know of are lightning to stun it, and Qi to actually damage it.
I alternate between the two whenever I get the chance. I shock it time and time again whenever it gets near, and manage to land a few hits with my Greater Form's blade imbued with Qi, but it doesn't seem to mind these minor attacks.
It takes my sword slashes head-on, hardly trying to dodge, mostly just continuing to thrust its spear forward to aim for my vitals with unyielding accuracy and vigor.
I land over 15 solid hits, and shock it senseless with lightning over 20 times, but it keeps coming back for more not changing its strategy at all nor slowing its movements in the slightest.
Then, just as I get comfortable with its rhythmic attacks, and start to prepare for getting into position to send off another one of my major strikes; something changes. Its attack pattern shifts, and its spear tilts downward mid-strike.
It doesn't aim for my chest, but rather thrusts its spear into my upper thigh.
In doing so, it leaves its head wide open and I cut it clean off, even landing a second slash as I pull my sword back to cut through its torso and slice it into 3 pieces.
However, as I lunge back and it reforms, I feel a cold sensation creeping up my right leg.
Even though it stabbed right through my Greater Form's body, the damage from the attack still carries over to my real body inside the Greater form.
I feel my right quad muscles tightening up, and it becomes harder to step forward. My skin and muscles are quickly turning into the silvery icy mass just like it did before when it attacked me in mid-air in my base form.
Right now, I have no time to amputate and reform my entire limb, so I'm going to have to think of something else fast.
The Dark Guard flies forward at me again, now aiming for my heart and I barely block its incoming blow. We both fly back and it attacks my head, then back, then resets to do everything again as I continuously block its strikes.
Meanwhile, the silver ice spreads deeper into my leg.
Only one possible solution comes to mind.
I activate my mana manipulation skill, and create a barrier of pink energy beneath the infected area of skin. Without hesitation for even a fraction of a second, I tear away a chunk of my leg and propel it away from me, then use self-regeneration to stop the bleeding and restore my ripped-up muscles.
A bloody shard of flesh that hardens into a frozen crystal of silver metal shatters as it hits the desert floor beside me.
At the same time, I block another barrage of the ruthless monster's attacks.
We go on for almost a full minute, tearing up the desert, creating paths of glass and craters deep enough to build small settlements inside.
Hundreds of sword-on-spear collisions go by, over a million MP worth of mana crystals are absorbed from my item storage, and virtually no progress has been made on my end.
I land plenty of blows after powerful lightning strikes, but it heals instantly and it seemingly doesn't affect it whatsoever. Every few dozen attacks, it manages to hit my arm or leg with its spear as well.
I'm able to discard the damaged areas, but unlike this monstrosity, I have a limit to how long and hard I can fight. Eventually, I will get fatigued from using such massive amounts of mana and Qi, especially in this Greater Form.
It knows this very well, and is just waiting patiently for me to meet my end.
I attempt to send body doubles out to the dungeons, as if Ember were here, he'd be able to help me face this creature two on one. However, my doubles' weak basic forms with no qi or excess mana to drain continuously get killed before they can even escape 50 meters away from us.
It knows I'm using my copies to send for help and won't allow for it.
Ember and my other doubles are still deep within the dungeons farming mana, so sensing anything in the outside world is beyond their capabilities.
I have to do this on my own... and I need to figure out a way to kill this monster right now.
As these thoughts race through my mind, the visual of the outer edge of the town comes into my immediate field of view.
The moment I see it, I realize that our battle has stretched many kilometers through the open desert already, and if we continue to fight like this, over a hundred innocent people will be caught in range of the excess energy from our attacks.
As I try to guide the horned monster away, blocking its strikes and attempting to guide its next attack in a different direction, it jumps back and doesn't attack me again as it usually does. In just two simple moves, it's already caught on.
My eyes widen and my heart skips a beat as it opens its mouth to speak again.
"You know another weakness humans have that I just can't stand? It's the one that makes you all truly the dumbest of them all..."
I grit my teeth as the monster's orange eyes shift toward the town in the distance, and I know exactly what it'll say next before it even leaves its silver lips.
"It's the fact that you do not value self-preservation before everything else. If an opponent is stronger than you, why don't you run or submit? If the odds are against you, why do you choose to roll the dice just for the chance of glory?"
It points its spear forward, turning its head toward the town then back to me.
"And why... would you risk your own life to protect those that are weaker than you? If they cannot fight off enemies themselves, they are better off dead."
It turns its entire body and jumps in the air, flying off toward the town in a silver and orange flash of light. It yells back to me as I jump in the air using wind magic to follow.
"I'll give you a choice. It's a simple choice that every human like yourself chooses incorrectly. Let's see how you fare."
It flies high up into the air at a 45-degree angle, making a direct course to end up a kilometer above the center of the desert town right next to where the residential housing is.
If it is planning what I think it is, all I can do is use every power within my means to stop it.
The closer to the town we get, the closer I get to catching up to the silver-orange streak in the sky, but our speed stats are nearly identical in our advanced forms. Even using lightning to shock its system hardly slows it down any more than it slows me to let out a charge.
All I'm able to do is try to catch up and think of a plan before it's too late.
Once it reaches its destination above the town, it comes to a halt, and I slice it in two right there in the sky.
However, it doesn't react at all. It just reforms its body and points its spear down at the ground.
"My final destination is below us. The Dark One has informed me that you have grown a liking to this town and its citizens. Along with that, your teammates that I had the pleasure of watching in the arena are down there too. You're the strongest fighter here, aren't you? It'd be a shame if I brought them into the fight, wouldn't it? How would they fare against my power?"
Its eyes glow orange and it points down at the town below us again.
"Your final decision must be made here and now. Submit to the power of the Dark One. Become a Dark Guard and be on the side of the army that rules the mortal world. Or, die failing to protect those below in a meaningless human struggle."
I channel Qi into my blade without thinking twice about its options.
As it rambled on about its great power, I came up with a last-ditch strategy that has a high potential of working.
A grin forms on my face while lunging forward, and our sword and spear collide in the open air again.
I allow the figure to thrust my sword down, and push me directly down toward the small town.
It dives toward me, sending off more ruthless attacks as we fall toward the people that have sworn their loyalty to me.
Our even-sided duel continues as we both rocket toward the ground.
Attacks of lightning and Qi blades slice it to pieces, and frozen metal shards of skin and flesh of my own are ejected to the sides. However, this time, the monster knows it is destined to win as soon as we hit the ground.
Its movements speed up, and it takes riskier spear strikes as it has nothing to lose.
"Victory is mine, it has been since the beginning. You have thrown away your life for nothing. It is a shame, you would have been a great asset to the Dark One."
We cross the halfway point. Now, we are less than 500 meters in the air.
From the town below, it looks as if a massive ball of fire is raining down from the sky.
I can sense everyone, especially in my Greater Form.
It is possible to see Abby in the guild hall, a large distortion of Qi with all my teammates below her, and roughly 140 residents all scattered within the housing area enjoying their first full day of freedom.
I whisper under my breath, "Not close enough yet..."
In the same moment, I send out an urgent message in a wave of telepathy to Abby and she hears my call immediately.
A burst of green light comes out of the guild hall, and many people in the streets begin to notice the second sun falling from the sky.
They begin to group together, and a massive circle of restoration erupts from Abby down below as she groups everyone together in the town square.
I continue to fend off the silver monster in the sky, but the waves of energy continue to blast off in many directions.
It speaks again as we both are sent flying faster downward after a powerful burst, now less than 200 meters above the ground.
"It's over... Look at that, they've all even come to watch your demise and end their own lives in the process. How pitiful."
It sends another heavy spear strike down at me, pushing me to fall faster while it is sent flying upward.
I fall within 100 meters of the town square while the Dark Guard hovers at almost 250 above the ground.
It charges up the point of its spear, and yells out while dive bombing toward me with the same emotionless gaze.
"Time to finish this."
I activate my newest perk from my Rising Emperor's Domain called [Power Holder] and reply.
"I agree. Let's finish this."
[Power Holder: Activated]
[10% Power Share: Receive]
[Select Party Members: ALL]
[Select Stat Points: ALL]
[Select Mana Control: ALL]
[Temporary Buffs Added!]
[+3,982] Strength
[+2,902] Speed
[+3,470] Agility
[+3,005] Defense
[+4,402] Mental Strength
[+3,568,290,446] Mana Control
An incredible surge of power floods in from below me, as I feel over 140 individual streams of dense mana instantly seep into my body.
All of my enchanted gear adapts to my new nearly doubled base stats, and my energy control improves by adding billions of MP worth of control to my efficiency. On top of that, the Greater Form I'm wielding applies these stats even more.
I take a deep breath and feel power surge through me like nothing I've ever felt.
I can see everything, feel everything, it's like I've temporarily ranked up again...
While enjoying this moment of bliss, I don't lose sight of the task at hand. I activate my lightning magic with every ounce of mana and strength I have left in me, shooting bright yellow and white tendrils of electricity out of me from all angles. They all close in on a single point high in the sky.
My enhanced perception watches the monster's silver skin vibrate and stir while I charge up my sword with every bit of Qi I can channel.
The horned beast falls down as I use wind magic to stop my fall less than 70 meters above the surface.
As we collide, dense waves of flames cloak the sword as I release it up at the paralyzed Dark Guard with genuine fear in its eyes for the first time.
The sky lights up with an incredible ball of fire, electricity, soul energy, and Qi.
Over 90% of the creature is destroyed instantaneously, incinerated on the spot. I allow for my lightning attack to be released from my body again, and use my enhanced perception to track its remaining fragments down and burn them away while I continuously restore my MP and Qi.
The tiny silver bits attempt to grow and reform, but the continuous shocks of electricity keep the fragments stunned in the sky until I can slice through each and every one.
I don't stop slashing away at them, plundering more mana from my storage and swallowing more Qi until I hear a series of notifications sound in my ear.
[Level Up] x138
[Use Absorption]
MCP: 389,550,246MP
[YES][NO]
[Use Absorption]
Stat: 1,921 Strength
[YES][NO]
A wave of satisfaction and relief washes over me as I reach level 1140 and press yes to absorb its strength and MCP.
I deactivate my Greater Form, and release the stat points and mana control I stole away from the townspeople below me, but my All-seeing Eye picks up on two high-level mana readings still in the sky.
One of them is the silver diamond-shaped spearhead that was on the tip of the Dark Guard's weapon, and the other is a large brown bird with a number 6 burning beneath its wing. It is flying away from the city in the direction of Sector 1.
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Author's Note:
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Thanks for reading:)
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