"Werewolf (Lord) (male), name: Unnamed, level 57, HP: 9520/13942, MP: 5284/5284, Stamina: 18084/30050, Strength: 32305, Defense: 15062, Speed: 12042, Energy: 59.37% (485819323/818310321 units), Skill Points: 0.
List of skills:
Titles:
"It's much stronger than me." Sapphire clicked her tongue. "But," she sighed, "that's where the fun begins."
She launched herself from the pole towards the Werewolf. It swung it's arm in a wide arc to hit her midair, but she dodged by using Shadow Movement, appearing behind him and landing an Electric Attack at its nape. It let out a slight growl of frustration from missing, not even bothering to acknowledge the attack.
It's stats and skills were no joke, Sapphire thought as she realised the attack did nothing.
Right after Sapphire attacked it the Werewolf spun around and slammed it's arm towards, managing to only hit air. Sapphire barely managed to get away in time, using Shadow Movement to launch herself towards a nearby roof. She let her hat and cloak be absorbed by the shadows to able to move more freely. Her new outfit did make her movements easier, but her cloak and hat were not part of it, the reason they were just as troublesome as they used to be.
Launching herself off the roof she lunged at the Werewolf, spinning midair and drawing her katana. She used a Shadow Slash as the Werewolf swing it's arm towards her, slicing off its arm and landing on the roof on the opposite side.
She smirked and prepared to attack again, but when she looked up the Werewolf's arm was regenerating slowly. While she did use appraisal on it and saw it's skills, one skill missed her eyes earlier, brought to her attention by its regeneration. The Krystallite skill, the same one she possessed, along with the same title.
The Werewolf howled loudly, using it's alpha howl. Sapphire answered with her howl, supported by Winter's. Taking in a deep breath Sapphire activated all her boosts at once, knowing if she held back she might not even last long.
"Midnight wolf (Swashbuckler) (female), name: Sapphire, level 47, HP: 15022/15022, MP: 19304/19863, Stamina: 22138/22822, Strength: 17832, Defense: 9332, Speed: 19168, Energy: 99.1% (20000000/20180708 units)."
The stat increase is much less than before. Sapphire's eyes widened as the realisation hit her.
The Werewolf hammered where Sapphire stood with both of its hands, smashing through the house entirely, failing to hit her as she escaped with Shadow Movement.
Appraisal, why didn't my stats boost like last time? Sapphire questioned.
"Effectiveness of skills reduced under the effect of the title
"Doesn't matter, I am enough for you as I am," Sapphire growled as she turned her attention back to the Werewolf, having escaped it's notice due to her Elude skill.
The Werewolf swung it's arm towards as it heard her growl, smashing through the house. Jumping over it the she sliced it before summoning a vertical dimensional platform. She pushed herself off the platform towards the Werewolf at lightning speed with a technique she named 'Shadow Lunge'. She slashed the Werewolf by its neck, landing a hit but not precise enough. It's neck healed quickly, it's arm also having healed already.
Clicking her tongue Sapphire launched herself off the house again, getting hit by the Werewolf's arm even though it stood where it did before, not moved an inch. Hallucination, Sapphire sighed as she crashed into a building, smashing through it entirely.
"HP: 120/15022," Appraisal Warned.
"My HP reaching even zero won't kill me, but the same goes for it." Sapphire growled between her panting. "How about we go all out?" She offered, crushing a concrete part of the house under her left hand.
Getting up she charged towards the Werewolf. It smashed both it's hands down at her, but she rushed past them with a Shadow Lunge right to its feet. Spinning on her heel she slashed both its feet and slid to a stop behind the Werewolf, lunging right to a house as the Werewolf fell to it's knees.
Launching herself off the house she slashed the Werewolf by its right shoulder, it's right arm hanging dead just as she did, having cut through its muscles. She continued to slash it all over its body as she lunged between the houses, but it continued to regenerate. While she knew it would regenerate any damage she could deal as she was a krystallite too, she didn't know to kill it.
"Destroy the crystal core in a Krystallite's body to kill it," Appraisal informed.
Finding the core is the hard part though. Sapphire smiled, launching herself towards the Werewolf.
This time she charged her Shadow Slash with some energy, giving it a slight blue tone. The slash amputated the Werewolf's right arm as it lunged past it, the cut off limb falling to the ground. Roaring in anger the Werewolf pounced towards the building Sapphire landed on. She dodged in time thanks to Shadow Movement but the house got crushed under the Werewolf's massive body.
Getting right back up the Werewolf charged at Sapphire again, hammering at the house she stood on. She dodged again with Shadow Movement, but that house also got reduced to debris. It continued to smash houses and toss the debris around as it chased after her, getting closer to hitting her everytime.
Sapphire figured it started realising her pattern of dodging and begun adapting to it. When it attacked again she used Shadow Lunge to get behind it, but the Werewolf turned in an instant and smashed it's arm into her, sending her flying through a house and crashing into another. The first house got a hole punched in it while the other collapsed completely. The Werewolf ran towards her, charging through the first house. Sapphire attempted to get back, forcing herself to her feet, but even she realised she wouldn't be able to in time.
"Ice Age!" Winter screamed as she activated her Glacial spell she was working on this entire fight. A large area centered around her instantly turned to ice, encasing the Werewolf in a large block of it. Winter landed on the frozen Werewolf and started preparing her one-hit kill glacial spell. "Just wait long enough," Winter panted. Three magic circles appeared in front of her fingers as she pointed two of them at the Werewolf, the ice under her hand cracking.
Sapphire noticed the slight crack appearing in the ice as she slowly got up. "Winter! Get away! NOW!" Sapphire ordered, the urgency easy to sense.
Noticing the crack too Winter jumped off the Werewolf just as the ice shattered and it broke free, instantly swinging towards her. It's arm stopped just before hitting Winter as she landed on a house.
"RUN!" Sapphire ordered, struggling to keep the Werewolf locked in place.
Sapphire barely stopped the Werewolf's arm with 'Shadow Manipulation: Shadow Chains', before it hit Winter, and possibly killed her. Sapphire felt the pressure lessen but failed to dodge in time as the Werewolf charged towards her. It slammed its right arm into her sending her flying far away and through multiple houses.
Sapphire got up faster this time, forcing herself through the pain, knowing there was nothing she could do except fight or die, and she chose to fight so she planned to see it through. Her entire body was covered in blood and dust from the demolished buildings and the many cuts, mostly due to the debris.
Sapphire panted loudly, forcing herself to not pass out from the pain. She heard the loud thuds as the Werewolf again came charging towards her, intent on finishing her before she again got battle ready. Sapphire's pained look faded as she smiled at her impending death.
"You can smash things quite well, now let's see how well you dance," She laughed. Blue lines shot through her entire body, a blue aura enveloping her as she smiled maniacally, ready to engage the Werewolf head on.
As it got to her and smashed it's hands down on her she dodged to the side, just enough to dodge the attack and slashed it's arms with her katana. The Werewolf forced it's arm towards Sapphire, dragging then towards her, but she dodged it, appearing behind him and slashing at the back of its neck, teleporting to a nearby house near instantly.
"Is that all you can do? Come now! Dance!" Sapphire mocked.
The Werewolf snarled in rage and lunged at her. She kicked off the roof and launched herself off a dimensional platform, slicing the Werewolf's head right off, though even that didn't kill it. The Werewolf continued to attack even without it's head, it's movements a lot more on instinct however.
"Shadow Play," Sapphire called out, summoning five Shadow Warriors. Holding her katana tightly she prepared an all out attack. "Shadow Sword style: Fleeting Lights."
Sapphire and the five other shadows instantly lunged at the Werewolf from different directions, slashing it one after the other in precise and planned out patterns. They continued slashing the Werewolf, slowly chipping away at its energy, changing their positions and moving around to not get hit.
The Werewolf continued taking heavy damage, its regeneration slowing significantly, while Sapphire got more pumped with every slash. The Werewolf roared loud, paralyzing Sapphire and the five Shadows. It slammed its fists on the ground, creating a shockwave and destroying the five Shadows along with sending Sapphire flying through a pile of debris, formerly a house.
She rolled back on her feet and slashed upwards with her katana, cutting a large piece of debris in half before it hit her. She lunged right towards the Werewolf again, hoping to not give it any time, but it already managed to regenerate, red lines visible throughout its body.
"You are serious now?" Sapphire questioned, stopping abruptly in her tracks.
The Werewolf growled loudly towards her and charged at her.
"Bring it!" She exclaimed, launching herself ahead.
The Werewolf punched at her with a charged attack, she deflected it with a Shadow Slash and shot a Shadow Pulse at the Werewolf, causing it to stumble backwards. The Werewolf slashed at her with its other arm, but she spun around as she stepped backwards, dodging the attack and slicing it's arm off with a Shadow Slash. The Werewolf slammed its head on the ground forcing her to jump backwards to dodge.
Not letting up the Werewolf lunged at her, hitting her with its head and launching her further back, just enough for its arm to reach her as it swung it in a long arc. Sapphire raised her katana to her side and created a barrier, softening the blow but still being launched away from the tremendous force behind it. Bouncing off the ground she rolled to her feet and slid to a stop, launching herself back towards the Werewolf right after.
It shot a fireball towards her from its jaws, which she answered to with a Shadow Pulse, both colliding and exploding, creating a smokescreen between the two. Sapphire charged right ahead and slashed with a Shadow Slash that collided with the Werewolf's claws and both stopped, dissipating the smoke from the impact.
The Werewolf slashed at her again with its free arm, this time landing a hit and tossing her through a building. Sapphire landed on the roof of the house behind it, regaining her balance. The Werewolf slammed through the first building and jumped at her. Jumping in the air and dodging through its claws Sapphire kicked it with a charged attack, sending it smashing through a few houses. Sapphire charged a strong Shadow Pulse mixed with a Raging Infernal Breath attack, shooting it towards the Werewolf before it could get back up, causing a large explosion.
"Are you already done?" Sapphire shouted at it. "A truly unsightly performance."
The Werewolf charged through the smoke of the explosion towards her, its claws bared and eyes narrowed.
"Yes! Bring it! Dance more!" Sapphire laughed.
The Werewolf jumped in the air, both its fists covered in a red aura. It brought them down hammering towards Sapphire as she brought her katana behind her, blue lines glowing bright in it as a Shadow Slash formed on it. She slashed upwards with her katana from just as the Werewolf hammered down, the impact knocking them both away.
Both of them got back up quickly, charging back towards each other. Planting its feet in the ground the Werewolf slashed at her again, not planning to be pushed away another time. Sapphire did the same, using her Shadow Manipulation to keep her smaller and lighter body in place. The two of them exchanged blows one after the other, deflecting each other's hits and taking some hits every so often.
Bringing her katana behind herself Sapphire charged it for a final attack and swung it with all her force towards the Werewolf. The Werewolf smashed down with both its claws, being knocked away from her slash regardless. It went crashing far through multiple houses and buildings, tumbling through them as it's destroyed arms slowly regenerated.
Sapphire smiled and took a step in its direction, falling to the ground just as she did. Her expression changed to one of shock and confusion right before the pain and fatigue from the entire fight shot through her body at once, her eyes widening in pain. She realised from a look at her arm that her power boost wore out, along with her energy having ran out from her constant use of it.
"Level 47, HP: 1/7631, MP: 0/8988, Stamina: 2/11581, Strength: 6044 Defense: 4726, Speed: 7827, Energy: 0% (13/20180708 units)."
"I am not done yet, no way am I losing this." Sapphire grunted as she attempted to push herself back to her feet.
The Werewolf charged towards her, the look of triumph clear on its face the moment it saw Sapphire lying on the ground. Sapphire gritted her teeth trying to get up, but failed no matter how much she tries. Several icicles embedded themselves in the Werewolf's hide, not even making it flinch. Winter landed beside Sapphire and attempted to carry her away, but she arrived too late. The Werewolf smashed down at them with both its fists as Winter covered Sapphire.
"Tsuki Kenjutsu: Ni no kata, Kodokuna Tsuki." A soft and quiet voice spoke from near them.
Several white crescent slashes appeared around them within a heartbeat, slashing the Werewolf's arms and body and causing it to stumble backwards. Sapphire and Winter both wore a look of shock at the attack. From what they could tell it was easily six slashes within a heartbeat, precise slashes serving as a shield to block attacks from all directions. The two looked to their protector, their eyes widening as they realised who it was.
The Empress. Sapphire gasped in her mind, not being able to speak from exhaustion.
"That was certainly a close call for you, who would have expected you to be fighting against an abomination like that." A familiar voice laughed from behind, which Sapphire instantly recognised. She attempted to turn towards it but was stopped by the pain with a wince. "Don't push yourself," Kurai adviced, "lie down and rest, leave it to Kesshō for now."
Kurai gently patted Sapphire's head, crouching down beside her. Kesshō nodded and drew her katana again, pointing it at the Werewolf. Sapphire noticed her breathing, which seemed to have some rhythm to it, which she couldn't catch fast enough, but could tell was something important to her sword style.
Sapphire pitied the Werewolf for having to go up against Kesshō when it could barely keep up with her, but she did look forward to how poorly it would perform against her.