"How much longer, Yuki!"
"Don't rush me! I need to focus"
"Yeah, Yeah..."
"If you have energy to give me lip, surely you can help with the evacuation"
"Nah I'm still recovering...."
Rei rested her head on Yuki shoulder
"..... Didn't anyone ever teach you to be considerate to the sick?"
"I thought idiots don't get sick"
"Comments like that are why you're still single"
Distracting himself from the scene unfolding before him, Arc concentrated more on his shadow warp, and the onis coming in from the other side
Some injured, some incapacitated— those types were gathered in a single location where they received healing from some prisoners with such skills.
"Very soon we'll be leaving this place, huh? I wonder what the world we're heading to will be like?"
[From the chain of events, it's another hellhole, probably]
"You can be so negative sometimes, I. I'm sure the next one will be a nice place"
[Y'know, for someone so knowledgeable, you can be quite dense sometimes.... But I guess that comes with stupidly believing in people]
"Huh? What do you mean?"
[Nothing]
I had already figured out Ragnarok's intention in letting him escape, but chose to keep quiet about it. After all, it's better for Lady Irene if he actually falls into despair and lets the system influence him.
"Oh my, no one told me we were having a party"
Arc recognized that voice instantly. His game face on, he turned to face Craig Ryder, who was smugly approaching them.
The onis weren't done assembling, but he can still maintain the portal and fight Craig. The problem was, a lot of the Onis were injured, fighting the hunter and defending his comrades at the same time would be difficult.
"Wow, so many of you.... No matter, Just a little extra elbow grease is all"
He drew his sword, ready for action
"Before we fight...."
"I have nothing to say to you, abomination"
"..... How can the government overlook something like this? How can you people support such injustice?!"
"What the hell are you on about"
"Hunters are supposed to protect the people—"
"—And that's exactly what we're doing"
"What?"
Arc muttered, unable to contain his fury.
How can he stand here and say that? After hunters stole the onis homes and subjected them to such cruelty?
"THIS PLACE IS PROOF THAT'S NOT TRUE!"
"You lost me, how's this different from what hunters do everyday? Using beasts and monsters to benefit the human race?"
"Demihumans aren't beasts or monsters! They are—"
"What? Do you think they are just like you and I, just because they're sentient? What a load of crap..."
Glaring at Arc with a cold, piercing gaze and an unnatural seriousness, different from anything he'd felt from the hunter before
"..... Their sentience makes them even more dangerous than beasts or monsters. They can trick us, trap us or even invade us. If I had my way, I'll wipe out every single fucking demihuman in existence...."
Taking a deep breath and switching to a smile, he concluded
"..... But we do need those healing potions, so you folks will be heading back to your cells"
"Sigh, I guess we'll never see eye to eye"
Arising from behind Arc were Yami and Alberto, both geared up for battle whereas Craig activated his unique skill, Holy Water
(Holy Water: Once this skill is activated, the user can only use water/liquid based attacks. His attacks gain a purification factor, allowing it to burn/corrode anything it touches that the user deems evil, and buff whatever the owner deems good. It's strength depends on the strength of the user)
"Holy? How? After all the things you've done.... How can that be your unique skill?! How that that be the identity of your ygg, of your soul?"
"While it's true that I'm no saint, among everyone in this room, I'm definitely the most holy. Prepare to fall to justice, abomination"
A person's unique skill reflects the identity of one's life and the type of person they are, so the fact Craig Ryder's unique skill was holy water, infuriated Arc to no extent
He was fully invested in this fight now
[What's this? What's this? A hotblooded battle between men! Fated rivals with a shared history, each itching to Duke it out. With their ideals on the line and grievances out in the air.... IT'S THE FINAL SHOWDOWN!!!!]
Someone sure is enjoying herself, though
[I'm sure Lady Irene agrees with me, this calls for something special!]
[EMERGENCY MISSION: DEFEAT CRAIG RYDER. REWARD: 3000 COINS, LEVEL INCREASE FROM 1 TO 3. PENALTY FOR FALIURE: BAN FROM THE OVERLORD SYSTEM FOR THREE DAYS]
"Geez, now I can't afford to lose..... Rei!"
"Yeah?"
"I'm going to give my all in attacking, so please defend the others for me"
"You got it!"
Slowly, the two contenders started approaching each other— the tension in the air so thick you could cut it with a knife, each watching what the other would do next
*DASH
And Craig made the first move, dashing in ambitiously to slice off his head with the first strike, but was flung into the air by Alberto
"Holy Liquid slash: DOZEN!!!"
"Alberto.... Defense form"
All twelve strikes made contact with the same spot in Alberto's thick skin, and managed to penetrate the serpent
"Impressive, you managed to cut through his skin, but...."
Alberto's wound started healing at a rapid rate, Craig seized this opportunity to take the initiative, but was intercepted by Yami
"Calm down, he's still inexperienced so he doesn't know how to utilize them to their max in combat. If you force each of them to a one-on-one fight, you have a chance. Individually, they are not that much stronger than I am so I can pull off a win if I fight strategically"
Those were the thoughts going through Craig's mind, but as he was about to clash with Yami, the scales tipped, and Craig found out just how wrong he was
"Boost, Yami X100"
*CRASH
With inhuman speed, Craig was swatted the wall by the amped up Yami, shattering a few bones
*KEUK
Getting on his feet, he witnessed as Alberto got boosted as well.
"What is this I feel?..... Fear? I'm....afraid?"
He looked at his shaking palm, then clenched it tightly
"Screw that, this is just another trial I have to overcome, there's no way I'll let myself lose here!..... AQUA ROBE!"
Reaffirming his resolve, Craig enveloped himself in a robe made of holy water, boosting his physical abilities to their limit
"HERE I COME!"
Blazing forth at near lightspeed, he faced off against the beasts, narrowly avoiding critical strikes and launching slashes like there was no tomorrow.
*BOOM
Using his sword to block the the direct drive from Alberto's head with it's entire weight behind it, he made a backflip and gazed at the Serpent who wasn't going to let him get away.
It was approaching him while he was airborne, this was the decisive moment! He couldn't dodge or block in his position, the only option left was to meet it head on with everything he's got
So if this is the moment that ends it all, I'll use my strongest attack
"This is do or die....."
His blade had a different glow to it as he assumed a mid-air stance, pouring a crazy amount of ygg into this single, final slash
".....HOLY STYLE: INFINITE SLASH!!!!!"
A single slash, carrying infinite small slashes, designed to annihilate anything with an infinite bombardment condensed into a single stroke. This was the pinnacle of Craig Ryder's skill, accumulated from years of hardwork and determination
"ARRRGGHHHHHHH..."
*Boing
But it bounced off of Alberto's skin like any other attack— The beast had been boosted to the point where he was invincible
*BOOOOOMMMMMM
Taking the full force of Alberto's head, Craig temporarily became one with the wall, coughing up so much blood as he fell to the ground.
But he did not give up, he stood back up again, futily charging the beasts
"If you think justice can be snuffed out so easily, you're—"
*CHOMP
"Huh?"
Looking over his left shoulder, he noticed something that was there a second ago was gone..... His brain processed the pain shortly after
"ARRRGGHHHHHHH, MY ARM!"
Blood gushing out of where is left arm used to be, and the two tier 9s moving in to finish the job, he knew it was over
"No..... I can't die like this! As the only surviving member if my class, I carry the hopes and dreams of all who went before me, I CAN'T LOSE! I CAN'T DIE!..... UNTIL I BECOME PALADIN!!!!!"
In his younger years, Craig Ryder was known as something of a genius— improving faster than everyone his age, but that was short-lived. He improved faster than anyone, and hit his limit before anyone. Quickly getting left in the dust by his peers, and narrowly managing to avoid deportation.
But this loss of talent didn't deter him, instead, he chose to work himself to the bone— training his technique, stamina and everything else he could, but none of that could make up for the sheer difference in power of those truly talented
He'd been through his fair share of hell, but managed to survive—whether he was lucky or not could be debated by whoever heard his story.....
But at that very moment the beasts closed in, he was undoubtedly lucky, no question. As though to make up for all the suffering he's endured in his life, a ray of hope shined on him
In order to bloom, there are three conditions that must be fulfilled— one, you must have reached the absolute limit of your potential. Two, you must see your life flashing before your eyes I.e. you are about to die. Third and most importantly, you must be incredibly lucky.
At that moment, the hunter known as Craig Ryder bloomed.