Bloodbane let out a guttural scream of pain, his monstrous form convulsing as he staggered backward, the wound in his chest gaping and oozing dark ichor. Arslan, his body battered and bruised, fell to the ground. He must have reached his limit. Bloodbane coated his hands with his blood, ready to finish him off.
I couldn’t let that happen.
Ignoring the burns covering my body and how much they hurt, I jumped on my feet. Before he could spray us with his blood, I swung my sword to his arm, cutting through his forearm with relative ease.
“G?kb?rü, take Arslan to safety!”
Just the shockwaves from our clash could hurt him badly if he were close to us, not to mention the heat. I used Frost Booster to offset some of the heat but it wasn’t enough. I really wanted to borrow Ice Wolf’s Breath from G?kb?rü but I was already borrowing 3 skills from him and all three were important.
Regeneration.
Combat Instinct.
Enhanced Senses.
All three were required if I wanted to duel against Hellbane.
“You think you can defeat me without my weapon?”
Bloodbane, his rage reaching a fever pitch, lunged forward with a primal roar, his unharmed arm poised to strike. I met his attack head-on, my sword flashing through the air as I parried his blows with precision and skill. I managed to get some shallow cuts in but his arm healed and now I had to worry about both of his arms. His claws and bony protrusion clad in fire and demonic energy pushed me back as I desperately tried to block them.
“What is this, Champion? Shouldn’t you be stronger? What happened to your voice? Come on, speak!”
Rather than answering him with words or attacks, I calmed my breath and focused on defending. With each strike, I could feel the weight of his immense strength bearing down on me, but I gritted my teeth, drawing upon every ounce of determination and resolve within me to hold my ground. The burns covering my body throbbed with agony, but I pushed the pain aside, channeling my focus into the rhythm of our battle.
“Woof.”
I sensed G?kb?rü enter my shadow. While just his presence gave me reassurance, I could feel that he also was on his limit.
(You are fighting together with your partner. Your stats increases by 10 percent.)
(Monstrous Strength is activated. Strength is increased by 35 for 165 seconds.)
(Ferocity of Wolf King is activated. Your speed and reflexes increases by 20 percent for 3 minutes.)
(Ferocity of Wolf King is activated. Your speed and reflexes increases by 20 percent for 3 minutes.)
(Ferocity of Wolf King is activated. Your speed and reflexes increases by 20 percent for 3 minutes.)
(Ferocity of Wolf King is activated. Your speed and reflexes increases by 20 percent for 3 minutes.)
(Ferocity of Wolf King is activated. Your speed and reflexes increases by 20 percent for 3 minutes.)
I rolled under his punch and slashed his chest. Before he could retaliate with an overhead punch, I spun and sidestepped, slashing his thigh while dodging. His regeneration was slowing down. While his initial healing was the fastest I have ever seen, it seemed like he wasn’t a marathon runner. His healing slowed down considerably as our battle continued. Its effectiveness was also on the lower end since he also couldn’t heal his chopped-off wing.
It is okay. I can do this.
I blocked several more punches and ducked under more while getting closer. My gaze met with his and I saw the malice and hatred he felt towards me. Even for me, who spent his entire life killing and fighting, it was rare to see that much killing intent in one’s eyes.
Well, he was about to hate me even more with what I was about to do.
I opened my mouth and spat all the blood and spit I had been collecting straight into his eyes. He blindly covered his eyes while stumbling back. Despite my pain and exhaustion, seeing a demon taken in surprise by a dirty trick made me chuckle. I thrust my weapon towards his throat but he managed to move his hand forward, my sword going straight through his arm but failing to reach his throat. I jumped on top of him, my right arm gripping the handle while my left grabbed the edge poking through his arm.
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“Fuck you, I am taking this.”
I pulled my sword from both ends.
“Bind!”
He shouted as demonic energy wrapped around me.
“I said fuck you, bitch!”
I pulled harder, severing the arm and flipping into the air and destroying the demonic energy trying to bind before I landed again. Hehe. My resistance and Unchained option of Wolf King’s Fang came in handy.
“Don’t get so cocky, mortal!”
Blood pouring out of his arm fused with demonic energy and formed tens of tendrils.
“G?kb?rü, get ready to use War Beast’s Howl.”
Time to wrap this up.
10 seconds.
War Beast’s Howl gave me ten seconds of Hyper Armor. While it didn’t make me immune to damage, it made sure that I didn’t get interrupted or stopped. If I used it at the right moment, I’ll win.
I charged forward, my leap creating a crater where I just stood. As Bloodbane''s tendrils surged towards me, I raised my sword blocking and parrying all of them without stopping or slowing down even for a second. I closed the distance between us in less than a breath. Hellbane extended his remaining arm towards me and I knew that he was ready to launch something. But out of nowhere, a spear pierced his arm with so much intensity that it was thrown to the side. I felt Aliera’s divine force on the spear but it wasn’t time to think about that. The tendrils I parried were returning back to Hellbane’s body. I had to be quick.
I thrust my sword through his throat at the same time G?kb?rü howled.
(War Beast’s Howl fills you with power. You gained Hyper Armor for 10 seconds. Your Strength and Agility increases by 10. Your weapons will carry small amounts of Aliera’s divine power.)
Tendrils pierced my back, trying to throw me off but my Hyper Armored state allowed me to stay on him and grab my sword with both of my hands.
“Bind! Bind! Bind!”
I tried to move my sword and sever his head clean off his body but the demonic energy wrapped around my arms and sword.
“I can’t! I won’t lose to a mortal!”
Motherfucker! Did the fear of death give him power? I couldn’t move my sword as the tendrils dug deep into my body.
“Kill, maim, burn! I won’t lose! Rodrick!!!”
Despite the agony threatening to overwhelm me, I gritted my teeth and focused on maintaining my grip on my sword, refusing to yield to the demon''s relentless assault. My vision blurred as the veins in my arms popped, I refused to surrender, drawing upon every ounce of strength and resilience within me to endure the pain and press forward.
“Why can’t you asshole just die!”
My vision cleared as Arslan’s roar filled my ears. One of his swords hit my sword, pushing it deeper. How? How did he manage-
Reckless Charge?
The skill I gave to him?
For some reason, a part of me was sure that it was Reckless Charge. Even though I had my reservations about giving him a dangerous skill, a part of me filled with pride. Arslan''s sudden intervention injected a surge of adrenaline into my veins, revitalizing my resolve as his sword collided with mine, driving it deeper into Bloodbane''s throat.
“Bind! Bind! Bind!”
The demonic energy binded Arslan’s body, squeezing him and causing both of us to stop. The demonic energy coursed through my body like searing fire and my blood caused my grip to weaken and I felt that we were about to lose.
“Roar!”
(You heard War Goddess Roar. Aliera’s divine power cleanses all of your debuffs. Your combat skills increases by 50 percent in effectiveness. Your Strength and Vitality increased by 30 percent.)
(You carry Aliera’s divine power. All stats increases by 5 more.)
The roar from an unknown person washed over us, cleansing our bodies of the demonic energy that bound us, a surge of strength and vitality coursed through my veins, revitalizing my weary muscles and fortifying my resolve. With newfound clarity and determination, I tightened my grip on my sword, channeling the divine energy imbued within it to bolster my attacks.
With a mighty roar, Arslan unleashed his full strength, his golden aura blazing with newfound intensity as he broke free from the demonic energy that bound him. Together, we pressed forward with renewed vigor, our combined strength pushed my sword deeper, managing to sever Hellbane’s head fully.
His body crumbled into black ash, leaving only his giant skull. Arslan stumbled, nearly falling but I stepped closer, stopping him from falling.
“Be careful where you are going kitty, you hit me.”
I gave him a smug smirk.
“You were the one who hit me, asshole.”
He retorted with a snarl. I ignored him and looked at the spear which fell when Hellbane’s body disappeared. Just by looking at it, I could tell that it was a high-ranked weapon. Who threw it? Who used War Goddess Roar?
“Stomp, stomp!”
The heavy pounding of the ground rang in my ears as if to answer my questions. I turned around to see horses bigger than I had ever seen in my previous life carrying armored warriors. A familiar face was with them, somewhat lessening my worry. They stopped in front of us and B?rü climbed off and ran towards Arslan, grabbing him.
“They helped me. If it wasn’t for them I would have died. Regal tricked me.”
B?rü explained though I was sure Arslan couldn’t hear him. He was holding on to his consciousness barely with willpower but seeing B?rü he probably let it go. Maybe he losing consciousness was for the better as he couldn’t see the fresh wound on B?rü’s chest wrapped in bloody bandages. I pulled a healing potion to drink himself and gave it to Arslan.
I turned towards the newcomers and noticed that not all of them were heavily armored. Some held staffs and were lightly equipped. However, regardless of how heavy or lightly they were armored, their armor looked feminine. It wasn’t like they exposed skin or were impractical yet they were made clearly to give the impression that a female was wearing them. The horses were another thing that caught my attention as they were incredibly muscular and their manes were braided into several shapes.
The one in front got off her horse with a trained agility and walked towards me. She was wearing armor I could best describe as “Roman”. She raised her hand, the spear that pierced Hellbane flying into it. For a second I was ready to fight but she slowly kneeled, letting go of her spear and shield on the ground. Others followed her example as she pulled her helmet off, revealing a beautiful woman in her mid-twenties with red hair. Several scars adorned her face yet it didn’t detract from her beauty.
“Commander of the first army Artemeni Stormspear and her warriors greet Champion of Aliera and Our King.”
Oh, boy. This will become very complicated.