Re: Player

-Slash!

-Clang!

Unlike the dark aura before, now Harik contained a silver aura in his attacks. His eyes, which were berserk before, were now focused as he tried to find an opening to attack me.

"And you are telling me this was a farmer before?" I was genuinely surprised at that information. I thought, maybe he was strong before because of that corrupted aura or whatever, but now looking at him calculating every move of his.

"!!" His eyes widened a little at the mention of his profession before he gripped his sword more firmly and then moved in to attack me again.

-Clang!

A heavy swing from above, which was easy to block and parried. The force of his own attack pushed him back a little before he took a stance and moved in for a slash from my left side.

Well, he got skills, but only the basics. Perhaps he had a tutor or something, or he picked up sword-fighting in his free time? Never too bad to do a side quest.

Anyway, I saw his attack coming at me from right and using the tip of my sword; I positioned it as such that it collided against his broadsword's edge, stopping its momentum completely.

"Since you are so determined to save your wife, I am a little curious. How are you going to fight against all those gods and angels when you can't even defeat me?" I asked as I pushed back a little, before taking one step towards him.

Though shaken, he gripped his sword again and attacked me from right this time.

Using a simple stroke, I parried his attack again, pushing him back one more step. And I took one more step towards him.

-CLANG!

-CLANG!

-CLANG!

-Thud!

I saw him stumbling on his feet and falling on his butt as he looked at me, just like before, with a narrowed expression, with an undying will and hope in those eyes.

"Why don't you give up? You are only throwing away your life," I warned him as I understood it was quite vain to try what he was doing.

Rather than being afraid, he stood up again as he spoke," what kind of husband would I be, if I don't even put my life on the line for her?"

And a wide smile appeared on my face as I then spoke," is that so? Let's see if you have the power to back those words."

I spoke as I changed my stance from defense to attack.

Meanwhile, he changed his form as two wings appeared from his back, and his powers increased exponentially.

[One Way Out: Agility Boosted!]

-Slash!

-Clank!

Reaching him in an instant, I aimed for his lower neck from the right side. Though using his sword, he barely saved himself as he used all his powers.

-BOOOM!!!

And then I kicked him in his guts, pushing him to the far end of the hall, hitting the throne as it crumbled. Meanwhile, his body fell on the throne, covered in black gooey blood that mostly came from his mouth that he spat out.

"Is that all? Such weakness after all that grand talk," unamused, I looked at him with a rather bored face. At least show me some Main Character behavior.

Though he then slowly got up from the throne, using all his energy. And slowly, as his body healed, he wiped the black blood from his lips and looked at me with the same focused look.

-Whoosh!

-Clang!

And once again, he rushed at me at a fast speed, using all he could muster.

"It's getting a bit boring, you know?" I parried his attack, dodged, and then pushed him away. But then he stood up again with the same tenacity.

His patterns were easy to figure out. His power didn't amount to much, while his skills were barely passable. I want to help him out, but… I am not going to carry him.

-BOOM!!

I once again kicked him away from me, now wondering about other ways to gather information. We have already been fighting non-stop for 5 minutes and even with all the power he was using, I could easily stop him without even using my skills.

"Got you," he then finally spoke after a long time. I wonder what he meant before I sensed something above me.

My eyes widened a little, as a smile began to shape on my face. Yes! This is what I was talking about.

Above me was a huge golden circle made up of strange arrays that I had never seen before. It contained strong power. About 100 times more than what Harik should have been able to muster.

How did he do it? When did he do it? Why didn't I notice it before? How can there be so much power? Where did all that power come from?

My mind buzzed excitedly with all the questions as I observed the array above me. But if I don't do something about it and simply die, I don't think I can get my answers. So, for now, let's focus on survival.

[One Way Out: Constitution Boosted!]

[Blessed Life!]

[Perfect Body!]

[Rapid Regeneration!]

[One with Body!]

[Armored Defense!]

[Nullify!]

[Protection!]

[Greater Protection!]

[Dimensional Shield!]

.

.

I kept using all the [Constitution] and [Defense] based skills one over the other, increasing my defense as much as I could.

"You see… You shouldn't be underestimating me too much." There was finally a smile on Harik's face as he looked at me, cherishing this moment.

-BOOOM!!!!!!

And a loud bang occurred as I stood there, taking all the damage from that attack. While I could have dodged it, if I end up surviving this attack, the impact would be much more.

Though will I be able to?

[-3000 HP!]

[-3000 HP!]

[-5000 HP!]

[-10,000 HP!]

[-10,000 HP!]

[-10,000 HP!]

.

.

.

.

Within a fraction of a second, I lost all my HP from that attack. The attack still continued for a few moments before it ended, while leaving me in a rather weakened state.

[HP: 34/1,000,000,000]

But I was still alive.

Because of the attack, dust and debris surrounded everything. And they probably can't even sense me, given the state I am in right now.

So before, they could see me.

[Purify (Legendary)!]

[+7,000,000 HP!]