Chapter 441

Chapter 441

The black helmet comes off, and underneath is nothing but a glowing orange, handsome man's face. It drops the helmet, letting it fall to the town below.

One by one, the large figure slowly takes off its gloves, boots, chestplate, and heavy leggings to reveal the shape of a bright orange form of energy in the shape of a 3-meter-tall man with short hair and smooth skin, still floating, moving toward me at a constant rate.

I do another full scan, now that I can see it clearly.

[Lv. 1082]

Active Items:

[NONE]

Active Skills:

[NONE]

Buffs:

[Curse of The Lich King]

Its status looks no different than any of the other Wraiths that attacked me moments ago. Even the Ghouls back in the Arena had the same status details.

The only difference is I can sense the intensity coming off of this soul energy is on a whole other level. It feels like the air pressure all around me has shifted, and I'm looking at a being that is far stronger than anything I've ever seen before.

The soul energy reading that came off of all its subordinates combined moments ago doesn't even compare to the strength of the energy flowing around this creature. It has a Soul Energy barrier surrounding every inch of its body, making it seem like it is a bright orange entity.

It comes closer and closer until the gap between us is less than 15 meters.

Then, speaks through the static telepathy link.

"I am on another level than those weak Wraiths, this heavy armor may improve their defenses, but it only slows me down. I told you already, you stand no chance. Give up now, or die trying. It's your choice."

I don't say a word, still analyzing the being in front of me, trying to figure out what exactly it is...

"Are you... a human?"

There's a slight pause, then the orange floating man clasps his hands together. They glow brighter orange, giving off a nearly yellow shine, then as he separates them, an incredibly large long sword materializes from thin air. It's well over half the man's body length, and almost 4 times as wide as my own sword.

It looks extremely heavy and awkward to wield, however, he swings it a few times through the air so fast it's hard to track and the graceful swings leave trails of orange energy in their wake that shimmer and linger in the air.

He replies to my question, and I see a black number 7 printed like a tattoo on his right wrist right where he holds the sword.

"This is my human form, yes. You know too little, and have stepped too far into the unknown to continue any further without proper guidance. The Dark One wishes to make you part of the Dark Guard. We needed a new number 13, but now it seems we need five more. Your friends in the arena will do just fine as substitutes."

He pauses, and the only thing that fills the open link between us is static.

"One last chance to comply, or your journey ends here and now."

A mind-bending wave of energy ripples out of the floating Dark Guard that feels like a natural aura version of my intimidation skill.

It makes me sweat and grit my teeth just bearing it, but I look him in the eyes while activating all my buffs and channeling Qi into my sword.

There is a positive note that follows this though, I believe I spotted a fatal weakness and plan to exploit it once I confirm its true.

Less than a minute pass as I fly away at my top speed, but the flash of light outpaces me easily.

Once the city is out of sight, I finally turn to face the creature again as it storms toward me with a focused gaze and glowing sword. I charge thousands of MP worth of fire magic into my blade to test my theory.

I swing it across my body, letting a crescent-shaped wave of dense flames fly through the air and collide with the Guard's sword.

As expected, its eyes track it perfectly, and its sword slashes upward to easily destroy the flames.

I get a telepathy link in a taunting tone.

"Giving up so soon? That must have been your weakest attack so far."

I smirk and activate my Red Hydra's Buff for a split second to send another crescent of energy its way.

The wave of fire ripples through the air, covered in a dense red aura of borrowed energy, but the same exact result follows this attack too.

The Dark Guard swings its bright orange sword through my attack and it's dispelled and evaporated with ease. This time, there are some resulting crackling reactions of Soul Energy, and a small amount manages to sizzle away its own, but the energy is replenished instantly and doesn't make a dent in its own Soul Energy stores.

"A little better, but is that all you've got? Your energy was rather strong when we started, I won't lie. Even your borrowed energy can't save you now. Did those two attacks really wear you down this much? So long, Flame Emperor."

I deactivate all my mana-based combat skills and focus on my Qi alone.

There is still one technique that I manage to awaken in my last few months inside the Titan's Domain.

These two tests confirm to me that its time for me to finally try it out.

I channel all of the Qi in my body into my sword, continuously replenishing my barrier from my core, and channeling more into the blade until it becomes oversaturated.

Held tight in both my hands is a sword glowing so white it is dripping with Qi. Every moment I waste staring down at it, there are large percentages of my core's enegy that fall away into the air.

I focus on my breathing and stare straight ahead at the incoming confident man.

I swing my sword across my body and let a crescent of pure condensed Qi erupt from my blade.

The contents of nearly my entire core are released from my sword's edge and rocket toward the glowing orange guard.

It takes less than a second to make contact, and my opponent doesn't even see it coming.

His eyes widen as I swing my blade, but the corners of his lips curve upward as he watches nothing come out.

Just like me back in Valor City, when I was relying on the Red Hydra's buff for all of my power, I could not sense the Qi in Monk's' attacks when we were fighting in the Arena for the first time.

Now, this ignorant warrior is learning that same lesson for himself.

My invisible attack slices through his left shoulder that isn't protected by a dense barrier of soul energy like his right holding the sword.

Moments later, his whole left arm slides off his body and falls down to the desert below.

The man's expression shifts to one of anger, but his forward momentum does not stop or slow at all despite his lost limb. The super charged blade of Soul Energy continues to swing downward directly at me.