Chapter 474

Chapter 474

The orange soul energy spreads from its eyes to surround its entire body.

Its three horns atop its head grow larger and begin to turn into a shimmering orange metallic color.

The creature's eyes look sharper, and I can tell that it is now operating on a whole new level that just fractions of a second ago...

The attack I threw at its base form, hoping to incinerate it to pieces, collides with the outer layer of its orange shielding, and an eruption of black fire, orange soul energy, and white Qi disperses from the attack.

My ultimate strike manages to slice through its shielding, but large amounts of its firepower are blasted away.

Less than half of the attack even makes it through to make contact with the monster itself. An impressive wound still rips the horned beast in half, disintegrating most of its left side, but this is far from what I was hoping to see.

Even a direct hit in its most vulnerable position using my most powerful attack is not going to be enough to kill this monster.

It immediately heals and thrusts its spear forward at me with far greater strength and speed than it did in our exchanges before. The orange energy from the Lich King is boosting its natural strength and energy control by at least two times.

It's clear it was holding back before because it believed I wasn't capable of dealing any real damage to its body, but now it's getting serious.

Its spear tip collides with my Greater Form's sword, and the energies that collide make a shockwave of energy that spreads through what's left of the melted sand all around us.

It pushes forward, staring at me with its emotionless gaze while my shadow manifested form's twisting face emotionlessly stares back at it.

We don't move for a full second, both stuck in place pushing our power against the other with equal force. Eventually, the force builds up too great, and we're both propelled backward.

The bottoms of my mana manifested boots grip the glass shards, rocks, and sand of the desert, activating wind magic to keep myself upright and facing forward. The horned creature digs its feet into the ground too, staring ahead and staying on guard.

I decide to speak up for the first time in our fight, replying to its earlier nonsense with my [Screech] skill to project my voice across the battlefield.

"Looks like you're just as weak as this puny human, even borrowing power from your lord. I thought you said you could defeat me while keeping the Dark One's soul energy dormant, what happened to that resolve?"

Its grip tightens, and it lunges forward again.

"There will be no one left to witness this scene. The Dark One has ordered me to dispose of you, and I shall do it by any means necessary now."

It thrusts its spear straight at the center of my head, and I swing up my sword to block.

We bounce from each other in an energy-filled clash again, but the monster jumps back in at me without missing a beat.

Over and over, switching positions like a machine; it aims for my heart, head, and back. However, I endure and stay focused.Updated from n0velbIn.(c)o/m

Once I've figured out its attack pattern, I begin launching counters of my own.

Its two weaknesses I know of are lightning to stun it, and Qi to actually damage it.

I alternate between the two whenever I get the chance. I shock it time and time again whenever it gets near, and manage to land a few hits with my Greater Form's blade imbued with Qi, but it doesn't seem to mind these minor attacks.

It takes my sword slashes head-on, hardly trying to dodge, mostly just continuing to thrust its spear forward to aim for my vitals with unyielding accuracy and vigor.

I land over 15 solid hits, and shock it senseless with lightning over 20 times, but it keeps coming back for more not changing its strategy at all nor slowing its movements in the slightest.

Then, just as I get comfortable with its rhythmic attacks, and start to prepare for getting into position to send off another one of my major strikes; something changes. Its attack pattern shifts, and its spear tilts downward mid-strike.

It doesn't aim for my chest, but rather thrusts its spear into my upper thigh.

In doing so, it leaves its head wide open and I cut it clean off, even landing a second slash as I pull my sword back to cut through its torso and slice it into 3 pieces.

However, as I lunge back and it reforms, I feel a cold sensation creeping up my right leg.

Even though it stabbed right through my Greater Form's body, the damage from the attack still carries over to my real body inside the Greater form.

I feel my right quad muscles tightening up, and it becomes harder to step forward. My skin and muscles are quickly turning into the silvery icy mass just like it did before when it attacked me in mid-air in my base form.

Right now, I have no time to amputate and reform my entire limb, so I'm going to have to think of something else fast.

The Dark Guard flies forward at me again, now aiming for my heart and I barely block its incoming blow. We both fly back and it attacks my head, then back, then resets to do everything again as I continuously block its strikes.

Meanwhile, the silver ice spreads deeper into my leg.

Only one possible solution comes to mind.

I activate my mana manipulation skill, and create a barrier of pink energy beneath the infected area of skin. Without hesitation for even a fraction of a second, I tear away a chunk of my leg and propel it away from me, then use self-regeneration to stop the bleeding and restore my ripped-up muscles.

A bloody shard of flesh that hardens into a frozen crystal of silver metal shatters as it hits the desert floor beside me.

At the same time, I block another barrage of the ruthless monster's attacks.

We go on for almost a full minute, tearing up the desert, creating paths of glass and craters deep enough to build small settlements inside.

Hundreds of sword-on-spear collisions go by, over a million MP worth of mana crystals are absorbed from my item storage, and virtually no progress has been made on my end.

I land plenty of blows after powerful lightning strikes, but it heals instantly and it seemingly doesn't affect it whatsoever. Every few dozen attacks, it manages to hit my arm or leg with its spear as well.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

I continue to fend off the silver monster in the sky, but the waves of energy continue to blast off in many directions.

It speaks again as we both are sent flying faster downward after a powerful burst, now less than 200 meters above the ground.

"It's over... Look at that, they've all even come to watch your demise and end their own lives in the process. How pitiful."

It sends another heavy spear strike down at me, pushing me to fall faster while it is sent flying upward.

I fall within 100 meters of the town square while the Dark Guard hovers at almost 250 above the ground.

It charges up the point of its spear, and yells out while dive bombing toward me with the same emotionless gaze.

"Time to finish this."

I activate my newest perk from my Rising Emperor's Domain called [Power Holder] and reply.

"I agree. Let's finish this."

[Power Holder: Activated]

[10% Power Share: Receive]

[Select Party Members: ALL]

[Select Stat Points: ALL]

[Select Mana Control: ALL]

[Temporary Buffs Added!]

[+3,982] Strength

[+2,902] Speed

[+3,470] Agility

[+3,005] Defense

[+4,402] Mental Strength

[+3,568,290,446] Mana Control

An incredible surge of power floods in from below me, as I feel over 140 individual streams of dense mana instantly seep into my body.

All of my enchanted gear adapts to my new nearly doubled base stats, and my energy control improves by adding billions of MP worth of control to my efficiency. On top of that, the Greater Form I'm wielding applies these stats even more.

I take a deep breath and feel power surge through me like nothing I've ever felt.

I can see everything, feel everything, it's like I've temporarily ranked up again...

While enjoying this moment of bliss, I don't lose sight of the task at hand. I activate my lightning magic with every ounce of mana and strength I have left in me, shooting bright yellow and white tendrils of electricity out of me from all angles. They all close in on a single point high in the sky.

My enhanced perception watches the monster's silver skin vibrate and stir while I charge up my sword with every bit of Qi I can channel.

The horned beast falls down as I use wind magic to stop my fall less than 70 meters above the surface.

As we collide, dense waves of flames cloak the sword as I release it up at the paralyzed Dark Guard with genuine fear in its eyes for the first time.

The sky lights up with an incredible ball of fire, electricity, soul energy, and Qi.

Over 90% of the creature is destroyed instantaneously, incinerated on the spot. I allow for my lightning attack to be released from my body again, and use my enhanced perception to track its remaining fragments down and burn them away while I continuously restore my MP and Qi.

The tiny silver bits attempt to grow and reform, but the continuous shocks of electricity keep the fragments stunned in the sky until I can slice through each and every one.

I don't stop slashing away at them, plundering more mana from my storage and swallowing more Qi until I hear a series of notifications sound in my ear.

[Level Up] x138

[Use Absorption]

MCP: 389,550,246MP

[YES][NO]

[Use Absorption]

Stat: 1,921 Strength

[YES][NO]

A wave of satisfaction and relief washes over me as I reach level 1140 and press yes to absorb its strength and MCP.

I deactivate my Greater Form, and release the stat points and mana control I stole away from the townspeople below me, but my All-seeing Eye picks up on two high-level mana readings still in the sky.

One of them is the silver diamond-shaped spearhead that was on the tip of the Dark Guard's weapon, and the other is a large brown bird with a number 6 burning beneath its wing. It is flying away from the city in the direction of Sector 1.