Chapter 167: The Superior Clone

It seems like the goal of the [Mad Rush] attack just now was simply to retrieve its weapon, so killing Stark was just a bonus to it.

Its silver armor was unscathed, and Stark could see that a giant hole had formed on the wall the guard hit, meaning that he could see another hallway from there.

'Need to do this quickly... if someone sees or hear the noises they could steal the key...'

But wait... wouldn't that mean a chance to kill and retrieve his map, as well as two rewards...?

'Hm...' Stark actually hesitated, but in the end it didn't matter as long as nobody showed up.

~THUMP~

The guard took another massive step, making Stark's body jump slightly because of the sheer force.

And then... it turned its pupils toward the spot the clones were supposed to be at.

"Krakr...?" for the first time it sounded confused, and its pupils widened, the aura around them faltering slightly.

"AURA SMASH... MERGE!" taking advantage of that small opportunity and time frame, Stark focused his aura on his right hand and began to summon the giant crimson fist.

The [Elite Guard] kept looking at 'THAT' thing for a few more seconds, almost if shocked. your chapter source MVL EMPYR

"Krakkark?," which roughly translated to, "What that is?" was what it said at that moment.

And then, if sensing something was wrong, it immediately began rushing toward it, knowing that it couldn't allow such a thing to transform.

"Not today, asshole, only five more seconds after all...!" Stark wouldn't let all his efforts go to waste, so he quickly finished charging up the [Aura Smash] and sent it toward the guard when it was only a few meters from reaching the clones.

~BOOOOM~

It could obviously dodge or at least deflect it under normal circumstances using its massive weapons or the [Chrono Dodge] skill, which Stark hadn't seen yet.

But... it's panicked state and rush in stopping the clones made it ignore its surroundings, resulting in the giant fist, much bigger than its head, hitting it straight on the chest sideways.

~FWISH, CRASH~

It was sent flying toward the wall right beside it, crashing into it and almost destroying it because of the sheer impact of the crimson aura.

"-58171!" the damage was still relatively low as to how much it would have dealt normally, but it was fine as it had stopped the guard from interrupting the clones' transformation.

"KRAAKKAKRKAKAK~" the elite guard roared so hard that the ceiling was shaking, and small debris kept falling all over.

Then... it dashed toward Stark and his clone, carrying both it's bloodied sword and the morning star.

"MORNING STAR'S DARKNESS!" it used one of its [Advanced] skills while rushing at them both, and suddenly...

~FWISH~

As if it was sucking up the darkness of the elite's eyes, the morning star grew in size, at least thrice as big as originally, now it was even bigger than the arm of the elite and five times as big as Stark' body.

Its silver spikes were also replaced by completely dark ones, emitting a very dark aura.

"K...KRKAKRA~!" even the guard seemed to struggle carrying it, so it just launched its sword at the two Stark.

~BOOOM~

The impact of the weapon exploded the floor, but the two easily avoided it as this attack was mostly just to get rid of the weapon.

"KRAAKKRKS~" the guard tried to carry the morning star, but actually grazed its own arm in the process.

"27291!" that weapon's damage was way too high, and now that it was bigger, faster and stronger, it would be more difficult to avoid it.

"Aura Smash... MERGE!"

"...?" Stark was confused as he wasn't the one that used this skill but... his clone?

He hadn't ordered it to, it was doing it on its own for some reason, and the smile on its face showed that it was confident in its abilities.

Frankly, Stark would expect that thing to explode in its face, but who knows, maybe it got strong to be able to master it...?

After managing to put the giant handle of the dark morning star between both its hands, the elite guard smirked behind its helmet.

It was carrying it like a baseball bat, but oh well...

And then...

"CRITICAL HIT SPIN!" it used another one of its [Advanced Skills], this one not stronger than [Morning Star's Darkness], yet when paired together... they became deadly.

And so, Stark and his [Superior Clone] got ready to deal with that guard.