*BOOOOOOOOM*
The monster's sword slashed down violently as if it intended to split the atmosphere itself. Luckily, the sword didn't possess that level of power unless the monster charged it up. Arthur didn't wait to see the difference in damage either way as he jumped to the side.
A cloud of dust exploded upon contact with the ground and the monster's sword sunk deep into it. Using that opportunity, Arthur dashed to the side before he sent three of his arrows toward the monster.
Since the monster was rather slow in its movement, the arrows didn't find problems hitting their target. However, as Arthur expected, they bounced off its body and vanished. Looking at the Ethereal's health bar, he saw a small tick off.
'Oh! That did some damage! Good!' Although his arrows weren't able to penetrate, the hit still did make the health bar go down. That gave Arthur some hope that he was going to actually have a chance against it.
'If I just don't get hit then I should be fine. It doesn't seem to be that fast.' He thought to himself as he immediately dashed toward the monster with his sword ready for battle.
"Grrr!!!!" The monster roared loudly as its aura exploded everywhere, sending Arthur back a few feet. Then, the monster pulled its sword out and rushed toward the boy like a maddened beast.
The sword slashed toward Arthur. In a split second, the boy decided to deflect the attack and counter it with one of his own.
*CLANG*
Putting his sword up, he waited for impact. However, the moment he felt it, he realized how mistaken he was for doing that. An insane amount of power assaulted his arms out of nowhere as if he had been hit by a truck. His muscles contracted extremely fast as it tried to take in the chock.
'... What... the fuck?!!' He cursed as he tried to stand his ground. But, he was far too weak to do that and the monster forced him back a few feet before it swung again when it saw that his posture was broken.
'You have got to be kidding me!' Arthur clenched his teeth as he sent the remaining arrows forward quickly and then extended his clawed arm forward.
Luckily, his sanguine blade was able to activate its ability and gained him some health across the long battle but his stamina and mana were still a massive problem. Both regenerate really slowly and aren't big enough for a prolonged battle.
Looking at the monster's health bar while still fighting, he noticed that it was about to reach the 25% mark. That was the result of the chip damage he continuously took off the monster's health bar.
'Dammit, this is tough. Way harder than that Fetus Orc. It's not as fast, but its crushing strength more than compensates for that. My arms feel like soup.' He thought to himself as he clenched his sword as tightly as he could and deflected another attack with whatever strength he had left in him.
"Hah... Hah... You look horrible. Hahaha!" Laughing slowly, Arthur lifted his sword up again. "I don't know what you are and why you are still alive, but I'm not going to let you do whatever you want. I'm going to send you to your little dead friends."
Looking at the monster's shiny red eyes, Arthur tried to instill fear in it. Seeing its human enemy not falling down after such a long battle would surely affect the monster in some way. That is based on the presumption that this Ethereal being has no mind or consciousness.
However, Arthur immediately noticed the light in the monster's eyes change when he uttered those words. It was as if it understood what he was saying and the result of that was something that made Arthur's entire body freeze in its place like a statue.
The monster suddenly stopped its relentless attacks and jumped back a good distance. Then, it dropped the sword to the ground. Along with it, the monster's aura shifted almost instantly.
'Huh?' Arthur felt a cold sensation run through his entire body.
The Ethereal then lifted its hand up to face level before it suddenly grabbed its helmet tightly. The sound of the metal contorting under the immense grip echoed in the vast desert. The monster's hand kept gripping it harder and harder till eventually... the head erupted.
A fountain of blood and flesh exploded everywhere around it, showering the world with a red liquid. The sight was so gruesome that Arthur's stomach churned almost instantly when he saw it.
Then, it churned even more when he read the notification that appeared.
[Ding!]
[Phase 2 has been triggered.]