439 Necromancer Vs. Capo 4
Volantis's energy readings showed that Nico's golden aura did not remain constant.
It ebbed and flowed chaotically. Though, Aldrich now realized, not as chaotically as he had assumed before. The flow of Nico's aura was contingent on whether he had that coin on him or not.
When Nico had the coin, his aura dimmed down. When he threw it and it was away from him, it rose back up. And when the aura was high around him, he had effective damage immunity on top of enhanced stats.
[Heart Hold] was not true Instant Death that killed no matter what. Very few spells were.
Rather, it was what Aldrich dubbed 'effective instant death'. It worked by dealing 100% of the target's maximum health in damage.
But if said target had a way to become completely immune to damage, revive, or have some form of stored health, then they could survive it.
It was why Nico had thrown his coin away from him when he saw Aldrich's [Heart Hold] ring in his danger instinct. He knew a life-threatening attack was coming, so he tossed his coin to make sure his aura was present around him.
This interaction with the Ivory Knight solidified Aldrich's analysis even more. Nico dodged attacks when he had the coin on him, but when he tossed it, he got laxer, and less jumpy.
Which meant that Aldrich had to kill Nico when his coin was on his body.
"[Invoke Deathborn: Pursuer]" chanted Aldrich, raising his right fist like a falconer. Smoky black claws ripped through space above his hand, and from that dimensional scar, the Pursuer crawled out.
It was a spectral creature made of half-necrotic flesh rippling with convulsing veins and half-dark, willowy smoke. Its limbs were long and gangly, ending in claws that reached out eagerly.
With a malformed featureless face showing nothing but an open maw of spiked red teeth, the Pursuer screeched as it perched atop Aldrich's hand, the end of its body forming into a serpentine mass of flesh and smoke that curled gently about Aldrich's arm.
"Take these." Aldrich cast [Heart Hold] and [Skeleteer's Mark], the Ascended version of [Bonebearing Curse] which forced units with bones under Aldrich's temporary command.
A wreathing of black and red tendril-like energy coated his hand.
The Ivory Knights, seeing their target stilled, battered him again and again with their greatswords but to no avail.
This situation was shitty, to say the very least. But there was a silver, or rather a golden lining: Nico had already thrown his coin away. He was, for all intents and purposes, invulnerable.
Not even the likes of Solomon Solar could dent him in this state.
All of a sudden, the knights stopped attacking, withdrawing and standing in ringed formation around Nico.
"Did you lose this?" Aldrich called out. He dispelled his [Hallowed Ground] and raised his hand, showcasing a shining golden finger in between his fingers.
"Wh-what!?" Nico stammered out. He could not move his face, but he could tilt his eyes up to see what was going on. He could have sworn he had thrown that coin far, far away when he shot it at the monstrosity that currently snaked around him.
At full force, too. With enough power to have sent it across the entire country.
"I knew you would throw this at my Pursuer. You react well to threats. So, I lined the Pursuer's descent up so that I was in the way behind it," said Aldrich. "Of course, you didn't assume I would catch it, did you? I will say, you've got quite the throwing arm."
Aldrich's armor was completely battered, large chunks of it twisted and torn back as if a massive shockwave had traveled through it. There were several strips of armor that had been completely eviscerated, revealing not human flesh underneath, but raw bone.
"What the hell...are you?" said Nico, eyes widening.
Aldrich flipped the coin with a resonating cling. It took an agonizingly slow arc down toward Nico's head. As it fell, he held his hand out. A beating red heart materialized in his palm.
"Death," said Aldrich. "To you. To your entire organization that tortured my parents to death. To the new world order you wanted. To everything you knew."
Nico's eyes were still wide when the coin landed on his forehead. The moment it did, his aura dimmed down, transferring to the coin instead.
Aldrich closed his fist, crushing the heart.
Nico managed a faint smile. A smile of acceptance. Of a fighter understanding he had been beaten. He closed his eyes as blood rippled out of his mouth, his heart stopping.
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