Standing at a stretch of about 40 meters, the elder glanced at us, waiting for any to attack him. There wasn't any lustre in his eyes, and neither they seem to be carrying any seriousness in them.
So, how do we survive? I contemplated this question. We can stall for time and wait to see if something will happen. Or perhaps we can just try to talk him out of this? Not the best solution, but it's not like we have a lot of alternatives to begin with.
Based on how much I have played this game, I knew fighting was inevitable. If we don't go at him, he will come at us. And as time passes, his attacks will get more lethal whether we do something or not.
As for fighting him, and the chances of winning against him. There were too many hurdles in that direction as well.
He had skills that increased his physical resistance, enough HP to last more than a day and, lastly, the regeneration skill to keep him in peak health even if do somehow damage him.
-Whoosh!
As I was planning my next move, I saw the Witch reaching the elder in an instant. Her attack patterns were the same, except that she was moving far more rapidly than before. For a moment, it did look like she had a chance against the elder, but if one examined carefully at their exchange, the elder was simply playing with her.
He was a skilled boss, unlike the witch with a simple attack pattern. Effortlessly dodging her attacks, he simply scanned her body for a few seconds before finding a proper point to counterattack.
-BAM!
And all it took was a single attack for the witch to be thrown back in my direction, where she tumbled and rolled until stopping 5 meters away from me. She was now surviving barely on 200 HP of the 500 she had before.
But still… Even though he looks strong, it doesn't seem like much of a problem. As long as he is programmed with some basic martial arts like judo, aikido, jiujutsu, or perhaps anything similar, it would be easy to counterattack him. I thought as I, myself, was well versed in a variety of martial arts, mostly aimed to break and kill the opponent.
I looked at the scythe that had fallen out of the Witch's hand and was now near my feet. For a few seconds, I looked at my own two weapons and then at the Scythe. Lastly, at the Witch, who could barely stand on her own two feet.
I wonder if we can use it? She is, after all, an ally in this quest. I thought as I picked up the scythe.
[Weapon: Silver Scythe
Status: Temporarily limited to the Quest Night of the New Moon
Attack: 250-300
Defence: 47
Additional Status:
-Causes the effect Darkness: Reduced the vision of the enemy by 50% for 3 seconds.
-3 times damage against Devilkins.
-Life Steal: Increases the life of the user by 1% of the total damage caused.
-Indestructible
-Soul bound: Will vanish once the character (Lerria Porti) dies
Durability: Infinite
Remarks: Created for the sole purpose of hunting the devilkins who destroyed her life. It is embedded with charms and magic, aimed at destroying everything in its path. But still… will it be enough to save her children, though?]
Nice! There doesn't seem to be any problem with my or anyone else using this. Hmmm… it should be enough to do at least some damage, right? I pondered looking at the high attack of the weapon.
Other than the problem of Resistance skills, Regeneration skills and High HP, there was also the level suppression factor. It's a good thing that the suppression was capped at 99%, with 1% of the attack still dealing damage no matter the difference in level. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to deal damage with this much difference.
Well. The best way to figure it out is to test it myself. I thought as I picked up the scythe and began moving towards the devilkin. The witch looked at me, confused, as I walked past her.
"Take a break. I'll take it from here," I said as I cracked my neck a little before moving closer to the devilkin.
…
Location: Rothrak Mansion
Because it was night time, where the difficulty spiked considerably within the game, most of the players, including Richard and Mary, returned to the real world.
But rather than going to their own room, they sat in the living room along with the other Rothraks that were watching the stream. Their eyes were glued to the screen as they watched Ezekiel move with the Witch's Scythe, going toe to toe with the devilkin, enough to challenge him just with raw skills.
They watched as the devilkin, who easily overpowered the Witch, struggled to make a move on Ezekiel. Even if there was a difference in stats, Ezekiel easily controlled the flow of the battle, making every turn in his favour.
At first, only those who played the game took interest in the stream, but as the battle continued with the Witch, and now the devilkin, nearly all the Rothraks, who were present within the mansion, were now watching it with intensity.
Some focused on Ezekiel's personal skills, his moves and his calculations. Others focused on his play style, wondering if they could copy it. Or at least half of it. As for Richard…
Perhaps the weapon was the way to win this quest? Even then, how can one figure that out in that situation in an instant? Richard was surprised to see Ezekiel's efficiency. His wits and ability to respond to the situation. He couldn't help but compare that to his own.
What would he have done at that point? If he were there, would he have tried to defeat the devil? Perhaps he would have simply killed the witch and taken the easy way out?
"He is even good with a scythe!" Richard's aunt, Silvia, was amazed once again. She looked at Ezekiel with an enchanted look, observing every move he was making, how he was making them, as he moved against the devil.
[Water7: Isn't he using the Scythe better than the Witch herself?!!]
[Livia01: Ezekiel: Let me show how it's done, peasants.]
[Armi907: Not just better, at this point I am wondering if the Scythe can even be wielded to this level of mastery?!]
[Rumi: Hehe, even the Scythe didn't know it could be wielded like this.]
[Mikasasa: Just who exactly is this guy in real life?]
[Jomama01: Perhaps a legendary assassin or a hidden master?]
[Milton: Perhaps a Reincarnator or a Regressor? Could be one of those aliens.]
[Jomama01: My father was a Regressor.]
[Anuna: Mine was an aggressor. He was very aggressive.]
[Minasotaro: Mine was a molester.]
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The comments drifted off to other topics while the Rothrak family watched Ezekiel fighting against that devil.
He slashed at perfect times, dodged in ways that seemed almost inhuman and was able to counter even the most absurd moves of the devilkin. And in doing all that, he was able to reduce the devilkin's health points at a rapid speed too.
The problem was that
-1HP -1HP -1HP -1HP -1HP -1HP -1HP -1HP….
It wasn't a lot.
And a few seconds later, when the HP was barely reduced by 500, the Boss healed himself back to peak health with no effort, wasting everything that Ezekiel had managed to do.
"It was a good fight, but it's impossible now," Niel Rothrak spoke, while the others simply watched the stream. It wasn't like they were having any different thoughts on the stream, but for now, they wanted to see the end results before reaching any conclusions of their own.
With a deep yawn, Silvia Rothrak stood up and stretched her arms. And then, as she took one more look at Ezekiel, who had chipped off another 100HP from the boss and how it healed back to peak once again, her interest once again reduced.
"Well, there is nothing that can be done now," she said in a definite tone, almost ready to leave the room.
[Mikasasa: It was a good fight, but I guess this is the most they can do.]
[Jomama01: Well, RIP Ezekiel, we love you.]
[Anatoki: He isn't dying for real but yeah, RIP Ezekiel.]
[Rumi: RIP Ezekiel]
The comments repeated the same thing.
Ezekiel then created a distance between the boss and himself before reaching the Witch. Blaze, Raven and Link were already there, ready to protect her in case a surprise attack came at her from another direction.
"There is nothing more we can do, huh?" Blaze spoke as he saw the Boss, once again at full HP, menacingly waiting for them. He couldn't help but look at the rewards once again before he smiled with a pained expression. Turning back to Ezekiel, he then added,
"Thank you, Sir Ezekiel. It was a wonderful time playing with you. Perhaps we can go on another adventure next time as well?"
Ezekiel, who seemed to be pondering something, turned to Blaze and answered,
"We can do that. But… about this boss… it's not a guaranteed trick, but… there is one thing I can try."
He spoke, turning the entire stream silent.
Silvia, who was ready to leave the room, paused. A spark entered her dulled eyes along with a smile that took shape at the corner of her lips. And as anticipation took over expression, she once again sat on the sofa, concentrating on the stream with curious eyes, just like everyone else in the room.