-Whoosh!
The dust storm rose silently, blocking my path, obstructing my vision. And relying on what was barely visible to me, I ran forward, and then in circles. Turning around once again, and dashing back to where I came from, I reached the devil, once again in attacking range, before I sighed and moved forward with no move made.
As long as the transformation phase lasts, any cut I make will have zero effect. Although it's regrettable, and kind of annoying that I will be losing a few more seconds, I decided not to worry about that and focus on what I can do.
It had already been 30 seconds, and the devilkin, which I predicted to be dead by now, was still alive because of the system rules that don't allow for the boss to take any damage during the in-between phases. I calmed myself thinking about the rewards, before focusing back on the task at hand.
Still feels shit, though. I thought as I increased my speed once again.
Taking one more heavy step, much more fiercely than last time, I increased my pace once more. Increased my strength once more.
It was a grave miscalculation. I sighed, as I hadn't properly considered the resilience of the boss. Or more like, I did that, but not to the point where I really needed to. If I were more precise in judging that, I would have been able to damage him from the start. Sad. Regrettable.
Faster!
-Step!
-100000 Stamina
[+ 10000 Agility for 10 seconds!]
Faster!
-Step!
-200000 Stamina
[+ 20000 Agility for 10 seconds!]
-Whoosh!
Faster!
The path vanished under the heavy dust, and I closed my eyes. Using the image and position of the demon where his body was before, I marked the location of the demon in my mind.
It should take a few more seconds before he gains back his true body and gets to the next phase. I sighed with lingering regret before deciding to wait for at least 10 seconds before making my strike.
Though as luck would have it, 4 seconds later…
"YOU VERMINS!!! I WILL KILL YOU ALL!!!" I heard a loud voice coming from the place where the demon was. Opening my eyes, I saw the deep red bar, signalling the completion of the phase, which put a smile on my face.
-Whoosh!
And then as I ran, reaching behind him, I jumped up in the air, flipping myself upside down, and then taking a striking position with the devil's neck right in front of me.
Everything slowed down in front of me as I looked at the weakest point of the devil. My eyes locked onto it before I took a deep breath.
"Not really," I answered him with a slight sigh, my inner annoyance seeping out in my words.
-SLASH!
-999999 HP!
A massive slash chipped off the demon's head, sending a wave at least dozens of meters ahead, cutting a dozen trees in the distance before it finally vanished. The flying neck made a small projectile motion in the air before falling on the ground in the distance.
The head rolled a bit more before reaching near the Witch's lap, as she sat there dumbfounded, looking at the dying devil, bewildered at what just happened.
"Wh… at?" Confused, the devil looked at the Witch in front of her.
"Huh?" Confused, the Witch looked at the devil in front of her.
And from a distance, as I landed on my two feet, rotating the scythe twice before placing its handle on my shoulder. My eyes observed the confused Witch with slight joy, and a smile formed on the corner of my lips as I finally completed this near impossible quest.
That's one thing off the checklist.
…
Location: Rothrak Mansion
A few seconds silence
And then…
[Ember11: D…DAAAAAAAMMMMMNNNNN!!!!!!]
[RifaTurn: WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! IS THIS FOR REAL?!!!!!]
[MikasaMah13: WHAT WAS THAT?!!!!]
[Potatochan006: 9999999999??????!!!!!!!]
[Comments +124,190]
[Live Views: 3,091,111]
The comment section buzzed with excitement as the viewers poured their feelings into words and blasted them into the comments. It was exciting. It was thrilling. It was crazy.
Something they had seen people doing only in movies through CGI was being done by a person in front of them. It was something that they could admire, something they could look up to, and most important of all, if they found the right method, it was something that they could do.
Though unlike the comment section, which was buzzing with activity, a pin-drop silence covered the living room of the Rothrak Mansion. After what they had just witnessed, nobody said a single word in the room.
It was impossible according to their calculations. It was unattainable, no matter how they looked at it. And then, right in front of their eyes, they were proved wrong. In the most extraordinary manner possible.
How did he do it? What did he do? Was it a skill? Was it some sort of special power? Will they be able to replicate what he did?
Dozens of questions were being repeated in everyone's mind over and over, as they saw the scene in front of them, recalling what had happened a few seconds ago. They were amazed by it, enthralled by it and, yeah, they were jealous of it.
Contradictory to the others in the room, Armeas Rothrak, the head of the family, looked at the scene with a blazing fire in his eyes. If it were possible, he would have run towards the boy on the screen, fighting and testing his skills against him.
"Bring me a headset. I will be joining this game as well," he said with a bright smile, looking forward to meeting this kid who can probably challenge him in ways that his children failed to do.
…
Location: River Front Girls Dorm, East River Front
Falling back on the bed, Aurora looked at the white ceiling, her eyes recalling what Ezekiel had just done? How Ezekiel had just done that.
It's… But no matter how she looked at it, she couldn't figure it out.
Words failed to describe her emotions right now. Just a few minutes ago she was comparing herself to him, thinking of ways of fighting against him. And now, she can't even imagine herself doing half of what he had done.
How foolish. With a slight embarrassed sigh, she first accepted that she had underestimated him.
He is skilled. And he knows way too much about the game than I do. It could either be a lucky [Class] or perhaps something else totally. Though… it shouldn't be impossible to attain either. She then began analyzing what just happened, her motivation slowly returning as she then stood back up.
Then there was his game sense, his battle sense, and the choices he made. She looked at the stream once again.
The iconic Ezekiel stood with a scythe in his hand while the dust storm surrounded him. The addition of the devil's headless body made it look even more cinematic than before.
If Aurora wanted to stand in front of a guy like this…
I should start learning more about the game first. She mumbled before continuing to look at the stream while opening another tab, this one of the main pages of Arcadia Online.
…
Location: Vincent Mansion, High Valley.
All right. It's best if I don't delay it any longer. Based on the map on the forum… It should take about 2 days to reach that settlement. Trisha decided looking at the stream, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
Based on her expertise, Ezekiel would continue to show better skills and go on even more adventures with time. Blaze, too, won't leave the party since Ezekiel is his star point of the stream, and Raven… there is a high chance she too would stay in the same party as them given the strong usually stays together.
She considered the pros of reaching them.
1. I will get to meet Raven.
2. I will get to be friends with her.
3. We can adventure together and have fun.
4. We can take fun pictures together.
And she then finalised her decision of going toward Inara settlement.
Her glistening eyes couldn't stop staring at the screen as they saw Ezekiel walking towards the Witch, his eyes looking at her with a calm expression.
My class should be useful for them as well. She thought before taking one more look at the Leaderboards that had changed a few seconds ago.
[Top Player Rankings]
Ezekiel - Level 19
Raven - Level 10
Blaze - Level 10
Link - Level 9
Ash - Level 7