[Altair Brando]
I advanced toward the Berserker while raising my hand.
"Ruyi Jingu!" With my command, the enormous fallen pillar shrank to its normal size. The stone staff spun through the air, cutting through the wind with a sharp whistle, shooting toward me like an obedient dog answering its master's call.
With a fluid movement, my hand grabbed the stone staff. My eyes met the bloodied giant, and I couldn't help but frown in disgust.
"Why is it always blood…?" A dry smile formed on my lips as I watched the crimson liquid drip down the creature's body.
Ignoring some unpleasant memories that insisted on resurfacing, I bit my lip and burst into speed, covering the distance between us in an instant, thrusting with the stone staff.
The Berserker brandished his axe-sword in a defensive movement. The two weapons collided with tremendous force, generating a shockwave that echoed through the environment and shattered the few windows still intact.
Taking advantage of the momentum, I spun my body, delivering a sweeping strike to the colossus's torso.
Despite his intimidating size, the Berserker moved with surprising agility, raising his arm to defend himself. The tip of the staff struck his arm, piercing into his skin.
[Al... careful!]
When Nahida's voice echoed in my mind, the Berserker flexed his legs and delivered a violent kick to my gut, sending me flying back. My body spun uncontrollably through the air until colliding with a building, whose structure collapsed on top of me.
"Argh! Cough! Cough!" I coughed, feeling the dust invade my lungs as I emerged from the rubble. "This is worse than I expected..." My voice failed as I felt the red liquid drip down my head, falling to the ground.
Seriously? For someone with an aversion to blood, I see a lot of this red liquid.
I moved my trembling hand, wiping away the gore. Although I had taken a direct hit, the monkey king's robe had absorbed most of the damage.
Through the dust, I saw a sequence of arrows falling on the Berserker, who swung his axe-sword at monstrous speed, destroying the projectiles.
Wiping the blood off my face, I couldn't help but frown as I looked at Hercules.
Even weakened, he's still a monster.
[The biggest problem is his ⟨Battle Continuation⟩. Without that ability, he would have already fallen.]
For sure, but let's test the limits more.
A slight smile forming on my lips, I emerged from the rubble, patting my hand on my clothes to clean them.
"Nahida, what percentage remains in my magical energy reservoir?"
[60%]
Hmm... a good number. Let's spend a bit more.
Without hesitation, while the Berserker was being bombarded by a precise sequence of arrows, I flexed my foot and advanced at high speed, shortening the distance between us in just one second.
When Raikou's last arrow pierced Hercules's abdomen, the tip of my staff cut through the air, tearing out one of his eyes in a horizontal strike. Trying to ignore his crimson fluid, I pushed off with my feet, jumping over him and dodging the strike from the great wife-and-son slayer.
Above his body, I spun and struck against his temple, while an arrow wrapped in lightning pierced his torso, making a grunt of pain escape from his lips.
With my feet on the ground, a smile of excitement opened on my lips. For some reason, I couldn't stop smiling.
Within my being, I felt great euphoria. The feeling was the same as the first time I performed on a stage; the only difference was that my sister wasn't in the audience applauding me, a supporting actor dressed as a tree.
While surrendering to this feeling, the Berserker turned toward me, swinging his enormous axe-sword, which I fluidly dodged.
I spun the Ruyi Jingu between my fingers, wearing a smile. "Come on, let's play Goliath and David."
"Rrrauuughhh!" Along with the roar, his chipped axe-sword descended in my direction. Quickly, I took a step to the side, using my staff to parry. The friction between the two stone weapons generated a small shower of sparks.
Stone staff and axe-sword collided repeatedly, creating a symphony of destruction that echoed through the space.
The Berserker delivered wide and devastating strikes, while I dodged, blocked, and parried with my staff, taking advantage of each small opening to counterattack and cause damage to the creature.
Dust and debris flew with each strike, and the sound of impacts reverberated through the burning city.
My arm tingled with pain at each attack, but I couldn't contain my smile. Even with gore dripping down the Berserker's body, strangely this wasn't affecting me at this moment. I was in a state of pure euphoria, feeling as if some internal chain had snapped, unleashing something inside me.
Naturally, I possessed knowledge that this strange state was the result of my ⟨Mad Enhancement⟩, which suppressed my rationality, transforming it into ecstasy for battle.
It was euphoric madness, celebrating battle like a divine banquet. The more formidable the opponent, the more intense the compulsion to fight became. Battle enveloped me in intoxicating frenzy, a delirium that threatened to consume me.
I couldn't afford to surrender completely to this feeling. If that happened, I would lose myself in the thirst for battles.
But, for now, I managed to maintain a bit of control. Along with this thought, a sound echoed through the burning city.
"Crack!"
The sound of a vein rupturing from the impact of the axe-sword echoed through the place, but, seized by euphoria, I simply ignored the pain and gore completely.
I leaned abruptly to the side, dodging a thrust that passed my face, while my eyes left a red and golden trail in the air. Using the ⟨Fiery Golden Eyes⟩, I could analyze the flow of Magical energy and anticipate some of the giant's movements before me.
Taking advantage of an opening, I spun my body and pushed the Ruyi Jingu with all my strength, hitting the giant's torso. Blood gushed from the wound, staining the ground around us.
"Rrrauuughhh!" The Berserker counterattacked with a devastating punch. I used my newly regenerated hand—thanks to my ⟨pseudo-perfect immortality⟩ ability—to propel myself and jumped backward, barely avoiding the strike. The giant's fist crashed against the earth, cracking it in an explosion of debris.
When I landed a few meters ahead, a tense silence hung between us. We stared at each other, motionless, studying one another. Then, in the blink of an eye, we exploded into movement, running toward each other with fierce speed.
"Yes, more! More, Berserker!" I shouted, my face consumed by a mixture of ecstasy and excitement, while a maniacal smile spread across my lips.
In this moment, I lived for this fight; almost nothing else mattered.
The sensation of bones breaking and regenerating, the adrenaline coursing through my veins, as if a feverish frenzy was taking over my body, was indescribable.
"Hahahaha! Let's go for round two, monster!"
"Rrrauuughh!" The furious roar of the Berserker was his only response. In an instant, he appeared before me, imposing and relentless.
The giant raised the axe-sword with both hands and delivered a diagonal strike so powerful that the air itself seemed to tremble. I held the staff firmly and blocked the strike, but the pure force dislocated my shoulder. Ignoring the pain, I retracted the staff and attacked toward the Berserker's head.
"Rrrauuughh!" The giant stomped on the ground with such force that the ground shook, momentarily unbalancing me. My strike, intended for the head, hit the creature's shoulder, extracting more blood but failing to inflict a critical wound.
"My luck is terrible..." I grumbled, striking the lower part of the staff against the ground to propel myself backward, barely avoiding a devastating punch. The fist collided with the ground, raising a thick cloud of dust.
I didn't know if the dust would hinder the giant, but I couldn't waste the chance. I slid across the ground, rose with an agile movement, and, without hesitation, threw the Ruyi Jingu upward, instantly increasing its weight several times over.
As the staff spun through the air, I flexed my legs, preparing for the next attack.
The Berserker blew away the dust with a brusque movement and, noticing me in an attack position, pulled his axe-sword back. With a powerful throw, the weapon spun like a propeller, cutting through the air in my direction.
I kept my eyes fixed on the deadly weapon, planted my left foot firmly, and channeled all my strength into my right. When the Ruyi Jingu, now weighing tons, began to fall, I spun my body and delivered a circular kick to the base of the staff, launching it like a cannonball.
In the next moment, the Ruyi Jingu collided with the axe-sword. A deafening crash echoed, followed by the sound of stone shattering. My staff destroyed the Berserker's weapon and, like a projectile, pierced the giant's torso, passing through him and crashing into a building behind, which collapsed in an explosion of rubble.
"Rrrauuughhh!" The Berserker roared in pain, still standing even with a hole open in his chest, proving that such a wound wasn't enough to bring him down.
I let out an exhausted sigh, sweat dripping down my face, but a mischievous smile formed on my lips. "Now it's your turn." I moved my hand, pointing to my servant.
Raikou cast me a worried smile before her magical energy exploded.
"«Come forth my loyal retainers, my limbs, my armor.»" The sky was illuminated with tempestuous purple energy, enveloping her body.
"«Behold my Four Heavenly Kings...»" Four thunderbolts fell around the purple-haired servant, creating four Minamoto-no-Raikou's, each holding a different weapon: a golden axe, a long red-bladed katana, a bow and arrow, and a halberd. The original Raikou held her Doujigiri Yasutsuna.
Each of these four weapons belonged to Raikou's Four Heavenly Kings.
The clone holding Urabe no Suetake's bow pulled the string back; an arrow materialized in a visible wind whirlwind, wrapped by air currents that spun ferociously around it.
When she released it, the projectile crossed the distance in a fraction of a second, tearing through the air with the destructive power of a cannon.
At the same instant, the clone wielding Sakata Kintoki's golden axe appeared in a blur in front of the Berserker. The golden axe blade descended violently, colliding against Hercules's exposed neck with a deafening impact. The metal penetrated the superhuman flesh, opening an enormous wound that extended deeply through tendons and muscles, exposing the bone below.
Before even a drop of crimson blood could drip onto the dusty ground, a katana wrapped in dancing flames cut through the air. The sacred fire licked the Berserker's skin, consuming it instantly. The flames spread across his massive body like spilled oil, and a guttural roar of pure agony exploded from his throat.
At the same time, taking advantage of his agonizing distraction, the clone holding a naginata materialized behind him. A cold and unnatural air emanated from the weapon, crystallizing the very moisture around it. The blade descended vertically, opening a deep gash in the Greek hero's broad back. Ice spread instantly from the wound like frozen webs, immobilizing part of his body in a crystalline prison that creaked and cracked.
Without allowing the body to freeze completely, becoming too brittle, the arrow wrapped in the wind whirlwind finally reached its target. It exploded against the Berserker's torso with devastating force, piercing through muscles, ribs, and internal organs as if they were paper. On the other side, the arrow emerged triumphant, leaving behind an immense and irregular hole in his trunk, through which one could see the smoke-stained sky beyond.
Hercules's gigantic body fell, but he stamped forcefully on the ground, keeping himself upright with blood dripping all over his body.
Before he could breathe, a powerful voice echoed:
"«Here I go! Ngh! Hyah! Hah!»" A wave of divine purple lightning exploded on her blade. "«Vengeful Lightning of the Ox-King!!»"
She spun her body, channeling all her divine power into her hand and firing a wave of divine lightning so powerful that it advanced destroying everything in its path, disintegrating Hercules's body. Arms, legs, any part of his body was destroyed by the rain of energy.
There was nowhere to run; everything in its path was being evaporated.
When the flash of the shots dissipated, nothing remained of Greek mythology's greatest hero.
Looking at this entire situation, I blinked my eyes, somewhat incredulous.
"It's over..." A faint look of satisfaction crossed my face.
Even though Hercules wasn't at his peak, he was still a tough nut to crack. It was impossible not to feel tired after defeating a monster like him.
The worst of all was that, after my strange fanfare, my eyes fell upon the crimson dripping down my arm. But before I could panic, I felt a pair of hands embracing me.
"My master, are you alright?" Raikou wrapped my body with her arms.
"Hehe! Yes, just a little tired. My mana reserve is still relatively good." I wore a slightly bitter smile, raising my face between her breasts. "But we don't have time to rest." I half-closed my eyes, looking forward.
"Hmm." Raikou rubbed my hair, already disconnected from the world, seeming to enjoy the warm moment.
Letting her enjoy the moment a bit, I just let my face rest between her breasts.
"Next target is the... king of knights!" An excited smile spread across my lips.
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Don't forget to throw power stones and leave a review or drop a comment to motivate me.