“…”
“…”
“…”
All future participants of the Domination Trial looked at Soulayer as he dashed toward Stark, his expression more mad than ever after the boy seemingly attempted to harm his friend.
~SLASH, SLASH~
[Soul Strike] was used twice since one of the green spheres had turned into a greatsword too, making it increasingly difficult to avoid the precise blows of Soulayer.
And yet…
‘A boss having emotions is weird… but It’s what is going to send you to your death…’ Stark avoided the slashes of the two swords quite easily, moving by a single step each time thanks to [Focus]’s warnings as it almost felt like Soulayer was recklessly attacking in all directions, in the hopes of one strike hitting Stark.
Through all that, the human boy kept a very composed face, and he almost… looked bored?
~FWISH~
And so when he saw an opportunity present itself…
“INVINCIBLE DODGE!”
[Perfect Dodge!]
Having two swords did indeed make it harder to dodge, but it wasn’t impossible.
Actually… it might even be easier for one simple reason…
The world slowed down around Stark, and right above him, he could see the green greatsword that was formed from one of the ‘ULTIMATE’ souls slowly descend upon him.
‘GOT YOU…!’ Stark saw the line that showed an opportunity, and he immediately took it as he dashed forward, and grabbed the boss’s legs.
‘…?!’ Soulayer was surprised as it almost looked like Stark teleported, but then quickly aimed the other greatsword at him.
Soulayer’s weapons and figure were extremely big, that is true, but…
~SLAM~
Stark moved to the left the moment Soulayer struck the spot the boy was in, resulting in his sword splashing against the water.
Stark’s goal wasn’t to make the boss lose his balance, no…
Instead…
“GOT YOU…!” it was to make it impossible for him to counter what he was to do.
~THROW~
He grabbed one of his [Crystal Stun] potions and threw it toward the green greatsword.
The potion exploded upon impact and then…
[Soul A has been stunned]
[A soul cannot be stunned, Soul A is vanishing!]
And just as the panels said, the greatsword began to flicker before vanishing entirely.
One of Soulayer’s friends was gone, and he couldn’t do anything about it as attacking Stark made it impossible to react fast enough to break the potion.
‘IT’S MY WIN,’ Stark used this momentum to get to throw another potion, this time toward Soulayer’s shoulders.
But…
“GROEIEREREAHAH!!!” he suddenly roared so loudly that the shockwave sent Stark flying in the opposite direction, and it even broke the two potions he was holding.
The loss of one of his friends had pushed Soulayer to the edge, and now he would make sure to kill the human.
But how could he do that when he was this weak, and clearly overwhelmed?
Well…
[Soulayer has acquired a new skill!]
‘Huh…?’ Stark’s eyes widened, and his pupils were shaking.
A skill? Soulayer gained a new skill? How could that be possible? Can bosses do that?!
[Soulayer has acquired the ‘MYTHICAL’ skill: Soul Vortex!]
…
[Skill: Soul Vortex]
[Description: The bearer of souls, the one who has slain countless foes, can tap the black water with his sword and force the thousands of souls that rest there, in eternal torture, to surround both him and his enemy, forcing them to fight in an arena that is controlled by the slayer’s desires.]
[Note: Touching the souls drains your life energy.]
…
“SOUL VORTEX!” Soulayer roared again before slamming the water with his sword vertically, almost as if he was trying to stab it.
And so the soul vortex appeared: thousands upon thousands of souls came out of the water and began to circle Stark and Soulayer like a vortex, spinning around them very fast.
Of course, the latter wasn’t bothered as he was the one controlling the souls, but Stark on the other hand actually began to slightly panic.
‘What… the… fuck…’ he looked back at Soulayer, and saw that another hole opened in his shadow helmet: the place where his mouth was in is now visible, and Stark saw that he was massively grinning.
Soulayer wanted to avenge his now gone friend while keeping the other two with him.
But of course, this couldn’t be possible, as it was either Stark or him.
“I’m sending you to hell with them,” Stark gritted his teeth, and his face began to be surrounded by crimson aura too, he wasn’t smiling anymore.
If [Soul Vortex] was a skill beyond even ULTIMATE or LEGENDARY, then all he needed to do was find a way to end this quickly.
The vortex of souls grew more intense, and Stark could feel the power seeping into him. The souls were not just spinning around them, but also drawing him and Soulayer closer with each passing moment as the circle was slowly closing in on them.
If Stark touched those souls, his life force would be absorbed, so slowly and surely…
~STEP, STEP~
He was approaching Soulayer.
~STEP, STEP~
It was almost as if Soulayer was creating an arena that is convenient to him as it meant Stark couldn’t run away.
And to add fuel to this impossible fire Stark couldn’t escape…
“ETERNAL DARKNESS!” he yet again spread his bandaged arms wide, and plunged the entire arena in darkness.
But the darkness this time was much more eerie, as although Stark couldn’t physically see anything… the faces of the souls were still roaming in the dark, and he could see them all staring back at him.
[Focus…]
Stark closed his eyes.
Using his eyes in this space where he could see nothing was useless, so enhancing his other senses was much better.
Now, what could Stark do, he had no clones (and didn’t want to use them to begin with) to distract Soulayer…
Out of pure habit, he began to draw a circle in his hand, and a crimson line was drawn where he aimed before pointing at the sky.
He wanted to use [Heaven’s Wrath], as in such a closed arena, it would 100 percent hit Soulayer and kill him before he could do anything.
But there was a problem with this plan: the other participants were still watching, and so it would not only force him to use one of his legendary skills, but also another one as he would be forced to also use [Dodge Control] to get out of this situation without being harmed.
‘FUCK…’ he wanted to shout, but stopped as it would reveal his location, ‘Ah…’
Stark grabbed his forehead, his head hurting from thinking too much, but after only three seconds, he lowered his arm, cancelling [Heaven’s Wrath].
This wasn’t the solution.
If even one of the other folks knew of his skills, they would predict what he could do in the trial and betray him more easily than anyone else.
And so his only other choice was to…
[Predict Soulayer’s movement, he isn’t invincible…]
He couldn’t pinpoint where the boss went because [Eternal Darkness] blocked any kind of skill to show where the others were, and it also affected Soulayer as he was also forced to search through the darkness as well…
But maybe…
‘Maybe instead of trying to focus on where Soulayer is… I should focus on what he could do in this situation…’ Stark’s eyes widened as he figured something out, ‘Yes! This could work…’
And so he looked ahead of himself, in the position Soulayer was in only a few seconds ago.
‘Figure out where he could be…’ Stark repeated.
This time, it truly was the final showdown.
