Stark couldn’t hear Soulayer’s steps, but he could imagine them near him as the boss searched the darkness for any signs of the boy.
He was in an enraged state, and wanted to end this battle as soon as possible: he didn’t like to torment the souls, but they were needed for his victory this time.
On the other hand, Stark still had his eyes closed, focusing his attention on whatever he needed to do to survive this situation.
[Focus… and create the image of the enemy inside your head…]
He imagined Soulayer’s figure in the spot it was in right before using [Eternal Darkness].
‘It’s working…!’ Stark was surprised as even though he had his eyes closed now, he could actually see Soulayer right in front of his body, although that was just a copy from his imagination he wanted to use.
[Now… think of all the possibilities…]
And suddenly, almost as if he was using Judicator’s eyes which allowed him to check out what an opponent could do, the figure of Soulayer suddenly turned into hundreds of after images: they showed Stark the many possibilities the enemy could follow up with.
This was only Stark’s imagination and not concrete at all, obviously, but this was the best thing he could do in this very situation without risking getting slashed from behind.
“Wait a minute… behind…?”
And so… thanks to the visions of Soulayer’s possible actions, Stark reached one simple conclusion…
‘Spatial Inventory,’ he grabbed another [Crystal Potion] from it.
And then, without a single second of hesitation, he swiftly and very smoothly threw the potion behind him, not even looking if there was anything there as he was this confident in his conclusion.
~CRACK, BOOM~
Through all his visions, Stark reached the simple conclusion that Soulayer would most likely already be behind him by now.
And it revealed itself to be true as the potion hit Soulayer’s greatsword right as he was about to swing at the boy.
[Soul B has been stunned]
[A soul cannot be stunned, Soul B is vanishing!]
The ghastly green aura around the original greatsword of Soulayer vanished, much like his first friend, and he could do nothing but watch as the human yet again eliminated another one of his friends.
And now… the only soul that remained was the girl, still hiding behind his shoulder, her figure trembling as she knew what would happen if Stark hit her with one of his potions.
“CRIMSON SPEARS!” Stark used that opportunity to also send three spears at the boss.
~FWISH, FWISH, FWISH~
“-25382!” only one of them hit, but that was more than enough for Stark.
“GOROAOROOFHAH~” Soulayer yet again screamed, this time at least twice as loud as before.
His voice seemed to be in pain, but not from all the attacks…
“SOUL STRIKE!” he dashed at Stark from beyond the darkness and swung at him.
“INVINCIBLE DODGE!”
[Perfect Dodge!]
Stark side-stepped to the side as Soulayer’s greatsword missed him, then he immediately used his speed to run behind Soulayer and reach for his shoulder.
“GROOARRHHH~” Soulayer tried to hit Stark while he was behind his shoulder, but…
~SLASH~
“-27261!” all he did was cut his own flesh as he yet again missed the boy.
‘He is weakening…’ Stark thought, and it wasn’t because he was losing the souls that powered him, more like… he was losing the will to continue fighting.
Somehow… this boss felt more human than the others.
[Eliminate him =)]
And yet…
‘SPATIAL INVENTORY!’
Stark didn’t seem to care much, solely guided by his aura, and it was absolutely ruthless.
~FWISH, THROW~
He could hear Soulayer’s roars and chaotic movements as he slashed in all directions, hoping to get Stark.
But this only helped the boy perfectly aim his [Crystal Stun] potion and throw it in the direction of the noise.
~CRACK, BOOM~
He had obviously aimed for the shoulders of the boss… and…
He had hit his target.
[Soul C has been stunned]
[A soul cannot be stunned, Soul C is vanishing!]
But as the soul was slowly vanishing away from existence after being hit by the potion, it suddenly moved from its spot behind the boss’s shoulders and placed itself in front of Soulayer, holding his head with its gentle hands.
“It is not… your… fault…” it used its last bit of energy to speak and smile at the boss.
Beyond his shadow helmet, crimson tears were already there, and Soulayer couldn’t do anything but watch as his final friend disappeared.
~FWISH~
The ghastly body went up toward the sky, and when Soulayer looked up, he could see the green spheres of his friends spinning around, saying goodbye to him.
‘…’ Soulayer just stood there, falling on his knees.
His eyes became more lifeless than they were before, and he dropped his greatsword in the ground, not moving an inch.
Stark couldn’t see anything, all he knew was that the noise had disappeared, so he readied himself for Soulayer to attempt everything in his power to kill him.
And after only a few seconds… [Eternal Darkness] as well as [Soul Vortex] were deactivated, meaning that the area was back to normal.
And once Stark opened his eyes back… all he saw was Soulayer’s figure facing him, the boss was on his knees, his head looking down at the water, and red drops pouring from his helmet.
‘…?’ Stark was confused, maybe that was another trick?
But once he moved his eyes slightly, he noticed that not only did Soulayer deactivate his aura, but he also dropped his greatsword on the ground, with no visible intent to pick it back up.
It was almost like… he gave up?
‘…’ Stark stood there with a neutral expression, he didn’t know what to think.
Soulayer looked… pathetic.
[Kill him =)]
“Huh?”
“Finally, we can see!”
“What happened though?!”
The other participants of the trial, also spectators of Stark’s fight, couldn’t see inside the [Eternal Darkness] skill’s perk, so all they could do was hear the sound of battle from within.
And yet, when the mist disappeared… they saw Soulayer kneeling down, and Stark facing him with a confused expression.
[Soulayer has received the DOMINATED and HOPELESS status]
‘Well… doesn’t seem like he is going to do anything…’ Stark sighed before smiling, Soulayer had completely given up, and he enjoyed this victory.
He observed Soulayer for a good minute, and the boss didn’t move an inch, not even looking at the boy, almost as if he was just waiting for him to finish the job.
[End. Him.]
And so before Stark could do anything…
His body suddenly began to move by itself.
‘Huh?!’ of course, he planned to kill Soulayer soon, but he wasn’t the one currently controlling his body.
It was almost as if… his aura was getting impatient…
[Don’t give him the time to think… =)]
[Send that little SHIT to his friends, that’s what he wants, doesn’t he?]
The fact he wasn’t in control frankly scared Stark, but… deep down, he knew that HE was his aura, meaning that the thing that was controlling him was just another more twisted part of himself.
And so just like that, he reached the boss, only one meter away from him.
[GOODBYE]
Stark didn’t realize it, but he was actually smiling as he focused his aura in his hands and smashed the boss’s head with absolutely no hesitation.
“-79482!”
[Soulayer HP: 0/420000]
[You have defeated ‘Soulayer, The Bearer of Souls’!]
