“Justice… justice… justice…” Warden could be heard mumbling those words again, it does seem like it had gone crazy from Stark’s talk and his attack which damaged him, “JUSTICE!”
A spiral of aura and sculk formed around him, making it practically impossible to distinguish his true form as he was powering up, not wanting to hold himself back anymore as the prisoners were now an actual threat, well it was mostly Stark though.
The aura was so intense that it seemed as if the very fabric of reality was being warped around him.
Suddenly, Warden let out a loud, ear-piercing scream that echoed throughout the entire prison, and they both had to put their hands on their ears if they didn’t want to go deaf by the noise.
As he screamed, the sculk and aura surrounding him began to swirl and coalesce, forming a massive, ominous structure that resembled… a colossal [SCULK HAMMER]!
“Is this… his ultimate form?” Stark couldn’t help but wonder, feeling a chill run down his spine.
And after that spiral of aura and sculk disappeared, as well as his body stopped glowing… Stark was finally able to check out the warden’s [Berserk] form.
Warden, now in his Berserk form, was towering above Stark, his body covered in thick, undulating sculk that mixed with his aura to create a formidable appearance. His eyes, now filled with pure wrath, seemed to hold an almost otherworldly darkness.
His cracked armor was now completely repaired and looked more majestic than before, his fists also were surrounded with aura, much like Stark when he did it with his own.
But there were two major details in its appearance now: first of all, the helmet with a hole in it had completely disappeared, meaning that Stark could now see the face of the warden: it had blue skin, pointed teeth, pointy ears as well as dark blue straight lines on its face that were glowing.
And the second detail… was the warden’s cores.
They were no longer visible in his torso, instead they were now floating around him like they were the warden’s very essence.
~THUMP~
The giant hammer, at least ten times the warden’s size and fifteen times Stark’s, dropped in the monster’s hands, who grabbed it as if it was a mere stick.
The hammer had no physical appearance, it was LITERALLY made out of sculk, its edges not straight but always moving.
“Justice…” Warden stared at Stark in the eyes, and just this was almost enough to paralyze him, that aura was not normal.
Not wasting time, Stark decided to check out the two [Mythical] skills of the warden as to prepare him for whatever monstrosity was coming his way.
~THUMP~
He needed to be quick since Warden was slowly approaching, leaving a trail of sculk as his legs were also surrounded with it.
…
[Skill: The Dark Spheres]
[Rank: Mythical]
[Description: Use your three cores and make them spin around you, granting you an increase in aura and sculk, you are also now able to summon the COLOSSAL SCULK HAMMER to aid you in battle, let those criminals taste your justice.]
[Note: the sculk is now under your complete control, able to swallow your opponents whole, and each of the spheres can be used to block one of the opponent’s skills.]
[Condition: The protection of your cores (aka the rib bones) needs to be destroyed to be able to use it]
…
[Skill: The End of the Line]
[Rank: Mythical]
[Description: All your stats are increased by a lot, and you enter your ‘berserk’ form, making you intimidating to most opponents who won’t even be able to avoid your attacks anymore]
[Condition: your HP needs to be under 50000]
…
One of the skills (Dark Spheres) used his skills to improve his aura and sculk, while the other (The End of the Line) is used to upgrade his stats.
This was… a horrifying combo, and Stark had somehow managed to let the warden fulfill both of these conditions at the same time.
“…” Stark looked at Sora’s direction for a quick instant, seeing that her emotionless face was looking at him, although drops of sweats betrayed her actual feelings.
And when he looked back at where the warden was…
The monster had disappeared.
Like literally, the warden wasn’t in the spot it was in less than a second ago.
[Above]
[Focus] warned him, and when he looked up… he saw Warden in the air, his colossal sculk hammer in hand, his eyes burning with the fury of the cosmos.
His aura was stronger than ever, and his body seemed to shimmer and shift, as if he were made of the very fabric of reality itself.
The three glowing cores that floated around him now seemed to dance, twirling and spinning in perfect harmony with each other.
“GOODBYE, CRIMINAL,” he spanned in the air before striking down with his hammer, grabbing the sculk handle with both hands as he aimed down toward Stark.
“…!” Stark’s eyes widened, even he knew that thing was no joke.
And when he saw the perfect opportunity to avoid the attack…
“INVINCIBLE DODGE,” he rolled away.
But… for the first time ever…
For the first time since he acquired [Invincible Dodge]… he actually failed to dodge, missing the window of opportunity by a split second.
The reason was simple: two of the dark spheres spinning around Warden suddenly rushed toward his legs, and he used them as platforms to jump again as Stark avoided.
“FUCK IT,” Stark got ready, “DODGE CONTROL!”
But…
[One of the ‘Dark Spheres’ has stopped the use of your skill!]
He used two spheres to juke Stark into using [Invincible Dodge] and waited 3 seconds in the air so he couldn’t combo dodge him, then used his final sphere (which couldn’t be used since a sphere can only do one thing at a time) to stop him from using [Dodge Control].
That Warden… was way too smart.
“Justice is the winner in the end, it seems,” Warden actually smiled, his face full of malice as he began to go down.
And then… as he spanned one more time… the colossal hammer slammed down onto Stark’s position, the force of the blow sending shockwaves throughout the prison and shaking the very foundations of the structure.
“-93827!”
“GAH…” Stark’s eyes went blank as he received the damage, his HP reaching 0, “…”
But instead of falling like he usually does… Stark held on for a few more seconds, his pure determination stopping him from dying, even though he knew it was inevitable.
[Stark HP: 0/33500]
Stark noticed that there was sculk all over his body, taking over his legs and entire torso, leaving only his head visible: that sculk was taking control of him even though he was about to die.
“I sense that your life force is going down in opposition to before, looks like it truly is the end of the line for you, prisoner,” Warden smiled as he kept looking at Stark being taken over.
Soon enough, half his face, his hair, his mouth and his nose were taken by sculk, leaving only one of his eyes, burning with crimson aura out.
“It is already a miracle that your determination is keeping you alive,” Warden nodded slightly, acknowledging Stark’s strength, “But it’s time to fall,” and as he snapped his fingers…
The rest of the sculk too over Stark’s eyes, his pupils shaking as rage took over his entire being.
Even if he was revived now, even if he somehow came back, the sculk would still deal damage and kill him as he would only have 1 HP.
He was done for, he couldn’t live anymore.
The trial… beat him.
And yet… the last thing he did as his last remaining eye was taken over by the dark blue liquid… was look at Sora.
She had a shocked expression on her face, holding her mouth with her right hand and visible tears appearing on it.
“Sorry…” he couldn’t hear her as his ears were covered, but he could see her mouth’s movements, “I’ll be joining you all soon…”
His eye was taken over by the liquid.
And then… nothing.
He couldn’t see anything, his entire vision was covered by that thing, and all that Stark could feel was his own heart still holding on, beating slightly as if to keep him alive, trying its hardest not to lose hope.
Losing hope is like accepting defeat, and in this case, if Stark did do that, then both him and Sora would be wiped out.
No one would remember him.
But this was an unacceptable thought to Stark: would everything he did be in vain?
He wanted to be strong, he wanted to show the world that he was here, maybe try to get into a relationship at some point and leave his print on this ruthless world.
But now… as he was facing the Warden, an enemy impossible to even imagine or defeat for classifiers that were level 100 or above…
He felt like it could maybe be the end.
“…”
[No it’s not, get up.]
Yet another long chapter :d
