[Darkness Ghost HP: 214298/590000]
To be honest, it was the first time Stark fought a monster so… passive.
He could feel its presence and power, yet it wasn’t doing anything, just staring at Stark with its empty and emotionless eyes, its body slowly swaying from left to right as if waiting for him to make the first move.
“AURA SMASH!” Stark didn’t want to stay in here for too long, so he indeed was the one to attack first, sending his three crimson fists toward the ghostly creature.
But yet again…
“Soul Drain…” it muttered slowly as it raised its two skeletal hands, tanking the attacks and sucking them in once they hit its palms.
“+10000! +10000! +10000!”
“…” Stark’s expression turned stoic, “Alright, no more projectiles I guess.”
He got ready to dash toward the monster, using his fist to attack, and although it was a ghost, he should still be able to hit it with his aura, right?
Yet, right before he was about to start the assault…
“Bone Shard Barrage…!” The creature hissed, its voice cold and sharp.
Before Stark could react, a barrage of jagged bone shards erupted from the ghost’s form, slicing through the air like a deadly storm.
“SHIT!” Stark ducked, rolling to the side just in time to avoid the deadly projectiles that embedded themselves into the wooden walls behind him.
He regained his footing, breathing hard. “Okay, so that’s how you wanna play?”
The ghost’s empty gaze seemed to challenge him. Stark lunged again, this time aiming for the creature’s legs.
“Bone Shard Barrage…” it whispered again, forcing Stark to back away for the second time.
~FWISH~
He tried to avoid again, but not being able to use [Invincible Dodge] made it IMPOSSIBLE to avoid the attack as they were in a closed hallway.
And so…
~PIERCE, FWISH~
Two of the sharp bones that flew in all directions hit his shoulder and hip.
“-17362! -23911!” the [Domination] aura protected him from receiving fatal damage, but he was still extremely low now.
“…” then without wasting a single second, the monster its right arm, enveloping it in its dark aura.
It had been so quiet and calm until now that the fact it suddenly attacked took Stark by surprise.
And yet…
“I… can’t… move…” there was a small hole in his hip, which hurt like hell.
The ghost loomed closer, its skeletal arm extending toward Stark, the dark aura swirling around its fingers like smoke.
“Shadow Grasp…” it hissed, and the air grew heavy, oppressive. Stark felt an invisible force wrap around his limbs and body, tightening with a grip that wouldn’t let go.
“WHAT THE FUCK,” Panic surged through him as he struggled against the grasp, his breath quickening, there were shadows coiled around him, squeezing tighter, drawing him closer to the creature’s mouth, basically transporting him to his doom.
Stark tried to struggle, but his hip was still throbbing with a sharp pain that just wouldn’t go away, plus the wound was still fresh, blood seeping through his clothes.
And so with the small amount of power he had left in this position…
“Crimson Healing!” he shouted, forcing the words from his lips.
As soon as he activated the skill though, a crimson light began to surround the boy, and specifically the wounds on his hip and shoulder, both of them closing.
“+20000!” and he regained his health, not all of it, but enough to be able to continue.
But there was one problem: this didn’t change the fact that some weird shadows were still surrounding him, transporting him toward the creature, who had its mouth open, ready to devour the human.
There was one thing it seemed to forget, though: Stark was an exorcist too, and he had another skill in stock for such situation.
“CRIMSON PURIFICATION!” he shouted again, as the mouth with sharp teeth was now only a few centimeters away from closing in on him.
~FWISH~
A radiant burst of holy energy erupted from him, illuminating the dark space with a fierce glow, and the shadows clutching him recoiled, disintegrating into wisps of smoke as the energy pulsed outward.
~BOOM~
The explosion of holy aura slammed into the Darkness Ghost with a force that shook the air, and he felt a surge of satisfaction as the ghost staggered back, its hollow eyes actually flickering, almost as if its life essence (well not really since it’s an undead) was weakening.
The oppressive grip that had ensnared him shattered from all of that, and he stumbled back, regaining his balance and shaking off the effects of the creature’s dark grasp.
“Didn’t see that coming, did ya?”
The ghost snarled, its twisted mouth opening wider, revealing rows of jagged teeth that glistened with malice, though it still didn’t seem angry.
“You die…”
“Is that all you can say,” Stark rolled his eyes as he positioned himself for combat, “Anyway, let’s end this!”
“Spatial Inventory,” when fighting powerful monsters he couldn’t defeat using his skills, Stark always opted for the next best solution: his [Crystal Stun] potions!
He grabbed two of those from his void, then immediately threw them at the giant ghost, both of them exploding and spreading the mist as soon as they hit it.
But…
[‘Stun’ cannot be given to undead beings.]
“Fair,” he had tried, and now it would just be hands in hands combat, two punches should be enough to kill that thing as its HP were low.
~FWISH~
But for the third time (HOLY!), the darkness ghost stopped Stark’s assault, but this time it decided to use everything it had in stock.
“Good… bye…” it spoke in a low voice as it flicked its fingers in Stark’s direction, “Soul Blind…”
And then…
~VIOUM~
Complete darkness.
And it wasn’t that the room became extremely dark, not at all, it was just… that Stark was blinded, not even able to see his own body or even imagining them.
All he could do…
~FWISH, CRACK~
Was hearing the sounds of the monster slowly approaching.
“HEAVEN’S WRATH,” he drew a circle in his palms, then pointed at where the sound was coming from.
He couldn’t see anything, and all he could do was follow his instincts to avoid the attacks, and maybe if he could kill the beast with his legendary skill before it could do anything, then it was a massive win.
But…
“Shroud of Darkness,” he heard it whisper.
~BOOM~
And less than a second afterward, the beam descended in the location the monster was previously in.
“Did… I win?”
No, he couldn’t have won, otherwise the skill should have gone off immediately.
And so, Stark immediately decided to check the description of the skill it had used.
…
[Skill: Shroud of Darkness]
[Description:] Seeps into the ground, transforming its entire figure into dark aura that it can use to lurk underneath its opponents, just out of sight, and it can reappear wherever it wants, though it is indeed possible to hit the aura and damage it.
[Domination Tip: it’s going to be behind you.]
…
Stark tried to send one [Crimson Spear] behind him, but they hit nothing.
And so just like that… two minutes passed.
Two minutes where Stark constantly looked around, trying to identify ANY noise that could reveal its location.
And right after that…
[‘Soul Blind’ is deactivated as it only lasts three minutes.]
“…”
Suddenly, Stark retrieved his vision, but there was nothing in front of him.
[BEHIND YOU! BEHIND YOU! BEHIND YOU!] yet, [Focus] warned him like crazy, summoning dozens of panels each saying the same two words.
But before he could even turn around…
~FWISH, GRAB~
He was grabbed by the [Darkness Ghost]’s right skeletal hand.
“What the fuck…” Stark gritted his teeth, “Why didn’t it just do that before?!”
[It cannot attack you while you are soul blinded.]
“…Alright,” he opened his eyes again, and before him was… the monster’s giant face, its hollow eyes looking at him, and its mouth contorted into a giant smile.
“I… got… you… human…” it almost looked like it wanted to laugh, yet couldn’t, “Annoying… bug…”
“…” Stark stared at it with a neutral expression though, just wanting to see what it wanted to do now that he was caught.
“YOU… DIE…” it spoke louder than before.
And then…
“NECROTIC TOUCH!”
The skeletal fingers of the ghost’s other hand hovered above Stark, the air thick with impending doom.
“…” Stark looked above him with the most stoic of expression though, and he saw the tendrils of dark energy slowly reaching for him from above, ready to seep into his very essence and destroy his human cells as soon as it even as much as grazed him.
But there was a reason Stark was so calm.
Since…
“Dodge Control,” he mumbled, and the moment the [Necrotic Touch] was about to reach him, his body quite literally teleported out of the ghost’s hand, landing right on top of it.
“…?” even the monster was confused.
But before it could even figure out what had just happened…
~SLAM~
Stark punched it in the “face” while he had the opportunity to.
~BOOM~
The attack quite literally cause an explosion as Stark’s [Domination] aura was still merged with [Exorcist], meaning that he did slightly above average damage to the undead.
And so…
“-168372!”
It died.
Go check out my other novel, it’s VERY epic
