“…!” Stark’s pupils became so small that it almost looked like they disappeared once he noticed the possible weakness of the guardian ape.
~SLAM~
And at the same time, the guardian was still swinging its giant hand down, so close to Stark’s that he wouldn’t be able to avoid it under normal circumstances.
“TIME VISION,” time slowed down around Stark as he needed these few seconds to think of a way to put his plan into action.
[Tip: find another way to end it for good, there is one.]
He hadn’t found it as he kept avoiding the attacks, so instead of focusing on the environment he decided to focus on the ape, and he almost immediately noticed it.
An immortal being was something that shouldn’t be able to be killed, at least that is what the definition says.
But… was the ape really immortal? Or was it only that its HP became infinite?
He couldn’t take damage, thus nothing could harm it, that was true.
But in the case of monsters, and even humans, no matter how strong you are, there is one simple action that could INSTANTLY kill you: your weakness.
If your body was crushed to oblivion, or if you were cut in half, it doesn’t matter that you have 1, 1000, or even a trillion health point, you would still be dead, or incapacitated enough to not be able to do anything.
And that was exactly what Stark was aiming: kill it instantly, in a way as to not allow it to strike back.
~FWISH~
“DOUBLE ASSAULT!”
[Double Assault activated, 20 seconds remaining.]
~FWISH~
He jumped out of the attack’s way almost instantly thanks to his speed, avoiding it at the last microsecond, then dashing toward the ape.
He had 20 seconds to complete the plan, or else it was game over.
Do or die.
“GROAKKSK!” the guardian ape at this point was actually beginning to find this human unbearable, he was like a mosquito, you see him, you know where he is, yet still avoiding all your attacks no matter.
Though the boss did keep some of its confidence because of its [Immortal] status, so no need to worry.
And yet… it was its biggest mistake.
“IMMORTAL SMASH!” the ape smashed the ground, with two times as much force as before, but the [Double Assault] skill allowed Stark to see it coming from a mile and thus turn around the ape in a flash.
And… he saw his opportunity then and there.
[13 seconds of ‘Double Assault’ remaining!]
He needed all his strength and speed he could find for that, but… he needed to do it.
~FWISH~
While the ape smashed the ground, Stark had gone behind the monster and began to climb on its back, heading toward its head and reaching it in less than a second.
“WRAAAAAHHH-” the ape roared.
But… it was too late for it now.
[Execute it.]
Stark was about to do an [Execution].
Executions are completely different from normal takedowns, since the usual ones just end up being draining the monster’s health to 0 without any SIGNIFICANT event happening.
But [Executions] on the other hand were the opposite.
You only considered a kill as an execution when the way you kill the boss/monster is incredibly skillful, being ALWAYS visually incredible to watch, a reason why they are popular across the entire world.
And what was about to follow was one of those executions.
“COME ON! COME ON!” Stark jumped on the [Guardian Ape’s] back, then ran up to the back of its head.
“GROAOKK-” the ape’s first instinct was to try and stop the human.
But… it couldn’t do it as it was suddenly stunned, a shock suddenly being sent all over its body.
Stark had only noticed it because he took some time to analyze the ape, but its weakness was there since the beginning: the large nodachi-style weapon (basically it’s a giant katana) running from the back of its head to its left side.
It was so perfectly placed that Stark even believed it was a trap in the beginning.
But now that it came to it… he would make use of it.
The sword was actually almost twice as big as Stark, but even then…
“DIE! IMMORTAL!”
While using all his determination and strength, as well as [Double Assault], he grabbed the handle of the massive sword and began to pull it to the side.
This was one of the weakness Stark sought: decapitation.
Even if the ape was currently immortal, decapitating it would be an instant game over, even with an infinite amount of health.
Stark’s muscles strained as he pulled the massive sword with all his might, feeling the weight of it trying to resist the human’s attempt.
The guardian ape roared in pain and confusion, its tiny eyes widening in shock as it realized what was happening, yet unable to do anything: all it could do was hope that the human wasn’t strong enough to push the sword all the way to do a full rotation.
“DIE!” Stark shouted as he placed his legs against the ape’s neck and put more force, his voice echoing through the valley as he continued to pull the sword.
The ape thrashed and struggled, trying to shake him off, but Stark held on tight, his determination unwavering.
“…”
“…”
“…”
None of the apostles were saying anything, but even they knew something was impressive when they saw it.
And… as to prove Stark’s determination and efforts, the sword actually began to move.
Slowly at first, then faster and faster as its blade, which was going through the ape’s neck, began to slice its neck more and more.
The guardian ape’s screams grew louder as it realized that its immortality wouldn’t save it from this fate.
[5 seconds remaining for ‘Double Assault’!]
[EXECUTE IT NOW!]
And so… with one final pull, which put all the efforts he went through in this rift, and his future determination in defeating all the apostles…
~FWISH~
He pulled, and the sword swiftly made a full rotation, meaning that it severed the ape’s neck and decapitated it, spinning twice before landing its blade on the ground, standing perfectly vertically.
The ape on the other hand suddenly jolted as its head was cut, and so it fell to the ground too.
~BOOM~
The impact was strong, and its head rolled away, its mouth opened and eyes widened as that was its final expression before death.
Stark jumped out of the ape’s back as it was falling and landed on the watery ground of the sunken valley, his face full of determination and excitement as he had done it.
[EXECUTION SUCCESSFUL!]
[Execution highlight has been sent all over the world!]
Executions are so rare and well-liked by everyone, in fact, that once one happens, it is IMMEDIATELY broadcasted for everyone to see.
And to put it into retrospective, there was at best only one [Execution] every two to three months, just how to show how difficult it was for humans to do something so skillful and finish off a monster in such a way that even the system considered it as a legitimate [Execution].
After all, even Stark had his cool moments when killing monsters, yet none of those were considered executions!
And oh boy were they brutal, you could simply say by how Stark’s execution was after all: decapitation of an immortal being, blood spilling everywhere and tainting the water in a crimson color.
~DING~
[You have defeated the “Guardian Ape lvl250” by executing it!]
[EXP bonus will be given.]
