The wind howled atop the Colosseum Tower, and the tension between Stark and Olikar hung thick in the air.
Stark stood, his eyes locked on the towering figure of Olikar, the apostle.
Olikar would be his strongest opponent yet, a level 400 apostle.
‘I’m skipping some steps, but oh well,’ Stark shrugged, and by that he was referring to the fact Olikar was the 4th apostle of the second line, meaning that he skipped the three first that resided in the [Devil’s Abyss] rift.
The warrior’s aura was suffocating, waves of chaotic energy radiating from his battle-worn form.
Stark clenched his fists, feeling the energy coursing through him.
“PERCEPTION!”
…
[Name: Olikar, The Colosseum Warrior (GODLESS DEMON APOSTLE)]
[Level: 400]
[HP: 2,025,372/2,100,000]
[Strength: 20,556]
[Stamina: 17,812]
[Speed: 16,393]
[Defense: 19,377]
[Skills: Shadow Cloak; Abyssal Chains; Void Slash; Spectral Dash; Titan’s Guard; Black Hole Edge; Phantom Blade; Terror Gaze; Dark Ascendance (MYTHICAL); Colosseum Sword (MYTHICAL); Eclipse Blast (GODLY), The Colosseum Strongest (GODLY)…
…
His heart pounded, and though his face bore a grin, he couldn’t deny the pressure settling on his shoulders.
That monster, if you could call it that, was stronger than he was: speed, defense, attack, whatever, it was stronger he knew it.
But thanks to [Flow], he was allowed to avoid his attacks, giving him the second he needed not to die instantly.
“Come on, apostle,” Stark taunted, the words sharper than the wind whipping around them, “Show me what you’re made of!”
Olikar’s black, chaotic eyes glowed, and he took a single step forward, the ground beneath him cracking under the sheer force of his aura.
His voice rumbled like thunder,”You don’t understand the power you’ve challenged, human. You’ve only caught a glimpse of what I’m capable of.”
“SHADOW CLOAK!”
Without warning, Olikar disappeared.
Stark barely had time to register the shift in the air before the apostle reappeared right in front of him, his sword already slicing down with terrifying speed.
“VOID SLASH!”
‘Flow!’
But Stark’s mind had already calculated the movement.
Thanks to the [Focus] perk, he anticipated the attack just in time and dodged to the side, but Olikar’s sword still grazed his arm, the dark energy searing his skin.
“You’re fast, but I’m faster!” Olikar snarled, already following up with a spinning strike that Stark barely avoided by ducking.
The air screamed as the blade passed inches from his head.
But for the first time, Stark decided to retaliate.
“Crimson Spears!” He summoned a set of spears made from condensed crimson energy and hurled them toward Olikar.
The apostle grinned, raising his sword to block.
But instead of colliding, the spears vanished just before impact.
Olikar’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Spear of Judgement!” Stark commanded, and a single, massive crimson spear reappeared behind Olikar, locking onto his aura and shooting forward with deadly precision.
This was something he had just tried to do: summons his spears, send them toward an enemy, cancel them right before they hit, and right as the opponent is confused, summon the spear of judgement behind them!
Olikar turned just in time, throwing up a shield of black aura.
“TITAN’S GUARD!”
The spear collided with the barrier, but instead of shattering on impact, it drilled through, piercing Olikar’s defense and sending him staggering back.
“RAAGH!” Olikar roared, his eyes blazing with fury as the spear detonated, a wave of destructive energy sweeping across the arena.
“-342372!”
Stark barely had time to shield himself with his aura as the force hit him like a freight train, though it did no damage since, well, it was his own aura.
For a moment, Stark thought he had the upper hand—until the dust cleared.
Olikar stood, battered but far from beaten, his red skin glowing with renewed rage, “Impressive. But you’re nothing more than a minor inconvenience.”
Before Stark could react, Olikar slammed his sword into the ground, and dark shadows erupted from beneath him.
“Abyssal Chains!” Black tendrils shot out from the ground, snaking toward Stark with lightning speed.
Stark leaped back, trying to avoid the chains, but one wrapped around his ankle, pulling him toward the ground.
He cursed under his breath, quickly summoning his [Clone Frenzy].
Three clones materialized beside him, each grabbing the tendrils and cutting them off before they could drag Stark to the apostle.
“Come back clones, I need you all safe,” he snapped his fingers, and the clones disappeared as they had done their job.
“You’re not the only one with tricks, demon!”
“Aura Smash!” Stark unleashed a torrent of energy, five massive crimson fists materializing around him, then he sent them toward the apostle.
“Heh… interesting…”
“FOOL!” Olikar roared, activating Phantom Blade.
Ghostly blades appeared around him, cutting through Stark’s fists with ease.
The five were destroyed instantly, their forms dissipating into crimson mist before the remaining blades dashed toward him.
“Spear Block,” he had regained one of his spears from the cooldown and used it to deflect all blades before it crumbled.
But as Stark advanced, ready to follow up, he felt the ground beneath him tremble.
As if reading his thoughts, Olikar disappeared into the shadows again, using Shadow Cloak to blend into the darkness.
Stark’s senses were on high alert, his heart pounding as he tried to track Olikar’s movements.
The apostle was toying with him, circling like a predator waiting for the right moment to strike.
“Where are you?” Stark muttered under his breath, but before he could react, Olikar reappeared right in front of him, using Spectral Dash to close the distance in an instant.
“BLACK HOLE EDGE!” Olikar swung his sword instantly, a vortex of gravitational energy forming at the tip.
The force pulled Stark forward, dragging him into the path of the attack.
“NO!” Stark tried to activate Invincible Dodge at the last possible second, phasing out of the attack’s trajectory.
But the vortex exploded, sending chunks of the stone platform flying in every direction.
And he was hit.
-103826!
He received the entirety of his health from that explosion, even while protected with aura.
Even though he had dodged, the shockwave still caught him as he was way too close, sending Stark skidding across the arena.
Stark’s vision blurred as his health plummeted. He could feel his consciousness fading, the overwhelming power of Olikar too much to handle.
In that moment, everything went dark.
And then… it didn’t.
[Crimson Healing activated, Full Health restored.]
Stark gasped, his eyes snapping open as the system reset his health.
Olikar’s eyes widened slightly as Stark’s wounds closed instantly, his body surging with renewed life.
“What?” he spoke, though not scared, just surprised.
“Surprise, asshole!” Stark grinned, his fist already flying toward Olikar’s face.
The punch connected with a sickening crack, sending Olikar reeling back.
-164731
But Stark didn’t stop there as he backed away.
He called upon his trump card.
“Ultimate Clone!” he summoned his five clones, then ordered them to stay at the back of the arena to merge while he occupied the apostle.
“YOU THINK THIS IS GONNA SCARE ME?” Olikar shouted, not even bothering to acknowledge the clones, “FEAR ME, HUMAN!”
“TERROR GAZE!”
Fwish… Plop.
[Sorry, Olikar, but fear doesn’t work on a “Domination” user, at least, not this one.]
“FUCK!” Olikar shouted in anger, “WELL, THEN…”
Fwish! FWISH!
The air around Stark changed as Olikar closed his eyes.
‘Yeah… keep wasting time,’ Stark glanced at his clones, only five more seconds and the ultimate clone would appear.
But… who said Stark was the only one that could charge attacks?
“COLOSSEUM SWORD!” he summoned his sword from the shadows, throwing the one he was currently wielding back into the shadow realm and grabbing the new one, far stronger.
And then, without wasting any time.
“ECLIPSE BLAST!” he used one of his godly skills, charging up a beam of darkness that could kill both Stark and his clone instantly.
[The Ultimate Clone is ready!]
Stark looked beside him, and it was already there, taking up a fighting stance while smiling.
“…!” the clone didn’t look that different, though it was smiling.
“=)”
“What do we do?” Stark asked it while pointing at Olikar, who was charging up his attack, even if they rushed at him to try and cancel the attack, it wouldn’t work.
They were pretty much fucked for sure.
“FACE THE WRATH OF THE BEAM OF DARKNESS, NO ONE HAS EVER SURVIVED IT,” Olikar laughed as he got ready to unleash it.
But, suddenly… the clone opened its mouth.
[Use…. E…G…O…]
It was capable of speech!
Though only a few words, already struggling with those two, but it was able to speak to Stark in battle!
[EGO Meter: 100/100]
And Stark decided to follow its advice, perfectly knowing why it asked him to summon it.
“COME FORTH, EGO, THE DEMON!”
And so, the giant demon above Stark appeared, staring down at Olikar, who wasn’t fazed.
With one opponent having a Godly skill charging up and the other a Mythical, just what could happen!
