Chapter 28: One Man Army (4)

It felt like the world slowed in Jaxir’s eyes. It lost its color, being painted in silvers and blues almost like he was looking at a forgotten memory through a haze.

He was falling, and falling, a weightless pulling at his heart.

There was no way he could have been. He had hit the ground just now, he was sure of it. So why did it feel like this still wasn’t rock bottom? Why did it feel like he could just keep going endlessly, the world around him laughing as he fell into a larger and larger pit?

So pathetic.

So very pathetic.

He was losing to these people? He had been outsmarted by the likes of them?

His eyelids felt heavy, the sharp pain in his chest about the only thing keeping him even slightly awake.

But he just felt that if he let himself fall further, if he just let go and let things slip, then that pain would disappear. In fact, all pain would disappear... forever.

"Is that what you want?"

"No."

The words sounded like they came from two different people, and yet they originated from the same mouth. One sounded so much more ancient, the other sounded younger, more naive.

But they both shared the same sentiment... a brokenness that came from a fatigue that went beyond what words could describe.

"No."

This time, they both spoke at the same time.

"Get up."

Jaxir felt his Twinkle Anchor armor whittling away, a weakness seeping into it.

The attacks aimed for him landed on the ground in a pelting rain, being diverted just one more time before his armor finally ran out of mana and faded.

There was no doubt. The next barrage of attacks would kill him.

Aidylan was already prepping to rush forward. They had started with 30 people. A full 30 people. And yet, now, there wasn’t even half of that number remaining.

No matter what, Jaxir had to die. He wouldn’t have an explanation otherwise.

Jaxir raised a Vestigem Card and Aidylan’s heart skipped a beat before he recognized it. Confusion lit his eyes before he almost laughed.

He could practically see the desperation wafting from Jaxir as he activated the very card he had just stolen from Aidylan.

Overclock Step.

Jaxir didn’t hesitate to use Encore and then stack it one more time.

For a brief instant, a whirlwind of howling air formed around him. He was practically levitated to his feet by them, but rather than the process being slow and methodical, it was anything but.

He landed on the tips of his toes, feeling energy flooding through him.

Currents of mana formed from the corners of his eyes and his mind reached an unprecedented level of focus. The circuits flooded his senses and in that moment Jaxir finally grasped how to use his Twinkle Mana to enhance his movement.

The blueprint was laid out right before him.

Jaxir dashed to a side, moving so fast he had already crossed a dozen meters in what felt like the blink of an eye.

He glided to a stop long before the attacks even landed, the cascade of booming strikes and crumbling earth rising like a pillar. But Jaxir himself had already lifted his staff high.

He hardly had any HP remaining, and his MP was blinking red. If he really pushed it, he could probably cast only two more L1 Abilities at best, yet there were 13 enemies remaining.

It wasn’t nearly enough.

It was a good thing, then... that he had an Epic Grade staff.

Twinkle Mana swirled around him and Jaxir began to fire. Magic bullets filled the skies as he dashed forward, moving with such speed he could hardly be tracked at all.

His two seconds were already almost up. Stacking the two Overclock Steps had, unfortunately, not increased their duration. All they did was increase his speed by four times.

He was practically moving around like someone with 200 Body Stat points albeit for the briefest of instances.

The moment the two seconds were up, the whirlwind of air slowed, and Aidylan attacked for the first time.

He roared, slashing down. A sword blade cut across the air, aimed right for where Jaxir was about to be.

Jaxir wasn’t there.

He accelerated past, his speed having dropped, but not nearly as much as Aidylan expected. In fact, Jaxir’s speed looked like it was about to increase again.

And that it was.

Jaxir’s breath fogged the cool air, all the more obvious in the twinkling light of dusk. Twinkle Mana streamed out from his limbs, his body feeling as light as a feather.

When he leapt, he moved across meters at a time, clearing three, four, sometimes five with a single flex of his thighs.

His magic bullets never died, and Aidylan’s eyes widened as he heard one scream after another.

"No! No!" Aidylan rushed forward. He couldn’t sit back anymore.

The momentum of a Level 10’s mana roared and he entered a charging state. A line of white energy followed in his wake as his speed kicked up, in an instant, he had appeared before Jaxir, slashing out.

He hit little more than an after image.

Aidylan spun around to see that only three of the other twelve remained.

Jaxir had slid behind one, his staff aimed at the back of their head.

[Critical Hit!]

[-177]

They crumpled to the ground dead.

Jaxir’s mana swept out like a scythe, sending the last two stumbling back when they tried to close in the distance.

Twinkling lights followed in his wake as he dodged and attacked, countered and landed magic bullets flush across every opening they revealed.

Streaking lights followed his darting gaze. His skin had grown so pale he looked like he might collapse at any moment, but Jaxir remained standing, and he remained moving.

Aidylan had simply never seen a magic class move like this. He almost looked like... a Speed Path Melee Class expert of the Minor God of Gravity.

Chi.

Crackling glass appeared around Aidylan, his body feeling like it was twisting and splitting in space.

Fracture.

Aidylan’s gaze grew icy cold, his grip on his sword tightening.

A field littered with equipment hung around them, the setting sun falling as their backdrop.

But Jaxir wasn’t in the mood for admiring the scenery. His heart beat out of his chest, his MP blinked red, his HP mere moments from hitting rock bottom as his lack of stamina ate away at it.

Everything pointed toward him being a man on his very last legs, but he faced Aidylan like a hungry beast.

He wouldn’t lose, not to these people.

Not to anyone.

Jaxir raised his staff. It shook with mana, glowing and rolling as three magic bullets formed, growing larger and larger, and larger still.

From the side of his head, to half the size of his torso, and then to half the size of his body.

Mana poured in from his staff. Every second, another 5 was added, and then 5 more, then 5 more on top of that.

Aidylan roared and charged, realizing he couldn’t allow Jaxir to do this. But he had already used his Vestigem Card up to dash the first time. His melee class didn’t have a charge skill like that, and unfortunately for him...

He didn’t have another.

"Die." Jaxir said coldly, his trio of magic bullets spinning and winding through the air.

At first, they moved slowly, but their pace picked up rapidly as though they were feeding off of one another’s momentum.

In reality, it was Jaxir flooding even more mana into them from his staff.

And then...

BOOM.