Chapter 429: The Peak

’What is Dead Redemption doing here?’ Fang Raon wondered. ’Leon needed Shane for something, but for what...’

In that moment, an axe flew through the air towards him, and Fang Raon quickly deflected it out of the air.

The axe landed on the ground, and then it flew back to Delaweed’s hand, and he just flexed his muscles.

"This fight is not over yet." Delaweed said coldly. "I won’t stop until you are dead. You hear me? The winner gets her."

"You are starting to piss me off." Fang Raon moved through the air like a bullet. "Fang Raon’s Black Draw!"

"Basic Axe Strike!"

Delaweed swung his axe down. In everyone’s eyes, it looked like it hit Fang Raon. But then Fang Raon disappeared.

SPURT!

Delaweed suddenly gushed with blood, and his eyes shook violently, and he noticed his health drop to the red zone.

"...He is dying." Mahabunta inched closer to the Helper of Snake Hornets. "Heal him, you fool. He is dying!"

"B-but Boss will get angry if I do so," the Helper stammered. "It’s a one-versus-one duel. It’d be cheating!"

"I don’t give a fuck." Mahabunta grabbed him from his collar. "Heal him, or you are at fault when our boss dies."

The Helper gulped. Then he sneakily retrieved his healing staff. Its orb started glowing ever so slightly.

"Heal..." the Helper whispered gently.

[You are being healed!]

[+10 HP]

[...]

[+10 HP]

"Huh?" Delaweed frowned and looked at the Helper. "You bastard. Who gave you the permission to heal me?"

Nobody over at Rose Records noticed what was happening. Except one. And that someone was Rock Rose!

"You bastards!" Rock summoned his grimoire. "Swallowing Ground!"

A massive hound’s mouth appeared under the Helper’s feet. The teeth sank into the Helper’s legs, dragging him down into the earth.

"H-help!" The Helper screamed. "I am being eaten!"

None of the Snake Hornets could help in time, and then the Swallowing Ground swallowed the Helper.

Nothing of him remained.

"You bastard!"

Snake Hornets pulled out their weapons. Rose Records did the same. An all-out war was about to start!

"STAND DOWN!" Delaweed screamed. "That fool deserved to die. He interrupted with my fight. I am still not done here!"

Snake Hornets lowered their weapons. They didn’t like to do that, but they didn’t want to go against their boss.

Mahabunta gritted his teeth. He hated the fact that they had to back down.

"Hmph." Delaweed looked at his left arm and suddenly chopped it off with the axe. "That’s better."

Everyone looked at him with shock. He was losing a lot of blood. And his health dropped back to the red.

He then ripped a part of his shirt and wrapped it tightly around his wound to stop the bleeding.

"That should do it." Delaweed could only use one axe now. "Now you can’t say that I only won because of the Helper."

"Respectable," Fang Raon said, and then he walked forward. "But I still despise you. You should learn to take no for an answer."

"I am a stubborn man!"

Delaweed shouted, and then he swung the axe. Fang Raon swung his Blackest Blade. The two weapons clashed furiously.

He swung the axe, like it was as light as weather, and Fang Raon just weaved through the flurry of attacks.

"Fang Raon’s Dance Dance!"

He danced through the attacks like a graceful tornado.

Then, he attacked with the Blackest Blade, and he dodged Delaweed’s defenses and hit him at the side.

The armor tanked the attack, but the sword managed to cut through the armor’s straps and send it flying off Delaweed’s body.

The half-a-million armor dropped to the ground.

"..."

Delaweed was now only wearing his suit that he had been wearing underneath the armor. It had zero protection.

He pulled on his tie and removed it. Then he unbuttoned his shirt, revealing a chest covered in scars.

Delaweed dropped the suit shirt and suit jacket. Now only standing bare-chested like the men of the Stone Age.

"Power!" Delaweed shouted. "I am power!"

Rock looked at all the scars in his body and had a hunch about the place where Delaweed originated from.

"Delaweed must be from Warlands," Rock told everyone. "It’s the dark spot of the world. Ravaged by poverty and war. It’s where only the strongest survive."

"Really?" Waylen looked surprised. "I’ve heard about people of Warlands. Because of their situation there, they don’t have time to play Black Online."

"Warlands have the strongest warriors in the world. If they could play, I am sure the strongest player would come from there, and it wouldn’t be Leon."

Miranda said.

"Then why is Delaweed weaker than I expected?" Waylen asked. "Sure, he is hella strong, but he is struggling against Fang Raon.

"Maybe Raon is just that strong?"

Machary guessed.

"Because he is giving Fang Raon a handicap," Rock said. "He is not using the one thing that makes people of Warland strong."

"What’s that?"

Waylen asked.

"The Dominant Presence of the War," Rock said. "A thing that every citizen of Warland has inherited from constant warfare over the centuries."

Fang Raon danced through the axe strikes. They grazed past his shoulder. Then, he jumped into the air, and he brought his sword high.

An image of a black crow appeared behind Fang Raon!

’A black crow?’ Delaweed frowned. ’What’s that?’

"Fang Raon’s Widowmaker Descent!"

Fang Raon screamed, and then he brought his sword down. Delaweed blocked it with the axe. The ground under him exploded!

"100kg!"

Fang Raon increased the weight of the sword, and Delaweed’s knees buckled, and he fell to the ground, struggling to lift the heavy sword off of him.

"Haha..." Delaweed grinned hideously. "That’s a powerful attack!"

Fang Raon threw his left fist and punched Delaweed across the face. Then he punched with his sword-wielding hand, and the knuckles of his right fist connected with Delaweed’s nose.

Smack! Smack!

Delaweed stumbled back. His nose dripped with a little bit of blood. But then he wiped it off with a grin on his face.

"Not bad..." He said with a smile. "That won’t be enough, though."

[Delaweed - HP: 84]

[Fang Raon - HP: 583]

"Boss will lose at this rate." Mahabunta said, and then behind his back, he summoned his grimoire. "I won’t let that happen."

A few mosquitoes flew out of his grimoire and then silently reached Fang Raon. The mosquitoes stabbed Fang Raon’s skin and began to suck his blood.

Fang Raon slapped the back of his head, killing the mosquitoes, but he didn’t realize it was mosquitoes, as he thought it was just scratchy.

The mosquitoes already did their job.

At that moment, Fang Raon felt his vision turn blurry. Everything around him started to spin like he was about to pass out.

’What is happening?’ Fang Raon looked at his hand and saw the dead mosquitoes. ’W-what are these?’

He looked towards Snake Hornets and barely saw the evil grin on Mahabunta’s face. He realized what was going on.

’I’ve been...’

[You have been poisoned with the Dark Mosquito Bite!]

In that moment.

Delaweed smashed his axe against Fang Raon’s black sword. He defended against it, but his feet still slid back.

"Urgh!"

Fang Raon gritted his teeth.

Then, Delaweed attacked again. He blocked it, but he got pushed back. Delaweed kept attacking, and he kept blocking.

In that moment, Delaweed’s attack got through, and he swung the axe sideways, and it smashed into Fang Raon’s waist!

"URGH!"

Fang Raon was thrown across the air, and he smashed against the wall and then slid down to the ground.

[-500 HP]

[Fang Raon - HP: 83]

"RAON!" Della screamed. "Please, get up!"

He saw everyone shouting something. He couldn’t hear anything anymore. It was like all five senses were gone.

’This is not good.’ Fang Raon rubbed his eyes. ’It’s a familiar feeling, though. I’ve felt this before, and I had already forgotten how this feels.’

He stood back up.

’I can fight through this...’ he slowly walked forward, staggering like a drunk person. ’I am Fang...’

Delaweed ran across the street. Caught up to Raon. And then he swung the axe like he was lumberjacking.

Fang Raon raised his hand.

"Anchor..."

The axe stopped before it hit his hand.

"Why don’t you stop holding back, Delaweed?" Fang Raon said with his blind eyes. "And I will also stop holding back."

"...You sure?" Delaweed asked with a smirk. "You might regret that."

"I am sure..."

Fang Raon said.

In that moment, he started to feel sick. Like he was having a heavy fever. The poison was leaking through his veins, slowly spreading throughout his body.

It wasn’t killing him. It was paralyzing him.

"Very well." Delaweed stepped back. "I warned you."

Then, his flesh started to turn crimson. His hair started to float like he was in a zero-gravity chamber. His veins protruded like snakes under his skin.

"Dominant Presence of the War!"

Delaweed screamed, and all the surrounding windows shattered. The Dominant Presence of the War swept through the city.

"Black Prince."

Fang Raon turned into the fair-skinned Black Prince.

Black blood trickled down Fang Raon’s nose. He wiped it off. Then he raised his Blackest Blade and pointed it towards Delaweed.

"I am Fang Raon..." he whispered through pain. "And this is my peak."

"And I am Delaweed," he said with his crimson eyes. "And this is my peak."