Chapter 430: Everything...

[+1000 HP]

[Fang Raon – HP: 1083]

Fang Raon used Godspeed. He blitzed like a jet. It was nearly impossible to see him with the naked eye alone.

‘I can’t see him!’ Machary thought with a shock. ‘I’ve also started to learn the Five Pillars of Power, but I am nowhere as fast as he is!’

They used to be equals. But now, it felt like he was running away from him. Unacceptable, he thought!

‘I will not let him!’

Machary thought with a serious look on his face.

Fang Raon swung the black blade. It was nothing but a blur as it flew through the air. Delaweed acted fast.

The axe fell down on the black blade with a loud clang.

‘If only I had my left arm,’ Delaweed looked at his empty sleeve. ‘I would’ve thrown a punch now.’

He could only use his axe.

Delaweed pushed through. He covered the blade of the axe with his Maxima. The shade of his axe turned crimson-red.

‘What a powerful Maxima!’ Rock thought. ‘It is so strong that it can even change the color of his weapon. This is Color of Maxima!’

The axe came like a whirlwind as Delaweed swung it around. It came straight for Fang Raon. His eyes squinted.

In that moment, Fang Raon pushed his Read to the absolute maximum, and he weaved through the axe strikes.

With Read, he was able to read Delaweed’s movements before they even happened. He knew where he was going to attack.

While Delaweed’s Maxima was superior to Fang Raon’s, his Read was superior to Delaweed, and that equaled the battlefield!

Fang Raon hacked the black blade for his right arm. Intending to chop it off also. But then a strange forcefield appeared around Delaweed’s arm.

It deflected his sword strike!

“Projection,” Delaweed said with a smirk.

It was Projection, one of the Eight Pillars of Power. It was another high-level usage of it. Only a few had mastered it to the level that Delaweed had.

‘Delaweed covered his arm with Reach. It’s like there is an invisible forcefield around him that blocks all attacks. He is a very skilled Pillars of Power user!’

Rock thought with a serious look.

He was ashamed to admit that Delaweed was even superior to him. He hadn’t learned to use Reach that way.

“Projection Punch!”

Delaweed threw a punch with his axe-wielding hand. The large fist came for Fang Raon’s face. It was coated with the Projection forcefield.

“Anchor!” Fang Raon forced the punch to a halt inches away from his face.

“Maxima!”

Delaweed punched through the Anchor spell with Maxima, and the heavy fist landed at Fang Raon’s face!

SMACK!

Fang Raon’s head got snapped to the side. His neck muscles strained. It was a surprise that his head didn’t just fly off of his shoulders!

“Ugh…” Fang Raon looked shocked. ‘He punched through my Anchor like it’s nothing. I thought my Anchor was strong enough so that Maxima wouldn’t be enough to break it, but I was wrong.’

Delaweed slammed his foot on the ground. The ground trembled like a giant had stepped his foot down. Then his muscles of his right arm ballooned.

“GREAT AXE!”

The axe smashed into Fang Raon, and it released a shockwave that smashed against the building behind him.

The building got blown to pieces!

“UGH!”

Fang Raon coughed out blood, and his eyes rolled back to his skull, and he dropped to his knees.

[Fang Raon – HP: 111]

“Fang Raon!” Della screamed.

“This is not looking good,” Rock said with a dark look. “Dominant Presence of the War is too strong.”

The members of the Rose Records had a dark look on their faces. Snake Hornets were gleefully grinning.

“…That’s our boss!”

“…Delaweed, yeah!”

“Huff… huff…” Delaweed panted heavily. “I respect your strength. I can see why she fell for you. A man must protect what is his, and I respect you doing the same.”

Fang Raon looked at him silently. Then he stood up from the ground. And he spat out the blood from his mouth.

The blood splattered on the ground.

‘What am I missing?’ he wondered. ‘Our skill is equal. His Pillars of Power is superior to mine. He has greater combat experience. Dominant Presence of the War is stronger than my legacy transformation.’

It felt hopeless. He was simply outmatched. It was clear that he wasn’t quite at the level of the guild master of the top 29 guild.

And there were players way stronger than him.

“…” Delaweed saw him thinking. “Do you want to end this fight? If so, I am willing to consider this fight as a draw.”

“What about her?” Fang Raon asked with a frown.

“Hehe, I thought that maybe if I was stubborn, she would eventually fall for me, but I was just being stupid. Her heart has already been taken by you.

“As a man, I know when I’ve been bested. I will leave her be. I enjoyed this fight; I really did. It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to feel alive like this.”

Delaweed said with a chuckle, and then he turned on his heel and waved his hand as he walked away.

“I’ll see you later, Fang Raon. I hope we can finish this fight another day. I know for a fact that you will keep getting stronger, but so will I.”

Snake Hornets were surprised that he didn’t finish the fight. They followed after Delaweed as they walked away.

“Are you alright?” Della ran over to him and saw that he was still dripping with blood, and she quickly waved over their Helper. “Dogger, hurry up!”

Dogger walked over to them and healed him quickly with the healing staff.

Fang Raon returned back to his normal self. The clothes were a mess. His black hair looked disheveled.

He looked like he had been in a crazy fight.

“Sorry,” Fang Raon looked at Della with a sorry look. “I couldn’t kill him. I have failed you all.”

“Don’t be like that…” Della didn’t like him taking the blame for all of this. “This is not your fault. If it is somebody’s, it’s mine.”

“Master,” Fang Raon looked at Rock. “What was I missing?”

“Everything.” Rock said. “He was better than you at everything. You gave a good fight, though.”

‘Everything…’

Fang Raon thought with a frown.

“Let’s leave,” Della touched Fang Raon’s back. “The guards might show up soon. Let’s head back to the guild building.”

They started leaving. The players on top of the rooftops also started to disperse. Slightly disappointed that the fight didn’t end with anybody’s loss.

“Heh…” Kerr Gehram watched at Fang Raon. “I don’t feel like he has given up. HIs heart is burning like an inferno.”

“The two of you…” Rock looked at Della and Fang Raon. “We will have a word about your relationship.”

Della looked shy. Fang Raon looked surprised. He understood why he was looking at him with such hostility before.

“Listen…”

“Not a word from you, brat.” Rock gritted his teeth. “I am more curious about why my dear granddaughter fell for your womanizing ass.”

‘Womanizing?’ Fang Raon scratched the back of his head. ‘Little rude.’

…

Snake Hornets returned back to their guild building. It was late, so they all retreated to their rooms.

Some of them slept inside Black Online. Some logged off for the outside world.

“Do you need anything, boss?” Mahabunta asked. “How about a cup of tea?”

“A cup of tea this late?” Delaweed looked at him like he was an idiot. “Are you stupid? I am going to my office, and I better not be disturbed!”

Mahabunta gulped. Then he gave a weak smile. He turned on his heel and then walked away, and once he was out of the view, his smile dropped.

A cold look appeared on his face.

Delaweed entered his office. He closed the door. Then he looked at his axe and put it down on the desk in front of him.

“COUGH!”

He coughed out blood and dropped to his knees.

The sizes of his muscles shrunk. The popping veins receded into his skin. The crimson flesh disappeared.

“COUGH!”

Delaweed coughed out black blood into his hand, and he suddenly looked much older, like he had aged thirty years in an instant.

‘That boy sure gave me a hard time,’ he lay down on the floor in exhaustion. ‘If the fight had continued, I would’ve been in real trouble.’

…

At the roof courtyard of the Rose Records building, Fang Raon sat on the bench, surrounded by pots of plants and bushes that had been pruned with care.

He looked towards the starry sky.

‘Eight Pillars of Oppression…’ Fang Raon thought and looked at his arm. “Iron Skin!”

He tried to harden his flesh. It didn’t work. Fang Raon felt a pang of disappointment.

‘As expected, I can’t learn it by myself. But I know who might be able to teach me. The demons of the Prison.’

Fang Raon thought.

‘It’s really risky. I might die. I might not be able to return from there. I would need to enter the Second Circle of Hell since the First Circle is empty.

‘And demons there will be much stronger…’