Novel Full Chapter 565: Death
Chapter 565: Death
Without hesitation, Michael lunged forward, spear in hand, cutting across the dust-filled air as he charged straight for the figure.
This time, Brian managed to hold on just barely.
The clash rattled through his bones, each strike from Michael threatening to rip him apart. He had to rely not on overwhelming force but on experience.
It was the only thing keeping him from being cut down outright and the one thing he had in abundance compared to Michael.
Unfortunately, when the gap was too much, anything else aside from equal strength was equal to tricks.
Brian’s body paid the price. The protective layers of his robe shredded like paper under Michael’s spear sweeps, torn into ragged strips. Even his inner garments fared no better, leaving only the one-star extraordinary gauntlet his father had given him still intact, gleaming faintly beneath the dust and blood.
But Brian barely noticed. Shock consumed him. He was fighting for survival against someone he thought he should surpass, and the truth was hammering into him with every blow—Michael’s strength was monstrous.
Michael, on the other hand, felt his own pulse thunder in confusion. He knew he wasn’t the most special individual in the world, but facing Brian here—Brian, the raw power pressing back against his strikes unsettled him.
Dual classes… could they really create such an overwhelming advantage?
Both men’s gazes locked mid-exchange, each seeing the disbelief mirrored in the other’s eyes.
Michael’s spear blurred into a storm. Every thrust carried a weight Brian could barely withstand. His arms screamed beneath the gauntlet.
Each parry rang out with the sound of cracking bone and tearing muscle.
Brian spat blood again, his chest heaving as if his lungs had been clawed out. His defense was pitiful, but it was also… stubborn. Somehow, with his battered body and fractured composure, he kept from breaking entirely.
Michael’s fury only deepened. The backlash of losing his undead still gnawed at him like hot iron, and every time his spear struck against Brian’s faltering guard, he couldn’t help but recall the previous day’s event when Brian had attacked him out of nowhere in the virtual space
“What does it feel like?” Michael snarled between blows, his voice low and venomous.
“You’ve been a cocky piece of shit to me, no? What? You don’t like it?”
Brian’s eyes widened with anger from being looked down on. The fact he was being beaten with disrespect didn’t make his mood better.
Then the next strike sent him crashing back, carving a trench in the dirt..
Yet even as his body buckled, Brian’s instincts forced him to rise again.
Michael’s spear came down like judgment itself, shattering the earth and breaking defenses.
Brian’s face twisted. His aura flared once more, desperate, ragged, but still burning. His defense was reduced to scraps, his body a canvas of bruises and cuts, yet he stood anyway.
To Michael, the sight was maddening. To Brian, it was humiliating.
For both, it was unforgettable.
Unfortunately, Michael was still stronger.
Brian’s aura burned like a wildfire, but even in his Berserk frenzy, he could only just barely keep pace with Michael’s base form—and even then, it was a terrible attempt at that. Every exchange pushed him closer to collapse.
The reality was undeniable: he was losing to a necromancer in close combat.
The humiliation bit deeper than the wounds. To be overpowered by someone who, by all logic, should have been weaker… it made Brian’s very blood boil. Yet, logic was meaningless against the spear that carved his flesh and shattered his pride.
Michael’s movements grew sharper, heavier. He could almost taste the next wave of experience points.
Victory was at hand.
But then Brian did the unthinkable.
His aura flared violently—only this time, it didn’t condense into strength. Instead, it ruptured inward, folding on itself. His body stiffened, and then with a grisly finality, Brian blew apart his own head.
The explosion wasn’t flashy; it was brutal and decisive. Bone fragments and blood scattered across the ground, his body toppling before Michael’s strike could finish him.
For a moment, silence hung in the ruined clearing.
Michael froze, spear still raised, his mind reeling. He had expected resistance, another desperate skill, perhaps even a final trump card. But this? Suicide?
Michael’s frown deepened. The reason was obvious.
Brian had chosen death by his own hand.
What Michael didn’t know was that Brian hadn’t only acted out of spite. He hadn’t wanted his secrets—his three-class foundation—to be revealed through his corpse, or anything Michael might uncover. His pride, his paranoia, and his hatred had converged into one final, self-destructive act.
Michael exhaled slowly, lowering his weapon. His chest rose and fell from a gnawing sense of unease.
If before he hadn’t given it much thought, now he couldn’t ignore the oddity of his former classmate.
Something was definitely wrong with Brian.
As for the experience points… Michael didn’t feel a thing.
The two dead Awakeners whose bodies he had just blown apart hadn’t given him even the faintest ripple of growth.
Part of it was simple: they had been several levels beneath him, far too weak to provide anything substantial. But the greater reason was his experience points had been shackled. Ever since his entanglement with the Origin Will, the points he gained were throttled to more than less than half of what they should have been.
Michael’s gaze drifted over the aftermath. The clearing was a ruin of splintered trees, gouged earth, and lingering dust.
Thankfully, before the fight had begun, he had had the foresight to summon the three living Goliaths back into the Netherworld. They were safe. But the same couldn’t be said for the scorpions. They’ve been swept away completely by the aftermath of his and Brian’s clash.
Michael’s jaw tightened. His loss still hurt him.
Unfortunately he had no outlet to vent to now so Michael resigned to his fate and hurried back to his castle.
With a blur, it didn’t take long for Michael to arrive at his keep.