Chapter 162: A Battle Beyond His Rank (2)

Taking only a few direct hits from that sword would end my life.

So I had to avoid close combat as much as possible and restrict myself to launching weapons at him from a distance.

The ten weapons I had released shot toward him.

He blocked some with his sword...

But dodged the others.

"He’s dodging now..."

"Did he figure out how the Legion Arm’s ability works?"

If that was true, it was terrible news.

A boss like this wasn’t supposed to be capable of intelligent thought.

He was merely a servant of the Golden Dawn Knight.

Fortunately, his decision to dodge didn’t seem to come from actual reasoning.

It was closer to instinct.

He returned to blocking the moment I redirected the weapons he had previously dodged back toward him, taking advantage of the fact that they were still within the range of my Telekinesis.

The dark Knight Commander managed to close the distance afterward.

But I was already prepared.

All ten attacks had successfully connected thanks to the weakness created by his sword.

Overcharge: 10/10

Electricity gathered around the Legion Arm and surged violently.

Dark crimson lightning, so deep in color that it almost seemed to blend into the darkness itself.

Serpents of electricity rose rapidly from my arm, releasing a sharp, piercing hum accompanied by violent pulses that shook the air.

The space between us trembled.

This time, the Knight Commander attacked with even greater force, unleashing a far greater amount of black flame than before.

And I answered with a fist saturated in crimson lightning.

The Legion Arm collided head-on with his sword.

The clash was far more violent this time.

The two elements devoured one another with absolute ferocity, fire and lightning each struggling to overwhelm the other.

And through Wise Raven Insight...

I could see everything that was happening.

Including which side was winning.

’That’s reassuring... My lightning still has the upper hand.’

Even after Aldebaran increased the power of his flames, he was still losing against the roaring serpents of lightning, and our second clash ended much like the first.

His armor shattered in several places, particularly around the chest.

But this time, I had made a grave mistake.

Because Aldebaran had increased the power of his flames, he managed to withstand the lightning far better than before.

And because of that...

He was able to move the instant he endured my attack.

By the time I realized it, he was already right in front of me.

"That bastard... Was he planning this from the beginning?!"

Using Wise Raven Insight to track his attack, I saw that his sword was already about to reach me. I hurriedly gathered every last bit of my Aura Armor and raised the Executioner’s Sword in front of me to block.

I had no choice but to rely on the two of them, along with the strength of my demonic body, and hope they would be enough to withstand the blow.

Then the anticipated strike came.

The deafening crash of colliding metal thundered across the battlefield.

For a moment, I thought I had successfully endured his attack.

Then, in the very next second...

I found myself flying through the air.

The force of the impact sent me hurtling across the battlefield until my back slammed into the distant wall, causing the entire structure to tremble violently.

The difference in raw strength was far worse than I had expected.

Pain erupted from several places across my body.

My back burned with agony, while a bitter, metallic taste filled my mouth, confirming that I had suffered at least some internal damage.

But the worst injury came from my human right arm, the one that had been holding the sword.

After taking that blow...

I could no longer use it to hold the Executioner’s Sword.

"This miserable pain... Is it broken?"

A single hit.

Taking just one attack from him had been enough to injure me this badly and erase nearly half of my health.

The restriction imposed by Eventual Greatness only made things worse, since both my health and mana were far lower than those of others at my level because of it.

Pain squeezed at my mind, leaving me staggering as I struggled to keep my eyes fixed on Aldebaran.

My demonic body gave me a greater tolerance for pain, so I was still capable of fighting.

Even so...

My right hand was useless now that it was broken.

Spitting a mouthful of bloodied saliva onto the ground, I felt heat surge through my body.

I staggered forward with heavy steps and picked up the Executioner’s Sword with the mechanical Legion Arm.

At that moment, I could feel the worried gazes of my companions fixed on me.

They were fighting the knights with everything they had and had already managed to kill many of them.

But they needed more time.

"Don’t think... Just fight."

I took a deep breath before releasing more weapons from my arsenal.

I had a large number of weapons stored away.

Even if that bastard kept destroying them...

I wasn’t going to run out anytime soon.

Letting my body sink beneath the dark Aura Armor, I charged forward this time, closing the distance between us instead of widening it.

The Knight Commander rushed toward me as well, intent on cutting me down once again with that cursed sword.

The moment we drew close enough, I attacked first from a distance.

I launched all ten weapons at him from extremely close range, leaving him with no choice but to block them.

Overcharge filled once again.

Crimson lightning blazed through the Legion Arm.

But this time...

I wasn’t going to stop there.

If I wanted to pay that filthy knight back for what he had done to me, I needed even more explosive power.

Instead of keeping the electricity confined to the Legion Arm, I channeled it into the Executioner’s Sword, allowing crimson lightning to envelop the entire blade just as the Knight Commander had done with his black flames.

The massive Executioner’s Sword trembled violently.

For a moment, it almost seemed to grow larger beneath the sheer amount of electricity wrapped around it.

On top of that, the Legion Arm increased my Strength by the equivalent of five levels.

And I further reinforced the Executioner’s Sword with Telekinesis.

By the time I finished preparing everything...

We had already reached each other again.

Aldebaran swung his greatsword.

And I did the same.

Our blades collided.

The resulting boom was louder than anything before it, deafening everyone present.

Aldebaran’s strength and durability were no joke.

The moment our swords crossed, I felt my entire body struggling just to hold itself together beneath the pressure.

But this time...

I was stronger.

The Executioner’s Sword forced his burning blade aside before carving straight through his chest and tearing across a large portion of his abdomen.

It was the greatest amount of damage Aldebaran had suffered since the battle began.

He staggered backward...

And for the first time since the fight started, the Knight Commander fell onto one knee.

"How’s that, you son of a bitch?"

"Hurts, doesn’t it?"

Standing before him, I felt the corners of my mouth rise on their own, forming the kind of smile no sane man should ever wear.