The Sheikh spun his chains faster, each rotation kicking up a whirlwind of dust and dirt that filled the dimly lit room with choking debris. The metallic clinking of the chains echoed ominously, a precursor to the impending assault. Without warning, the Sheikh flung both of the chains at Ludwig with devastating speed and force.
Reacting on pure instinct, Ludwig dove to the side, narrowly evading the first chain as it whistled past his ear. In one seamless motion, he reached into his ring, pulling out one of the scimitars he had collected earlier. He brought the blade up just in time to intercept the second chain, the impact sending a jarring vibration through his arm.
The Sheikh grinned maliciously, yanking on the chain and wrenching the scimitar from Ludwig’s grasp. The weapon clattered uselessly across the floor, but Ludwig barely flinched. He was already closing the distance between them.
“Fool!” the Sheikh barked. His voice was thick with disdain, but his movements were calculated and precise. He spun in place, the chain in his free hand whirling overhead like a deadly cyclone. As Ludwig approached, the Sheikh ducked low, then surged upward with tremendous force, swinging the chain toward Ludwig’s face.
Ludwig twisted his neck unnaturally, his undead physiology allowing him to contort in ways no human could. The chain whipped past him, missing by a hair’s breadth, but he didn’t stop. With a second scimitar already drawn, he pressed the attack.
Though it wasn’t as heavy as the sword he needed to use the Imperial Style.
The weapon scraped against the ground as Ludwig brought it up in a rising slash aimed at the Sheikh’s midsection. The Sheikh responded with practiced ease, flicking his wrist to wrap the chain around his forearm. The spiked links coiled tightly, forming an impromptu shield that intercepted Ludwig’s blade. Sparks flew as the scimitar clashed against the reinforced arm.
Ludwig didn’t relent. He unleashed a barrage of strikes, each one flowing into the next as he pushed the limits of his Imperial Style. Three consecutive slashes rang out, each strike driving the Sheikh back a step.
The power behind a limit-breaking body like Ludwig’s Undead body was not something a mere mortal could block. However, the Sheikh was different. Powered by the chains, he was able to take on Ludwig’s mighty blows with nothing but a grimace on his face and a couple of steps back.
Ludwig in his offense wasn’t about to let go of this opportunity, he knew well that he never managed to perfectly mimic the Imperial Style from his sword teacher Joana, but now in a matter of life and death, he went all out. He pushed his foot and stomped it forward, closing the gap between the two, and entered a delicate and very dangerous position where the Sheikh could if he had the time, easily counter and take the initiative.
The undead had no intention of allowing that to happen. The second part of the Imperial style immediately followed up, the stomp followed by a pierce which the sheikh knew he couldn’t block with one arm, he flicked his other hand and crossed both chains covered arms in front of him to stop Ludwig’s piercing blow.
A scimitar was far too weak and light and also was not designed to be a piercing or stabbing weapon to allow the full force of the Imperial Style to show. That’s why the Sheikh was able to easily block Ludwig’s stab, but that was all he could do. Ludwig followed immediately with the second style, a risky gamble that he failed many times before.
But now, with enough strength and dexterity behind his body, he was able to spin his entire body forward, slamming the scimitar onto the crossed arms of the sheik who’s guard instantly broke from the weight of the blow.
The scimitar cracked and chipped from the sheer impact, and continued down until it reached the ground, Ludwig flipped the weapon’s sharp edge and ripped it upward, creating a powerful cone of energy that even he didn’t know where it came from that slashed at the sheik’s exposed body.
[Critical!]
-1340 hp!
You applied [Laceration] onto your target.
The number was absurdly high for what the weapon was capable of, but then again that was only the base damage of the weapon, the application of strength and the imperial style are more than capable of doubling, tripling, and do even more damage to their target.
The Sheikh was flung back as a gaping wound appeared on his body, he groaned in pain as he realized that this boy was overpowering him.
“I WILL GRIND YOUR BONES AND DRINK YOUR BLOOD BOY!” the Sheikh shouted as he gripped his chest.
However, the wound that should have been fatal to any mortal didn’t seem to even bother the Sheikh, he was furious and enraged and didn’t even register the damage.
Ludwig’s weapon was completely unusable, it became dull and brittle with all the cracks all over it. But he didn’t have many weapons left, and he knew he’d need all of them, especially with what is occurring right now in front of him.
The wound on the Sheikh’s body closed rapidly, while on the tree, one of the wrapped up and dried bodies began shuddering and a massive gaping wound appeared on its chest instead.
‘Wound and damage transfer… I can’t win this fight,’ Ludwig knew well that this was a losing battle.
He had a couple of choices; the first was to keep throwing himself against the Sheikh to find a weakness. Maybe if he cut off his head, he couldn’t regenerate it.
The second is to use all of his undead strength and bolt the hell out of this area, grab Alva on the way, and just run for it. Though it would fail his current Quest, it didn’t have any penalties for failing.
The idea was forming in his head, and he turned his head to glance at the door.
The Sheikh noticed that and slammed both hands on the ground, the chains immediately bore through the cobblestone floor and went right under Ludwig’s feet.
Ludwig jumped up to dodge the chains, but they weren’t coming his way, instead, they ruptured right next to the metallic door and slammed it shut while breaking the handle.
“You’re going nowhere!” he bellowed.
‘Well, that’s that for option two,’ Ludwig said to himself as he lunged at the Sheikh.
The latter fought back, this time with even more gusto. He slammed both palms together, calling the chains up to smack on Ludwig’s sides.
[-152 hp!]
Ludwig cursed under his breath as his sides felt like they were crushed.
Ludwig’s body was ratteled as the force of the impact nearly toppled him. His health pool, increased by his recent level-up to 11 bumped his base health pool to 1100, provided a buffer, but he couldn’t afford to take hits like that for long.
The Sheikh’s laughter boomed through the chamber. “What’s wrong, boy? Losing your nerve?”
Ludwig gritted his teeth, ignoring the taunts.
His mind raced as he analyzed the situation. If the Sheikh’s immortality relied on the corpses bound to the tree, then perhaps severing that connection would weaken him. But how could he reach the tree with the Sheikh standing in his way?
But from the looks of things. This fight was not going to be an easy one. Ludwig needs to figure out a way to win against an immortal enemy before his health drops to 0.