Isla couldn’t feel anything. Her eyes went completely blank and her body lost all feeling. She didn’t understand what happened and her mind didn’t even try to. Her eyes opened slightly, feeling really tired for some reason.
‘It’s… cold.’ She thought to herself as she tried to move her hand. However, she couldn’t for some reason. Her ears were ringing loudly which was very uncomfortable but it didn’t concern her yet.
‘Did I… Die?’ She asked again, knowing she didn’t have the answer to that. After all, she herself didn’t know what caused her to end up like this. ‘What did that monster do?’
Her mind felt like it was frozen and incapable of thinking. As the ringing continued, Isla started hearing muffled sounds far away from her. The sounds were indistinguishable and hard to focus on.
But, they still brought Isla a deep concern. For a second there, she forgot about her team.
‘Are they… ok?’
***
“Isla!!” Danny yelled as he rushed toward the girl. But, at that moment, Lykean stood up slowly. The fire around him was now double in size. The temperature of the entire place plummeted sharply as ice spread beneath the monster’s feet.
His aura was now so massive and crushing that the players froze in their places. They didn’t know what to do at that moment at all. They felt fear unlike anything else before in their lives.
Lykean stared at everyone for a moment, the rage in his eyes could be seen from a mile away. It was safe to say that he didn’t like what happened. For these weak players to actually bring him close to his death. That was a hard hit to his pride.
They had pushed him to his limit and now they will have to bear the consequences of their actions. It didn’t take him long to decide who was the first to perish. Slowly, Lykean turned around to the person lying down behind him.
Wrapped in an ice sheet, Isla lay there, motionless. Her eyes were wide open but she couldn’t see or react. However, her body was still shuddering, indicating that she didn’t die yet. But, Lykean didn’t seem like he was going to let that stay the same as he slowly lifted his leg in the air.
“No!” The other players’ hearts sunk in when they realized what was about to happen.
*Swish*
Heartlessly, Lykean stomped down, intending to crush her to pieces with one hit. However, at that last moment, a silhouette suddenly appeared out of nowhere, swiping Isla and quickly moving away before the monster could stomp it.
“Sorry, my friend. I won’t let you do that.” Arthur said as he gently put Isla down. “She ain’t a bug you can crush.” He added in a hostile tone.
Lykean looked up to the side, his eyes flaring up visibly.
“Hey, Emmy. Can you help her? Melt the ice. She’s still alive.” Arthur said as he looked at Isla’s health bar. Even though it was going down rapidly, she still had time before it is completely depleted.
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“Y-Yes!” Emmy snapped out of her daze as she rushed toward her friend. But, when the monster noticed that, he suddenly lifted his hand as he blasted a massive fireball toward Emmy, who had her guard completely down.
“No, no, no.” Arthur moved quickly, forming a bloody claw on his left hand. Slashing down, he burst the fireball before it could reach its target. Naturally, that covered his hand in ice, but with a simple move, he broke the ice.
“Shit, did your fire become even colder?” He asked as he looked at his hand. “Damn, you’re one persistent bastard.”
“T-Thank you,” Emmy said as she continued moving toward Isla.
“Herculia, Danny. Would you do me a favor?” Arthur took a fighting stance with his sanguine blade in his hand. “Would you guard Emmy while she’s helping Isla?”
“Huh? Are you intending to fight that thing on your own?” Herculia asked with a frown.
“What do you think?”
“That’s insanity! He’s even stronger than before, somehow!”
“Well, do you have any other option? We’re all doomed if we don’t kill him. But, it seems I’m his target now and he won’t stop till he kills me.” Licking his lips, Arthur continued. “I’m just giving him a chance to try.”
“…”
The two couldn’t find anything to say at that moment. Seeing that Arthur was dead set on doing this, they couldn’t really do anything else. They were beyond exhausted and their health was at an all-time low. They could barely move anymore and so this was secretly something they wished for… Some well-deserved rest.
Seeing that they went silent, Arthur shook his head. “Let’s get this over with, you blue bastard.”
Lykean glared at Arthur as it took a step forward. The boy did the same. Then, the monster started moving faster and faster, quickly running toward his target. Arthur did the same.
In a moment, the two closed the distance from one another. However, at the very last moment, Lykean did something unexpected. Out of nowhere, his body vanished, turning completely into a massive ball of flame.
Before Arthur could react, the ball smashed into him violently. Groaning, Arthur quickly latched into the flame. Weirdly enough, he found a grip as the fire flew up in the air.
“Arthur!!”
“AGH!! Don’t worry about me!” He said as he slashed with his hand at the blue flame. Immediately, he heard a muffled cry coming from inside the fire.
‘So he’s still inside there. This is his phase 2 form.’ He thought to himself as he continued slashing and punching the monster. Meanwhile, Lykean flew in the air like a comet, going everywhere at enormous speed.
The relentless attacks Arthur was dealing made him lose control of his direction. The two battled in the air as the monster went up and down, until it smashed into the ground, dragging Arthur against the broken wood.
The boy felt immense pain at that moment. But, he clenched his teeth and continued hitting the monster. At this point, the icy cold fire had started eating at his body and arms. His skin felt horribly numb and his health was going down sharply.
“Don’t… Test… Your… Luck!!” He yelled as he used the sword and stabbed into the fire, making the monster shriek even harder. Lykean flew with them way higher in the air, going far away from the floating ship.
“I had enough of your antics! Just fucking die!!” Arthur yelled as he channeled his mana into his sword, ready to activate Mortal Slash. However, at that moment, Lykean suddenly manifested again in his previous form, staring directly at Arthur’s eyes from up close.
The boy was stunned for a split second as the monster suddenly grabbed him by the throat as they started falling to the endless sky beneath.
‘He’s… choking me!’ Arthur struggled against the immense pressure being put on his neck. He could feel his bones shake from its sheer strength.
But, that didn’t stop him from shoving his sword into the monster’s body, spilling blood everywhere around them.
Meanwhile, the monster tries to finish off Arthur before he can finish him.
Down on the ship, everyone watched the fight with horrifying silence. Nobody could truly describe what was happening at that moment. Even Danny was completely stunned by what Arthur was doing in his place.
*BANG*
Arthur punched the monster right in the face, turning his entire arm into ice. His left arm was the only functional one left. The monster panickedly tried to grab him again, only to suddenly hear a whisper in his ear.
“It’s over… Lykean… It’s all over.” Arthur said. That was when Lykean realized something.
The sanguine blade had started eating away from his body. Like a burnt ash, the blade slowly destroyed him.
An incomprehensible howl escaped the monster’s throat as he tried to stop the blade. But, by that time, it was all over.
In a few seconds, Lykean completely disappeared, leaving behind nothing but black ashes and a falling boy, going down into the sky beneath.
Arthur’s eyes closed as he watched his health reach zero.
[Ding!]
[You have killed Lykean, The Child Of The Azure Flame.]
[Memory Gate has been conquered.]
The last thing he saw was three notifications. He didn’t know what happened after wards.
“Arthur!” Emmy yelled as she was about to stop melting the ice off Isla. But, Danny stopped her.
“We can’t help him… He’s dead.” He said as he shook his head lightly.
Seeing him fall down, they couldn’t really do much to save him. None of them had the ability to fly and even if they did, seeing from how the fight ended, there was not a chance he was still alive.
“Dammit!” Herculia cursed. “He actually did it! The bastard did it! He’s a maniac.” He yelled loudly. “Even if he died. We can’t really leave Arthur behind.
Wherever he ended, we must come back to him. Ya hear me?”
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3