"You!" Psoglav roared as he tried to move his body, but it was for naught.
Ella's Skill, Rampage, had a chance to inflict short-term paralysis when she hit her target with her attack. The demonic creature could only curse internally as the goat's horns collided with his arms for the second time.
A resounding crack was heard and Psoglav felt a crushing pain in his left arm. The pain broke the paralysis effect on his body and he was able to use his darkness power to push back the second attack of the War Ibex who was going for the kill.
"We almost got him." William sighed as Ella regained her footing. His eyes focused on the demonic creature in front of him who was no longer acting like a gentleman. Psoglav's single eye glared at William with extreme hate.
The demonic creature's left arm was bent at an unnatural angle and was bleeding profusely. Psoglav used his right arm to forcefully fix the dislocated arm. He then used his dark magic to stop the bleeding.
William knew that the ruler of the forest merely did some emergency first aid treatment on its broken arm. Dark Magic was different from Light and Life magic which had the power to heal injuries. Dark Magic, on the other hand, specialized in dealing curses and dark energy on the enemy. Of course, just like other forms of magic, it could also be used as a stop-gap to prevent injuries from getting worse.
"Congratulations! You have succeeded in angering me!" Psoglav roared.
Its roar sent shockwaves through the whole forest. Spirit beasts and birds started to flee in the opposite direction in order to not be included in the aftermath of Psoglav's full powered counter-attack.
"You're welcome~" William teased. "Don't worry, it won't be the first and last injury that you will receive, your excellency. If it's a fight you want then it's a fight you'll get!"
"Meeeeeeh!" Ella bleated as she raised her head in challenge.
"What a naive young shepherd you are," Psoglav sneered. "I'll teach you the true power of Dark Magic!"
William wanted to retort that Psoglav didn't need to teach him anything. His Master, Celine, had already taught him a lot while tormenting him with curses and dark miasma everyday. Of course, he had no intention of saying this. Using your aces in a battle of life and death could turn the tide of victory.
Psoglav raised its dominant right arm and fired a barrage of dark beams towards William and Ella.
The Angorian goat nimbly dodged to the side as it started to charge towards Psoglav in order to close the distance.
After that overbearing clash, Psoglav didn't dare to underestimate the War Ibex any longer. It used its nimbleness to jump to the branches of the trees while hurling dark obs at the young shepherd and his goat.
William and Ella ran around the clearing as they dodged the demonic creature's range attack.
'Too bad I can't use my magic,' William thought as he leaned his head to the side to avoid Psoglav's energy balls. 'If I could use it, I would just erect Ice Wall's and fight a battle of attrition.'
"Doppelganger!" Psoglav used its special move and split its body into two. Since he lost one of his arms, he was unable to effectively fire a barrage of dark magic on William and Ella. In order to overcome this weakness, he was forced to use his trump card.
As the dark magic raining down on them doubled, William decided that staying in the clearing was disadvantageous to them.
"Mama, to the forest!"
"Meeeeh!"
Ella used her agility to deftly use the trees to block Psoglav's attack. This move was quite effective because Psoglav was forced to stop its barrage and run after them.
The examiners who had been watching over the other children got attracted to the intense fluctuations happening inside the forest and proceeded to investigate as well.
Most of the children had already arrived at their destination. Chandler was among them and he was quite thankful that he managed to escape the demonic beast's pursuit alive.
Meanwhile, the one who helped the children escape was having a tough battle with one of the Rulers of the Forest.
Psoglav was very familiar with the forest and used it to its advantage. The demonic creature along with its doppelganger aimed for a pincer attack as they circled around the retreating goat.
William and Ella had repeatedly tried to run towards the flag fluttering in the distance, but the enraged Psoglav didn't give them that opportunity. Everytime Ella would attempt to break through, the doppelganger and Psoglav would rain powerful dark magic attacks on them.
This caused Ella to stop her attempts as she desperately dodged each and every attack coming from the trees above them.
William knew that the situation was critical so he decided to use one of his trump cards in battle.
'System, switch my subclass to Cavalier.'
< Switching of Subclasses Complete! >
< Host, may the odds be in your favor! >
'Thank you, but I need another favor from you, System.'
< How may I be of assistance? >
'I want you to…'
William urged Ella to make a turn as she dodged a dozen dark bullets that were shot at her right side.
"Mama, use Rampage again!" William ordered.
"Meeeeeh!"
-----
< Rampage 10 / 10 >
(100 Mana Points)
-- Release all your potential and go on a full rampage.
-- Doubles the size of the user's horn to inflict massive damage to the enemy.
-- Damage Dealt is equivalent to Strength Stat x 15
-- Deals Double Damage against creatures that fall under the "Pack" category.
-- Has a high chance to cause bleeding status to the enemy.
-- Has a chance to paralyze the enemy.
-----
The size of Ella's horns doubled, which almost made Psoglav shudder. He could still remember how close he was to dying after receiving the War Ibex's full powered attack.
"Duel Ex!" William shouted and an unbelievable thing happened.
Psoglav, who was standing on top of a tree, felt his body move unconsciously. It only had a moment to realize that the boy had used some kind of powerful taunt skill to forcefully force him to exchange blows in close combat!
"Damn!" Psoglav cursed out loud as it formed a bastard sword with its dark magic.
William's "Duel Ex" skill was a specialty of the Cavalier Job Class. Once William identified a target within a fifty meter radius around him, that target would be forced to exchange a single blow with him. The effect of the duel would immediately disappear once the single strike had been made.
William could use the skill three times a day and the good part about this skill was that it didn't require mana to activate!
Finding the true body of Psoglav was hard because its doppelganger was a perfect replica of it. However, William had the system. It was able to distinguish which was real between the two. With its help, the red-headed boy could force Psoglav to exchange blows with them as long as it was within the Duel's range.
A resounding clap, followed by a shockwave, exploded inside the forest.
"Kuhaaaaaak!" Psoglav spurted a mouthful of blood as it used a dark whip to grab onto a tree branch to pull itself up.
William and Ella were pushed back by the impact of the Bastard Sword made of pure Dark Energy. However, both were very much unharmed since Ella's horns took the brunt of the blow.
The Dark Sword had shattered upon impact, but it managed to deflect Ella's horns from landing a fatal blow.
Even so, Ella was still able to gouge a hole in the demonic creature's shoulder because it was completely caught off guard by William's forced duel.
William summoned his bow as he fired several shots at the demonic creature who had been seriously injured by their exchange.
"Curse you human boy!" Psoglav shouted in anger. "I'll kill you and feast on your flesh! I'll drink your blood and make your skull my personal wine cup!"
William didn't reply because he was waiting for the Duel Ex's cooldown to finish. Although it didn't require any mana, he could only use it once every five minutes.
The examiners who had arrived at the scene were dumbfounded at the exchange that they had witnessed with their own eyes. Aside from Grent, Andy, and Layla, there were nine other examiners who were keeping a close watch on the children.
All of the children had successfully arrived at the flag, except for one, and that one was none other than William.
Psoglav's doppelganger initiated a sneak attack and slashed William with a Bastard Sword made from Dark Magic. William was about to block the attack when he sensed another killing intent above him.
The two demonic creatures had decided to go all out and fight at close quarters. Their perfectly timed attack made it difficult for Ella and William to dodge them.
William roared and used his staff to block the attack coming from above while leaning sideways.
Psoglav's Bastard Sword was perfectly blocked because the Parry Skill activated at the crucial moment. However, the doppelganger's attack grazed the side of William's body.
Ella immediately used a Mega Kick to obliterate the enemy behind her, but the latter managed to block it with its bastard sword. Even so, it still sent the doppelganger smashing towards the trees because Ella's kick was a force to be reckoned with.
Psoglav immediately used another dark whip to escape Ella's murderous horns as she defended her baby from further attacks.
The side of William's clothes were already dyed in blood as his blood gushed out of his wound. Although the bastard sword just grazed him, it still left a centimeter-deep-wound that extended along the side of his body.
