238 Chapter 205: Shackled
Present
Who was this mysterious opponent who he had no hopes of defeating?
Gederick the Golden Majestic
The very "God of War" that was considered one of the strongest beings in Star Fantasy.
Arnold was now fighting a true demigod.
He could feel the sweat between his fingers under his gauntlet. Yet he couldn't wipe it.
He could do nothing but hold on until a moment arises that would ensure victory.
Their weapons connected, creating a powerful shockwave that blew away most of the trees in the area.
Arnold gritted his teeth when he felt that powerful blow. He could hear the creaking in his bones.
He hurriedly gained distance.
His right arm was shaking uncontrollably. He couldn't even exert strength in it.
Gederick didn't give him a chance to rest. He charged at Arnold and swung his spear.
Arnold focused all his aura on the spot that Gederick was aiming for. The aura pooled around his left shoulder.
The spear connected with the blue essence surrounding Arnold's demon aura, cushioning the blow to a certain extend but not mitigating all the power.
Arnold managed to tank the blow without receiving any major damage from the shockwave.
Gederick turned around on the spot, swinging his large arm at Arnold's head, using the momentum from that movement.
Without the helmet, that blow will certainly kill him. It wasn't just powerful but extremely fast, leaving Arnold with a small window to decide what to do.
He managed to turn his head before it hit him but he could feel the wind graze his cheek. The wind was so strong that it caused the skin on his cheek to tear open.
Gederick punched again, this time a direct hit aiming for the ribs.
Arnold skilfully diverted his opponent's punch, using the momentum to knock Gederick to the side.
However, Gederick planted his boot firmly in the ground, not moving an inch.
"!!" he was so close that Arnold could feel his animalistic breath.
The raw power coming from him alone was so suffocating to bear. How could he hope to beat this guy?
Gederick went on the offensive again, sending a flurry of punches flying at Arnold.
Using every single move Sebas taught him, Arnold did his best to slap Gederick's fists away. One punch was directed to the mountain behind him, causing the whole area to rumble.
'When did this fucker let go of his spear? Just a second ago he was using one hand to fight.'
One hand was enough of a nuisance to trade blows with. Now he has to focus on two hands intent on killing him.
Arnold would've been dead already if it wasn't for his experience in hand-to-hand combat. Even a weaker martial artist can win against a stronger opponent so long as he is more skilled in combat.
'I'm glad I took Sebastian's teachings to heart even if he did kick the shit out of me every time.'
"Gah!" one punch was too heavy for him to deflect, hitting him in the midsection.
He could feel one of his ribs cracking from the shockwave of that punch.
Alas, Gederick didn't stop.
Suddenly he sent a kick to Arnold's leg. However, Arnold swiftly avoided the hit by moving his left leg behind himself. Gederick kicked empty air.
Arnold knows that it's a dumb decision to focus only on Gederick's fists. This was the first thing that Sebas taught him when he started teaching Arnold close combat.
The opponent attacks mostly with their fists, making you think that they're incapable of using their legs skilfully during a fight. A kick is more dangerous than a punch if it hits your leg (which can break it) or your stomach (if strong enough, it can rupture organs and bones).
Of course, Arnold doesn't have to worry about the latter since Gederick is in front of him. A frontal kick would take too much time to build enough power before finally attacking so it's stupid for Gederick to do it. That would just show that he's a brute.
Gederick jumped back since nearly all his punches were deflected by Arnold.
Only three managed to connect, but only one managed to cause a lot of damage.
He summoned his spear.
Both of Arnold's arms were trembling. He shakenly grabbed Luxtivin that was floating next to him.
Arnold smirked, a stark contrast to how he was feeling.
"It's embarrassing that a god can't beat a mortal in hand-to-hand combat. I thought you're one of the strongest warriors alive? Sure, you can't hold a candle to any of the martial gods, but you should know some martial arts yourself, right?"
"…."
"Your moves are also predictable and… sloooow." His smirk grew wider, "Don't tell me… Is Oriel actually stronger than you?"
He could see Gederick's brow twitch.
"I'm not even fully under his control, merely using his power to boost my own. And you can't even beat me in hand-to-hand. Hahaha!" Arnold's laugh echoed through the quiet forest, "I guess you aren't exactly competition for the strongest demon lord to ever exist."
It was only a second later than Arnold saw a fist right in front of his face.
The next moment Gederick's fist only punched fading smoke.
"!!" Gederick's head turned to his right.
Arnold appeared right there with a gleeful smirk on his bloody face.
Luxtivin went right through Gederick's cheek, pushing its way through his mouth, and exiting out the other cheek.
He used Luxtivin's illusion skill and combined it with [Martial God's Step] to pull this off. Turns out it's extremely easy to use illusions and he can even switch places with the illusions by utilizing the teleportation skill. If used correctly, he can ambush literally anyone.
Before Arnold could pull out the sword, Gederick bit down on it firmly and grabbed Arnold by the neck.
"Urrk!" he managed to grab Gederick's thumb before it reached his neck.
Despite pulling on Gederick's thumb, Arnold could still feel his neck slowly being enveloped by his large hand, applying a powerful pressure that was meant to crush his neck.
"Aaaarghhh!" Arnold let go of Luxtivin and put his whole hand on Gederick's face.
· Flaming Gauntlets
A purple blaze shot out of his right arm, engulfing Gederick's whole upper body. The power behind the flame was so strong that it pushed Gederick back.
He staggered backwards trying to cover his face from the flame.
'He's not even screaming… Am I really doing no damage at all?'
This is what it feels like to fight a level 90.
He's beaten so many of them in the game using his trickery and plethora of powerful spells.
It was easy.
At this moment, Arnold feared for his life.
Arnold closed his left hand and pointed his arm at Gederick.
Essence of Hydra – Aura Fury has been activated.
While it had the name "Aura Fury", it wasn't exactly a skill. All he was doing was shooting his raw aura that's enhanced by both the water essence and demon energy. It's basically an Aura Blast on steroids.
The blue beam shot at Gederick.
Gederick was pushed back even further now that two energies were being blasted right at him.
Arnold could feel the blood pouring out of his orifices as he overexerted his aura reserves.
'Come on… This has to work…! I'll survive even if I have to use all my aura!'
If he went back to his base form, he would surely collapse since his aura reserves were close to null. The only reason he could push all that aura out of his body was because of the demon energy, his last multiplier rune and the water essence that he pulled out of the atmosphere.
However, even that wasn't enough to kill Gederick.
The flames and blue aura slowly lost their power and ferociousness as time went on. Soon, only the discoloration on the ground was left due to the heat emitted by the flames and aura.
Arnold put one foot forward just as he was about to collapse on his knees. Every breath he took sounded like a wheeze.
'Need to… take a… little… break…' Arnold leaned forward as if he was going to fall. He managed to hold himself up using Luxtivin.
He could move his arms but he couldn't feel himself gripping his sword.
Gederick lowered his arms—which he was using to shield his head from Arnold's aura blasts—and gripped his spear.
"…Ha… Haha… Not a scratch… at all." Arnold whispered under his breath. The only signs that Arnold threw that heavy attack at Gederick was the slightly burnt areas on his gauntlets and chest armor plate.
Arnold charged at Gederick even as he couldn't feel anything in his arms.
Gederick parried his blade with the end of his spear and used the bottom end to try and hit Arnold as a counterattack.
Arnold managed to duck and move to Gederick's left side. He sent several aura blasts at Gederick's exposed back.
Gederick merely punched through them all.
Arnold gained some distance to prepare for his next attack.
'Maybe I can surround my flaming gauntlet skill in the water essence to increase its attack power. If I use both arms then I'll be able to utilize the skill's full power. The only issue is that I'll be left defenceless since I won't be able to move.'
Should he just use his forbidden art again?
'No, I'll stick to aiming for vital spots in his armor for now.'
He coated Luxtivin in most of the aura that surrounded his body.
'Even a god can bleed if you cut them enough times, right?'
He swung Luxtivin casually to make sure his dominant arm wasn't completely numb.
'If I can't get a single hit in then it'll be time for me to use my martial art.'
The last time he used his martial art at full power was against Sebas in his final training session. Sebas wanted the two of them to fight for real so he allowed Arnold to use both his martial art and Aura Sword.
To make things fair, Sebastian used his own martial art—Fingers of a Monk God.
It was basically a barehanded martial art that used raw strength and speed to beat opponents. Power output is measured by how many [Fingers] he uses against his opponents.
Even with full power and his aura sword, Arnold lost miserably against a [Two-Fingered] Sebas.
Of course, Sebastian was a 7 star powerhouse (8 star if you measure by raw strength alone and not level) while Arnold was barely comparable to a 3 star knight at the time.
Even if the two had a rematch, he's sure he would lose again.
But that fight taught his something valuable—his martial art had flaws that only he could fix.
If it reaches perfection will it become a stronger version of itself?
Perhaps, since [Water's Edge] was its predecessor. Now [Flow of the Tide] is in a league of its own.
Arnold was about to make the first move before a rumble reverberated throughout the forest. He looked up at the sky when the surroundings was lit up by a red light.
Ominous red clouds rapidly covered the sky, blocking out the sun's light and shining its own down onto the world. An eerie red mist washed over the land.
'…A dungeon storm... I need to find a way to end this quick.'
He thought back to the system's question.
Is continuing this fight truly worth it?
Is a measly 90K experience points really worth sacrificing your life?
No.
Just by following the side quests of the main story or the story itself, he can run into all sorts of adversaries, kill them and level up. Bosses that offer over 100K XP start to appear in the mid-game arcs.
Of course, just like Gederick's XP, every boss Arnold defeats will only reward him with a fraction of the XP he could've gotten if only the restrictions weren't there. Gederick's real XP was probably in the 200K-300K range.
Arnold noticed that Gederick was looking up at the sky.
He muttered something.
"This red mist reminds me of the hundreds of thousands of enemies I cut down in war. Every limb I severed, every artery I cut, every head that was sent flying… Each of them spewed their blood into the air, creating a mist of crimson." Gederick looked at his hand, "I loved it… The smell of iron. It was by my spear that they lost their lives. It was due to me that the scent of death stank up the battlefield. It was—"
He clenched his fist.
"—euphoric. I did not need to think. Only my spear acted in my stead, trusting it to guide me as I fought on. The only hesitation I faced was who to cut down first. There was no shaking that will of mine. Even now I can feel my weapon perceive you as someone that needs to be cut down."
No hesitation… He didn't need to think… This is the opposite of how Arnold fights. He's always hesitating, always overthinking, never quite letting his body and weapon do the thinking for him.
Sometimes our subconscious can leave us vulnerable but it can also make us the most dangerous when we hold a sword in hand.
Is that how you connect body and mind…?
No, that can't be it. It's too easy of an answer. Besides, letting your body move on its own in a battle of life and death is ludicrous.
'Until I find the answer to finding an equilibrium between body and mind—' he pointed his sword at Gederick.
"—I'll continue to hesitate and question myself."
He charged at Gederick with a speed he didn't know he was still capable of.
Gederick met Arnold's sword with the pole of his spear. A powerful shockwave sent the trees and other vegetation flying.
Arnold attacked again. And just like before, Gederick blocked.
That continued until the two sank into the ground due to the amount of power their attacks were emitting.
Even though Arnold was giving it everything he had, Gederick continued fighting with a calm look on his face.
The last two versions of him weren't this level-headed. The old man was obnoxious, vocal and prideful. The middle aged Gederick was like a frustrated warrior who hadn't fought a true battle in years.
This version of Gederick had none of those qualities. He wasn't prideful due to his strength. He knew he was strong so why show it off to others? He isn't as impulsive as the old man who couldn't even tell the difference in skill between them at first glance.
Arnold tried to block Gederick's next attack but he could feel the sheer force of it almost shattered his right wrist.
He gritted his teeth and gained distance. It looks like that was all he had been doing so far to avoid Gederick as much as possible. However, unlike before Gederick didn't give him that chance.
Arnold summoned several illusions to try and slow Gederick down.
Instead of focusing on the illusions, Gederick managed to pinpoint which was the real one right away.
"Huup!" he thrust forward with his spear. Even at this distance, Arnold could feel the power behind it.
Arnold used the back of his left hand to parry Gederick's spear, causing it to lodge into the boulder behind Arnold.
A smirk appeared on Gederick's face.
Oh no…
Sensing a premonition, Arnold tried to teleport away.
However try as he might, he couldn't escape.
Hundreds of strings of gold caught dug into Arnold's back like leeches to a festering bloody wound and bound him to the boulder.
The next moment his gauntlets shattered. A loud snap followed. The strings has made their way around his body in almost an instant.
He didn't notice it before but the demon aura and his water essence was gone.
He tried to call out to the factor but it didn't respond.
Arnold looked at both his arms.
They dangled hopelessly when he lifted them.
"…."
He could feel the pain in his arms, which he had thought lost all feeling.
He couldn't make a sound. Not a scream of pain, a moan of confusion, or a cry for help. He could only stare silently.
The pain was bearable since he'd experienced worse pain.
Was it already over…?
What's that ringing?
Stop it…
Stop!
His heart pounded in his chest. Not only that but the ringing in his ears assaulted all his senses and made his pain even more unbearable.
Arnold didn't know it but he was screaming at the top of his lungs. All he could hear was a ring.
"I have no desire to continue this fight any further," Gederick approached Arnold, "It has been almost a century since I could go all out so I wanted to make this battle last a while longer. My last true battle was with an archangel who grew to hate me—Guinevere, the Valkyrie race's most gifted maiden. Her raging swordplay, that far outmatches my spearmanship, taught me that day that underestimating lesser beings is an idiotic thing to do. Alas it is my fault for seeking her out to let my frustrations run wild. It's funny. I forgot about that battle when I became a dying old man due to my loss of immortality and godhood. It is thanks to you that I could remember that glorious battle. My sincere thanks. I can still remember her words when she defeated me—my sword has never been stained twice by my enemy's blood. It is something I will remember every day of my life from now on."
Gederick lifted Arnold by his hair.
"My last memory of her is her fiery red hair dancing in the wind. Do you know what's the difference between the two of you?"
"…."
What are you talking about you fucker, thought Arnold.
Are you mocking me in my pathetic state, he thought again.
"She is a true warrior. One who is gifted, strong, yet humble. I will not call you weak. You are far from it. I dare say you hold potential equal to Guinevere. However, why have you not reached her nor my level? It is not just because of the current limits imposed on your fragile mortal body."
He tapped Arnold's chest with his finger, "You lack something within. But… It matters not anymore. You could have sought the answer yourself had you given up the artifact."
Gederick grabbed onto Arnold's chestplate. He grunted and ripped it off with incredible strength.
Arnold's bare chest, covered in his own sweat, felt the touch of the cold wind after who knowshow long.
Gederick stood up and threw aside the chestplate.
He gripped his spear and pointed it at Arnold's chest.
Arnold looked down at the spear.
'All I wanted was to… level up…'
The spear went through his chest.
"Uuurk! Huugh!" Searing pain went through Arnold's body.
"!!!!!" Arnold screamed at the top of his lungs, unable to bear the pain any longer.
Even though just one spot was being injected with divine energy, it felt like his whole body was being stabbed by rusty blades that was left in fire.
Unable to bear his shameful screaming, he bit down so hard that his teeth sunk into his gums and blood pooled inside his mouth. Bubbles of blood came out of his nostrils as he tried to breathe.
"Now that is a demon's true reaction to feeling divine energy being injected into their body. As I do not want to destroy your brain which will allow me to look for the artifact by going through your memories, I will resort to breaking down your body with the energy that your kind both despises and fears."
Arnold looked up at Gederick with bloodshot eyes. Every orifice in his body was secreting blood.
He couldn't control his body, let alone his bowels at this moment.
Divine power. A useful yet fearsome power.
Why not just cut off his head? Why let him suffer at the hands of this power?
'…?'
Arnold's left arm fell off.
It was similar to dried clay breaking off after being in the sun too long.
His other arm also fell, along with his upper armor.
The area surrounding his chest was slowly beginning to wither, breaking apart slowly.
His left foot was already gone at this point, leaving only a trail of dust falling out of the gaps of his boot.
Gederick pulled out the spear.
"I shall return for your head after I heal Fiannei." After saying so, he levitated into the sky and flew towards the dragon in the distance.
Arnold, who couldn't turn his neck anymore, was left to look up at the red sky.
A cluster of red and black clouds twirled around each other.
Where's that Elf, he thought.
Heal me.
Heal me. Heal me. Heal me. Heal me. Heal me. Heal me. Heal me. Heal me. Heal me. Heal me. Heal me. Heal me Heal me. Heal me. Heal me. Heal me. Heal me. Heal me. Heal me. Heal me. Heal me. Heal me. Heal me. Heal me.
Heal me…
A thunderous cracking resounded when an ominous red light lit the world bereft of sunlight.
The lightning strikes were so powerful that they destroyed the ground that they hit. They weren't the usual white lightning, but had a bloody red color.
If one of those lightning bolts hit Arnold, it might bring him a quick end or send him to the middle of nowhere.
He preferred the former since it would give Gederick the middle finger.
Even if he tried to force Rafaela to tell him where the artifact is, she has no idea where Arnold's city is located.
All that fighting will be for nothing. At least Arnold won't be the only idiot in this conflict.
A mortal beating a demigod—preposterous.
A powerful wind knocked Arnold onto the ground.
His fragile body felt like it was being stung by even more needles.
Unable to cry in pain, he just moaned.
He wasn't aware of it since his line of sight was faced to the ground but a bolt was heading straight down at him.
A red flare blinded him for a second before everything went dark.
◇◇◇
User has suffered minor brain damage.
Arnold's body was floating through a void.
It was flying through the void. Direction? That was a little hard to tell since there was no light in this void besides the light surrounding his body.
An unknown Healing spell has restored 10% of user's health and regenerated all missing limbs
The hole in his chest was which was gaping before was now nowhere to be seen when hundreds of magic circles appeared around Arnold and disappeared as if they weren't there at all.
His eyes were peeled back in his head, showing only the bloody red eyeballs that should've been white.
"Arise. Bearer of Lord Souls."
"Ye have not fulfilled mine wish."
"Mine wish to be set free."
"Seek out the one who arth destined to be thy soulmate and make her accept mine power."
A gigantic skeleton appeared within the darkness. It held onto Arnold's body as if it was the most delicate thing in all the realms.
It lifted Arnold's body using its hundreds of arms.
Ah. There was a light shining above.
It was sending Arnold towards that light, using its arms as elevation.
Where does that light go? Who is on the other side?
No one was here to ask nor answer those questions.
"By doing so thee will free mine spirit from the accursed Death God's shackles. His sex slave, maid, and obedient wife I shall remain until then."
A blurry, static illusion engulfed the skeleton's body, taking form of a beautiful woman with long black hair, sharp red eyes and red lips.
If Arnold could see this woman, he would immediately mistake her for his soulmate.
However, she was not that person.
Arnold's body flew into the light, leaving the darkness behind.
Quest has been added to Journal!
The Death God's Consort: Unlock Elizabeth's full potential by awakening her incarnation factor.
Reward: Subclass Selection Draw.
◇◇
A different scenery appeared when the dungeon storm clouds disappeared.
There was a grassy field as far as the eye could see. Perhaps this is a farm?
Far off to the east was a kingdom with its walls standing firmly and its magnificent flags flapped on both sides of the gate.
A highway road spilt this field in half. There was a fork in the road that lead to a barnhouse and a two-story farmhouse.
There was a small town just over a hundred meters away. Was this a commercial farm of some sort or just a community of farms that built a town around said farms?
What was probably a bustling small town filled with laughter of children and gossiping of wives in the mornings turned into a graveyard with corpses lining the road and monsters—both big and small—prowling between every nook and cranny.
· M... M... M... Mutiple… ene… -spott… -cinity
'….?' A blue-haired young man wordlessly lifted his head at the sound of a voice in his head.
He didn't know who he was, what he was doing here, or what his purpose was.
Side effect of the dungeon storm's anomalies perhaps? He probably did not know at that moment that he had escaped death by the grace of a shackled goddess.
Suddenly the voice inside his head became more coherent.
·Multiple enemies spotted in vicinity. Levels ranging from 10 to 50
Classification: Blight Things
Where am I…?
What am I doing here…?
Suddenly he caught sight of a grotesque monster walking around with a swinging corpse in its huge mouth.
A monster… What do humans do when they discover monsters that are a threat to them?
Simple, they hunt them down.
"…X… P… XP…. XP… XP…"
XP. XP. XP. XP. XP. XP. XP. XP. XP. XP. XP. XP. XP. XP…
His gaze remained on the monster.
It probably heard him approaching evident by how it turned around.
It grinned after dropping the corpse. It seems what it had been carrying was the upper half of an infant.
Monsters don't discriminate when it comes to hunting for food. They would hurt innocent children just to satiate their hunger.
That is all humans are to them—food.
Is such a repulsive creature not worthy of a painful death?
"—XP… XP… XP… XP…." Arnold was now standing in front of the monster and incoherently whispering under his breath.
The monster put its claws on his head with a grin. Its claw dug into Arnold's scalp, causing his skin to tear and bleed.
The monster licked its hand and tasted Arnold's blood.
"Njohohohoho!"
Arnold's eyes were filled with his own blood, blinding him and causing blood to leak down his cheeks, giving him an eerie appearance. Despite this, he just continued whispering under his breath.
He didn't realize it before but nearly all of the monsters—Blight Things was what the system called them—surrounded him.
There were nearly 200 of them.
The monster grinned and opened its mouth wide, becoming wide enough to swallow an adult human.
It grabbed Arnold's shoulders and was about to bite his head off.
Luxtivin coiled around Arnold's neck like a metallic slithering snake.
Unable to use his arms, how will he use his soul armament?
"Ghhh!" he bit down on Luxtivin that appeared in front of his face.
Its sharp edges cut into his gums and cheeks.
He tasted metal and blood in his mouth.
Instead of running in a situation where he was surrounded by all sides, he roared like a dragon with the sword still in his mouth, surprising the monster that was about to chomp on his head.
It felt like they were standing before a Monster Lord.
His arms dangled side to side, completely useless.
The monsters—all two hundred of them—roared in unison and charged at him.
…
Soon a bloodbath ensued and piled along the abandoned farm and the maize fields were hundreds of corpses.
Yes, the monsters that had completely destroyed a town and slaughtered innocents were killed by one man.
The townsfolk in the distance, who had worked up the courage to face the monsters with the help of a nearby city's soldiers, stared in horror.
Who was truly the monster here?
Losing all confidence that they had, the crowd backed away quietly from the rampaging man.
Has any swordsmen ever used their mouths to fight or is this man an exception?
After what seemed like minutes, every monster fell by his blade.
· Great Rune of Aedri—[Overcome and Surpass]—has run out of power and shall be removed from user's body.
He did not pay attention to what the strange voice was saying.
Overcome with hunger the young man feasted on the corpses of dead humans surrounding the highway road, unfazed by prying eyes.
With no way to open his magic bag without his arms to look for the food he had stocked up on along his journey, the young man tore off the flesh of a once living human with his teeth and began eating their insides.
Using so much power had left his body yearning for food. Anything will do at that moment.
"Ack—"
Suddenly he collapsed on his knees with his head facing the sky. Foam gathered in his mouth.
Every ounce of adrenaline that he had in his body after overcoming death and surpassing his limits, had left him.
As such, he succumbed to exhaustion.
◇◇◇
123 A-class monsters and 56 S-class monsters have been slaughtered
Experience points gained: 15684
Levels gained: 0
