Chapter 12-5
Neos spat out a huge glob of blood. He was half-kneeling on the ground, and his right hand used the trident to stand up again with great difficulty. However, the melee combatant didn’t give him time to react, rushing forward once again. A distance of ten meters was once that didn’t even need a second to cover under pressing circumstances. However, just as he crossed half of it, the ground suddenly erupted and an axe shot up from below. The melee combatant hurriedly leapt back.
However, despite how fast he avoided it, that sudden axe was still able to shave off half his right foot. It all happened in but an instant, and Richard had already jumped up from the lower floor to before Neos before he could recover from his surprise.
“I’m late. I almost died to a sudden punch of his just now. I spent a long time after looking for him before noticing about up here… Are you alright, Neos?” Richard stared steadfastly at the melee combatant. Although he was spoke arrogantly and seemed to be lacking in the brains department, he was definitely a strong person. He was even one that had likely unlocked the peak of the third stage and was nearing the threshold of the fourth stage.
The melee combatant was quite robust. He didn't utter a word of complaint upon losing half his foot, instead smiling coldly at the two. The wound on his foot wriggled and mended itself ceaselessly. A section of flesh even jutted out abruptly, slowly returning to the shape of a full foot.
“Idiot. Don't you know? The more you harm me, the stronger my muscles get, with my power and sturdiness increasing. Continue hurting me if you want to die, hahaha…” He ridiculed them, making the posture to pounce at them again.
“All I know is that the greater the power, the greater the burden. This world doesn’t have power that comes freely. How long can your body endure this power?” Richard’s eyes began to gradually redden as he spoke, and his muscles began to swell up at a visible rate.
The melee combatant roared with laughter, not replying. He suddenly tore a chunk of rock from the wall besides him again. He used all his strength to hurl it at Richard and Neos. Two palm sized rocks approached at startling speeds, and the enormous force made the sturdy rocks disintegrate, while the axe was dented as well. The shattered concrete possessed bullet-like force, preventing Neos and Richard from being able to see. The melee combatant had already taken advantage of this moment to rush forward.
Richard was still a melee combatant himself after all. His battle instincts weren't as weak as Neos, and he immediately unleashed a horizontal chop with his axe. A faint light even covered the axe, which was the appearance of a high level Battle Qi. It could slice apart metal as easily as if it were mud. No matter how nicely the other man put it, he wouldn't dare take this hit head on no matter how tough and strong his muscles were.
The melee combatant didn't have a chance to press in whether from above or below, and could only retreat several steps with no alternative, just happening to stand at the edge of the axe.
There was a loud boom as the axe bit into the wall at the side, and the melee combatant took this instant to charge forward again. Richard and him unleashed a punch at practically the same instant, and the two punches collided, and the two were forced a step back. The current Richard’s eyes were already completely red and all his muscles were swelling up. It even looked quite dreadful at first glance. The skin of the melee combatant had turned from a normal colour of flesh to an indigo blue, an indication of when muscles were developed to their fullest.
The two tall figures clashed. Richard didn’t have time to collect his axe, while the melee combatant seemed to be more familiar with fighting bare handed. The current Richard’s power was shocking after using Berserker. He had the advantage over the melee combatant for now. Both were warriors that relied solely on brute force and each fist that landed on flesh produced loud booms. Just the noise made it sound like human-shaped Gundam were fighting. Every part of the passageway they passed shattered, and the concrete shrapnel that shot out carried as much power as bullets. Neos used his trident to block several fragments as he retreated. He had a more important mission than fighting now, which was to preserve team Africa’s hope for survival.
“What to do?! It’s no longer practical to slowly find a way out or wait for team China. Those two from team Devil are too strong! Richard can only suppress him now. The man from team Devil may be able to reverse it and win instead if he continues to get any stronger. I also don’t know how strong the necromancer is. If he can partner with this guy, he can't be weak, especially when this guy called out for him in a moment of danger just now…”
“What to do? What to do! Dammit! Could I, Neos, really be at my wit’s end? Does power really trump over wit?”
Just as Neos was fretting, several of team Africa had finally surrounded the necromancer within that miasma. These were the members of team Africa Neos had left behind who had greater strength. They were much stronger than the members fighting the skeleton soldiers on level three. After surrounding the necromancer, they used Soul Link to contact each other and advance as one.
“Caught him! Careful of the instantaneous explosive power of magic. That damage is shocking… wait. Something’s off. What’s that shadow?”
The scan easily pierced through the miasma and everyone noticed what the wizard was currently doing. He was currently focusing on chanting an incantation. A faint magic circle appeared below his feet and a shadow appeared besides the magic circle. It constantly squirmed and transformed, making everyone anxious. However, the fierce sounds of battle from the third level and the wails from the weaker members of team Africa all made them advance towards the necromancer without a pause.
At this moment, the braying of a horse rang forth from the shadow. All they saw was a hoof show itself, before that shadow abruptly raced towards the nearest team Africa member to the necromancer.
“Careful! A Skeleton Knight!”
But the shadow’s speed was incredibly fast, and just as the words rang out, a pure black broadsword had already swept past that man, bisecting him before he could even cry out. It was only now that everyone saw the knight’s appearance clearly. It was mounted on a warhorse that was outfitted in purely black armour, including even its hooves. This knight that was decked out in black armour from head to toe absolutely didn’t resemble a Skeleton Knight.
“My god, it’s not a Skeleton Knight… It’s a Black Knight!”
The Black Knight, or alternatively the Grim Reaper Knight, was the near pinnacle spell of necromancers. It needed rank AA rewards to exchange. However, its cost-performance ratio was too low as compared to other rank AA skills. Apart from the initial exchange cost, sufficient enhancements in summoning were required as well as the psyche force to sustain it. Overall, it would end up spending over a rank S reward as its cost. With such a low cost-performance ratio, even teams with those who specialised in summoning would usually choose to use Yu-Gi-Oh cards for their summoning or something else. Thus, no one really knew exactly how powerful a Black Knight was.
Aya also partially belonged to the magic user category who used summoning, and had checked the various summoning abilities offered by God. She also had this same impression that the Black Knight was something that looked more impressive than it actually was. But if one considered it carefully, the greater the power, the greater the restrictions. Conversely, the greater the price, the greater the power that would be obtained as well...
The Black Knight’s appearance was quite oppressive. Its broadsword was also wrapped in a black aura. This Black Knight was already not inferior to seven or even eight Ringwraiths from Lord of the Rings fused together. The broadsword swayed continuously, leaving scars on the walls around as if it were tofu. This strength was already far in excess of Richard and the melee combatant. It would be a veritable human grinder in this narrow passageway together with its tall and big warhorse’s sprinting speed.
“Hehe, this Black Knight was something I risked my life to get from Xuan. It really is stronger than I imagined. Looks like there’s no longer any need to summon ghosts or zombies… Kill them all!”
The Black Knight yanked on the reins, and the armoured horse gave a snort, and black smoke was exhaled from its nostrils. Everyone was already stunned by this Black Knight’s pressure, and together with that man before being bisected, no one did anything in the short run. When the Black Knight rushed forward, Aya suddenly shouted, “RUN!! Each person who escapes is one person saved! Tell Neos, run…”
In that moment, Aya’s head was already sent flying high into air, landing in the miasma...
The battle on the third floor had reached a fever pitch of intensity. Richard’s Berserker skill had been able to rival Zheng’s explosion back in Starship Troopers. Although Zheng’s body then was far from comparable from today, Richard had surely still improved by leaps and bounds after such a long time training. He could only draw a tie with his opponent now, but he was slowly being pressured by the man from team Devil and being suppressed.
“Did you know? I don’t have anything else going for me other than strength and speed. My body is my weapon, and I’m above average in team Devil. If I lose a hand to hand fight with a third rate team like you, I really should just kill myself!” The melee combatant roared with laughter.
The muscles on his body were already at the state where they were causing his skin to split. It looked as if various blue and red monsters of flesh were entwined around his skeleton, looking ridiculous and disgusting. Every strike and step of his bore enormous force, and the entire passageway had been wrecked by the two already. Richard was covered in wounds. His Berserker skill’s characteristic was to ignore the pain from wounds and increase his power, but it didn’t actually allow him to ignore his injuries. Perhaps in the short run the two could go head to head against each other, but as time passed… Richard would definitely die.
BANG!
The two fists collided again. This time, it was different from before. The melee combatant’s power had skyrocketed several folds after his muscles developed to the extreme. However, Richard’s strength was starting to decline, As one waxed while the other waned, this clash of fists bore a conclusion. Richard was completely suppressed now. As soon as the melee combatant fist punched out, he noticed the abnormality. Sneering ferociously, he used his hand to grab Richard’s hand.
“I’ll just tell you this. You’re right. My Muscle Muscle Fruit does have a limit. It gets more dangerous for my body the stronger I get. Unfortunately, you weren’t strong enough to force me to that stage! DIE!”