Chat, Am I Cooked?
Before I continue, let me just say one thing. This is some bullshit. You're telling me that the moment I was about to win, a literal GOD descended to help Belrick. Not only did that god fully heal my opponent, but gave him a boost in strength along with his spirit.
"|Small Cure|." [Solace]
I used a quarter of my mana just for the initial fight, and now I'm using another quarter just to heal my injuries. Not to mention that I need to go help Wilharrow and the others fight the demon lord and Feerae. This really sucks.
"Loquen, come out." [Belrick]
His spirit appeared, now in a completely new form. It looked to be in the form of a demon, like Belrick, except that it had six arms. It also held a different weapon in each hand, such as a longsword, spear, dagger, staff, some kind of bladed object that looked like you're supposed to punch with it so I'll call it fistblades, and finally a greatsword. Actually, I think it's called a Zweihander?
("This is going to be a tough fight.") [Solace]
I thought this was all the preparation he was going to do, but I was wrong.
"|Spirit Field: Turbulent Nature|." [Belrick]
I felt myself get pulled into another space, my surroundings shifting into a wetland with pelting rain, thunder, and lightning.
"...Seriously?" [Solace]
I didn't expect Belrick to have a |Spirit Field|. Even if the first Feerae I fought had one, I just didn't expect a newly appointed one would.
"|Invoke Armis|." [Belrick]
Once spoken, his spirit melded itself into armor identical to the Royal Guard Armor Belrick was wearing previously. It was transparent and green though. However, the six weapons the spirit once held just kind of levitated near Belrick.
"...How many skills are you going to use before we start?" [Solace]
"That was the last one. Ah, before we start though, what do you think of my |Spirit Field|?" [Belrick]
I took a moment to observe my surroundings. I was ankle deep in clear water, there were strange mounds of dirt or grass placed randomly, and the rain coming down on us was so loud I could barely hear Belrick. There was also the part where lightning was striking the water periodically, so I was wary of one hitting too close and electrocuting me.
"...Would it be enough for me to say that my socks are wet?" [Solace]
Belrick nodded.
"I'll have you know my socks are wet too. I don't have control over the creation of the |Spirit Field|, you know?" [Belrick]
That's a fun fact I guess. With that said, Belrick advanced forward.
("Here we go again.") [Solace]
Starting off, Belrick threw the floating dagger at me.
"Woah!" [Solace]
It was ridiculously fast, as if it was unaffected by wind resistance or the like. Even so, I managed to evade it.
("What's his next move?") [Solace]
Having closed the distance, Belrick grabbed the greatsword and swung it down at me.
"|Explosion Arts|!" [Solace]
I stepped sideways to avoid it, and pre-casted my skill to attack his ribs. However, Belrick released his greatsword before swinging at me with a longsword. This caused my fist to connect with his sword instead of where I intended.
"|Counter Effect|!" [Belrick]
As soon as I heard that, I saw the flames from my explosion turn my direction.
"Bruh." [Solace]
I quickly found myself blown backwards. Not only did Belrick's skill reflect my flames, it also reflected momentum and power.
("Where is he getting all these skills?!") [Solace]
Belrick chased after me, switching to a staff. I call it a staff, but it looks kind of like a stick for beating people. Therefore, I prepared myself for close combat.
"|Whispering Cold|!" [Belrick]
With a swing of his staff, an icy mist blew, freezing the water and rain in its path.
("Be so for real right now.") [Solace]
I casted |Flame Cannon| to counter it, in which case Belrick pushed through by cutting it with his greatsword.
("Oh.") [Solace]
Turns out he can retract his weapons. Speaking of which, I was stabbed in the back by the dagger that flew by.
"Ngh!" [Solace]
It cut surprisingly deep, lodging itself between my shoulder and spine. Then there was the danger of Belrick trying to cut me in half with his greatsword.
"|Flowing Edge|!" [Belrick]
Dipping the tip of his sword into the water, Belrick swung the greatsword in a smooth and splashy fashion. At first, I thought it was only going to be one slash. Unfortunately, it was a sequence of movements that had me purely on defense.
"|Revolving Shell Arts|!" [Solace]
I was forced into evading while deflecting at the same time. That sword of Belrick's packed more punch that it seemed.
("My hands are going numb, but it looks like his skill is going to end!") [Solace]
Top ten lines said before disaster.
"|Frost Edge|!" [Belrick]
If you're familiar with fighting games, Belrick just did the equivalent of a combo extender. Once his |Flowing Edge| ended, he activated |Frost Edge| to freeze the water surrounding his blade and enter a new sequence of movements.
("He's just making shit up at this point!") [Solace]
Maybe the ability of his golden eyes is to create new skills at will?
("Screw it.") [Solace]
As disgraceful as it might be, I rolled into the water to evade. Of course I could've dodge normally, but I decided to stick my hand into the water as a disguise tactic.
"|Liquid Barrage|." [Solace]
Water bullets surged from my hand, its initial charge up hidden by the pool of water and mixed into the rain when fired. It was such an ingenious and well executed plan that nearly every shot struck true.
"Agh!" [Belrick]
Most hit Belrick's chest whereas a few coincidentally knocked his greatsword out of hand. Sadly his transparent armor blocked my skill. Since I was on the ground anyway, I used my arms to prop myself up and kick upside down.
"|Piercing Blow|!" [Solace]
I bet that Belrick thought it would pass straight through him if he took it to the chest. Lucky for me that his chest armor counted as something blocking because my skill struck true.
"Urgh!" [Belrick]
He reeled back from the force of my attack, making it my turn to give chase.
"|Thunderbolt Lance|!" [Solace]
I summoned my spear intending to save |Grygand| for a decisive blow.
"I can't let you-!" [Belrick]
Recovering with surprising speed, Belrick snatched his spear out of the air to contest with me.
("I was too slow!") [Solace]
Though I missed a beat to strike while he was reeling, I was confident in my spearmanship. We clashed blades a few times until I twirled the tip of my spear to throw his thrust off course.
("Now!") [Solace]
I stepped on his spear and closed the distance, leaving him unable to fight back.
"Tsk!" [Belrick]
Before I could do anything, Belrick released his spear and grabbed his fistblades to fight me in close combat.
"|Horn Shattering|!" [Belrick]
"|Grygand|!" [Solace]
My spear clashed with his fist, leading to the mixture and explosion of lightning, rain, and wind.
"Argh!" [Belrick]
Although Belrick has become much stronger as compared to before, his physical strength was unable to withstand |Grygand|. This clash resulted in his arm getting completely blown off, including the transparent armor on it.
("We're getting back to where we started. Just one more arm to go.") [Solace]
Now that I'm recalling this moment, that's probably a dangerous way to think.
"...|Fast Cure|!" [Belrick]
("|Fast Cure|?") [Solace]
Within seconds, I watched his missing arm fully regenerate. That also, unfortunately, included the transparent armor.
"...That's cheating." [Solace]
Not |Small Cure|. Not |Medium Cure|. It wasn't even |High Cure|! …|Fast Cure|?! What's next, |Slow Cure|?!
("He's really giving me no choice…") [Solace]
I still intended on sparing Belrick, yet he's making this as hard as can be. My original strategy was to disable him, but with the revelation of his new skill… I'll have to kill Belrick to put a stop to him. There was just one itty bitty problem.
("Son of a… I'm low on mana.") [Solace]
While it felt like Belrick's been increasing in strength, I've been getting worn down the whole time.
"Feeling tired?" [Belrick]
He grabbed both a longsword and dagger out of the air.
("He knows? It must be showing on my face.") [Solace]
Belrick engaged me in combat once again. However, things went weird as our surroundings shifted. The wetland we were previously standing in was now the middle of a volcanic region, where the floor was entirely black rock and cracks spewing molten lava was aplenty. Speaking of which, there was one spouting such lava in between Belrick and I.
("It's my chance!") [Solace]
Even if my environment has changed, I've been through way too much stuff to be surprised. The key to survival is to adapt.
"|Tide Reaver Arts: Stolen Cascade|!" [Solace]
I slashed the lava, cutting it to open up a view of Belrick while also turning it into an enchantment on my spear.
"|Body Reinforcement|!" [Belrick]
I had to applaud Belrick's bravery. Once he said that, Belrick launched himself through the lava.
"|Molten Edge|!" [Belrick]
So this guy blatantly copied me by dipping his longsword and dagger into the lava to enchant them.
("I'll show you something you can't copy!") [Solace]
"|Crescent Slash|!" [Solace]
I took a step back while slashing, sending a massive arc of lava at Belrick.
"|Defensive Arsenal|!" [Belrick]
All six floating weapons fixed themselves in front of Belrick, tanking the blow. |Crescent Slash| was pretty much my strongest move, so it continued to push Belrick back as well as keep him occupied. Meanwhile, I took out a mana potion from my |Item Box| and downed it.
("Tastes like ass.") [Solace]
I don't mean it literally. It just tastes bitter. With Belrick Struggling not to get pushed into lava, I flanked him.
"|Crescent Slash|!" [Solace]
before
That was my second out of the three uses. It cut through the air, catching Belrick off guard.
"You-!" [Belrick]
He noticed my attack too late, leading to his torso getting cut in half. This dispelled his earlier defense, allowing my initial |Crescent Slash| to cut through and split him into four I guess.
"Oh…" [Solace]
It was more gruesome than I thought, and it was not the outcome I wanted.
"Warning: The activation of the skill |Golden Hour| has been detected. A hostile entity has increased in strength by two hundred percent." [Spirit Guide]
"Oh. Did I hear that right?" [Solace]
As per usual, my opponent has some kind of revival skill. Belrick pieced himself back together, standing with a golden light enveloping him. Not only that, the six weapons levitating around him spun wildly before merging into a nine branched sword.
"Ugh…" [Belrick]
He stood up sluggishly, reaching out prior to grasping the sword.
"|Demonic Blade: Lorfell|." [Belrick]
"Warning: Land corruption of |Demonic| energy is rising. Mana consumption has increased by fifty percent." [Spirit Guide]
"Oh…!" [Solace]
All I could say is "Oh" from how royally fucked I was.
"Alert: You are targeted by an entity in the |Enhanced Performance| state. It is highly recommended to retreat." [Spirit Guide]
"...Oh." [Solace]