Chapter 17: Realization

Now, Slumber and the rest of the group was in a tricky position. Unfortunately, they weren't given much time to fix this as Dantalion continued his charge toward Slumber. This caused Slumber to remain on the defensive as Dantalion repeatedly pushed him further and further away. Noticing the situation slowly spiraling out of control, Hegen quickly charged over as the rest of the group had finally regained their bearings. Lancer quickly let out a loud roar, using her skill to draw the aggro of Dantalion back onto her.

Quickly changing directions, Dantalion charged towards her but this time crashed into the shield and stopped in his tracks. Unlike before, Lancer was ready for his charge this time and prepared accordingly. This small pause in movement allowed Prowler to quickly let off multiple slashes with his twin daggers.

[-60 hp]

[-60 hp]

…

As he continued his flurry, Clouded Skies donned her battle axe and also let loose a flurry of attacks. She easily dealt the most damage out of the group as she was a berserker. Additionally, she targeted multiple vital points on Dantalion's body including the head, shoulders, and groin.

[-150 hp]

[-150 hp]

...

On top of the high damage, one of Skies' attacks ended up striking Dantalion's left eye, causing a whopping 2,000 damage!

'It seems that striking the vital points can cause an increased amount of damage' Hegen realized. He had long since realized that this game was more realistic than he could've imagined but it hadn't crossed his mind that he could still use his experience within the game. He also had a new understanding that this game truly isn't what it seemed to be.

With this newfound knowledge, Hegen began to charge toward Dantalion, using Consecutive Lightning Strikes to aim with frightening accuracy for the various vital points such as his remaining eye, the back of his neck, and even various meridians. Each of these attacks caused damage values nearing 500 with the hit on the eye dealing just over 1,000 damage!

Now, Dantalion had just under 45,000 hp remaining. This sight encouraged and reinvigorated the group, causing them to get a burst of newfound energy. However, Dantalion didn't just let them attack him for free. Although both of his eyes were now wounded, it didn't seem to impair him much as he charged directly for Hegen. It seemed that Hegen was the highest priority to it due to his immense amount of damage that he had dealt. Unfortunately for him, however, this was what Hegen was hoping for as he had a new idea he wanted to try.

If he was able to create a skill while fighting last time, the same thing should be possible again, right? With this thought in mind, Hegen tightened his grip on his sword and flawlessly deflected each attack coming his way. To the other members, it seemed as if Hegen and Dantalion were performing a dance of sorts. When one would step forward, the other backwards, Dantalion's sword seemingly veering out of the way right before coming into contact with Hegen.

This went on for a little while, until suddenly Hegen sliced the saber in a perfectly straight line at Dantalion's shoulder, passing cleanly through. Dantalion's arm almost seemed to be fine, until it slowly started sliding downwards off of its support before limply falling to the ground. Unusually, instead of blood, a black substance poured out of the space where his arm was and the thick scent of cherry blossoms permeated the air.

[-10,000 hp]

It seemed that the larger the injury, the more damage that would happen. Hegen, however, was unsatisfied. Although he had completed his goal in severing Dantalion's arm, he was hoping to also create a skill with that attack. Both the deflections and the attack were a part of a sword form but it seemed that his attack wasn't enough for the system to register it.

'No matter. I'll just keep repeating this until it registers. Plus, I have the perfect sparring partner for this,' Hegen thought to himself.

With the loss of his arm, Dantalion became enraged. The spots where his two eyes were turned crimson red as he raised his sword above his head. Shortly after his sword came to a stop, Dantalion's sword came crashing down towards Hegen who deflected it to the side again. This time, however, it seemed that Dantalion was expecting this as when coming into contact with the ground, instead of stopping, the sword pierced straight through the ground cleaving anything in its way. This caught Hegen off guard who barely had enough time to react to the sword before being launched several dozen meters.

It seemed that he could no longer take this fight easy. Instead, Hegen quickly recovered midair, landing on his feet and sliding back a few more feet. He stabbed his saber into the ground to slow himself but quickly retracted it as Dantalion was charging again.

While this was happening, however, Slumber had regrouped with the rest of the members and they were swiftly making their way to Hegen. They were using all of their ranged attacks, with even Slumber sending out a Holy Ball, the weakest and only attack he had.

However, when Slumber's attack came into contact with Dantalion, the latter let out a pained shriek before falling to its knees. Everyone, confused on what had happened, looked at the damage mark, causing their faces to turn from confusion to shock. Slumber's Holy Ball had dealt almost 10,000 damage! That was as much as Hegen slicing off his arm!

Unlike the others, however, Hegen had clearly seen what had happened. Slumber's Holy Ball had not only hit a crucial vital point, but it seemed that it evaporated the dark film surrounding Dantalion slightly. Whatever Dantalion was made of, it was weak to the Holy Magic that priests wielded. With this in mind, Hegen regrouped with the others and hastily told them of his discovery.