Perseus vs Captain Maximus (I)

'This is not quite what I expected…It seems I've made a grave mistake.'

Captain Maximus frowned as he gazed at the battlefield with a stoic expression on his face.

Frankly, he was quite irritated at the direction in which the raid was going. His men were getting slaughtered left right and center by two young looking knaves and he had yet to validate the authenticity of the package they were asked to obtain at all costs.

He had even started to get slightly restless – a rare occurrence for him –because of it. He didn't dare to imagine the consequences of failing this mission. He knew that his cynical liege would have his and his family's heads rolling if he came back empty handed.

It was cruel…very cruel, but Captain Maximus knew that there was nothing he could do about that. Such was the life of low ranking knights of noble houses in the Kingdom of Cruseva – they were treated as commodities, paid abysmal wages and mowed down brutally at the slightest failure.

Of course, he loathed this sort of life. He absolutely abhorred the way these nobles treated commoners. However, he knew he couldn't do anything about it. He was merely an illiterate peasant who had grown up from the streets.

This job was his only way of providing for himself, as well as his family.

Initially, at the start of the battle, he had sent his men into battle without deploying a formation because he knew that the mercenaries stood no chance against them – they had significantly better gear and were better fighters than them.

Captain Maximus thought that there was simply no need to do so and just wanted to finish the mission as quickly as possible. Needless to say, his decision had proven to be an error on his part…a disastrous one at that.

Two of the mercenaries were very odd. One of them fought like a battle hardened warlord, while the other was too nimble and skilled to be defeated by his men – something which he found odd. Why were they so different?

'I've seen enough…It's time to end this charade.'

He sighed inwardly thinking about all of it. He knew that his men simply stood no chance of defeating the knaves and that the only way for him to salvage the battle was for him to personally enter the battlefield.

Thus, Captain Maximus hopped off his horse, cracked his neck, and unsheathed his Zweihander. With his lustrous silver armor and face full of scars, he looked absolutely menacing. Like a rapacious wild beast that had been starved for weeks.

'Let's deal with the male knave first.' he thought ominously, glancing in the direction of Tristan…

~.~.~

POV | Tristan Vinter (Perseus)

"Switch!"

I yelled the moment I parried the attack of a knight, with both my swords. He was wielding a glaive and staggered upon receiving my parry.

"On it!"

In a flash, Ellie zoomed past me at incredible speed and yelled in her euphonious voice. Upon reaching the knight, she maliciously slashed her katana at his neck, intending to end his life then and there.

Whoosh! Slit!

Her katana beheaded him without much resistance and sent his head flying in an arc.

Seeing that, I smiled. With the death of that knight, there were no longer any enemies aside from captain Maximus. Now, all we had to d–

Before I could think any further, I felt my instincts scream at me and before I could realize what was happening, the world around me slowed and my body moved on its own. I titled my head and torso left, and felt something brush past my face at breakneck speed.

Whoosh!

The sound of a sword slicing through air reached my ears and finally made me register what was going on. Alarmed, I immediately jumped out of the way and adopted a sword stance.

"Impressive…You actually dodged that."

A deep, resonant voice reached my ears as I jumped out of the way, earning my attention. I gulped inwardly seeing Captain Maximus standing beside my previous spot with a greatsword suspended in mid air.

'Was that a skill?...It was way too fast, I didn't even see it until I evaded it…'

Cold sweat trickled down my back as I thought. Captain Maximus's attack was so fast it was basically invisible. The only reason I wasn't impaled and killed on the spot was because of my synchro rate. I felt that slowed state trigger when the attack neared me…it seems like it activates automatically when the user is in crisis.

Captain Maximus looked at me apathetically, put his greatsword on his shoulder and clicked his tongue,

"Tsk..Tsk...Tsk…I must say, you've given me quite the trouble. I never expected to see someone like you on an inconspicuous raid such as this one….It's a shame you'll have to die today. You'll have made a fine knight in my squadron"

"Ellie, leave!…stay out of the fight!"

I yelled as Captain Maximus spoke. It wasn't that I didn't trust her fighting ability, I just did not want to take any chances and risk Ellie's life. I didn't know what other skills Captain Maximus had and couldn't guarantee her safety especially after barely surviving myself – that was bad, she was too useful of an asset for [♱Trinity].

Additionally, I didn't want to fight this battle with her, it was too risky to do so. Captain Maximus could take advantage of any lapse in our synergy and that would be fatal for the both of us. Since I was way more seasoned in combat than her, it was simply better for me to face him alone.

As soon as I finished yelling, my instincts screamed at me again and I reflexively crossed my two swords in front of me, as an attempt to block any attack from Captain Maximus.

Clank!

Sparks flew in the air as my swords collided with his. The force from Captain Maximus's attack was immense and instantly made my arms numb and weak.

I grunted as I pushed back with all my strength. As I did so, my mind started to revolve rapidly, thinking of possible strategies and reasons for Captain Maximus's apparent strength. He was too fast and too strong for me to keep up. I was barely reacting to his attacks and doing so by pure reflexes alone.

'Why is he so strong? Is the difference in stats this great?'

Frowning, I thought. He probably had some perk or trait that boosted his attributes. I knew that higher ranked classes gave more stat points for every level up but didn't think the difference would be like this. The fact that his attacks were so fast meant that his attributes were significantly higher than mine.

"You are really interesting."

Captain Maximus mumbled as he effortlessly resisted my push back. Then, he used his legs to kick the sides of my knee. Because his agility was significantly higher than mine, I couldn't react, even with my superior reflexes.

Thud!

Receiving the kick, I immediately staggered and lost balance for a moment, presenting a deadly opening for Captain Maximus to exploit.

And exploit, he did. Captain Maximus stepped back and slashed his sword at my chest, lacerating it in the process.

[Critical Hit!]

-410!

Following that, Captain Maximus spun and kicked my chest with immense force. The kick felt like I was getting hit by a truck and I instantly got launched in the air, flew away from him, and landed a couple of meters away – dropping my swords as I did.

"AARGH!" I yelled in immense pain and clutched my chest as I landed. Blood gushed out of the deep gash and painted my hand scarlet. It was the first time I had taken damage in the game. My vision was bloody and even though I couldn't see my health bar, I knew my health was very low.

'Fuck!'

I gritted my teeth and grumbled inwardly. My chest felt as if it was burning. The pain of having your torso lacerated was agonizing.

Truly, the 50% pain calibration was no joke.

"Any last words?"

My thoughts were interrupted by Captain Maximus's indifferent words – he was walking towards me…presumably intending to finish me off.

I frowned and gritted my teeth even more hearing them. His indifference was like a spear that pierced my pride and made a mockery of it.

I felt irritated and disgruntled as his words sunk in. How could I be in such a state from one strike? How could I be struggling against a mere Lvl 15 Elite in the early stages of the game? It was truly embarrassing for someone like me.

Who was I? I was a top 30 Video Game pro-player and one of the three guildmasters of one of the strongest guilds in the globe. I was a glorified and decorated player who had slaughtered innumerable ridiculously powerful beasts and bosses to ascend to my current position.

I was a skilled and seasoned warlord who had led [♱Trinity] to glory by commanding the guild in countless guild wars – with each one always being a victory.

I did all that, and yet I'm struggling against some low-leveled knight in some backwater region of the game. What lunacy was this?

'Calm down…think rationally, and focus…there has to be some way I can defeat him.'

I calmed myself down by taking deep breaths and thinking. Sure, I may be a skilled and accomplished player but none of that mattered right now…those accolades were certainly not going to win me this battle.

There was only one thing that would – my overwhelming tenacity.

Yes, tenacity. Every time I have faced a setback or challenge in my life, I have always persisted relentlessly at trying to find a solution…. even in battles.

'Never give up' and 'Keep moving forward' were my creeds…creeds that I had clinged to for as long as I could remember.

Thinking about that, I was able to keep my calm. With mettle, I gathered my resolve, gritted my teeth, stood up, and held my swords. I looked towards Captain Maximus – he was still walking towards me, though now, he was just a few feet away from me.

I took a deep breath and rid my mind of any thoughts or feelings not related to the battle.

I felt the pain in my chest disappear, my mind sublime and my focus reach new heights as I did so. The world around me slowed, and now, I felt like I could see everything on the battlefield.

[Battle Alert: You have entered the state «Focus»]

[Hidden requirement activated, You have unlocked the perk: Cold-Blooded]

I grasped the hilts of my sword firmly, put all my strength into my legs, and dashed at top speed towards Captain Maximus.

It was time to make this knight my bitch…