Chapter LXIII - Dice (part 5)

Every single attack I fired at him dispersed into thin air.

Fire and energy slashes sliced through the wind towards him, and yet immediately disappeared before it could even touch him.

I became greedy, and switched to a more physical move.

But every time I tried closing the distance, he shot multiple powerful explosive bombs at me. Jumping away is indeed an option, but due to the scale of each explosive, they still hit me.

In the end, approaching him will only cost me my energy and sweat, as well as receiving damage from explosions I couldn't escape. And yet, I can't use ranged attacks at him.

Every time I failed to attack him, he always laughed. While I'm wasting this much energy, he simply stands there and waves his hand.

If he really is from the demon race, then this battle really is very complicated. Demon races have a high affinity to magic, therefore making them more sensitive to it.

The gears on my brain kept on moving, searching for a solution. It doesn't normally take this long to find a solution, maybe because it's a new situation I wasn't fond of or familiar with.

This guy is special. His talent and understanding over magic is beyond me, and something tells me he's a rather good one compared to other demons.

But if I fight a guy who is stronger than me, I just have to become stronger. If I fight a guy who is faster, then I will become faster. If the opponent is smart, then I am smarter.

If it's a talented opponent that I am fighting with, this will prove difficult.

This guy, Dice, is the assassin who was meant to fight strong opponents. He is different from the previous assassin who was known for his achievements. This guy might be the most powerful assassin of all.

Without realizing, the battle went on for thirty minutes.

I received more wounds that I can bargain with. My magic energy is already depleted, and I couldn't go much further for any longer.

I have made the wrong choice. I shouldn't have used too much magic energy. And now, I'm fighting with what little is left.

Even now, I can only move with the help of rage. I can fall asleep at any moment.

Due to the fact that I don't have much magic energy left, the wounds on my body aren't healing as fast. Normally, it would heal in a second, but since the amount of damage is already exceeds normal, plus the lack of magic energy, I am technically dying.

Dice noticed my weakening long ago. He started to toy around with me quite a while ago too.

He lifted his hand upwards, where he conjured a not-so-good looking fireball. Every single sensation on my body urges me to run, but I couldn't move much, and I probably won't run as fast. 

I had to time this right.

Exactly when he throws it at me, then I will jump away. It will minimize the damage I will receive rather than trying to run. Because either way, I couldn't escape.

He lowered his hand and shot the explosive firebomb with the speed of a bullet.

I didn't expect it to go this fast. I quickly jumped backwards, trying to escape the explosion. But the explosion got me anyway.

BLARR!!!

Black smoke quickly envelopes the area. Rumbles of stone falling from the sky, and a crater was created on the ground. Right at the edge of the crater, is me sitting down, holding the giant blood-drenched part on my right stomach.

This pain is unbearable, but healing magic is already working. I kept on telling myself that, even though I know it's probably only working with a twentieth of its original efficiency.

This is so painful. 

I'm tired. I'm sleepy. 

And I'm full of pain.

I bit my lips until it bleeds, adding more wounds to the pile.

Anymore than this, and I probably go insane.

The smoke slowly cleared itself, and the bastard was still standing there, staring at me. Judging from the brightness in his eyes, I could tell he was laughing, even though I couldn't hear him due to the deafness caused by the explosion.

My brain worked even harder. 

I have to figure it out. How do I beat him?

Come on, second place in school ranks... Such a genius you are, couldn't even figure out how to beat this guy.

I couldn't figure it out. I can't think of a way.

What would… Ren do?

.

"Hey, what do you think I should do, Ren?"

"What?"

It was during our second year. Ren, or also known as Rendy, was coming over to my home to play games. 

Technically he invited himself, because he suddenly showed up and brought his gaming gears. I never liked it, but I never rejected it either.

"This boss. Every attack I did on him didn't work. It's like I'm not allowed to use magic against him."

"Well, just like you said. You're not allowed to use magic. You shouldn't be. So instead of using your magic attacks..."

"I should use-"

.

Got it. 

God damn it… a flashback from years ago just saved me.

Thanks anyway, ghost of Ren.

He is always better than me at everything. In school, he is ranked the top while I'm always second. And even in video games, he is a better player than I am.

Thinking about him pissed me off, but it clears me on what I should do.

"Come on, aren't you going to avenge your friend??"

My senses are slowly coming back. And thanks to that small little flashback I had, I received a slight mental boost. I slowly stood back up, trying to hold back the pain I felt everywhere on my body, especially on my right abdomen.

"That's it! That's more like it!"

His voice becomes excited. He lifted both of his hands and summoned at least a dozen firebombs. I looked at the swords on my right and left hand. Their condition isn't very good.

The knights sword is chipped at nearly most of the spot. But those are minor, compared to my orcish.

I thought that since the orcish sword was able to withstand flames, it could withstand explosions. I was definitely off the mark slightly.

In fact, the orcish sword was weaker in terms of durability, compared to the knights sword. As a result, the sword got a huge crack in the middle, as if it was going to snap in half any time soon.

I knew it wouldn't last this next one, so I went ahead and kissed the orcish sword as a goodbye.

Then I turned my glare to the demon one last time.

The demon felt a sudden change in the air. It looked at me seriously now, as if something bad is going to happen.

He immediately conjured another dozen firebombs and sent them straight at me. The bomb wasn't as fast as the previous one, so I somehow could see it moving.

No, I could literally see it moving. Like very slowly.

Looks like I have found the answer.

The first bomb nearly exploded on my face, but I simply nodded left and the bomb flew past. It ended up exploding, far behind my back. And thanks to the explosion, I could feel a slight warmth on my back, as well as a heavy push.

I used the force that pushed me forward to dodge every single bomb coming my way as quickly as I could. It's like I'm parkouring with wind force, and I kept using all the explosions as a boost for me.

Despite them boosting me, it still doesn't change the fact how painful the boost was. But at this point, I don't care anymore.

Dice did not expect this sudden change, but he was too late. I'm already right on his face.

I quickly enchanted my orcish blade with flames, and let out a slash towards Dice. Dice was able to react in time, as expected. The flames on the blade quickly dispersed, as the momentum of the blade came to a complete stop.

The force that stops the blade was done with wind magic, but it was a little powerful. Enough to stop the brute force from my sword swing.

However, thanks to that same force, the sword snapped in half. And by luck, the part that flew away from the snap, managed to arrive on Dice's neck.

The blade got buried right on his neck. Blood spurted out, and Dice screamed as loud as he could.

"Rrraaaaaaaa!!!"

Dice quickly jumped back from the attack. He held the piece of blade on his neck, not to mention the blade was extremely hot from the fire enchantment.

He tried to hold the blade, but it was too hot. The blade is already deep inside the neck. And thanks to its heat, the blade managed to seal the skin to the blade's surface.

If Dice pulls that blade, he is as good as dead. If he doesn't pull the blade, he will die slowly. Either way, he lost.

In the end, he kneeled on the ground. He knew that he had lost, all because he lowered his guard.

I walked towards him, and kneeled in front of him.

"Who tried to assassinate me?"

Dice, who is dying, opened his mask and coughed all the blood on him.

For some reason, this feeling felt familiar. 

Dice looked up to me, and I could see his face clearly. I know that the demon race had a grey skin with a much silkier texture, like a shark's skin texture. But this isn't what you call a silky skin.

His skin is like a human, and it's not grey.

I was taken aback. I was expecting a scary pitch black face with the skin of a demon when he opened the mask, as well as scary eyes.

This guy... he is a half demon?

He slowly opened his mouth and tried to speak. The damage on his neck is already too heavy. He had to cough blood once before finally gaining the ability to speak.

"You… were able to defeat... me…. Congratulations."

Dice touched the hot blade that stabbed through his neck. There is a very slight chance he can survive, but he knows I won't let that chance happen.

He lifted his right hand, and showed me his dirty bloody fingers. On the middle finger, is a golden ring. It's the space ring where he stored his items.

He took off the ring and handed it to me. I returned with a confused face.

"Those who defeated me... Deserves to know me."

His heavy voice disperses mid sentence. His life force is already disappearing. And like a flick of a switch, all the energy inside his body that kept him alive suddenly disperses as his body fell to the ground with a thud.

After he died, I slowly stood up.

My wounds are starting to heal again, and I can feel the pain slowly disappearing. But I still frown every time I think about the pain.

I stared at the ring Dice gave me on my hand. I decided to check out the contents later, because now I need to focus on healing myself.

And just like Dice, the energy on my body suddenly disappeared. I dropped my back to the ground, and my eyes slowly shut. I can hear the sound of people shouting, but I couldn't hear what they were saying.

My blurry eyes were able to recognize the shadow of the person who came to aid me, but I can't tell who it is. 

Three seconds later, I fell into a deep slumber.

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