System's Punishment Trial (part-3)

After a while;

*Snap*

*Blackout*

[Resurrection Complete]

[Time Suspension: 00:10 Seconds Remaining]

[Lives Remaining: 5/9]

Tianzhu sat cross-legged, once more resurrected into the silence of cracked earth. The dry wind blew past, unbothered by his death or resurrection.

His bones no longer hurt as much as his pride… But he had no panic or worry on his face. It was completely calm.

He opened his eyes slowly, exhaling. "Five lives," he muttered. "Still five."

He closed his eyes again, thinking fast.

"Achilles tendon strike, effective. Brings it down."

"Reflex range, insane. The left hand doesn't seem to let go of the club, whether it stands or falls."

"But the right hand, it's got way too much damn flexibility. It can be bent almost like 150 degrees and reach all the way to its lower back."

He clenched his jaw. "That wrist should not twist like that."

He took another breath.

A distant part of him wanted to curse the system, the monster, this trial. But he didn't.

Instead, his fingers moved. He swiped his hand through the air and pulled open the Character Screen, eyes narrowing on the entry:

Mimic Ability: Lightning God Armor

Uses Remaining: 2 / 3

Taking a deep breath, he murmured. "Only 20 minutes have passed so far. I don't think I can wait…"

Unlike with the mana, the Lightning God Armor didn't reset. It's still in the cooldown process as if the system is reminding him how much time has passed since he entered this system-controlled world.

He clicked his tongue and let the screen vanish. "Two more chances to go all-out. One is kept for the last. So, I need to use the other one wisely. Should I do it right now?"

The timer struck zero in the meantime.

The giant stirred.

Tianzhu opened his eyes and stood. "Let's do this."

He activated the skill.

Lightning God Armor: ENGAGED

After activating the Lightning God Armor, he conjured a blade of focused mana in one hand and a mana spear in the other.

The double summon consumed nearly half his reserves instantly.

Tick… tick… tick…

He shot forward like a missile.

The giant swung as he approached it.

Tianzhu blurred low and slid through its legs again, this time faster and sharper

SLASH!

He struck its right Achilles tendon clean. Blood gushed, but he vaulted high before it sprayed over him.

The beast wailed, dropping forward with an earth-rattling quake.

Tianzhu landed on the back of its thighs and ran.

The club thrashed wildly again. He ducked, dashed, and sprinted across its spine.

The neck came into view, along with its right hand, curling up in the air like a trap waiting to spring.

"Not this time."

Just as the hand lunged, he hurled the energy spear upward, not at the palm, but straight into the wrist.

THUNK!

The stab was deep, vicious.

A jet of steaming blood erupted, but he was already sliding backward, off its back, off its side. The scream the monster released was feral, splitting his ears and he wanted to stop running and shut them

But Tianzhu grinned in joy, panting. "That's right, scream, you bastard."

Then…

He sensed something, all of a sudden, and a shadow appeared all over him.

He looked up.

His eyes only captured the tip of its club at the last fraction of a second.

"Come on," he whispered.

CRACK.

It landed squarely on his head from above like a hammer.

*Blackout*

He gasped as breath returned like a punch to the chest.

[Resurrection Complete]

[Time Suspension: 00:10 Seconds Remaining]

[Lives Remaining: 4/9]

He lay there for a moment, blinking at the sky.

Then sat up with a flat stare.

"How can a club-wielding gorilla do a reverse-arm, backhanded overhead swing while half-blind and half-down?"

He looked up again as if staring at the System interface in the sky.

"Seriously?" he snapped at the system finally. "You're just going to bend physics now without following any logic? Are you hell bent on finding new ways to beat me to death or something?"

A groan escaped him, and self-criticism poured out of his mouth. "If I had known this would happen, I would have done workouts for hours to burn 5000 calories. What a fuc*ing stupid day. Just one day after I transmigrated into this world, and I'm already facing a situation like this."

There was no response from the system.

Of course.

Just that same damn blinking counter in the corner.

He stood up slowly, brushing dirt from his shoulder, letting out a deep sigh.

But the frustration of failure didn't break him.

If anything… it made him think even harder.

"So," he said aloud, narrowing his eyes at the monster in the distance, now stomping around again. "Alright then. From this point on, I won't try to win. I will find ways to break you down. Everything for that last attempt."

Time was no longer a number on a clock for Qin Tianzhu.

It was counted in deaths.

And in lives remaining: 4 / 9.

He hadn't used his final Lightning Armor yet. Not yet.

This… this was the testing phase for him, using his deaths as reference.

Again and again until he finds a perfect way to end this trial.

The first test began with the eyes.

Tianzhu had managed to race up the giant's club arm, timing his movement with the beast's rhythm, bouncing between thick, boulder-like fingers.

He stabbed it once at the base of the nape. Evading the gush of its blood, he ran across the shoulders, leapt…

And went for the eyes.

But the creature shook its head violently, like a bull swatting flies.

WHAM.

In mid-air, the club came up.

[Lives remaining: 4]

*

"Again…"

Same strategy.

Up the shoulder, try again. This time he stabbed the side of its eye. It roared, eye leaking viscous black ichor.

Progress.

But not enough.

Because the left hand grabbed him like a fly on its cheek.

Crunch.

[Still: 4 lives]

Another redundant death.

*