Fell didn"t have the strength nor the luxury to think as all of his being was poured into the current sword attack. With his sword as a vanguard, he had turned his whole body into the sharpest material that existed in his mind. Although he stood in a deadlock with the skeleton giant, he knew that the chances of cutting through him weren"t impossible. If there even existed a chance of defeating him, he would take the opportunity right here and wouldn"t run away from failure.Sharper. Sharper. Sharper. His intent surrounded his body as he ignited his will to pierce through the wall that stood in front of him. The absolute cold that was exuded by the skeleton hindered his will and made his body feel like he had fallen in the ninth circle of h.e.l.l. Going for broke was his way, and he preferred dying that losing his way of cultivating and living. He had forgotten that he was currently Stroke and that all the ongoing events were happening inside of a trial by fire inside of Battle League. His mind blocked his thought from reaching common sense, and that made it possible for him to ignore any thought that might have caused him to hesitate.
If he reminded himself that it was just a game and that it truly wouldn"t matter if he lost. Defeat was actually not that bad of an ending, and all in all, it was just a trial by fire. That weakness would consume his spirit, and his sword way would forever be hindered from this loss. Thankfully his thoughts were completely shut down, and the only thing he thought about was piercing through the wall that separated him from slaying the giant skeleton.
Inch by inch, his sword advanced forward and after what seemed like an eternity of enduring the icy coldness of the trial"s boss. He felt his sword plunge deeper and deeper into the giant wall of coldness, and as he advanced further toward victory, the freezing intent that came from the skeleton intensified. Fell heard a constant buzzing sound as his will fought against the skeleton"s deadly intent. As Fell had initiated the attack, his momentum was clearly more significant than the skeleton"s defense. But that also meant that his will was burning at a faster rate. It wasn"t just his will that was taking a toll from the deadlock, but his avatar"s body was breaking down at an absurd rate. Even when sheltered by his fire-based sword art and with his burning will to cut through the skeleton, his body began freezing little by little, and the color of his skin acquired a palish blue hue.
That didn"t stop him at all, and on the contrary, forced him to push through with more conviction. If he was going to die, then that b.a.s.t.a.r.d"s head would be the first to hit the ground. That was his logic, and if it wasn"t for this absurd train of thought, he would have lost long ago against the skeleton. The level of their will and the difference in the laws they perceived and understood were too far apart. Not even the fact that just the difference in their body"s strength and resiliency could completely change the fairness of the fight.
Cracks began appearing in the air surrounding him, and the wall that stood tall in front of him finally began breaking down after being invaded by his burning sword. Bolstered by the newfound hope, he doubled in efforts, and with a final push, he heard a sound similar to thousands of mirrors breaking apart. Suddenly, his body regained his freedom of motion as he felt blood rush through his avatar"s vein. His mouth opened as a heaven defying howl escaped from his throat. Anger, resentment, joy of having broken down the absolute coldness mixed together as they supported his following strike.
One movement. One sword strike that pierced through s.p.a.ce at a speed Fell had never dared to imagine appeared in the plaza. The cloud of dust that had risen due to the earlier impact was swiftly cut by the sword revealing what was happening to the rest of the empty world. A head flew high in the sky; it was a black skull and was clearly part of the skeleton boss"s body. Then before the head began descending toward the ground, another sword strike left Fell"s hand and swiftly dissected the skeleton into two.
The moment his sword cut through the skeleton boss"s body, Fell felt tremendous bliss overtake his body. He felt his sword slash every particle of the skeleton"s bony frame; this memory would forever be ingrained in his mind and would forever help him push through his limit. Before the skeleton"s body hit the ground, his sword dropped as he threw his head to the back. With clenched hands, he roared toward the sky, and his voice boomed through the empty world. He roared his pain, his joy, and finally, his success. Before long, the roar turned into a sigh, and his eyes finally dropped on the figure on the ground. Thud! A shining black skull hit the ground near the skeleton corpse and soon enough began disappearing as it disintegrated into coal like particles.
Tears rushed down his face as his tired mind was overwhelmed by the variety of emotions he was going through. His surroundings appeared through his eyes with utmost clarity, and he felt as if he had broken through a major milestone in his life. His hand moved toward his face, and he wiped his tears before stepping forward toward the giant skeleton corpse. After moving a few steps, his leg failed him as he fell on his b.u.t.t on the ground. And every single fiber of his body began shaking as he began feeling the backlash from pushing through his limit during the fight.
"This isn"t reality… This isn"t reality…", he repeated in his mind before managing to calm the wave of pain that was a.s.saulting his mind.