All dead.
By his hands.
The entire Withering Leaf Sect, wiped out in a single night.
For what?
For this.
As the sect leader neared his target, his veins started to pulse in a weird manner, alerting his opponent that something was wrong.
However, he didn"t care. It was too late already.
If this kid had hidden in some bush while waiting for reinforcements, the sect leader might have considered changing his plan. He could have lain in wait, while carrying out a few ma.s.sacres in the Kingdom this kid seemed to like so much.
However, by choosing to ambush him while being the one who had been trapped, he had written his own death warrant.
The pulsing of the veins was also accompanied by the entire body of the sect leader turning red.
As he felt his power increasing quickly, the sect leader smiled in antic.i.p.ation of wetting his hands in the blood of one more person.
Along with his body, his persona seemed to s.h.i.+ft. Before, he had at least been cautious of that memory, taking care not to focus on the truly gruesome parts.
However, now, he relished those moments when he locked all the sect members in a room after making them believe in him, before killing each one and absorbing their blood.
With each person whose blood he absorbed, he felt his power grow, leading him to break through from the Amateur Warrior realm to become an Eminent Warrior.
Of course, that wasn"t the only advantage.
This "bloodboiling" state was supposed to push his power to the peak of the Eminent Warrior level, further decreasing any chance of his opponent escaping.
He really had to thank that man who had given him technique once again.
All this seemed to happen over a long time, but the truth was, even a second hadn"t pa.s.sed since he had shot forward.
Even as the expression of his target changed into one of horror, he plunged his hands through his body.
Another clone.
Well, no matter.
Extending his senses in this state, the sect master quickly managed to find the real target: he was hiding in a bush around 100 meters away, and just as the clone dissipated, he took off running through the Valley.
Seeing this, he smiled in a twisted manner before giving chase.
….
Daneel"s heart was beating so fast that it felt like it would hammer out of his chest at any moment.
In his mind, he was cursing at this d.a.m.n guy.
He had antic.i.p.ated all manners of trump cards, but a method to suddenly increase power by 3 levels was something he could never have expected.
After that attack which had been foiled by the clone, Daneel had carefully practiced his approach using the simulation feature in the upgraded system.
In it, the sect leader had been at the beginning of the Eminent Warrior level, and Daneel had devised multiple plans to kill the man.
In the simulation, his current plan had worked 9/10 times.
This was already good enough, as in that time when it didn"t work, he had faced bad luck the likes of which never happened in real life.
According to the system, this was normal, as the simulation could never really simulate reality. There could always be something unexpected.
Like this.
Feeling himself targeted, Daneel briefly looked back to see two mad eyes which sent s.h.i.+vers down his spine.
This man had gone completely crazy. That was quite clear.
[Host"s enemy is using the blood he has absorbed/ingested to burn his Energy in order to output higher power. Effect limited to Fighter prowess. Enemy"s mage level remains the same as before: Amateur Warrior level.]
Well, there was the silver lining.
His opponent was not a complete Eminent Warrior through and through; if that were the case, Daneel might have given up long back.
He was still an Amateur Warrior mage, and with the system and Daneel"s own power as a peak Exalted Human mage, he could at least match him and defend himself.
The problem was with the sect leader"s Fighter prowess.
In the simulation, Daneel had had to go to great lengths to avoid getting into close-quarters with the man in order to kill him.
That plan had hinged on him being at the beginner Eminent Warrior level, and even then, it had required very meticulous planning.
However, that was no longer viable now.
In the Warrior realm, it seemed that the difference between each individual level was much more p.r.o.nounced than in the Human realm.
Just by advancing 3 levels, this man was already moving 60% faster than in the simulation. If the same difference was there in the Human realm, he would have been at most 30% faster.
While running for his life, Daneel tried to decide what the heck he was going to do.
Fleeing was no longer an option at all; even if he called for reinforcements, he would be dead before they arrived.
He felt like he was missing another option, but he had no time to think further down that line now.
Either he came up with something right now, or he would be dead in the next minute.
No saving Lanthanor. No saving Angaria. No saving anyone.
Feeling the pressure weighing down on his shoulders, Daneel entered into a highly focused mode.
He needed allies. Desperately.
And…he actually had a ton of them all around!
"System, call all the mosquitoes. As many as can be controlled. First, have them hold him off."
[Affirmative.]
Yes! He could use the mosquitoes to level the playing field, while looking for an opportunity to strike.
Daneel knew that he only needed one chance to pierce the man so that he could send the Tenebrous Flame inside. After that, the Flame would do all the work.
It was hard enough for someone to cast a barrier on themselves, as this required very minute control of elementary particles. After all, creating a balloon was much easier than creating a pair of clothes which perfectly matched a person"s body.
Hence, it was impossible for a Warrior to cast barriers inside their own body to prevent the flame from spreading and eating up their entire body.
All he needed was one breach, and victory might be his, especially with the upgraded system controlling the fire to split it into numerous small tendrils that would infiltrate his body.
Deciding on his plan, Daneel didn"t hesitate.
First, he took out all the Warrior level defense trinkets he had on him.
He had won a few in his trip to the Hidden Kill Sect, and he also had others which were obtained by Lanthanor.
These would be his last defense line.
Activating them and keeping them ready, he watched as a cloud of mosquitoes quickly gathered at his area.
He wondered whether to build any more constructs, but his best construct had already failed. He had even built those with a lot of concentration and time, two things he didn"t have right now. So, it would be futile to waste his energy on that option.
The Ruler"s inheritance worked when he had people around him who followed him, but as he was just surrounded by mosquitoes which were only loyal to their next meal, it couldn"t be used.
That left the Basilisk"s Breath and the Art of the Withering Leaf.
He was going to use the former to preserve his life while looking for a chance, and he would use the latter at a critical point of time to get that chance, by hopefully startling the sect leader.
His plan set, Daneel stood and waited.
The mosquitoes were spread all throughout the Valley, and although Daneel had been regularly killing them to use their blood to train, they bred at a frantic pace. In fact, if the system wasn"t controlling their rate of growth, they would definitely have destroyed the ecosystem of the Valley completely by now.
Instead of that, they had a.s.similated themselves to become the top predator.
Daneel didn"t have to wait long. In 2 seconds, the sect leader arrived and launched an attack with a manic expression on his face.
There were actually two attacks: one was a punch, and the other was a shard of reinforced, condensed ice.
Magic attacks along with close-combat fighting: so this was the sect leader"s mode of combat.
This actually worked in Daneel"s favor, as it was inherently weaker than the Hidden Kill Sect a.s.sa.s.sin"s method of merging the two to make one seamless, deadly attack.
Of course, that required for the Fighter and Mage prowess to be at the same level.
Daneel didn"t even bother handling the mage attack by himself. Commanding the system to cast everything necessary to counter the magic, he busied himself with dealing with the punch.
"Activate."
Time slowed down, and Daneel made a clear mental note about the trajectory of the attack, while taking care not to move himself in that split-second.
"Deactivate."
Lunging to the side with reflexes that looked like they were predicting the opponent"s movements, Daneel launched his own punch-a Hidden Kill one.
It impacted the barrier surrounding the sect leader, leaving a small ripple on it.
"Left side, attack."
Before the sect leader could fight back, a dense cloud of mosquitoes attacked him from the left, making him growl with anger before casting a fire tornado to take care of them.
Daneel used the opportunity to land 3 more punches, and they seemed to have some effect.
The sect leader"s body became bruised, but he seemed to have become even more angered in the process.
In this way, the fight continued.
The system would handle the magic attacks of the sect leader while controlling the mosquitoes to distract him, while Daneel would use the Basilisk"s Breath to dodge and keep landing attacks.
With each attack, there was a little damage, but it was minute.
Occasionally, the sect leader would use the Art of the Withering Leaf to throw his attacks back at him, and Daneel would just have to cast more spells to counter.
With each pa.s.sing second, he felt his mageroot start to ache, while his fists started to leak blood to repeated impacts with the barrier.
With each pa.s.sing second, the frustration inside Daneel grew.
If only he could punch just a little harder.
If only he could move just a little faster, so that he would have more time to land more attacks.
If only his magic attacks moved faster and had more power, so that he could hope to overpower his opponent.
The frustrations built up inside him like a tower, all while he became increasingly fatigued.
After just one minute of their fight, he endured his first injury.
He had antic.i.p.ated the sect leader"s attack, but he hadn"t been fast enough.
As a result, the sect leader"s punch connected with his shoulder, making him stagger backward.
Even though his barrier blocked the majority, the impact he felt made his shoulder burn as if it was on fire.
His left hand became slower than his right, making panic appear on Daneel"s face.
Still, he held on, somehow managing to dodge like the last struggles of a mouse whose eventual fate would be to be eaten by a cat.
His shortcomings stood out glaringly, making him scream at them in anguish.
His mageroot had also begun to burn, meaning that he was losing the battle on the mage front too.
The mosquitoes were running out; already, they were taking care not to step in puddles of blood so as not to lose balance.
Was he really going to die here?
Daneel racked his brain for options, but except for that faint thought that something was eluding his mind, there was nothing else.
His next injury was to his stomach, which directly made him spit out blood.
The next one hit his chest, making his whole body seem sluggish.
Slowly, the Warrior trinkets started to shatter one by one, until he was almost standing like a punching bag in front of the sect leader.
His opponent seemed to be taking great pleasure, as with each punch that landed, his smile grew wider, until it covered over half of his face, making for a very creepy sight.
With each punch and kick that hit him, Daneel raged at himself.
The thought of letting down everyone and failing haunted him, making him feel disgust and hate.
Disgust at his overconfidence, which had led him to take this fight.
Hate at his incompetence, which was leading him to lose.
And finally, rage.
So, so much rage. Rage that burned to the heavens. Rage whose only target was himself.
Why can"t you be stronger?
Why can"t you be faster?
He asked, but he received no answer.
Each and every part of his body was leaking blood, as lacerations had started to appear due to the repeated impact.
The blood loss was making him dizzy, and images he had long forgotten started to appear, such as the image of that smiling, kind old lady who had taken care of him in the orphanage back on Earth.
Was this it?
Was this where his tale ended?
No.
NO.
He couldn"t go down like this.
He couldn"t let some arrogant sect leader take his life, thereby ending the last hope for Angaria to survive the Church.
He couldn"t stand the thought of his family, friends, and citizens living with the fact that their King had died because he was too weak.
For one, final time, he screamed.
He screamed at his shortcomings, his weaknesses, his fears.
He screamed at his incomplete life, his unfulfilled dreams, his inadequate power.
He screamed until he didn"t know whether he was screaming inside his mind, or out loud.
Why can"t I be stronger?
Why can"t I be faster?
Why can"t I fight back?
Why? Why? WHY?
A single image flashed in front of his eyes: the image of Angaria, which he had seen from above in his chat with the Watcher, turning completely red with the blood of the millions who inhabited it.
The images of his friends and family dying didn"t need to appear in his mind"s eye. They were already visible in that image of Angaria, which represented them all.
Still receiving no answer, Daneel changed his question.
This question rose up from the deepest recesses of his mind, but it resonated with his entire existence.
"If I can"t save it, who will?"
As Daneel started to realize that this was the question he would ask last in his life, his screams reached a crescendo, and he saw one final blow flying at his face, while the expression of triumph on his opponent"s face was clearly visible.
At this moment, as Daneel almost gave up and let the regret consume him before taking him away, something seemed to answer from inside his body.
It answered the question he had asked before, but it seemed to have awakened due to the question he had asked last.
Regardless, the moment it sounded, everything changed.
"Why? Because you never needed it, that"s why."
CLICK
Raising his hand in a smooth motion, Daneel caught the sect leader"s punch.