Chapter 214: The Killing Spree
Chapter 214: The Killing Spree
"Is this all?" the warden's yellow pupils also had a vortex of aura in them, although slightly less powerful than Stark's.
"Please…" she looked above, and almost, ALMOST, showed an emotion for the first time in her life as she saw the purple drop of the lavender flower on the verge of dropping on her head, hoping with all her heart and soul that it would work.
Even when the warden attacked and mocked her, even when she was against a wall and on the verge of dying, she still had that emotionless look on her face, as she didn't care about anything else other than surviving and going back to the real world.
In that regard, she wasn't different from all the others, yet here she was, one of the few people who were able to advance this far, possibly since she didn't seek to fight anyone.
And yet… that simple hope was enough to change her ways.
No matter how much they tried, her parents could never get her to change or smile at them, making them think she was an anomaly, and now… the [Domination] trial was on the verge of doing it simply by pushing her to her limits.
Limits she never knew she could reach, as she had always dominated her opponents quite easily, the power of her flowers making her look like some sort of prodigy, although she made sure to hide their true essence as [Domination] should stay unknown to the world.
"Please…" she was praying that she could actually manage to defeat the warden on her second try once the purple drop hit her head and regenerates her, although she knew there was no luck: it was all skill.
Yet… this second chance would never happen.
"Do you think of me as stupid, prisoner?" the warden shouted for the first time, his expression twisting in anger at the thought of a mere prisoner could underestimate him.
And then…
~GRAB, SQUASH~
He used his powerful sculk-filled hand to reach for the lavender and tear it apart before stepping on it.
[Regenerative Drop has been cancelled!]
And just like that, all of Sora's hopes were shattered, she wasn't able to finish up her spell as it was cancelled right before activating, meaning that it was useless.
A monster wouldn't be dumb enough to actually let you heal in front of them after all, right?
Well… at least the warden wasn't as he kept trampling on the floor in front of Sora's desperate eyes.
For the first time in her life, Sora TRULY wanted to cry.
And yet… her 'condition' was a curse, since no tears actually came out, nothing could relieve her from what was about to happen.
All she could do was watch, the warden destroying every single one of her attacks.
"Well, seems like it's over, goodbye prisoner, join your little companion," he lifted his hammer again, the sculk and aura around his body becoming much more powerful as he knew that his job would be soon finished.
But right as he was about to swing and kill her…
"PAY ATTENTION, FALSE HERO," he heard something from behind, and then…
~BOOOOOOOOOOOM~
He was suddenly hit by an attack so powerful it shook the entire trial, and sent him flying far from Sora, crashing onto the giant metal door of the Lucullus Prison.
"-393814!"
"What the…" Warden received so much damage it was actually scary even for him.
And when he looked to his right… his left arm had been destroyed COMPLETELY: it was cut off from the rest of his body from the impact, and his armor was shattered from everywhere.
"How…" he wondered as he got up, his face now full of rage as his existence was actually threatened by another entity.
And when he lifted his vortex eyes… he saw… Stark.
The boy was staring at his very soul, his aura so powerful that Warden knew it was no joke.
"You… are… supposed… TO BE DEAD," he shouted while getting up, grabbing his hammer with his remaining arm.
"Death is nothing to me," Stark smiled, "Double-check someone the next time you wanna kill them," he shrugged, "Too bad there won't be a next time for you!"
"But how… HOW…" Warden was so mad he was on the verge of going berserk.
"…" Stark didn't answer, "You're just a false hero."
***
Stark had been watching the fight between Sora and Warden, and although he gained hope once seeing Sora damage him, that hope quickly disappeared as he saw the boss absolutely destroy her and send her flying using his skills and hammer.
"Get up…" he still couldn't move, and nobody knew about him, but seeing that his teammate was going to die, Stark pushed his own body and limits as well, "GET UP…"
"GETUPGETUPGETUPGETUPGETUP!!!" he kept trying, and the closer Warden got to Sora, who was lying against the wall, her bloodied body unable to move, the more Stark could sense that his limits were growing.
And so right as Warden reached the white-haired girl…
~FWISH~
Stark managed to stand up.
But now what? What could he possibly do?
Sora had already summoned her [Regenerative Drop], and he was too far to reach her before [Horns Detection] would alert Warden who would kill her than attack him.
What could he do in this situation to win…
"Think…" this trial actually pushed Stark's brain power more than anything else before, and strangely, the more the thought, the stronger the vortex in his eyes and his aura became, "… Oh!"
He figured out something.
"Spatial Inventory," he summoned the inventory void and grabbed something from it: it was a gun-shaped object that resembled just a normal pistol, although it had weird devil symbols all over it, and the words 'Killing Spree' written on the side.
That's right: he grabbed [Killing Spree], the ultimate reward.
[Killing Spree: This reward charges up a destructive power that increases after each monster/enemy defeated, the more monsters killed, and the strongest they are, the more this attack's power increases, also note that the amount of monsters killed counts since the beginning of the trial!]
He had defeated over 250 monsters as well as Leader and Akira, meaning that the power of the gun should be enough.
And so… right as Warden grabbed Sora's lavender and stomped on it, Stark pointed the gun at the boss, ready to end it all.
"Here goes nothing…" and without a single second of hesitation, he pressed the trigger.
Yet instead of firing instantly like a normal gun… [Killing Spree] was different.
[Charging up power!], a panel appeared before Stark.
[268 monsters killed, 2 enemies killed]
[Amazing, host, you are a true KILLER!]
~FWISH, FWISH~
A crimson ball of energy formed in front of the hole bullets were supposed to be fired from.
[You have slain 'Sublevel 4 Elite Guard', power increasing!]
.
.
[You have slain 'Chains Cyclops', power increasing!]
.
.
[You have slain 'Undead Elite Zombie', power increasing!]
.
.
And that crimson ball… began to grow more and more as each panel that showed the monsters he killed appeared.
~FWISH… FWISHHH… FWISHHHHHH~
[You have slain 'Leader, The Sect Leader', power increasing!]
~FWISH~
And in the end…
[You have slain 'Akira, the Moon Warrior,' power increasing!]
[Power has been maxed out! Please fire!]
The gun that Stark had been holding completely evaporated, not able to withstand the power of the crimson energy ball, meaning that it was just there, its energy pulsing through Stark's body as it floated in the air, ready to be sent at the enemy.
"How do I…" yet before he could even finish his sentence.
[Punch it!]
"Alright…" Stark breathed in and out as he focused, the crimson ball of energy before the sole thing that could help them kill that warden monster.
As focused his entire aura in his right hand, he remembered everything that happened in this trial: the fourth sublevel and the elite guard, the fight with Leader in the second sublevel, the awakening of his new class and the moment he killed all those undead with it, the fight with Kokoro and Akira in the first sublevel because he was selected as the target.
Now… all those experience and memories, all those fights and struggles… he put them all in this punch, his right hand filled with an aura so red it could be a demon's to shame.
And then…
~SWING~
He punched the crimson ball so hard that it felt as if time stood still.
The energy ball exploded in a burst of crimson light upon impact with his fist and was sent toward Warden at the speed of light.
And it hit him, saving Sora right as he was about to smash her body.
~BOOOOM~
Which brings us back to the moment before.
"You're just a false hero," he smiled at the warden, who was clearly damaged from the [Killing Spree] ball.
And so just like that, the fight became a little more fair.
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One chapter today because I'm currently reviewing the previous chapters to enhance them and also increasing stockpile, in exchange this chapter is a little longer than the others.