Chapter 41: Ambush (Part 3)

"Hahahaha, is that the best you’ve got?!" My opponent cackled tauntingly, as he unleashed a vicious flurry of strikes and slashed at me with his spear, sharp clangs ringing as I blocked and deflected his attacks as best I could.I found myself getting increasingly pushed back onto the defensive as he attacked relentlessly, it was taking everything I had to keep his strikes at bay.

As he drove his spear towards my chest, lightning crackling around the blade, I narrowly managed to deflect the thrust with my short-sword, before my body stiffened up as his spear grazed my left bicep, the lightning around the blade electrocuting me.

"<D-Devour>!" I chanted with a slight stutter, sending the shadowy jaws zipping out towards him, but he was quick to spring back and get some distance.

Damn it...

"You’ve been using that quite sparingly...I get it, you must not have a whole lot of Mana, do you? How pathetic, you really thought you could take on the likes of me at your level?!

Your death’s going to be slow and painful, you little shit, I’ll take my time putting you through more agony than you could possibly imagine! You’ll be begging for death by the time I’m done with you!" He sneered maliciously, as he shot towards me with a wide, murderous smile on his face.

Well, he sure seems awfully torn up about the deaths of his comrades, doesn’t he?

He drove his spear towards my face as he closed in, the blade zipping through the air as I tilted my head across as quickly as I could, his spear grazing my left ear, a sharp electric jolt hitting the left side of my head.

I gritted my teeth before ducking as he whipped his spear in towards the side of my head with a rapid flick of his wrist, severing a couple of strands of my hair as I just barely got down in time.

He sprang back as I slashed at his knees with my short-sword, before he swung his spear across and struck the blade, knocking it out of my grasp before driving his foot out with immense force, striking the middle of my chest and knocking me onto my back.

As I let out a slight groan, I quickly rolled out of the way as he sprang at me and drove the handle of his spear down towards my stomach, a sharp, metallic thunk ringing out as it slammed against the floor, a couple of cracks spreading out across the tiles upon impact.

He then stepped towards me as I scrambled back onto my feet and unfurled a fierce thrust of spear towards the middle of my chest, the edge of the blade slicing across my bicep as I shuffled across right in the nick of time, before backing away and getting some distance as blood streamed down my arm.

"All you can do is scurry around like a fucking rat, you’re out of your league...this is like a house cat trying to fight a tiger!" He laughed, before chasing after me as I shot towards my short-sword.

I reached down and took hold of the handle as it got within my reach, my gaze swiftly darting across as he began to close in on me, leaping forward with his spear drawn back.

As he began to drive it forward, his eyes widened as I flung my blade at him with a sharp flick of my wrist, sending it zipping towards him with a rapid spin.

He quickly shifted his grip of the handle of his spear and spun it across, just barely deflecting my blade away before it could hit him.

"And now, you’re unarmed, time to-...what?!" He blurted out as I created a new copy of the blade and shot forward.

He twisted his body across in alarm, before grimacing as I inflicted a shallow gash across his left side, drawing out blood as I shot past him and spun around, right as the bottom of the handle of his spear came shooting back towards me, slamming onto the middle of my stomach before I could react.

I let out a sharp wheeze as I got sent flying back, the impact having knocked the wind out of me, my back hitting the ground and sliding back as I groaned in pain, struggling to get back up.

"You little bastard...," He growled as he stared down at the cut I inflicted, a dark look in his eyes as he shifted his gaze towards me, before yelling as he sprinted forward furiously, "I’ll slice off your hands and feet, and then break your fucking spine! With how hard I just hit you, you won’t be able to dodge this!"

Yeah, he’s right...I can’t muster up the strength I need to get back onto my feet. However...

"I don’t need to dodge...," I muttered, before continuing as he closed in on me, "Now, die. <Obliterate>."

"H-Huh?" He blurted out as a bright flash of purple erupted, coming to a stumbling halt before slowly turning his gaze down, his eyes widening in horror as he caught sight of the hole I’d blasted through his solar plexus.

My Rage Meter only got to seven percent, I wanted to get it to ten percent like I did against the Hypersonic Bat, but I was out of options.

Fortunately, seven percent seems to have been more than enough.

"Looks like it’s finally over. You really should’ve kept your mouth shut, pissing me off was a fatal mistake," I remarked, before flinging my blade forward, striking his right wrist and eliciting a sharp yell of pain as he lost his grip over his spear, which hit the floor with a clatter.

I created a couple more copies of the blade and launched them at his feet, he cried out as the blades plunged through his feet, pinning them to the floor.

"N-No, wait...please, don’t kill me! I-I have money, lots of it, y-you can have it all! Please-...!" He pleaded, before I cut him off by flinging another copy of my blade at him, piercing his forehead and plunging into his brain.

A thud echoed out as he collapsed, slumping against the dust-caked floor as he went limp.

I quickly consumed his remaining Mana with Drain, before wolfing down his body with Devour, also eating up the copies of my blade. There we go, that takes care of that.

Now, then...

Ai, bring up my stats, time to divvy up the points I gained.

<Very well, here you go>

Woah, not bad...didn’t get much of a boost to my MP, but I’ve earned a lot of points to distribute across my physical stats.

Alright, let’s put this much into Agility, a bit into Perception, and the rest to Strength and Vitality. Nice, that’s looking pretty good:

HP: 106 -> 114

MP: 77 -> 86

Strength: 105 -> 113

Agility: 125 -> 137

Vitality: 108 -> 115

Perception: 117 -> 127

Power Level: 115,300

Potential: 115,300

Well, what a nice bonus this encounter turned out to be, I’m pretty close to reaching the level of Q-Rank now. I did take a few hits, but nothing too serious or deep, I should be fully healed by tomorrow.

It’s a pretty solid boost to my confidence too...I took on a group of five Q-Ranks and won. I mean, sure, I’d definitely have lost in a fair fight, but hey, a win is a win.