'What should I do? Should I do it now?' Daniel thought, feeling the wooden sword on his neck.
He didn't know why, but his instincts were screaming at him—if this Hero killed him, he would really die. Not even his extra lives would save him.
His cold, serious gaze landed on the Hero himself. His mind was working at ten times the normal speed, trying to find a way out of this situation.
Worst-case scenario, he could use Fallen Step, but he still didn't want to admit defeat. He had one possible way to win, though he wasn't sure it would work.
That's why he decided to weaken the Hero first before trying anything.
Daniel placed his palm on the ground. A flame of mana essence burst out, mixed with traces of spiritual energy. The air trembled.
A power that made even the battlefield shake surged through his body.
[ Eternal Judgment ]
And for a brief moment, it looked like the galaxy itself had been torn open.
A golden, glowing sword appeared above his head, and with a burst of spiritual lightning, it descended. Daniel grabbed it, stepped forward, and charged at the Hero.
To boost the power of the sword, he poured all his mana essence, mana, vitality, and spiritual strength into that one strike.
He wasn't sure if it would work, but he hoped it could at least weaken the Hero a little.
The Sword of Eternal Judgment drew power from deep inside his soul for one final attack. The dark sky lit up.
The Hero looked at the sword speeding toward him and took a step back, retreating a few meters.
But the sword didn't care and continued its attack. This time, the Hero didn't dodge. Instead, he activated his defensive skill.
[ Nullify Existence ]
However, unlike before, the sword pierced through his defense and struck him. The sword exploded on impact, releasing a massive wave of energy.
Daniel looked toward the explosion with some doubt. He wasn't sure if it had worked—but he hoped it had at least done something.
Luckily, the smoke and leftover energy cleared, revealing the result.
"…Interesting," said the Hero, speaking for the first time.
Half his body was gone—but he was still standing. His expression emotionless and cold, like someone ruling over the world itself.
Daniel let out a cold breath. Even after an explosion like that… this monster was still alive?
Unlike what he expected, the Hero's destroyed body didn't heal. Instead, he extended his hand, and a mass of death energy gathered, forming a new sword.
He started walking forward, heading back toward Daniel.
"Was that all? If so, then it's time to end this."
"I didn't want to use this… because it means losing one of my Fallens," Daniel sighed.
He honestly didn't even know why he was fighting anymore. Was there even a reward for winning? But as someone competitive by nature, he hated backing down.
Even if he lost—he would lose with glory.
When the Hero heard his words, a flash of surprise flickered in those deathlike eyes—but he didn't care much and simply raised his sword.
This sword was made of pure death. A single strike could destroy both soul and body.
Just as he was about to swing it down, he suddenly felt danger.
What a joke. He, the strongest Hero of all time, feeling danger… from such an insect? Just thinking about it was ridiculous.
But he did feel danger.
At that moment, Daniel—just like he had done in the Colosseum Dungeon—prepared to combine two of his skills. Except this time… it was three.
[ Light of Annihilation, Final Breath, and Crimson Judgment ]
Three different types of energy surged through his body and then erupted all at once.
The galactic sky split open, and another sword appeared—this one seemed to be made from layers of space itself.
As it appeared, Daniel's face suddenly aged as if a hundred years had passed in a second. All the blood in his body began to dry.
Cracks formed across his skin—and then…
BOOM!
His body exploded into thousands of pieces.
"What?" Even the Hero was shocked. This human… actually killed himself?
But there was no time to care about that. He had to deal with this sword that made even him feel threatened.
[ Undying ]
[ Nullify Existence ]
[ Death Of All ]
He instantly activated all three of his defensive skills.
The sword descended and shattered all three layers of defense completely.
The Hero frowned—and in that moment, the other half of his body healed. He grabbed the blade of the sword with both hands, and death energy burst from his arms toward the sword.
But it was no use. The sword absorbed the death energy—and got stronger.
The Hero couldn't stop it anymore.
The blade pierced through his throat and out the other side.
But it didn't stop there—suddenly, an even more devastating explosion shook the entire galactic space.
The battlefield cracked apart.
The Hero's entire body turned to ash.
All the light in that space vanished…
Though after a few moments, everything started restoring automatically. The battlefield rebuilt itself, the cracks in space disappeared, and the light returned.
At the same time, multiple notifications echoed through Daniel's soul.
[ Ding... You have successfully created a new skill ]
[ Name: Apocalypse ]
[ Rank: SSS ]
[ Ding... You have died ]
[ One of your extra lives has been used automatically ]
[ Reconstructing your body... ]
It didn't take long for his body to fully regenerate. He stood up and stretched a little.
[ Please choose one of your Fallens to be removed ]
Daniel selected one of his Fallen Knights, and then turned his attention back to the battlefield. There was no sign of the Hero.
In other words—he had won.
Excitement sparkled in his eyes. He had really doubted whether his plan would work, especially since he had never tried combining three skills before.
"But… why isn't the scroll showing up?" he frowned, realizing no scroll had appeared to announce his victory.
And as he was thinking that, a deep, ancient voice shook his very bones.
"…I never expected something like this."