Zarek exhaled a slow, controlled breath as the third Gladius fell. Until now, he hadn't given any one of them the chance to deploy their Skills—or their Talent, for that matter—but he could feel that something was being slowly built toward.
Despite only the slight changes to their strength, Zarek realized that it wasn't just their stats increasing, nor was it just Skills they were adding to their arsenal, but their synergy between stats was increasing at an alarming rate.
Zarek had been able to kill both the first and second Gladius with a single, well-timed and almost choreographed blow. But the third—he hadn't been able to defeat until the fourth or fifth exchange.
In fact, the third Gladius had become more clever as well. When Zarek tried to use the Lurker's Whip to latch onto his shield and use a similar trick, he activated Shield Smash, taking advantage of the pulse of Godsfall to repel the whip from sticking.
Zarek had been forced to adapt, dodge a [Lancing Thrust], and find a chance for the attack to accidentally stick itself into the ground, before he was finally able to weed out an opening—where he wrapped his whip around the Hero's throat and ripped his head off.
This made Zarek especially focused as the fourth one appeared, his eyes already narrowed and sharp. But as he entered that state, so too did a little bit of that fire begin to return.
—
Name: [Hero Gladius of Arcona]
Role: [Hero]
Core Stats:
>[Strength: D]
>[Dexterity: D+]
>[Intelligence: D]
>[Endurance: D]
>[Charisma: D-]
Talents:
>[Valiant Shield: D-]
[Abilities: Reflection]
[Repel a deadly blow with your aura, forming a devastating counter. Follow up to crush your enemy and force them to feel despair]
[Abilities: Absorption]
[Swallow several attacks in the row, storing up their energy and then readying them with an explosion of force. This Ability works well with shield type Skills and can synergize them into a single blow to conserve energy or explosively increase power]
>[Empty]
>[Empty]
Skills:
>[D Class Shield Smash: D-]
>[D Class Lancing Thrust: D-]
—
Zarek looked down at his crossbow shield. He had already used it to bash a couple of heads and bodies in, but he hadn't used its actual function in a while—that being actually firing bolts.
Still, from what he could see, he would probably be lucky for it to last through this battle, and he would need to use up another 20% of his Godsfall to reform it.
No, it was no longer 20%, because his Intelligence had just been Limit broken. It would be a lot closer to 15% or so—12% if he could really focus and cut out the fluff.
But…
'One problem at a time.'
There was a reason Zarek was able to remain cool and collected at all times. He rarely worried about what came after.
Half of the struggle of facing off against challenges wasn't making it through what stood in front of you, but surviving through what would come after—and then come after that.
Often, it was the weight of the mental drain of realizing just how far you had left to go that made people give up.
As the tip of a lance appeared before Zarek's eyes, though, he forgot about everything else.
All he cared about was dealing with the enemy right before his eyes.
There was no time to dodge.
Zarek tilted and slammed a fist upward in an uppercut that collided with the underside of the lance, sending it over his shoulder again in a familiar seam.
But the cracks in his shield were almost too much to bear, especially as he felt Gladius activate [Shield Smash], continuing forward with his momentum to slam it toward Zarek's chest.
Zarek could see what was going to happen—predict it even—but his stats already couldn't keep up with the Heroes that were manifesting.
While his stats were Limit broken, the Growth Potential of many of them was far too low, making each stat point count for less. In addition, the gap between stats as you progressed into D Grade—and then beyond—only grew wider.
Add that to the fact this projection had D Class Godsfall to fuel D Class Skills, and the gap was too large.
If he wanted to win, he was going to have to start taking some lumps.
And that… that he was more than familiar with.
BANG!
Zarek's cracked shield met the blow, shattering to pieces on impact. Zarek himself was almost blown back entirely, but the shattering of his shield dispersed much of the impact, and he dug his heels in even as he felt his inner organs rattle around inside his body.
He grabbed the top of the Hero's shield with one hand and the lance over his shoulder with the other.
Before the fourth Gladius could react, Zarek had already swept out a foot toward his ankles, sending him spiraling to the ground.
Zarek sensed the accumulation of [Lancing Thrust] even before it came. He could also sense that the shattering of his shield wasn't the only reason he had managed to remain on his feet—Gladius had also activated his second Ability to absorb the power of their clash as well.
Whether the Hero activated [Lancing Thrust] to shred Zarek's face and shoulder into minced meat, or [Shield Bash] once again to expel the energy he had just accumulated, it seemed like Zarek would be finished one way or another.
And yet Zarek ignored them both.
Activating two Skills at once was something that only the most elite of mage-types could do in the far-off future. Who did this projection think it was fooling?
It was growing more clever, but that only made it more susceptible.
Immediately, it was obvious that the fourth Gladius didn't expect that Zarek wouldn't back off at all. When the former's back slammed into the ground, his head spinning from the impact, it was already too late for him to react to Zarek's heel driving right into his throat, crushing his windpipe.