Zarek took a deep breath, inhaling and then exhaling as the fifth Gladius slowly faded.
The last two battles were undoubtedly the toughest, each one threatening to send him over the brink. During both, he hadn't even had the chance to use his Lurker's Whip, and every time he had the intention to, he even felt that doing so might lose him the one weapon he could actually rely on in this place.
But not using it was also a huge detriment to him as well.
After the fifth battle, he became certain that it wasn't just the strengths of the Heroes increasing, nor was it just their Skills and Talents becoming deeper, stronger, and more detailed…
But even their armor, their shields, and their lances were all becoming stronger as well.
At this sort of stage, even if you had had eight participants to enter this Tear with, it would have practically been suicide unless all of them had similar levels of talent.
You didn't just need a team, you needed an elite squad.
—
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+]
>[D Class Sudden Shift: D+]
—
Zarek took another breath and stabilized himself, slowly beginning to circle the knight. The latter's stance shifted to follow him, the two of them sizing one another up.
There was an even brighter light of intelligence in the Hero's eyes now. He was watching, observing, his gaze shifting from Zarek's face, to the whip in his one hand, and the shattered remnants of the crossbow-shield on the other.
The more Zarek watched this happen, the more his body relaxed, the shallower his breathing became, and the smoother his blood flowed through his body.
This challenger was easily ten times stronger than the first one to appear, and by now, Zarek was well out of his depth stat-wise. He was sporting several broken bones, and as much as he tried to preserve his Godsfall, he was only working with about 70% or so of it remaining.
That sounded like a lot, but when his best abilities required him to use up at least 12% of it, it might as well have been a drop in the ocean. That didn't even mention how much he used extending his Lurker's Whip and pulling it back.
And yet, there were two more opponents left after this one.
Chi.
There was a sudden change. The sixth Gladius pressed a foot down onto the ancient stone and there was a light that triggered. Godsfall spilled over and Zarek found himself blinded for a moment.
BANG!
A shield smashed into Zarek's face before he could react, the ancient stone platform beginning to spin beneath him.
Zarek's mind shook and he grabbed hold of what Charisma he had to dig deep, stabilizing his mind. He barely recovered enough to flip through the air and stumble a landing onto his feet, but he could already feel Gladius coming once again.
'There are hidden Matrices on this platform…'
Zarek was taken aback because he hadn't sensed them, but his C Class Scouting Skill should have definitely been capable of picking up whatever D Class Matrices were hidden here.
Unless…
'Dammit.'
Zarek put two and two together. They weren't Matrices in the normal sense. When the sixth Gladius appeared, this platform changed from a normal arena to the fourth of his treasures.
First it was the armor, then the lance, then the shield, and now this arena had become a Domain Type Treasure. It was bound to Gladius. The reason Zarek couldn't sense it was because these Matrices weren't readily available to be observed at all.
Treasures crafted by craftsmen that knew what they were doing would definitely have strong protections on them. So long as they were bound, observing their Matrices was almost impossible. In fact, the strongest craftsmen could hide the Matrices they used even on unbound treasures, and only those they allowed to bind their treasures would be able to sense them in part—and even then, only enough to control them.
Zarek could feel a concussion swaying his vision. His nose was practically flattened against his face, cutting off one of his airways, and his body itself practically felt like it had been a loose string, incapable of remaining whole.
Had the sixth Gladius not sacrificed power in the name of speed, Zarek would have likely lost his head completely. But it hardly mattered when a second strike was coming swift and heavy.
Zarek's knees felt weak, and he was seeing three lance tips at the same time.
However, as he faced off against a real threat for the first time since the apocalypse descended, he felt that familiar part of him boiling. He couldn't help but smile a bloody, toothy grin.
Even when he was facing Belladoll and Crux, he might have escaped, but that was just a risk analysis. Not one that involved himself, but instead Priya. He couldn't afford to get injured then—not when his being compromised would mean Priya was stuck in a city with one of his worst enemies while he was unable to protect her to his full ability.
In addition, there would have been no real reward at the end of his fight with the two.
But now, Priya could protect herself, and… there was no escaping this place either.
It was either the three remaining Gladius died.
Or he would die.
And he had no intention of dying.
Core Harmony. Focus.
Zarek's hair stood on end and the confusion in his mind vanished into a wisp of smoke.