Zarek's feet slammed into the back of the sixth Gladius' head, pulling on his whip hard and grinding him into minced meat. The only tender pieces of flesh revealed by the man were torn into, but it was clear at a glance that it wasn't Zarek's Strength that allowed it.
As the sixth Gladius faded, Zarek took a deep breath, his arm inflamed. Too much of that first attack had torn into his flesh, and the searing pain was very much still there.
The Matrix beneath them slowly lost its glow, and a piece of Gladius' head appeared behind where he had once been.
Gladius' own formation had torn him to pieces.
'It's going to change again.'
The fire in Zarek was only growing. His back sank slightly, his upright posture becoming a hint rounded as he poured Godsfall into the creation of a new crossbow-shield.
He wrapped his Lurker's Whip into a palm again, its loose loops dangling in a curl of oozing black as Zarek slowly walked, encircling the glowing seventh platform.
Yet another Gladius appeared, this one even stronger than the last and carrying even more Skills and Abilities.
But Zarek had entered a zone where he could hear nothing but the beating of his heart. His mind was so sharp and focused right now that nothing else seemed to matter but his next combination of movements.
The beating of his chest, the raging flood of blood through his veins, the steaming heat emitting from his mouth—they all seemed so easily forgotten.
He couldn't sense his own fatigue, his own pain. All he knew was the opponent before him.
In an instant of time, a shield appeared before his eyes.
This time, [Shield Smash] and [Sudden Shift] had mutated, becoming a singular Skill known as [Shifting Shield Smash]. Because of this, the seventh Gladius could use it as both an attack and a movement Skill at the same time. And because they had become just one Skill, they could obviously be used in unison now.
In a flash, the seventh Gladius had already crossed over a hundred meters. It almost felt like teleportation, and Zarek only had the time to pull his crossbow-shield over his chest, deploying it in full and blocking the blow.
BANG!
Zarek was sent flying with such force he flipped through the air, the shield on his arm shattering to pieces. He had only just devoted 12% of his remaining Godsfall reserves to it, but it was already gone. Now he was down to just 58% remaining, but he used up another 15% instantly, forming another shield before he even landed on the ground.
He gave up efficiency for speed, and his mind never faltered. The instant the tips of his toes hit the ground, he had already lashed out with his whip, slapping it out against the ground to his side and pulling himself out of the way of the next raging bull.
Just in time.
Zarek felt a howling, sizzling wind prickle against his skin just as he launched himself to the side, barely getting out of the way of a twirling lance.
He realized then that Shield Smash wasn't the only Skill that had evolved—Gladius' lance attack had also fused with his shift Skill. It was slower, but the attack power was even greater.
This slower pace was exactly why Gladius didn't use it first, wanting to set it up beforehand. But it didn't truly matter which it was—Zarek would have been ready.
He would always be ready.
Zarek flipped through the air again, unlatching himself from the ground and skidding to a stop. Then, without missing a beat, he accelerated forward, closing the distance between himself and the seventh Gladius rapidly.
He had realized after his battle with the sixth Gladius that all of the treasures they were using—the lance, the armor, the shield, and the domain—they were all connected in a chaotic mesh of Godsfall.
When one was being used, the others couldn't be. And once one had activated, it needed to cool before it could be used again.
Because of that, when he used Harmonic Recall on the lance, he got information not just about the lance itself, but even the platform they were on.
The time it took for Harmonic Recall to be used, or Temp Duplicate to be deployed, was a function of surface area and size. Because of that, Zarek never considered trying to scan the entire arena because it was too large, having a 200-meter radius.
But now he knew… the size here was irrelevant. It seemed enormous, but this was probably a treasure that Gladius would be able to carry around. It was a spatial treasure of sorts that would have likely fit on the wrist, or maybe even a finger.
It seemed enormous because they were trapped within it right now. But in practice…
Zarek could grasp the whole thing with a single thought.
A lance thrust out for Zarek's head again, penetrating through the air with the momentum of a missile and the explosive power of a nuke. There was no confusion in Gladius' eyes as he already felt that Zarek was too slow, too weak, too easily handled.
But by the same token, it was only that much more of a humiliation that the latter was still standing.
A touch of menace flashed in the Hero's eyes and the world almost twisted around his lance as he thrust forward again.
Zarek tried to shift to the side at the last moment like he already had, but Gladius' sharpness hung true, predicting Zarek's movements and getting there even faster.
PUCHI.
The gap in stats was too wide, and as much skill and combat experience as Zarek had, it didn't matter if his opponent could read all of his moves ahead of time.
Zarek tried to twist out of the way, but the blade tip ripped through his hip, making it look as though a baby shark had taken a bite out of his side. A twisting, rotating power shredded through him.
But Zarek's focus remained much the same.
Harmonic Recall.