Dusk (BL Light Novel)

[Combat] Successfully hit Retaking a Class with Execution Preparation.
[Combat] Retaking a Class is stunned by Execution Preparation.

[Combat] Dealt 9,112 damage to Retaking a Class with Execution.
[Combat] Retaking a Class is now under the "No Healing" status due to Execution.
[Combat] Retaking a Class took 2,005 damage from ongoing damage effects.

Once you landed a stun, your opponent was left completely defenseless. Taking full advantage of that window, I chained crowd control skills to prevent him from recovering and slipped in bursts of heavy damage between each status effect. Since the Arena normalized attack power across all stances, HP dropped much faster than usual. Normally, it would've taken about 20% of Retaking a Class’s health, but in just a few skills, he was already down to below 50%.
...The sad part was that if it were any class other than a Holy Knight, I could have easily left him half-dead by now.
Anyway, for situations exactly like this—being locked under endless crowd control—there was a special Arena skill that could purge most status effects except paralysis and sleep. And yet Gang Jaegyung didn't even use his escape skill. He just stood there and took it. Sure, the escape skill had a long cooldown, so saving it was understandable, but even so, in a situation like this, you had to use it.

Was it because he wasn’t used to the skill yet? That didn’t seem like him. Something felt off. Still, the best move now was to shred as much of his health as possible while I had the chance.
Watching my skill cooldowns carefully, I used a knockback skill while adjusting my position. Since I was standing lower than Gang Jaegyung, the knockback slammed him into the hill behind him, preventing any distance from opening up.
Following up immediately, my character leapt into the air and prepared a heavy shield slam.

Right then, Gang Jaegyung used his escape skill. My character, suspended midair, crashed helplessly to the ground and entered a downed state.
[Combat] Shield Slam activation was canceled.
[Combat] Took 3,788 damage from Retaking a Class’s Central Nervous Disruption.

[Combat] Retaking a Class recovered from all status effects with Central Nervous Disruption.
[Combat] Retaking a Class entered a downed state due to Central Nervous Disruption.
[Combat] Retaking a Class suffered from reduced resistance due to Central Nervous Disruption.

The escape skill not only removed status effects but, with a low probability, could knock the target down. On top of that, Dusk had a system where crowd control effects like knockback, stun, or downing had a significantly increased chance of hitting if the target was airborne.
Gang Jaegyung had been gambling on that tiny chance this whole time, saving his escape skill for this exact moment. Was he insane?
While I was downed and helpless, Gang Jaegyung unleashed a relentless barrage of skills, weaving in status effects just like I had done to him moments before. The tables had turned completely.

To make matters worse, the escape skill from the Harmonizer class had a nasty side effect: “resistance reduction,” massively increasing the mutation probability of virus skills. If this kept up, my status window would soon be crawling with DoTs and mutations, and if he hit me with a Mutated Virus Extraction while the Arena buff was active, I could get one-shot.
Before Gang Jaegyung could fully commit to the onslaught, I timed it carefully and used my own escape skill to break out of the downed state. Immediately after, I popped an immunity skill to preemptively block any crowd control he might throw at me.
Now that both our escape skills were spent, every move had to be deliberate. If either of us got caught once more, it would be over.
Especially for me—if my immunity wore off, getting caught by a Virus Extraction would stun me and leave me defenseless. I had to time my next immunity activation perfectly.

The only silver lining was that Gang Jaegyung, after gambling on that escape timing, had taken considerable damage. He was down to about 30% HP—no, 40%, after using a healing skill—while I still had around 85%, since I hadn’t eaten any major bursts yet.
If I could seize just one good opportunity, I could kill him. I was stalking Gang Jaegyung’s movements, watching every step—
[Combat] Took 61,564 damage from Retaking a Class’s Mutated Virus Extraction.

[Combat] Retaking a Class’s Mutated Experimental Virus IV has been removed.
[Combat] Retaking a Class’s Mutated Miasma has been removed.
[Combat] Retaking a Class’s Mutated Experimental Virus XXI has been removed.

[Combat] Retaking a Class’s Mutated Virus V has been removed.
[Combat] Retaking a Class’s Mutated Virus I has been removed.
[Combat] Successfully resisted paralysis from Mutated Virus Extraction thanks to Firmness.

While my immunity was still active, the Virus Extraction skill landed. Because of the Arena buff and five mutation stacks, it hit for a ridiculous 60,000 damage—half of my total HP gone in one hit.
Normally, I would’ve freaked out. But strangely, a different thought popped into my head first.
With the virus mutations still lingering for a long time, Gang Jaegyung should've waited for my immunity to wear off to ensure paralysis. Instead, he just blew his ultimate damage skill without hesitation. (Granted, given that kind of absurd damage, "blew" might not be the right word.)

If I’d gotten stunned, there would’ve been nothing left to do except get eaten alive by DoTs and die miserably. So why waste that opportunity? Was he trying to mess with my head?
No—
A flash of memory surfaced: Retaking a Class calmly enduring my burst damage earlier without using his escape skill.
The words almost spilled from my mouth before I caught myself.

That bastard... was he letting me hit him just to test how much damage my burst could do? And now he was throwing his own ultimate skill at random just to measure its output?
It was a move that practically screamed: "I’m so confident I’ll win anyway, I can afford to let you have a free hit."
It was just a guess—but knowing Gang Jaegyung, I was almost certain I was right. I ground my teeth in frustration.

[Combat] Took 746 damage from Retaking a Class’s Experimental Virus VI.
[Combat] Took 795 damage from Retaking a Class’s Experimental Virus VII.
Gang Jaegyung re-applied DoTs on me. Probably decided it was worth a shot, seeing how low my HP had dropped after the Extraction.

At this point, Gang Jaegyung’s only option was to pile on as many DoTs as possible and wait for me to rot away.
I focused on blocking his defensive counters with Shield Block while jamming every off-cooldown skill I had into him.
[Combat] Took 1,338 damage from Retaking a Class’s Miasma Discharge.

[Combat] Took 1,602 damage from Retaking a Class’s Miasma Discharge.
[Combat] Dealt 7,943 damage to Retaking a Class with Last Judgment.
[Combat] Killed Retaking a Class with Last Judgment.

Gang Jaegyung, whose HP was already hanging by a thread, collapsed without even needing another status effect.
First kill was mine.
Sure, my HP was shredded from all the lingering viruses he left behind, but it was still enough to hold out while securing the Weight.

If Gang Jaegyung hadn’t wasted his ultimate damage skill earlier, I might’ve actually lost. The bitter taste filled my mouth. Virus Extraction was always strong—but this strong? I hadn’t expected that.
Letting out a long breath, I quickly tapped out a message in front of Retaking a Class’s glowing orb before heading for the Weight.
[General] Honeybread: ㅡㅡ

It meant: "I know you were holding back, you bastard." Whether Gang Jaegyung understood it properly or not, who knows.
The fight ended near Retaking a Class’s respawn area—which meant I was right next to the 8-point Weight.
I hurried over, pressed the interaction key, and while collecting the Weight, my HP slowly ticked back up. Looking at my slightly recovered health, I figured I might even be able to kill Gang Jaegyung again if I played it right.

[System] You have proven 8 points of worth to the god Evebria.
[System] Your HP has been slightly restored ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) by divine blessing.
Right as I finished collecting the Weight, Gang Jaegyung’s respawn completed.

Unlike me, stuck at 30% HP, he came back at full health. Naturally, I pulled back to a more defensive stance, but then he suddenly bolted toward the opposite side of the map.
Startled, I swiveled the camera in his direction—it was toward my team’s respawn area, where the Jepa Tribe’s 8-point Weight was located.