NOVEL WEB Chapter 9: Against The Crusher!
Incarnate ^8001 paused and groaned while grabbing at his chest. He was in agony, but his body held.
‘Tenyen the Crusher?’ he thought as he looked up at the armored figure lodged in the crevice wall. ‘That’s…accurate.’
The name of his opponent didn’t inspire much optimism in him, but the next thing the glowing tablet pointed out was rather interesting. Finally, he was getting more information about the Kanva – Acquired Skills!
‘I have to match Tenyen in the same respect his skill empowers? What is that supposed to mean?’ the Incarnate thought. He had been on an adrenaline high, but all that energy was somehow lessened by the need to employ more than a few terrestrial brain cells.
While it was great that there was an answer for how to get the supernatural abilities he had been curious about, there was no expansion. He was going to have to figure it out… without dying. That option was very much still on the table.
Evidence of this began when Tenyen dropped from where the rebounding of the force he had dished towards the Valiant Subject’s Ward had sent him. He landed like a fabled hero and looked up, his chipped visor expelling a portion of the deep evil hidden behind it.
The Incarnate gulped.
‘Has he been using his Kanva? I can’t tell. I imagine all he’s shown until now may just be his raw strength,’ he thought while propping his shield up again. It was difficult with his broken ribs, but his body was firm, he realised. Indeed, he wasn’t human anymore.
Tenyen took a step forward, then another and another.
Incarnate ^8001 sucked in a deep breath. It was improbable that the second Enchantment of the Valiant Subject’s Ward was going to activate in such a timely manner again. He couldn’t afford to rely on that too much.
‘Come on. I can beat him. I just need to stay composed.’
Just then, the Incarnate’s skin tingled ominously.
Something blazed from Tenyen’s body and caused the cool air to become restless; it whipped out from him and cascaded outward in a dense shockwave!
At first, the Incarnate didn’t see what it was that caused this, only noting that it wasn’t just a simple gust of wind. However, after squinting, focusing on the approaching figure of the enemy, he saw it!
A pale, silvery-blue torrent shrouded Tenyen!
It felt cold and mystical, as though it represented a chill that wafted from the Crusher’s very soul. It forced the Incarnate to turn pale and take a step back.
He couldn’t understand what it was. He couldn’t comprehend it.
It was no doubt supernatural, and it made his already fearsome enemy turn even more intimidating.
Great! Because his enemy needed a power-up!
If Tenyen was a rabid dog before, now he was more like a furious tiger.
And with this presence empowering him, Tenyen raised his foot and stomped hard on the ground.
The Incarnate felt his insides jumble up.
The ground crashed inward over a wide radius, breaking into small portions, some of which flew up.
The Incarnate lost balance. His feet wobbled and his stance was broken immediately.
Just as that occurred, he felt Tenyen move again. The armored combatant raised his mace, and his opponent watched as the silvery energy slipped into it, making the rusted head glow.
‘That’s not good!’ Incarnate ^8001 shuddered.
He didn’t need any additional exposition. He could tell. That was Kanva. That was an Acquired Skill!
Tenyen lunged forward and then flung his mace from a distance. The weapon flew erect, aiming for the Incarnate’s feet with a forceful gust accompanying it.
Unfortunately, the Demonling didn’t recognize what his opponent intended until the mace had struck the ground he stood on… and caused an earth-shattering explosion that kicked up shards and chunks of rock alike!
The impact was extraordinary.
It unleashed a blinding radiance, a stupidly powerful blunt impact, and a warm heat blast at the same time.
The results of all three pelted the Incarnate all over, dealing constant damage, blinding him, and drawing blood!
It went without saying that the Demonling’s feet were assaulted with the heaviest damage, making every inch of movement extremely painful for him.
To add insult to injury, his opponent had closed the distance in the time he (the Incarnate) was facing the treacherous conditions. He still had a shroud of that silvery essence around him, and much of it gathered in his hand, which balled into a fist.
The Incarnate’s skin tingled. He couldn’t see his enemy, but he sensed his presence through his skin. That energy he possessed made him extremely alert, more than before.
‘It’s coming!’
Indeed. The punch was coming.
For some reason, the Incarnate could tell that on contact, he was going to die, and that if he blocked – if he somehow managed it – that wasn’t going to do him much good either.
Once again, death stared him in the face, and as it did, his mind cranked into high gear.
‘Not yet!’ he thought in desperation.
Despite how intimidating his enemy was right now, nothing could stop him from trying not to die so miserably – so pathetically – for a second time!
The Demonling dropped when he felt the crushing might of the punch approach and tackled him. Tenyen was taken by surprise, and though he was rather sturdy – as the Incarnate discovered right then – he fell to the pile of broken ground with the Demonling.
The Incarnate felt a sense of triumph, but his success came at an unexpected price. Not only did the pain from his broken bones and shredded skin mount, it seemed that coming into direct contact with the silvery blue energy without protection, was a very, very bad idea.
Despite how cold it felt from afar…
“ARGHH!” the Demonling screamed.
It burned.
Hurriedly, he rolled to the side as his skin sizzled, his eyes watering.
That mystical energy burned like fire.
Tenyen also hastily stood up and rushed for his mace.
When he noticed this, the Incarnate felt his skin turn cold.
The Crusher was up again and…
The silvery-blue essence was drunk in by his mace again
He was going for the throw!
He was going to use that fearsome Kanva once more!
The Hollow Demonling grit his teeth.
He couldn’t allow himself to receive that attack.
Taking it meant death or something close to it, especially with the short distance between him and the enemy.
‘Not yet!’ he screamed in his mind. ‘Not like this!’
…
Thus, while taking inspiration from his opponent, he slipped his arm free from the Valiant Subject’s Ward’s straps, grabbed its edge tight and cocked back his arm.
Back in his living days, the Incarnate had never been much of a shield user, but he recalled that the best of them could do this too. He had even seen a pair of enemies fall as a result.
Using the six points of strength he currently had to the limit, he threw his bronze shield at Tenyen, hoping that his aim was true enough.
Just a moment later, as he felt the additional strength leave him, the Incarnate watched as a glowing mace soared towards him at breakneck speed as well!
The shield hurtled toward Tenyen, and the mace towards the Incarnate who was already diving.
He recalled a flash, a rough impact, and his body was flung as the ground groaned in bass.
Fortunately for him, the mace had ill aim. The Demonling had cast his shield first, unconsciously taking advantage of Tenyen charging his mace with the mysterious essence. He imagined that his incoming shield might have forced the Crusher’s aim to be less precise.
The Incarnate’s thigh had met the worst of it, while whatever was behind him had been dashed to bits in an explosion.
The Incarnate panted with a face full of agony, but he was relieved. It could have been worse. He turned to his opponent.
The Valiant Subject’s Ward’s sharp edge was lodged in Tenyen’s face, splitting his rusted helmet apart, revealing a rather… ugly face.
Festering, reddish-black flesh spotting maggots could be seen covering a visage devoid of expression.
The Incarnate recoiled, perturbed.
“What in the world…!” he thought… before realizing that his enemy wasn’t dead!
The bastard didn’t drop!
The Incarnate was shaken, understandably so, but he rushed towards the fiend, which started to come to a stand.
“No, you don’t!” he cried and grabbed ahold of his shield, pushed it and its victim to the ground, and pressed with all his might!
He roared, allowing his fear, apprehension, and excitement to take control, and finally, the sharp edge of the Valiant Subject’s Ward finished the task.
Tenyen’s head… was split in half.