The Gamer's System

There was a reason why Glade was reluctant to fight Quinn. The human may be a host of a Monarch but he was not the Monarch himself. Hence, Glade's whole skill set which was optimized to counter Vask would not be as effective.

"Julia I'm sending my Conjures to your location." Quinn closed [Voice Chat] right away; not even waiting for his teammate to give a response.

Both Quinn and Glade stood perfectly still. Yet among the two, it was Glade who was on edge because, his opponent didn't even seem to worry about the fight. In fact, Quinn even gave him a smirk as he made one step – vanishing through the use of [Flash Step].

"Black Field!" Glade in his panic used the same space altering skill as before. His horns all glowed and his aura's strength increased, allowing him to exponentially increase all of his basic attributes. Quinn reappeared just below him, making a full swing which Glade barely parried with his sword. However, this was not the end of it.

Quinn continued his rapid movement with the use of [Flash Step], adding the skill [Overdrive] to better control all his movement on the point of contact. As a result, Glade was gravely wounded multiple times.

His throat was slit open. His arm was cut off. His leg was stabbed through. His lung got pierced. Every attack made by Quinn made Glade experience extreme pain. But he healed each and every time. All thanks to the [Black Field] that gave him infinite regeneration.

Soon enough, he was able to catch a lull in Quinn's movements. He made a quick attack while stepping back and summoning soldiers which rose from the mass of darkness. But their appearance was just as swift as their end.

"Flash Freeze." Quinn encased all the soldiers in ice once again. These same creatures could not move anymore but newer ones came out from the ceiling of the closed space. Quinn used the same move on these, disabling all of the soldiers made by Glade.

"Embers of Chaos!" Glade proceeded to making all of the soldiers explode but, Quinn was once again able to counter this.

"Consume." All the explosions were absorbed through the palm of his hand – glowing with a seeming insignia that was foreign to Glade. 

The human then disappeared from his sight once again. This time making use of a combination of speed increasing spells. There was only a split-second delay as Quinn reappeared just below him. With the human's palm pointed directly at Glade's body as he casted:

"Embers of Chaos." 

The explosions focused on a single spot. Glade's body caught on fire made of [Chaos] as he dropped to the ground. A large hole was created in the left side of his body. Destroying all the body parts that were supposed to be on it.

The elf coughed blood, regenerating right away using the same trick that he made use of against Vask. But Quinn was able to counter even this. He coated his sword with an imitation of Vask's spell, the same one which prevented Glade's body parts from coming back.

Unfortunately, the elf was able to escape even before Quinn could use it. He sunk into the shadows of the space he created; preventing Quinn from using his weapon.

"You keep on talking about that Master Pier of yours. But it seems like he doesn't have any idea who he's messing with." Quinn taunted.

"Oh my master knows exactly what he is dealing with. I am a living proof of that. In fact, you can't even win against me because, as soon as I die, both of us knows what will happen next. That gamer of yours will be left to himself – fighting off all the hordes of [Chaos] without any backup nor savior."

Quinn could hear Glade's voice from every corner of the subspace. But he couldn't see the elf anywhere. It was like he vanished completely as, even his aura could not be felt.

"It's funny. Every opponent we've come across up until this point has been like you. Cocky and arrogant." Quinn said with a smile on his face.

"Is it considered arrogance if I speak the truth?" Glade simply said in reply; preparing to escape from the fight and teleport back to base. 

There was a part of him that knew that, if the fight dragged on, then he would simply continue losing to the human. The elf had no intention of dying at that point because it wasn't part of Pier's command. 

"I'll kill you the next time we meet." Glade thought to himself as his teleportation spell was almost completed. He was sure that he could escape but then, he felt shivers down his spine as Quinn stared at him.

"Impossible. Could he see me?" Glade was sure that his presence was fully concealed. The skill he used made sure of this. But Quinn's gaze told otherwise. And the human didn't even look away as he continued speaking.

"It's considered arrogance because you assume that you'd win." Quinn stabbed the ground with his sword and casted:

"Consume." 

Immediately, the field created by Glade was being forcefully taken out. The elf was doing his best to maintain it but, the force was so strong that even his teleportation was being taken away. It was as if gravity's rules changed entirely, as Quinn's sword served like the center of a black hole.

The tug of war which Quinn began ended in his overwhelming victory. His sword absorbed all of the [Chaos Energy] unleashed by Glade and, to top it all off, he didn't look like he broke a sweat. The subspace completely vanished; leaving Glade dumbfounded.

"H-How…"

"Hmmm? What was that?" Quinn spoke in a mild tone.

"H-HOW ARE YOU SO POWERFUL?!?" 

Glade was trembling in fear. It was nothing like the fear he experienced when Pier tried to unleash the powers of the monarch residing within him. No. It was a fear not from overwhelming strength but from both tactics and skill combination that Quinn perfectly executed. All while looking as if he was enjoying himself.

"You said that your master was powerful. Kept on spouting that garbage for minutes without end. But now you're asking me something like that?"

There was no choice left for Glade at that point. He finally decided to end his own life right there and then. If he did, then not only will Quinn and the other elites disappear, but so will Vask who was residing within the same person.

The detonation didn't need any preparation. Glade simply needed to put his hand on his chest, with the intent of making it explode. This was all that he needed, getting back his confidence from the assured victory.

"This is your loss for being so cocky!" He shouted as the blast soon followed.

For a second, Glade's whole life flashed before his eyes. The self-destruct move worked like a charm but then, reality came back. As soon as his sense were regained, he realized that he was back in the same space he created. One which had a property of continually healing him.

Again he looked at Quinn. All with the same expression of wonder, fear, and unsurety of everything that was unfolding.

"Before you even ask, let me explain. This sword of mine was created by the same person you were belittling a few seconds ago and, it copies the unique properties of its wielder." Quinn stared at his sword, then placed his attention back to Glade.

"Upon my transformation into [Avarice], the sword also shifted properties. Enabling it to consume any skill, store it, and release it at will. And that, you poor thing, is the reason why your skill is back up again."

"Shadow Soldiers." Quinn furthered, as hands held down Glade to the ground. Another soldier then rose and stuck a sword through the elf's throat, preventing him from casting any spell.

"I didn't get stronger. It's just that, I have proper equipment now." Quinn idly said, casting another skill in order to seal the deal.

"Manifest. Avarice Serpent."

Glade felt cold immediately. He seemed to be a prey that was about to be eaten and this was true enough. The sound of hissing echoed throughout the area and Glade could feel the vibrations on the ground. Even without being able to see it, he knew that there was a large serpent waiting to eat him.

"If you're thinking about that stupid 'sending us back to the heavens' concept again, let me tell you. Once you're inside the serpent's belly it would take two whole days before you are fully consumed. You will not be able to move but you will feel an excoriating amount of pain within this whole duration."

Glade was just as mortal as any other creature. When faced with inevitable death such as that moment, he couldn't help but try to scream for help. He even peed himself which made Quinn regret that he even thought highly of this opponent before.

"Eat him." Quinn commanded but, before the serpent could even come near, the [Black Field] was destroyed.

He looked up to where the attack came from and, sure enough, the real enemy was there. Floating up on the sky with a furious rage on his face, Pier finally showed himself.