The End of Fate?

'This guy... stopped holding back.'

"We have been fighting someone who has been holding back?"

'Yeah...'

Akiol sighed resentfully, Wrock was out for the count. Kan'na was dancing with death, Jarvis' tame's time limit was going to be up soon. Yielya was delaying the death of Kan'na. Tilia was exceptional at defense, yet her attack was lacking.

It was up to him now...

"Stars, we are using that."

'Alright!'

A power coursed through Akiol, he felt his strength rising considerably. Behind his back a circle appeared, at the bottom a seventh of the circle was cut out. Leaving it with a ring shape.

The ring had five 'spikes' pointing outwards, two on the left and right side, the final one pointing directly up. The ring looked like a gateway to space, thousands of small stars could be seen. This ring hovered behind him with a distance of five inches. An extremely similar ring appeared above his head. The cut out part faced behind him, the spikes were in the same position, except they were pointed upwards.

This was the Berserk Skill provided by Stars.

Akiol concentrated, targeting the power that enhanced his strength. Suddenly he was surrounded by a deep blue aura, occasionally a purple, yellow, or green dot would appear. These dots would move slightly before vanishing, being replaced by another.

Akiol had used the Berserk skill as a catalyst for Aura. As he experimented he found out that the stronger the catalyst, the more control the individual would need to fully utilize it. If they failed to fully control it... they would explode.

Akiol had practiced this often his control standard had reached high enough to prevent explosion.

Zenothoriath disappeared at this moment. Akiol shouted, "Thanks for the time Jarvis! It's time to end this!"

Akiol shot forward, Rygeth spotted this and held up his hands to guard. Akiol swung Stars, a beautiful deep blue streak followed behind it. The sword easily slashed through Rygeth's guard.

Rygeth stepped back to prevent any further damage. Yet Akiol stepped forward and continued slashing. Forced to dodge, Rygeth moved about. Yet his speed was on par with Akiol's current.

Akiol swung quickly, the sword aiming for Rygeth's chest. The Crimson Immortal dodged the blow, but found that he was injured anyway?!

It was Akiol's trusty skill {Apparition Strike}! He hadn't used this often since Loxit saw through it, he had assumed high level opponents could see through such a technique.

However the circumstances were different, considering that he no longer had the game system assisting him and that his overall stats were several times higher. His testing was still in progress, he would find the answer in the future.

Rygeth jumped into the air to prevent further damage. He couldn't tell what had happened, but he knew that he needed to create some distance.

He slapped his palms together, "Descend! [Swords of Unrighteous Oaths]!"

Several large silhouettes of swords appeared. The swords began to descend at different intervals. Upon facing the wrath of descending swords Akiol smiled.

"This counts right?"

'Yeah.'

Akiol pointed Stars upwards a small black dot formed. The swords within a certain distance began to warp and were pulled into the small black dot.

Kan'na managed to catch eye of this, "That... punk."

Yielya tapped her forehead, "Hush."

Rygeth frowned, if he couldn't attack from range... He held out his hand, "[Spirit of Legendary Swords: Joyeuse]."

Akiol raised an eyebrow, Joyeuse? What sword was that?

(Author's Note: Joyeuse was the personal sword of the first Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne.)

Rygeth brandished the sword. Akiol eyed it and asked, "He said legendary sword..?"

'Spirit of, it's a different type than us. We are the legendary physical sword. Those are something else.'

"Can they compete?"

'That's like comparing hearing a story versus being there to experience it.'

"Is this your personal opinion?"

'...Yes, they are strong but not as good. As long as anyone fits the requirements they can summon the spirit of them. So several people can wield the same sword.'

"Ah, and there is only one of you."

'Bingo.'

Rygeth shot forward and began to exchange blows, several attacks happened within seconds.

Rygeth was shocked, he was being beat in the sword? Even if his talent wasn't exceptional, he still hand hundreds of years of practice. So why was he outclassed?

The answer was simple, Akiol had fought several battles with his life on the line. With such high stakes his body and mind became tempered. Rygeth barely worried about death, so his accumulation of practice was beneath the level of Akiol.

Akiol flicked Stars, deflecting an incoming blow. His sword blurred as he struck an opening. Rygeth attempted to dodge, but he still was attacked.

A minute of battle had passed. Rygeth's condition grew worse and his performance began to dwindle. It didn't help that he was forced to target a small section in order to even harm his opponent, this had also taken part in his poor performance.

Rygeth stepped back, Akiol's sword swung past harmlessly. Gripping his sword with two hands Rygeth swung downwards. His goal was to cleave the slime in two.

Akiol manipulated his body and the sword sailed past harmlessly. Before Rygeth could react Akiol shouted, "Repulse!"

Rygeth tumbled through the snow from the force. Gritting his teeth he slammed his hand to the ground, pushing him upwards. He did a quickly flip and landed on his feet, sliding to stop the momentum.

Rygeth spat a bit of blood, "Tch! I planned to use this for my revenge, but you pushed me this far!"

A single drop of blood hovered in front of Rygeth. Akiol saw the blood and an enormous sense of danger flooded his body. Stars began to panic, 'What is that?! The amount of power it holds! In just a mere drop?!'

Rygeth slammed his hands together over the droplet of blood. It exploded and covered his body, despite the small amount of volume. In a short second the blood vanished and Rygeth's appearance had changed. His hair grew to his waist. Two lines of red dyed his skin and went over his eyes. His figure turned slimmer, instead of being a heavy built individual he now looked like an average person... sort of.

Rygeth gripped his hand, "A time limit... fine."

Tick~

Rygeth vanished. Akiol's eyes widened, he couldn't see where he went!

He snapped his head back, Tilia was being gripped by the neck, struggling to free herself. Akiol bolted as fast as he could, as soon as he reached Rygeth he stabbed him in their back.

The sword pierced and blood flew, Rygeth's eyes widened in surprise. Akiol breathed a sigh of relief, he had saved Tilia-

He blinked and his surroundings changed Rygeth was in front of him, "So this is the power of that man..."

Tock~

Nothing that he had seen occurred! It was like an illusion to the highest degree! Rygeth waved his hand and Akiol was slammed into the ground. Stars shouted, 'Akiol!'

Rygeth took a step forward, "Now time to deal with this."

Tilia unleashed her War Sight on full throttle. A brilliant mountain stood in Rygeth's path. She had to defend them!

Tick~

Rygeth appeared in front of the barrier, "A powerful War Sight... capable of defending against almost anything. In fact even I cannot break it in my current state. However..."

Rygeth disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the barrier, "It's not exactly the best."

Tock~

Tilia's eyes widened, Rygeth vanished once more and reappeared behind the three, "You have truly put up a good fight."

Deep cuts formed across their bodies, their HP dropped to zero.

Wrock grit his teeth upon seeing the death notifications. He started to rise, he couldn't just die here!

Tick~

Rygeth appeared in front of Wrock, "You have truly been a formidable foe. Your ability to grow to strong is quite admirable. For that I praise you."

Wrock gripped his fists, so be it!

[Final Fight]!

The blue aura skyrocketed across his body. Yet he wasn't finished just yet. A blue flame crackling with electricity shot up his arms. His body felt like it was ripping by the cell, but if he was going to die here then what if he faced the consequences?!

Tock~

[Monstrous Strength] evolved into [Untouchable Power]!

He threw a fist forward with everything he had!

Rygeth caught the fist, "Yet you still had more... This would have been quite dangerous if your body wasn't already destroyed. A last push? Nonsense, you pushed yourself too hard. Because of it you cannot fully stand again."

Rygeth used a finger and moved it horizontally. Wrock's throat sliced open, and he dropped down, dead.

Tick~

Jarvis was unsure of what to do. He looked at Akiol who was struggling to move an inch, "Akiol... we need a plan!"

Rygeth looked over at Jarvis, "To receive help from the Sages, your quite talented in this path. You have also earned my respect."

Tock~

Rygeth motioned upward and Jarvis was beheaded.

Rygeth vanished and appeared in front of Akiol. The force was relieved and Akiol was free. He immediately looked towards his party. Everyone was dead.

Tick~

Rygeth crouched down, "And you... a slime who has evolved so much, gathered strength faster than I have ever seen before. To even beat me in sword combat. You also have my respect. However this is where we bade farewell."

'Akiol!'

"Sorry..."

Tock~

Akiol's core was split into two, his vision turned gray... then black.