Chapter 96

Sam's frozen gauntlets again come into contact with the Hero's face, blowing him away immediately. The icy thorns on the top of his knuckles pierce into his enemy's molten lava and break into a thousand shards, releasing steam all around him. At the same time, the fragments of lava and the heat melt the ice armor covering Sam's body. Still, Sam pays it no mind. Even when the ice armor is broken, making the lava touches his body directly, he will continue his attacks.

He has endured much more pain than a mere burn on the skin.

"GAH!!! GOD FUCKING DAMN YOU!!!" The Hero screams while he and the lava armor fly away. His voice is clearly shaken by the sudden impact Sam just made. In addition to that, blood is already flowing out from the corner of his mouth.

If it was not for the white lava armor, Sam's punches would have been able to blow the head of this despicable being off in a fraction of a second.

*Clang* *Clang*

Wasting not a single second, Sam throws the metal chains toward Hero. This particular spell has been an excellent addition to his arsenal. The more he uses it, the more he feels like they have limitless potential. After all, metal is a crucial step in humanity's evolution.

At the same time as the metal chains, Sam casts another spell of Icy Lance on the top of his gauntlets, preparing for his next attack. Under his control, his chains go around the so-called chosen one, tying his arms as tight as possible and rendering them useless.

"Wha?!"

Thanks to his action, Hero loses his mobility for some time. However, Sam frowns a little since the chains are also heated up quickly due to the heat emanating from the lava armor covering the Hero.

But he has no time to waste.

"Hup!!"

*Clang*

Grabbing them with all the power in his body, Sam pulls hard on the chains in his arms. "Goddess! This fucker is heavy!! Come here!"

"Guh! Fuck!"

The Hero's momentum is reversed under Sam's control, and his lava body flies upward, heading straight to him. Drastic changes in his direction make the Hero extremely dizzy. His stomach churns heavily. There is also a sour taste deep down his throat.

Seeing the flying target, Sam quickly lets go of his metal chains and draws his fists behind him. He is waiting to fire.

"Eat my fists again, asshole!"

*Whoosh* *Whoosh*

Like two icy comets, Sam's gauntlets shoot out faster than ever. If there were a bar that could tell the output Sam is dishing out right now, it would show an energy level of more than one hundred percent, going up to an addition of twenty. He would not have been able to achieve that without the Hero's influence, though. Throughout their short exchange, Sam had heard enough of the Hero's bad words regarding the girls who had been by his side when Sam hit rock bottom. The corners of his eyes twitched all the time. Yet he chose to recover rather than succumbing to his anger.

All of that was for this.

What else is better than revenge than actual vengeance itself?

And, of course, he would never let those who insulted those girls walk away without harm. The outside of his fists is still the Ice Lance spell. The Hero can see probably just ice. However, inside his tightened fingers and clenched teeth is an immeasurable hatred. They motivate him. They tell him to push his body further and break through every visible bottleneck.

Thus, his power grows even more.

No trick. No gimmick. Just raw, plain, and pure power.

Faster.

Stronger.

And Better!

*Crack!* *BAM!!*

A loud explosion instantly appears, blasting Sam and the Hero away from each other. Not only that, but a shockwave manifests between the two where Sam's fists and the Hero connected, blowing all the dust in the area. Although the metal wrapping around Hero is already in a bad state, the outburst is so intense that it breaks the metal chains apart. In the middle of the air, steam erupts from the position of the two, blurring out the whole sky.

The Goddess's apostle could not even scream when the comets hit his face directly. With both arms completely unusable, he was defenseless under Sam's attack. He could only observe the frozen claws coming straight at his face and wait until he could feel his armor bursting open. In his eyes, for the first time ever since the Goddess of Curiosity's lesson, he felt...something weird.

When Sam's Icy fists came closer to the Hero, his chest was also cold. He could not understand how he could still feel the difference since the lava armor was intact. It did not come from the outside. No. But the origin was inside his chest. He felt as if a maggot had quickly made his heart its home and grown to a scary size. Hero was consumed by that indescribable feeling. Unfortunately, he did not clearly understand the nature of it.

It made perfect sense how he was so oblivious, though. He was by every means superior to Sam. He had a good background, blessed by the all-powerful Goddess.

When people struggled to move up the hierarchy, He was already at the top of the caste. His power rivals none when compared to students around his age. Hero was indeed The Hero. There would be no way for him to feel that uncomfortable when facing someone from his own generation.

"Ah?! Ah!!!!"

However, when blood flows out from his nostrils and mouth uncontrollably, he finally gets in.

And when his throat is filled with a warm liquid with an iron taste, he finally understands.

This feeling is similar to that when the Goddess was punishing him. He still remembered it clearly. The moment his body started to twist and turn in impossible angles made him forever scarred. Death was never so close to him before. Unlike his untimely death back in his old world, in this world, he felt everything. She carved that sensation deep inside his soul because that was the first time ever he was scared.

And he is scared now. By Sam's hands, the underdog shows to the whole universe he can do it.

With a thud, Sam's body lands on the ground. Instantly, he tries to get back up. The blast also affects him since he is now walking a bit unbalanced. In front of Sam's chest are holes and scratches. His Ice armor is obviously not at one hundred percent capacity anymore. Only the magic covering his back is still managing on its own. Still, he needs to continue. Sam can not afford to idle or stop himself.

As the zombie swarm keeps pouring in, he needs to do this as fast as possible. He trusts the girls to hold on, but if they get even a single scratch, they can turn into one of the undead. The chances are not big, but he will not take even the smallest of percentages. Therefore, Sam does not hold back anything like the protagonist in wuxia novels usually does. He will utilize everything he has on his hands at this instance and will try to deliver the heaviest of blows.

Not to mention, his foe is not a normal person.

Sam can not and will not let the Hero have time for recovery, not even a single minute. He must continue his barrage, locking the Hero in a perpetual stunned state, or the Hero will send him flying with his immense magical power.

The ice armor behind Sam moves to his front, covering him once more. He needs to save mana for his attacks. Using only half of Ice Armor may put him at a disadvantage since the Hero can send the laser to attack him from behind. However, there is no other choice.

Sam's gauntlets are covered in ice sharper than razors.

He lunges toward his enemy.

"YOU WILL FUCKING DIE TODAY!!!" Hero screams out of fear.

The underdog pays it no mind.

It just needs to keep on fighting like it always has been doing.