Crown Game. (3)
Erik had taken note of everyone who came out of their rooms in the last round and thought that everyone had entered at once, but he soon realized that it just wasn't true. They were about three teams left that hadn't made their debut yet, one of them being Princess Androssi's team.
'Excluding Androssi's team, only one of the other two teams look particularly strong. That's reassuring...but, this still won't be easy.'
For the second time since Erik arrived in the tower, he got into a fighting stance and concentrated at max capacity. The first time he did this was around Headon and Yuri, so that spoke about the difficulty of the fight ahead.
"FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE! LET THE FOURTH ROUND, BEGIN!"
This time around, all the teams actually came out. Every single individual that appeared had a level of strength that would be considered the absolute pinnacle back on earth. Although it was to varying degrees, the fact still stands.
Seeing Erik standing on the throne staring at them with a serious expression on his face, Androssi couldn't help but chuckle at his misfortune. "Hehe, Erik, why don't you just give up the crown? You're outnumbered and not even at full strength. Only a fool would try to fight under these conditions."
His expression didn't even waver as he prepared to use the 'Niko Style: Adamantine Kata' and responded, "Give up? No, why don't you try and remove me?"
Even as Erik finished his sentence, a participant with a slim figure, seemingly a woman, started fighting with those around her. Apparently, all the talking had become tiresome so she had decided to start the battle herself.
FWOOOSH! WACK!
The woman was incredibly skilled with her staff. No matter how the third team tried, they couldn't even hit her but she could easily hit them. It was a one-sided slaughter.
FWOOSH! ZOOM!
Ghost, one of Michelle light's teammates, jumped in the air and landed on the steps of the throne in front of Erik. Princess Androssi moved with him and landed on the broken part of the throne behind Erik.
Seeing that Erik had no intention of giving up, Ghost drew his weapon, a large butcher knife, and swung it at Erik with incredible force. Knowing that he couldn't completely take his body off the throne, Erik had to make sure that there were no wasted movements in his attacks.
Erik sidestepped the attack, jumped and delivered a crushing elbow to Ghost's neck, hoping that it would kill or at least severely injure the man. Almost like if nothing had happened, Ghost swung his knife at Erik much faster than before, causing the Shinsu in the air to vibrate from the force.
'Tch! Is he not human?'
WHIZZZ!
Erik barely managed to duck under the attack as it whizzed past his head. He even felt like he had lost some hair from the exchange.
Erik sent a punch towards Ghost's wrist to disarm him as he intended to maim him with his own knife.
CLANGGG!
A large circular disk appeared in front of Erik's attack, blocking it with ease. Erik turned around to see Androssi coming at him with a powerful kick while Ghost attacked once again. The two of them formed a frightening synergy.
'Erik think! I can't dodge both attacks and I don't think I can tank a hit from any one of them even with the Adamantine Kata active. The only thing I can do is...'
BOOM! BOOM!
Erik deflected the knife upwards with his elbow while punching Androssi's ankles into the throne with the other hand, breaking her heels. Androssi screamed out in pain as the pain from Erik's attack was incredible. She didn't think that he could be so fast or accurate with his moves.
'An opening!'
Since Erik deflected Ghost's knife, he quickly punched him in the wrist and took the knife out of his hand, swinging around to Androssi's neck in one swift motion.
CLANG!
She barely managed to bring up her disks to block the attack as she tried to regain her footing. Just as she thought that she would have a short time to recover, Erik suddenly appeared under the disk and punched her in the ribs, sending her crashing back into the wall.
CRACK! BOOM!
Androssi held the side of her abdomen and could immediately tell that her ribs were cracked. She wasn't that surprised that Erik had intended to kill her but she had to admit that she slightly underestimated his actual combat skill.
After Erik took care of Androssi, he turned around only to see Ghost launching a punch at him. Erik immediately swung the knife at Ghost's neck with the intent of beheading the behemoth of a creature.
CLANG!
Androssi's disk appeared in front of Erik, blocking his attack from hitting Ghost.
'Tch! I'll have to brace for impact then.'
Erik blocked the attack with his remaining arm which caused it to immediately redden from the impact. As he was about to get around the disk shielding Ghost, he suddenly felt a presence swiftly approaching his back.
WACK!
A golden staff hit Erik with incredible force to the back of his head, causing him to stagger considerably as some blood flowed out of the wound. With this swift change in balance, the crown started falling off his head.
If it did, it would mean the end of the game. If it did, it could mean the end of his life.
And if that happened, it would mean the end of his journey.
When Ghost noticed Erik falling, he immediately launched another attack, this time with it aimed at his head. He was going for a killing blow.
'No! I have to regain control of my body and the crown! I have to!'
Erik clenched his fists as he pushed his concentration past its maximum capacity, achieving a state of extreme focus. His second pair of eyes opened and everything looked like it was moving in slow motion, even slower than it was before. Erik could see the exact flow of Shinsu around him as if it was a flowing river. This technique was a part of the Niko Style and activated involuntarily when one was on the cusp of death.
Niko Style: Fallen Demon.
It forced the brain to process what it was seeing at high speeds but due to Erik already having enhanced brain functions, it was to an even higher degree.
Erik immediately regained control of his body and glanced at Ghost who was still mid-attack.
'Niko Style: Redirection Kata, Weeping Willow.'
Even the flow of power was visible to Erik in this state, although seeing such a thing should be impossible. He calmly redirected Ghost's punch towards the face of the woman behind him who wielded the staff. Even as he did so, Androssi had managed to pick herself up and attacked Erik with a needle from behind. {A/N: When I say needle, think of something extremely similar to a rapier.}
Unfazed by her attack, Erik also redirected it at the woman wielding the staff. Seeing the two attacks coming towards her, the woman was about to defend herself when Erik suddenly appeared in front of her and elbowed her in the face, breaking her mask.
'She protected herself with Shinsu, didn't she? If not, that attack should've caved her skull in.'
Erik watched closely as blood spurted out of her nose in large amounts. In one swift motion, Erik moved to the side while delivering back fisted punches to the faces of Ghost and Androssi, causing the latter to lose control of her needle.
"AGHHHHH!"
The red-haired woman who was revealed under the mask screamed his pain as the needle cut her across the eye and Ghost's fist sent her flying off of the throne. Androssi stumbled off the throne on her own as her inhuman durability was reaching its limit. Noticing that the behemoth Ghost still hadn't given up, Erik grabbed him by the neck and threw him into a far-away wall.
As soon as the enemies were defeated, the 'fallen demon' ability deactivated itself and blood started to flow from Erik's eyes like tears. Although it provided substantial buffs, it came with equal consequences.
But Erik wasn't even fazed as his vision turned red and he looked at the only remaining regular that was able to fight.
"So, Michelle light, what will you do?"
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A/N: Sorry for not uploading this week fellas. I had to spend time with the fam and work got in the way but now I'm back. And @kokushibou, my bad lmao. I thought I would be able to do the chapter the other day but I got too busy.