Battle With Death

"Well, why don't you look at that, Isabella?! This bastard managed to have a summoning artifact—and he pulled it off because you told me to come with you. This is all your fault." Said Pocchi, pulling out two daggers from his hub.

"My fault? You're the one who left the dagger inside his thigh! You were careless as always, you fool."

Pocchi grinned, visibly nervous from the sweat leaking down his face, " …Shit, now our plan went down the fucking drain. This bastard managed to summon a Grim Reaper, we're definitely gonna fucking die, there's no doubt about it."

Bertram took a few steps forward, summoning a large halberd, until he dashed towards the skeletal spirit, "Haaaaah!!!" He lifted his weapon into the air, swinging it downwards.

The spirit managed to evade the attack, silently disappearing.

"Where did it go?!" Pocchi shouted.

"Above you, Bertram!!" Isabella yelled, catching Bert's attention. He lifted his halberd above him, blocking the scythe that descended down.

"Tsk… damn! He's strong, I can't hold him off…!" Bertram was pushed to his knees, steady holding the weapon above his head, "Grrrr!!"

"Hold on big guy, I gotcha!!"

Pocchi dashed towards the grim reaper, holding his daggers in front of him, and lunging in quick precision.

He slashed with one of his weapons, creating a long gash across the spirit's chest, as his other dagger spun around his fingers, gripping the handle at the last second to stab the grim reaper into the head, "Pain Incision!"

"Hruuuooooaaahhhh!!!" The spirit yelled, feeling it's body being overwhelmed with a brutal status effect.

"Heh, as I expected. The pain status effect is one of the strongest in the game, even the Grim Reaper can't resist it. This'll be a walk in the fucking park!"

"…Heyaaah!" Bertram pushed the grim reaper away, jumping back to get distance, "Huff…huff… I can't believe Pocchi's Pain Incision worked."

"…No… something's off." Muttered Dorothy.

"Huh?" Bertram looked at her, confused.

"The screams aren't from the Grim Reaper… they're from the souls that he absorbed. Whenever he's attacked, he sends the pain and status effects to the absorbed souls he consumed, preventing his annihilation."

"What the? Then how the hell do we beat this thing?" Cried Bertram.

"We must continue attacking it until it runs out of absorbed souls, and that's when we can do damage."

"Alright, you heard Dorothy! Let's attack together, and take this spirit down, once and for all!" Shouted Isabella.

"Hell fucking yeah! We getsssssss some action!" Viper fang and his long tongue extended from his mouth, hissing like a snake whenever he spoke.

"Let's show 'em who's boss!" Honora slammed her fist into her other palm, showing her wry grin.

"…I hope we can do this together." Archibald held onto his short sword, preparing for their frontal attack.

"Move out!!" Isabella was the next to take action, flying into the air with "flight", which was basic magic that a majority of players should know, like Spatial Warp and Extend Magic, "Let's see how you deal with this." Isabella extended her arms to the side, conjuring blue flames within her hands, before merging them together in front of her, "I chant to the heavens above me, grant me your strength, bestow upon me the power of the divine, to defeat our enemy, and restore peace once again. I activate my Divine blessing, Hell Flames!!"

The blue fire inside Isabella's hands would shoot forward in a torrent of flames, immersing the spirit in its otherworldly heat.

"I-Incredible, that's Lady Isabella's divine blessing! The Hell flames." Archibald watched in awe, dropping his jaw, "It allows her to infuse her attacks with the flames of hell, bypassing the enemy's elemental resistance."

"…Darn, why does she always get to look so cool? It's not fair that you have to be born with a Divine Blessing at birth." Murmured Honora.

"Alright, everyone, release your attacks!!" Shouted Isabella.

"On it!" Archibald lifted his blade into the air, "Seraphic Augmemt I!" He utilized his F-tier magic, allowing him to enhance his weapons with Celestial magic to deal devastating blows to the enemy with holy attacks.

Archibald rushed forward with his weapon engulfed in a bright light, slashing it toward the grim reaper and releasing a crescent of holy power.

It collided with the skeletal spirit, causing the souls within it to wail.

"My turn!!" Honora was already above the grim reaper, cocking her fists back, "Let me show you the skills of a fighter!!"

Honora's player class was that of a fighter.

Her intrinsic skill "Limit Break" allows her to shut down the limitations of her body, causing her to become stronger and faster as a result. She's able to adapt to attacks and overcome them by evolving over their effects, only if they're within her range of level.

Honora dove towards the grim reaper, landing a solid blow into its forehead, "Fools action!" Honora used an F-tier Debuff spell that cancels the spells of their opponents for five minutes, causing them to be unable to use any magic.

Dorothy only watched, unable to help them at the moment, considering she was a Necromancy Class player.

"Hruuuoaaa!!!" The grim reaper retreated backward, holding its head in pain.

"Where do you think you're going!?!" Pocchi appeared behind it, holding two other daggers inside his hand, before skewering them into its back, "Try this one!! Pain Incision II!"

He used a superior version of Pain Incision, amplifying it's effects greatly.

The spirit shook its body back and forth as the souls inside of it wailed in agony.

"Again!" Isabella conjured the flames of hell, bursting it forward once more.

"Tee-yaaaahh!" Honora once again lunged into the air, kicking the spirit into its skull.

"Seraphic Augment II!" Archibald used a superior version of his previous spell, amplifying his attack greatly.

They all bombarded the Grim Reaper with frontal attacks, forcing it to the defensive.

"…Is that attack ready?!!" Isabella shouted, turning around to face Bertram.

"Yeah…." Bertram was in the background this whole time, holding his halberd, and charging immense mana inside of it, "I'm gonna hit this sucker with everything I got!" His halberd started to shake from the amount of mana gathered within it. It started glowing blue, as a swirl of magical power danced around its exterior, "Everyone, get out the way!!"

Dorothy, Honora, Archibald, and Pocchi moved—

"Here goes nothing…"Bertram dashed forward, holding his weapon with two hands, "Take this you pile of bones! Colossal Demolition Break!" He lifted his halberd into the air, swinging it downwards with all his might.

A massive burst of magical power would collide with the spirit, causing a gigantic explosion.

It pushed everyone away, as the chairs and tables within the cafeteria flew away from the enormous shockwaves.

"Guwaaa!!!" Archibald screamed as he flew away.

"Aaaahhhhh!" Honora was launched backward.

"You… brute bastard!!!" Pocchi was tossed into the air.

"Guh… such power!" Isabella managed to resist the gust of winds via flight.

"That was close…" Dorothy summoned a large undead knight, hiding behind it for protection.

"Huff.. huff… huff…" Bertram was unable to see the spirit from the huge smoke screen in front of him, "Did… I get him?"

"…I hope it's it over?" Cried, Isabella.

"Such power… is this the strength of our guild?" One of the players in the cafeteria asked.

"They killed a Grim reaper… they're truly the strongest in our guild!"

"…Huh? Bertram, watch out!!!" Isabella cried, catching Bertram's attention.

"Impossible…" Bertram glanced to his side, seeing the scythe swing his way.

DING!

But, somebody stood in front of him.

It was the undead knight, who managed to block the attack with its shield and explode into pieces from the obvious gap in strength.

"…I…I was about to die." Bertram picked up his Halberd and ran away, separating the distance between him and the spirit, "Thank you, Dorothy! I-I owe you my life." He fell to his knees, dropping his weapon as he panted in exhaustion.

"I-It's no problem… I'm glad you're safe Bertram!"

The dark-skinned man looked up at her, flushed in his cheeks, "You're… amazing, Dorothy. Without you, I'm certain I would be dead right now."

"O-Oh… w-well I did say thank you… I-I don't know how to respond to your words."

Bertram closed his eyes, chuckling.

("I never knew how beautiful Dorothy looked up close, she's like an angel. Sweet… kind… and timid.")

Bertram would stand back up, regaining his breath, "I will… protect you." He stood in front of Dorothy, jabbing his halberd into the ground to keep himself up.

"B-Bertram, you're exhausted… you shouldn't continue fighting. Your mana points are low! You only have 20 MP left!"

"…Heh, twenty? That's more than enough to continue fighting."

"B-But it's not like you to keep pushing yourself when you know your limits!"

"Limits? I'm a Barbarian class! We surpass our limits in battle, that's part of our intrinsic ability. Don't worry about me, I'll make sure we get out of this alive."

"…Hey you dumbass, you just used your strongest move, if you keep fighting, you'll surely end up dead!" Shouted Pocchi.

"Yeah, what Pocchi said, don't be so stupid, Bertram." Proclaimed Honora.

"You need to rest while we handle things from here." Yelled Archibald.

"Rest? Handle things? Fumu," He snickered, "You guys didn't even notice huh?"

"Notice what?" Asked Pocchi.

"Viper Fang left. He's chasing Legolas after he managed to sneak past us—going after Alice and Jacob."

"W-What? Since when?" Exclaimed Isabella.

"The moment you activated your divine blessing, everyone focused their attention on you… and that's when Legolas used that chance to escape and go after Alice and Jacob." Said Bertram.

"W-Why didn't you say anything?" Cried, Isabella.

"Because…" He lifted his halberd, placing it on his shoulder, "I was preparing my attack, why else? But don't worry, Viper Fang was the closest to me, so I told him to go chase after Legolas; Let's hope he catches him in enough time."

"Damnit! Damnit all!!" Shouted Isabella.

"Hey… he's about to attack! Pay attention to the goddamn grim reaper!" Yelled Pocchi.

"Let's finish this shit!!" Exclaimed Bertram.

"Right!" (Everyone)