Malakar, The City Mayor [1]

"Aura Smash!" after getting up from the cane hit he received, Stark focused his aura around his hand, ready to attack the Mayor too.

With a powerful shout, Stark unleashed his Aura Smash towards the Mayor, the giant crimson fist hurtling towards its target.

But of course, Malakar saw the attack coming, and so he used the hand that wasn't carrying the cane to use another skill.

"Abysall Shield!"

A shimmering black barrier materialized in front of Malakar just in time to intercept Stark's Aura Smash. The impact created a shockwave that reverberated through the air, causing the ground to tremble beneath their feet.

"-627!"

The shield after being hit by such a powerful attack obviously cracked under the immense pressure and was destroyed, meaning the Mayor wouldn't be able to use it for a while.

"-1171!" Lana also used another arrow infused with another one of her skills, dealing more damage to Malakar.

It seemed like they were doing it slowly, but little by little, the Mayor was receiving more and more damage.

[Boss HP: 41355/45000]

Lana was a very good support, dealing damage from afar while Stark held him off.

'Our chemistry is surprisingly good, although I would prefer if he could actually do something…' Lana hadn't noticed the appearance of the abysall shield right before Stark's attack hit, meaning that she thought he dealt medium damage to it.

Stark continued his relentless assault on Malakar, dodging the boss's attacks with expert precision and slowly but surely approaching him.

And when he was only a few meters away now…

He dashed forward.

"The Cane!" the boss still had his cane in his hands, and so he tried to hit Stark with it.

Stark rolled on the ground, and once it came to him, instead of taking the hit like last time, he literally just used his fists to hit and break it.

"…?" The Mayor was taken aback.

"Got you," Stark smiled as he had completely closed the distance now, he was in the perfect range to attack the Mayor.

And so he did: before Malakar could even use another one of his skills, Stark focused his aura and…

"-3712!" even with his powerful defense, Stark's aura and stats dealt massive damage.

"WHAT?" Lana was astonished, even going as far as stopping to aim with her bow to make sure the number she was seeing was right, and it was.

'Calm down, Lana, focus on the battle,' She shook her head and began arming her bow to shoot again.

"-3819!" Stark was even able to punch the boss again as it hadn't had the time to counter the first one.

"Hat Trick!"

The Mayor used another one of his skills, and suddenly, his hat was enveloped in a dark, ominous energy. The hat lifted off his head, spinning wildly in the air before shooting towards Stark like a spinning blade of darkness.

Stark barely had time to react, but he managed to deflect the hat with a swift movement of his arm.

"-281!" it dealt him some damage, but not enough to actually be worried.

The hat ricocheted off a nearby rock and soared back towards Malakar, who grabbed it and bowed like a gentleman afterward, a smirk could be seen on the visible half of his face.

Stark backed away after that, sensing that the Mayor was going to keep attacking.

And after a few back steps… he found himself right next to Lana, who was still aiming her bow and arrows at Malakar.

"-718!" she hit him in the chest again, then armed another arrow right after.

Malakar on the otherhand was spinning the cane in his hand, almost enjoying the show.

'I'm low on HP…' Stark thought, he had received two hits already.

But as he thought about that… a panel appeared in front of him.

[Dealt massive damage to BOSS ENEMY, regaining 59HP!]

The 'Soulbearer's Embrace' Necklace perk activated, and he was able to gain some of it back.

'Oh shit, it's small, but it might actually make the difference…' Stark, regaining his confidence, smiled.

"I'm gonna go back, keep doing whatever you're doing, i'll keep him away from you," Stark spoke to Lana, then began dashing away before she could reply.

"I-" she sighed before smiling, "You better do your job."

Stark sprinted back towards the Mayor, his determination burning brighter than ever. Malakar smirked as he saw Stark approaching, readying himself for another round of combat.

"Dark Pulse!" the Mayor summoned the veins into the ground again, and every single one of them went rushing toward him.

This time, however, Stark had a new strategy in mind.

"Clone Frenzy!" he used his latest skill.

[Description: Summons a clone of yourself that acts and fights just like you do, giving you a temporary additional character to control in battle, the clone does damage based on how much aura you give it, but its stats are extremely reduced, and its HP is set to 1, cooldown period of 30 minutes between each clone]

And suddenly, his aura started seeping out of his body and headed right in front of him, forming a perfect replica of Stark, ready to assist in the battle against the Mayor.

"…" The clone's eyes were completely white, some aura pouring out from them like a fire, and its expression was neutral.

Its eyes were locked on Malakar with unwavering focus, awaiting Stark's orders.

"Let's do this," Stark muttered to his clone as they both charged towards the oncoming Dark Pulse veins.

The clone mimicked Stark's movements (almost) perfectly, matching his speed and agility as they weaved through the rushing veins.

"What the?" Lana was confused, why were there suddenly two Starks?

She aimed her bow at the Mayor as he smiled at the upcoming enemies, then fired again.

"-528!" somehow, it felt like she was doing less and less damage… was there a reason to that?

Meanwhile, Stark and his clone dodged and countered, working in perfect synchrony to break through the dark onslaught.

"The Cane!" feeling threatened for the first time, the Mayor summoned his cane in hand, then elongated it… towards the clone.

'Ah shit…' Stark knew that his clone's HP was set to 1, meaning it couldn't even defend such an attack without dying.

And so he positioned himself right in front of the cane and deflected it with a powerful slam.

"-72!" he received almost no damage thanks to that.

And then…

"Aura Smash!" now only 5 meters away from the Mayor, Stark decided it was time.

And so, both his and his clone's hands began glowing with a bright crimson aura.