Nothing Like You

Maya was trying her hardest to fend off the goons by herself so that I could focus on my battle with the baron without distraction as requested.

Without enough time and space to activate her invisibility skill, she had to resort to using her water magic which she was talented enough at to have been granted First Class at the academy.

But talent doesn't translate to power.

Her invisibility also consumed less mana while her water magic consumed substantial amounts every time she used a spell.

It looked like the number of goons heading into the basement had no end to them; even I was aware of how many people were under the baron's umbrella which was why I requested her help in the first place.

Maya had a gash on her face, blood was pouring out of it.

One of her eyes was closed and she was trying her hardest to fend off all the attacks coming her way but she looked fatigued and was slowing down substantially.

'I should've taken into account that the present Maya isn't even as strong as the character from the beginning of the novel.'

That was a mistake on my part, one that could cost me everything.

Not wanting this to be her last day alive which would be the biggest wrench that could be thrown into the plot at the moment, I chose to momentarily abandon my battle with the baron to save her.

"Who said you have the luxury to turn your focus away from me?" asked the baron whose voice sounded older than before.

I looked back and saw all eight tentacles coming at me from all directions: above, below, left, and right.

Quickly, I analyzed which one to deflect first. If I chose the wrong one, the chain of strikes I would need to deflect all of them wouldn't be possible.

'Bottom right,' I concluded.

I was slightly off in my calculations but other than a few mistakes which I was able to correct with pure instincts and reaction, I was able to successfully protect myself from all the incoming attacks while also pulling myself a few meters closer to Maya who sounded like she was close to calling it quits behind me.

"If you're coming to help me, hurry the fuck up!" screamed Maya.

I rotated my body, dodging the two incoming attacks, and then immediately off in a rapid sprint towards Maya.

I was barely in time to help her with an axe that was about to split her skull in half.

Too far away to reach her with my legs, I had to resort to something I swore I wouldn't use for this specific arc that was meant to demonstrate my progress from the training arc.

Focusing on quantity of magic rather than quality, I shot about a dozen lightning bolts only powerful enough to stun the enemies.

It gave Maya a little room to breathe.

When I reached her, I was barely able to pull her shirt in time as a sword cleaved the ground where she stood a mere second ago.

"Thank you!" she shrieked as she created a water shield in front of the two of us which was quickly dismantled with a bombardment of attacks.

I could sense danger behind us and as if she was a toy, with one arm, I threw Maya as far away from the battle as I could.

With the other arm, I spun my body around and was able to parry the first attack that aimed for my head, then dodged the second one.

But when I dodged, I had put myself into a predicament.

My mind and instincts were already reacting way before it happened but my body wasn't able to keep up with them.

My left arm was compromised and just like what he did to Maya, he wrapped his tentacle around it, squeezing it.

With me in his grasp, he was able to pick his tentacle up and take my body up into the air along with it.

I resisted with mana and tried my hardest to keep the rest of my limbs free by using my sword in my right hand and my kicks to fend off his attempts to lock them up.

"Is that all you got?" asked the baron, mocking me the same way I had done to him earlier.

"I'm barely getting started," I responded as I attempted to free myself from the tentacle but quickly found it to be futile as I didn't have enough of a stable base or range of movement to generate enough power in my sword to even leave a cut in it.

"Who said you could try and free yourself?" asked the baron as he began swinging my body around, smashing it on the floor, on the ceiling, and into the cages he kept his meals in.

I tried my best to keep my sword in my hand without stabbing or cutting myself.

I felt a little dazed as he shattered the layers of mana I coated my body within an attempt to protect myself from the impacts.

I saw Maya trying to come and assist me but she was preoccupied with the goons and every time she turned towards me, it left her open to attacks so she had no choice but to focus a hundred percent of her attack on her own battle.

My lips busted open and my vision began to shake and blur.

As he swung my body in a complete arc as if he were painting a rainbow, I let out a deep sigh.

'Did I overestimate myself? Or perhaps... did I underestimate the baron just because the main character was able to defeat him so easily?' I wondered.

My body smashed into the ground so hard that the concrete broke, revealing the dirt and rocks underneath it.

'Probably both.'

How many mistakes was I going to make in this single battle?

That was the question I was asking myself.

Understanding that there was truly no way out of this sticky situation I had fallen into, I had no choice but to abandon the promise I had made to myself for the second time.

Using lightning was already a cop-out in my opinion but now, I had to resort to a cheat, one of the 22 codes I had stolen from the main character's arsenal.

This code was a little special in that it didn't require a single use like the others even though that was the general rule that all codes follow.

Well, in a way it does, but at the same time, it doesn't.

This was my trap card, the reason why I had been so precious with my code usage and why I was trying to get a certain number in order to feel comfortable about my victory against a certain boss.

As the baron was swinging me around once more — before I could be slammed against the metal bars of a cage, I clenched my teeth, took a deep breath, and mentally prepared myself for the incoming pain.

The baron was trying to destroy my arm and I was going to do it for him.

With a clean swing of my blade, I cut off my own arm and began plummeting towards the ground as I was freed from the baron's grasp.

He must've been very surprised by my action because his tentacles stopped moving and he stared at me like a madman.

"You're not the only one that can regenerate," I told him as I activated the code.

It took seven uses to get this code to work properly because it had to first regenerate the bone, which was then wrapped in muscles, tendons, subcutaneous tissue, skin, and finally the blood vessels and nerves are regenerated.

If I were to be stingy and only use six or fewer code uses to regenerate a part of my body, something would be missing and the body part wouldn't work properly.

"Are you also like me?" asked the baron.

"I could never be like you," I replied, letting him know by my tone that I was offended by the very idea of it.

"A mere human thinks he's better than me... a deity? Ha! Unless you indulge in my black magic such as myself, there shouldn't be a way to regenerate yourself without a potion," he stated.

"Just because it hasn't been done doesn't mean it can't be done. I've touched black magic and I never will," I refuted.

"Lie all you want human," he said.

"Of course, a liar such as yourself would assume that everyone is lying, Gerald," I said, making sure to emphasize his name.

"Lie? When have I ever lied?" he asked with a deceivingly innocent voice.

If you weren't aware of the truth about his character, you might've been tricked into believing he was a truthful but evil man.

"Didn't you lie to Apple and his mother about your true intentions? Didn't you lie to them about wanting to help them out to pay them back for saving you?" I asked.

"How... how do you know about them?" he asked. His eyes squinted, his pupils dialed in, and you could clearly see a few angry veins appearing on his forehead.

"You're telling me you didn't forget about them?" I asked. "Your first victims."

"I said, how do you know about those two?" he asked as his tentacles began picking up speed as they tried to stab me with their pointy ends.

"How else do you think I know your real name... Gerald? It was none other than that little child you murdered, Apple, who requested that I get revenge for him and his poor mother," I informed him.

"Impossible. He... he was dead a long time ago. Unless you're also an immortal like me and he told you during his futile attempt to run away from me," he spoke in disbelief.

"That's a clever theory but no. As I said, I've never done black magic and never will."

"Then how!" he screamed. "How do you know?"

"Because his ghost told me," I responded as I got the closest I'd ever been to him, using his busy mind as the perfect opportunity to strike back.

"Ghosts! Ha! You almost tricked me. Ghosts aren't real. Everyone knows that once you die, your soul is either claimed by the demon king if it's corrupted enough to exist in his domain or it is erased from existence because heaven has abandoned mankind," he stated.

That is usually the case but there are some special occasions when people become ghosts or other supernatural creatures.

"What do I have to gain from lying to you, Gerald?" I asked him as I swung my sword in a downward arc, slicing through the tentacle he placed in front as a shield.

It left a large gash in his chest which quickly began to heal.

"I... I... it doesn't matter! You and that foolish boy who tasted so delicious, both of your stories shall end today!"