Chapter 32:Paladin(5/?)

"F***!" Jack cursed as the crow bowed its head, the katana slicing through the plants behind him.

Quickly retreating, Jack tried to distance himself as much as possible from the shadowy form of the Samurai.

"Ignis!"

A fireball, covering the sky, rapidly headed toward the Samurai. Jack shifted his position and swiftly fled.

"Crow! You can't defeat my warrior! Surrender!" The wizard's voice echoed, causing Jack to grit his teeth. "Shut up, you old fool!"

As Jack flapped his wings with all his strength, the Samurai made a sharp turn, shattering the incoming fireball. His shadowy hand was slightly burned, but otherwise, he looked fine.

Jack prepared himself, then paused and with a flap of his wings, black feathers shot out with a high-pitched whirring sound.

The Samurai reacted immediately, starting to slice through the dozens of sharp feathers with his katana.

"Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding...!!"

While the Samurai blocked some feathers, a few managed to pierce his abdomen, causing him to stagger briefly. With his metal- and darkness-covered hand, he pulled them out harshly.

"Looks like you're getting serious, Samurai?"

The Samurai seemed to respond to Jack's taunt, bending his knees, the ground cracking beneath his feet as he shot upward at incredible speed.

"What the—!" Before Jack could comprehend what was happening, the katana sliced through his body. Though his body was cut, Jack, with sheer willpower, shifted into his dark form and managed to escape.

When the Samurai landed with a thunderous crash, he slammed his katana into the ground, his eyes briefly glowing a bloody red.

In a distant spot, Jack returned to his crow form, breathing heavily from exhaustion. "Damn it, a boss fight right at the start of the game?!"

Watching the increasingly powerful Samurai, Jack grew tense. As mana raged around the Samurai, he gripped his katana's hilt with both hands.

He bent his knees, slightly lowered his head, and slowly, a disgusting red and black miasma began to swirl around the katana.

"Is he even surpassing the Dimensional Sanctuary?" Jack's eyes narrowed as the miasma pouring from the Samurai's katana corroded everything it touched, creating a vile sight.

While the Samurai prepared, Jack didn't want to wait any longer and become a sitting duck. "Alright then, here I come!"

With a roar, the Samurai leaped, and Jack flapped his wings quickly, manipulating the shadows around him, which rose like a wave.

Jack suddenly ascended higher, and the concentrated darkness surged toward the Samurai as if it had a will of its own, wrapping around him.

"Grrrrhhh!!!!" The Samurai let out a powerful roar, cutting through the tendrils coming toward him.

Surrounded on all sides by threats, the Samurai sliced through the dark tendrils with incredible precision.

Sweating gradually, Jack struggled to hold on. "Come on, damn Samurai! Just die already!"

The Samurai lunged forward, slicing through the tendrils as he went, and the sharp feathers falling from the sky only briefly annoyed him.

With an enraged roar, the Samurai grabbed a tendril with his hand and ripped it apart before charging straight toward Jack.

Each step crushed the ground beneath him as the Samurai closed in, and Jack frantically tried to figure out how to escape.

Though the Samurai couldn't fly like the crow, he could still leap to great heights. And no matter how fast the crow was, how long could he keep running?

After all, this was the Dimensional Sanctuary. The Samurai could track Jack down wherever he fled.

"My only choice is to retreat…"

Jack seemed to come to a final decision, then turned and swiftly fled without looking back. The Samurai's red eyes gleamed as the ground shattered with each step he took.

"Grrrrr!" The Samurai let out a growl, speeding up. Realizing there was no more room to retreat, Jack cast a spell in a desperate attempt to slow him down. "Leth!"

A red beam shot out from the crow's mouth but was blocked by the Samurai's katana. Though the Samurai was briefly slowed, he quickly regained his original speed.

Jack, now using nearly a third of his mana, began to form a sword of darkness around him.

Yes, Jack was going to do the same thing he had done against Andras. As the Samurai rapidly approached, the sword formed around Jack.

It wasn't as big as when he fought Andras—only about 5 meters—but it would be fast and powerful.

"Here I come..." Jack's eyes grew serious as he spread his wings and launched himself toward the ground with a sharp dive.

When the Samurai saw the large dark sword Jack was within, his mystical eyes flashed, and he planted his right foot firmly on the ground to brace himself.

He readied his katana, and despite being a robotic entity, his stance was solid. As the dark sword neared, the Samurai let out a roar.

"Grrrrrhhhh!!"

The Samurai swung his katana vertically, and the friction between the dark sword and the katana produced an ear-piercing sound.

"Wait! What's happening?!" Jack's body veered off course as the Samurai twisted his katana, deflecting the dark sword, causing it to crash to the ground.

Feeling a massive shockwave, Jack barely managed to stay afloat by planting his tendrils into the ground at the last second.

Hit sound!

The Samurai's left fist pierced through the dark sword embedded in the ground and slammed into Jack's abdomen.

Before the crow could register what had happened, he was sent flying at high speed, skidding across the ground until he crashed into a random tree, finally stopping.

Jack, now bleeding, coughed up blood. His eyes were bleeding as well. Writhing in pain, Jack cursed his luck.

Seeing the Samurai slowly approaching, Jack forced himself to stand. He tried to flee again, but it was too late.

The Samurai kicked the crow, and with a groan, Jack collapsed to the ground. Lying motionless for a moment, Jack was covered in blood.

"D-Damn it..."

As the Samurai's darkness-clad form loomed over Jack, Jack felt a brief surge of anger and regret. "Am I really going to die like this…"

"Maybe I should just run away, like a coward," Jack muttered weakly. "After all, Urien ran, there's nothing left to do here…"

"Even if I die here, I'll still survive in the real world."

Jack closed his eyes for a moment. "But that would be too easy…"

"Who cares living such a boring life will only make me old!" Jack's eyes gleamed with determination.

"Ahhhhh!!!" Activating his dark form, Jack spread the darkness wildly around him, his remaining mana dropping below 200.

In response, the Samurai mercilessly slashed through the darkness. It seemed he had figured out Jack's weakness.

As two-thirds of Jack's dark form was almost severed, Jack managed to escape with the last remaining piece and, though he failed before, tried to shift back into his human form.

While the Samurai continued to slice through the dark form, Jack, in his last effort, used his ability to create an Avatar.

The darkness shrank and solidified until it formed the figure of a human.

"What is this!?" The wizard's shocked voice echoed after a long silence. "Can the crow transform into a human?!"

"Warrior, don't kill him! Capture him! Such a specimen must be caught immediately!"

Following the command, the Samurai obeyed, while Jack, using all his willpower, felt a surge of joy with the new notification.

{The skill 'Avatar Creation' has evolved into 'Divine Avatar.'}

As the shadowy humanoid began to take shape, the wizard, who had been watching everything, appeared to be in shock.

First, long black hair and dead red eyes appeared, followed by delicate features, and slowly, a human form emerged.

The human form resembled an average-built boy around 13 years old, still holding some childish traits, though hints of maturity were beginning to show.

Around the human form was a cloak, a black shirt, a belt that wrapped around the shirt and tightened it, and underneath were black sleek pants and black shoes.

(Author's note: MC's clothes are Renaissance style. You can style them according to your own imagination.)

"I finally succeeded," Jack said, stuttering because he was still unable to fully adapt to his new body. Despite still being at a low level of ability, his human avatar looked like a puppet. It was a significant progress.

At least he now looked human.

"Hahaha, you're very interesting, Raven!" The wizard's cheerful voice echoed. "No, I shouldn't call you Raven anymore; tell me your name!"

"My name is Seth, wizard." Seth had already decided to use this name. Jack seemed too ordinary for such a world. "This will be the last name you hear from me. Don't forget it."

(Author's note: From now on, I will refer to Jack as 'Seth' in the Otome game.)

Seth clenched his fists and stretched his new body. He then looked at the Samurai. "It's time for Round 2, Samurai. Here I come!"

The Samurai drew his katana and looked at Seth with a low growl. Seth pumped Mana into his new legs and leaped forward faster than before.

The Samurai swung his katana horizontally towards Seth's abdomen. Seeing this, Seth performed an acrobatic move, gracefully jumping and rolling over the Samurai.

The Samurai suddenly twisted his sword and swung it upwards towards Seth's throat.

"Grrr!"

Seth swiftly turned his leg and flexibly twisted in mid-air. When he landed, he was surprised even himself but leaped towards the Samurai without delay.

The Samurai adjusted his katana and swung it diagonally at Seth. As the katana approached, Seth calmly bent his body slightly and took a step back.

The Samurai made a second diagonal attack, and Seth stepped back again. The Samurai abruptly pulled back his katana, lunged forward, and tried to drive the katana through Seth's stomach.

Watching the Samurai's sudden attack, Seth remained calm and awaited the Samurai's approach.

When the Samurai got close, Jack thrust his leg forward at an incredible speed, pumping more Mana into it and bending his waist with remarkable flexibility.

Hit sound

Although the katana grazed Seth's abdomen, Seth didn't worry and punched the Samurai in the face.

"This was my revenge," Seth said with a hidden grin as he remembered the punch the Samurai had delivered to him. "Now let's see how durable you are!"

Pumping nearly half of his Mana into his punches, Seth began rapidly punching the Samurai's face.

As the Samurai staggered backward, Seth lunged forward and delivered a powerful punch to the Samurai's chin.

"Grrr!" The Samurai groaned in anger as he pulled back, and Seth continued to deliver punches without hesitation. "Take this too!"

As Mana around the Samurai trembled with rage, Seth dodged the Samurai's blows and lightly leaped, delivering the hardest strike he could with his knee.

The Samurai staggered but quickly recovered. With a roar, he swung his katana at Seth.

Seth evaded the successive katana strikes and reached out his hand. Suddenly, darkness spread from his hand and took the shape of a long sword.

Jack went further, suddenly activating his Mana wildly and launched an intense tendril attack towards the Samurai.

"It's time to finish this, Samurai…" Seth prepared his sword and focused. He dedicated all his Mana to it.