"Severance, execution, and Rend", The 1st Movement

The final moments draw near, and the battlefield is breathing fire and sulfur. Only one warrior will remain standing, but the question is; who will be victorious?

My scythe was imbued with raging flames, and my Spirit drained, but empowered at the same time! It looks like Rend uses my Spirit as fuel for the stigmata, I didn't even know such a thing was possible.

"One hit is all I need, if I can inflict the stigma, then I can take this bastard down!"

The Chieftain pounded his chest-plate loudly, and sounded a mighty and vicious roar. I angled my feet into an evasive position, as the overpowering monstrosity lunged forward!

"Come and get me."

I pressed down all my fears and doubts to the bottom of my stomach and rushed in head first. I bolted past goblins and blazing corpses, whilst keeping my full attention on the monstrosity homing in on me.

"Hesitation means defeat."

Suddenly a loud clang erupted in the air as our blades made impact! A small shockwave shot away from us, and I heard all the goblins cheer and chant for their leaders victory.

*KLAAAANK*

I immediately withdrew my blade and unleashed a flurry of repeated attacks on the monster, however he blocked and guarded each attack in quick succession! I looked at his posture and indeed it never broke. However though, mine began to waver but I never ceased my strikes!

"HAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

The sound of iron striking iron continuously broke out as we relentlessly collided our weapons against each other. But suddenly in a moments time, fatigue began to creep up on me and my attacks became slightly sluggish. The Chieftain immediately perceived my weakness and without hesitation, he used overwhelming force to break my posture!

"Damn it!" I shouted.

The Chieftain broke my flurry, and pulled back his battle-axe for swing. I instinctively leaped back once I saw his counter and took a short break.

"This guy is too damn tough, and I don't have a lot of time! I need to find an opening already!"

I examined his stance and demeanor to look for an opening all whilst catching my breath for a bit. I steadied my breathing and rushed in for another barrage of slashes, I thought if I could tire him out, then I'll be able to create the opening and slash him with Rend!

"HYARRRRGH!"

I rushed in and unleashed another flurry of attacks, my blade continuously burned with blue fires and I burned through stamina like candle-wick! I could see he was getting slightly pushed back at my barrage, but I still needed more to create the opening!

In rage, I shouted at him, "Why won't you just die already!?"

Fire, sparks and smoke cracked at every hit, and intense vibrations ran through my hands and caused a great deal of discomfort and pain! It felt like my hands and arms were going to shatter, but I just kept pushing!

I just kept screaming in his face, "Die! Die! Die!"

And in a fit of anger, I unleashed one ultra powered slash that echoed across the entire battlefield!

*KLAAAAAANG*

It was then that I finally saw it, the opening I was waiting for. His arms raised up awkwardly after the devastating strike and left his entire torso exposed!

In a loud and clamoring voice, I shouted once more, "Take this one to Hell!"

I built up all the strength left in my body, and released in one final blow! And soon I saw ill-colored blood spray across my vision followed by blue erupting fire!

Uzril-Shoka then let out a bloodcurdling cry, "AAAAARRRGHH!" and out of desperation, he swung his blade towards me blindly! I couldn't dodge in time, so I raised up my scythe to block it!

As his blade made impact, I got flung back with some force, but I never dropped my stance nor let down my block. I landed a few meters back and regained my footing again!

I looked upon Uzril-Shoka to see the damage I had done, and to my amazement, I saw something quite unique but also very expected. There was a huge fiery 'stigma' etched across his chest where I struck. It radiated in heat and there were small flames that never quenched. It was like a fiery stain scar that continuously illuminated, and it seemed to be causing a great deal of pain to him.

He kept trying to wipe it off furiously, but the stigma showed no signs of coming off. I then noticed that every few seconds, the stigma would let out a short burst of flames which was followed by painful screeches from the overpowering goblin.

"So this is Rend...?"

I took the chance to rush him with another flurry of attacks, this time with more power!

"Does that hurt motherf#####?! Huh!? Did that f###### hurt!?" I called out. Uzril-Shoka kept crying out in agonizing pain, and I kept the pressure on.

I rushed in and unleashed another swarm of repeated strikes, however though, he seemed much weaker, and less focused on me than before. And before I knew it, one of my attacks actually landed on him!

Another splash of blood painted the ground below, as well as my scythe above! I continued my assault and broke through his defense time and time again! Wound after wound kept streaking across his body, and his defense kept lowering with each landed strike!

"Just roll over and die already!"

The overpowering Chieftain suddenly raised his battle-axe upwards and brought it down with extreme force! His blade broke through the ground and caused the earth to tremor! He then let out a thunderous cry that rang in my ears causing me to stop my assault.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHH!"

I took some steps back and covered my ears, and as I lifted my eyes to him. I saw him in the midst of the blazing inferno, he began to strip off his iron-plated armor, and freed himself of it's restraint. His muscular body was covered in war paint and scars, and the stigma burned brightly over his chest.

He looked at me while holding his hand over the fiery stigma, and with his other hand, he raised his battle-axe and pointed it at me.

As a fellow warrior, I already knew what this meant. In his eyes, I had finally become a warrior worthy to be slain, and I couldn't feel anymore honored at this. I pointed my scythe back at him with a smile on my face.

"Chieftain of the Goblins, it wasn't long ago that I stood as pig awaiting the slaughter. But now I have finally become a warrior worthy to be killed by you! Let's cut the bullsh## and finish this already!"

I then saw the stigma etched on his chest suddenly begin to fade, "Wait is Rend already expiring?"

With Rend expiring, that only meant one thing...

And then I heard a strange chime ring followed by a floating message,

! Warning !

Punishment Quest: Goblin Extermination

1 Minute remaining...

"Damn it! This isn't good! I have to finish this now!"

I pointed my scythe at him once more, then declared to the overpowering Goblin on the field, "I'm out of time already, I will finish you in my next attack! Uzril-Shoka, here I come!"

I bolted in without any further delay, and conjured a storm of flaming Spirit to engulf my blade. He responded by swinging his blade around his arm, and cried with a loud voice!

"May the best warrior win."

Soon we were within feet of one another, and I saw him swing his blade sideways. However though, this was the moment I was waiting for all along!

I feinted him, and instead of clashing against him, I jumped up dodging his swing, and soon he became defenseless with a flashing skull icon. I took one last look at him before I finished him for good, "You fought well Chieftain of Goblins, I will remember our battle for the rest of my life."

I then hooked my blade across his neck and landed behind him, and with all the power in my body. I yanked the blade down.

I didn't look back, I just waited a short moment. I heard small thud hit the floor, and soon a louder thud followed.

"EXECUTION! Bonus EXP rewarded!"

Quest Condition complete!

- Execute Lv. 25, Uzril-Shoka

"EXP has breached past the limit! You are now level 19!"

I felt all my strength, vigor and Spirit restore with my new levels! Then I called for my perk point window, "How many do I have, Blessing of the Stars?"

You have [12] Perk Points left!

Without a second thought, I instantly assigned all 12 perk points into one attribute.

Strength increased by 12 points!

Strength: 50

I then took a quick glance at the timer, "49 seconds remaining..."

"49 seconds? I will finish it in 10!"

I then poured a large quantity of Spirit into my scythe, and it burned with an unquenchable flame. "Uzril-Nahjou, send your brother my regards..."

Uzril-Nahjou let out a loud war-cry that shook the very ground underneath, all the surviving goblins began chanting in unison to rally up their surviving champion.

I called out to the standing Chieftain, "All these cheers belong to you huh? Hopefully these cheers don't fall into Hell with you..."

The Chieftain raised his bloodied iron club to the sky, and shouted out once more. At his shout, the other lesser goblins began to cry out even louder.

"Isn't it crazy? Just moments ago, these monstrosities were many eons ahead of me; I couldn't even hold a candle against them. But thanks to the blessed Lady Hope, I received the greatest blessing ever known. Now I have the ability to reach heights far beyond what any human could comprehend! However though, the question still remains; how far am I going to reach!?"

I brandished my scythe and swung it around a few times, "The next hit wins..."

After I spoke this, I took a deep breath and drove in head first! The overpowering goblin chieftain rushed in too in response!

Uzril-Nahjou took a similar stance that Uzril-Shoka did, I immediately perceived this and got into the same countering stance, "Brothers really do think alike."

Uzril-Nahjou then swung his club from left to right, but instead of jumping over him, I ducked and dodged the coming hit! I then built up all my power into my scythe, looked up at the enormous goblin, and slashed upwards!

*SLAAAAASH*

The blade of the scythe ran up from his stomach to the bottom of his jaw and got caught in his jaw! A foul stench released and his blood covered my body, I then jumped up while still hooked to his jaw and leaped over behind him. This caused him to fall over on his back, and then I saw the flashing skull icon. It was then that I violently yanked the blade forward, and tore his skull clean in half!

"EXECUTION! Bonus EXP rewarded!"

Quest Condition complete!

- Execute Lv. 25, Uzril-Nahjou

"EXP has breached past the limit! You are now level 20!"

The Player can now EVOLVE!

This is what I've been waiting for, my next evolution. All the goblins around me began to panic and run away in fear, I don't blame them in the slightest.

I didn't waste any time though, time was already out. If I wanted to clear the quest once and for all, I needed to evolve right away...

In a calm and collected voice, I called out, "Open the Evolution Tree."

35 seconds remaining...