The Bloody Bat

Ogun only had three Skills.

The first one; his most important Skill which was exclusive to him alone—[Damage Nullification].

This was his golden finger; the sole Skill that made him capable of rising up the ranks and defeating countless opponents without getting as much as a scratch on him.

With it, unless someone was absurdly strong or if a much higher Level than him—with a better Clsss to boot—they could never compare to him.

Other than this Skill, he had two more.

[Power Output] and [Intimidation Aura].

The former allowed him to explosively increase his combat ability by increasing his strength to an unimaginable degree while also costing himself in dense, powerful Mana.

As for the latter Skill, it caused his opponents to tremble in fear; allowing them to grow paranoid and even sluggish in their movements.

Even the most skilled opponent would find it difficult to move properly if their body wasn't listening to them as a result of fear.

As Ogun tightly gripped his club, he activated its special ability.

~VWUUUUMMM!!!~

Dark red energy covered it, and blackish red lightning sparked around him as he chuckled like the monster that he was.

The earth around him caved in as his overwhelming power began to deep out in disturbing amounts.

His Club was called 'Barbarian's Bloody Bat' and it could imbue itself with energy equivalent to how many human lives it had extinguished.

Yes… human lives.

The gap in strength between each life taken wasn't too much, so he had to eliminate a lot of foes for the Club to have a slight boost in power.

It was almost like Leveling Up, but for a weapon.

It even got increasingly harder to see growth when he pummeled down weak foes, so Ogun currently sought stronger people to smash in with his club.

Right here and now, he had found two; Yuri and the man before him.

'After I kill both of them, I wonder how much stronger the Club will get…'

Ogun's thoughts were already dwelling in the realm of absolutes; there was no possibility of failure.

With all his preparations complete—his Enchanted Items working perfectly, and his Skills activated—Ogun felt like an overpowered beast.

He was ready to pounce on his prey.

'Hehehe… let's go!'

~WHOOOSH!~

He became a sharp blur, with traces of his eyes glowing red as he moved like the wind.

Everything in the world slowed down and he became the fastest thing moving.

It was a surreal experience, but Ogun did not let any of that distract him from his simple goal.

"I'll cave your face in with my Bloody Bat!" He yelled and took a sharp swing.

The weapon moved like a colossal mountain compressed into a mere club—carrying the entire pressure of wind as it moved.

Compared to the masked figure that stood still, it was too big, and it was bound to finish him off with a simple move.

'I wanted to enjoy this more, but it looks like this will soon be over…'

Ogun didn't know why he felt relieved by this conclusion, but he shrugged off those useless thoughts and watched as his weapon made its way to his victim's face.

It was the en—

"This weapon…"

As soon as that voice echoed, the masked man raised his hand and stopped the club mid-motion.

—AGAIN!

'I-it's not budging!' Ogun's bulging eyes clearly expressed his thoughts as he looked at the absolutely absurd scenario.

'How is this happening?!'

How could this man bare handedly stop a weapon that was almost as tall as he was?

He didn't even seem to be taking any damage!

"Why… why does it have such an ability…?" The masked man seemed to be trembling as he held the club.

As Ogun saw this, his creeping fear was slowly doused.

'He's under the effect of my [Intimidation Aura], and he's probably struggling under all that weight!'

Even though the stranger was using only one hand to stop the spiky club, Ogun still chose to believe that as the only reasonable explanation.

'Is he aware of Bloody Bat's ability? Looks like it intimidated him. Hehe… what a wuss!'

Ogun decided he would try a few more times and pummel his foe until he was nothing but mincemeat.

However—

'H-huh? Why isn't it budging…?!'

His club seemed to be stuck in place—unable to even shift the slightest bit.

It was as if it was being sucked further away from his grip the more he tried to pull away.

'What the he—?!'

~WUUUUM!~

Before Ogun could conclude his thoughts, he felt an overwhelmingly chilly aura spread from the man who stood before him.

It caused his body to tremble and his teeth to chatter.

"Why… did I have to copy such a Skill? Taking human lives in exchange for power…?"

Ogun could not see the expression that the masked man had under his guise, but he could tell that this wasn't fear.

Despite his trembling tone, this had to be something else.

"It's like you're giving me a reason to kill you. All of you…"

Ogun didn't know why he gulped the moment he heard those words.

"Why is this world… why do you keep driving me to this point? I don't want to do it, but… if I can grow stronger and save others in the process, then…"

Ogun didn't understand what the man before him was saying.

He could only feel something happening to his club.

'W-why is it trembling so much? It's shaking violently. Almost as if it—!'

~CRACK!!!~

In that split moment, the Barbarian's Bloody Bat that Ogun was so proud of experienced a drastic transformation.

Several cracks appeared all over it, all stemming from the point where it was held by the masked man.

Then—

~BOOOM!~

It shattered apart the next moment.

Like broken rocks—or particles of ice that had been broken to pieces by an even stronger force—the debris scattered all around.

The spiky club that had given this barbarian so much confidence simply broke to pieces like it was nothing but thin ice.

As the debris scattered, Ogun's moist and terribly confused eyes could see the masked man's crimson irises.

It shone with power, but there was something else buried underneath them.

Something deep… dark… disturbing.

It was bloodlust!

"… I think I might kill you."