Entering the Temple

I sneakily closed in at the building using the same window duskwraith had the first time. All the time, I made sure to check my surroundings, searching for 'it cautiously.'

And I didn't even have to look for long. The armored statue stood in the middle of the hall, its figure covered in a thin layer of silver sand.

Did it freeze as well… just like the others. I gulped, something was telling me that was no the case.

Making sure once more that there weren't any other functioning statues nearby, I jumped inside while still making sure to land a couple of meters away from him.

And it was just as I had expected; the moment my feet touched the floor, the statue's eyes glowed. It slowly turned its head around to face me before taking out its sword and standing up in position. Gone was its previous sharpness, instead replaced by an inevitable feeling of weakness.

Looking at the still-functioning statue, I let out a deep sigh.

Guess there is no way around this. My only hope was that it had become weak enough for me to fight against. By now, the will inside had already begun to emerge once more, making me angry and rageful even at the mere sight of the hall.

Taking a deep breath, I steadied myself for the last time while also trying my best to calm the emerging will inside of me.

I then took out my dagger and got into Salhira's basic stance. At the same time, I activated Static Timefall. Normally, I had been forced to use this spell only in short bursts at a time; something told me that wasn't going to work today. Thankfully, with the increase in mana due to my new special constitution, it was going to be much easier to use this spell for the entire fight.

This is just another fight; that is just another enemy. I just have to kill him; I only have to kill him. I took another deep breath while repeating the same mantra again and again in my mind.

I darted forward, feinting low, and slashed at its knee joint. The blade barely grazed its stone-hard surface, hissing as it only left a faint scar. The statue retaliated with a fiery sweep of its sword, forcing me into a backward roll.

Looking at the speed of its attack, I mentally rejoiced. This much thanks to Static Timefall, I could somehow deal with this much speed.

It stomped hard, several sets of runes illuminating in the center of its chest. The ground split beneath its foot and sent up sharp shards of molten rock.

"Why are those things molten?"

I leaped to the side, miraculously dodging most of the shards while using my dagger to deflect a few of them. I then closed in, trying to drive my dagger toward its chest, but it spun unnaturally fast, forcing me to disengage.

Lava surged from the cracks in its hands, forming a molten whip that lashed out. I immediately slid under the whip's arc, coming up on its blind side and slashing at its arm joint. The whip retracted with a burst of flames, searing the air around me.

The statue slammed both fists into the ground, sending a shockwave of molten rock rippling outward. I flipped backward onto a protruding boulder, only to find the molten cracks spreading toward me. With a quick lunge, I leaped over the statue's head, twisting mid-air to land a clean strike on its shoulder.

A sharp thrust of my dagger dug into the creature's shoulder; I was about to rejoice when a burst of lava spewed out of its shoulder, forcing me to retreat.

Once again, I ducked under its swinging arm, its molten fist grazing the top of my head. Driving both daggers downward, I struck its back, causing molten lines to pulse erratically.

Since when had this thing been able to use lava-based attacks? It hadn't used them last time.

Maybe it didn't need to; duskwraith hadn't been much of a challenge for him after all.

It turned on me, the runes in its chest flaring like flames as it stomped again, but this time I was ready. Using the momentum of its stomp, I vaulted over its raised leg, planting one dagger deep into its knee joint.

The joint buckled slightly, molten rock spilling onto the ground in glowing rivulets.

Its chest flared violently, a plume of fire shooting out in an explosive wave. I rolled away, my boots skidding on the molten ground, but the heat still licked at my arms.

Before I could recover, the statue swiped downward with both hands, forcing me into a desperate parry with crossed daggers. The impact sent me flying back, my breath knocked out as I landed hard against a smoldering rock.