Chapter 14: Last Resort

The sand flowing all around Mika blocking his sight made him realize he has no choice but to rely on his other senses. He wouldn't be able to use his sight as easily.

"What's wrong demon, you can't see right? I can only imagine the pain. I'll kill you fast don't worry." Says Shin as he pulls a blade surrounded by some sort of purple mist out.

I won't respond to this scumbag, but if I screw up too much this won't end well for me so every move needs to count.

Pause.

"45 seconds remaining." Says a voice.

Skill check.

"Showing skills now." Says a voice.

•Pause Lvl 5 [Allows user to Pause time for 45 seconds]

•Sight Lvl 9 [Allows user to see up to a certain radius]

•Force Lvl 10 [Allows destruction of certain objects in users direction]

•Demon Born [Allows user to use race skills. Strength increase, Speed increase, Health increase, damage increase]

•Lazarus Flame [Lazarus Flame is allowed to be used near death or as a last resort instance.]

•Vessel Strength [Harness the strength from the being of which you made the deal with.] Warning may destroy body if used too long.

"Other Skills are currently kept hidden till given access by-" Says the voice before stopping.

It seems not all skills have been given to me just yet but these are enough for now. After this I need to figure out how to get my skills maxed out so they can be the most useful.

They do just enough for now.

"20 seconds remain." Says the voice.

Mika quickly charges towards a weak point within the sand hoping to strike Shin and once he slashes through he realizes Shin isn't there.

"Surprise." Says Shin while cutting across Mika's chestplate with his blade.

Realizing what had happened Mika backed up a bit and then looked at Shin. This means he wasn't paused after all.

"Resuming." Says a voice.

That means this will be a problem, I need to figure out strategies to fight or I will lose to him. Wait why am I talking like this, I'm going to win no matter the outcome.

Stupid of me to think that I'd even lose to this son of a bitch in the first place.

He seems to be able to counter time magic at least with how low mine is he can counter it. I have many ideas but I'll start by trying to attack.

Mika charges in at Shin going with a downward slash at him and he quickly back steps and avoids the attack. All within the same instance Mika looks at Shin and realizes something is about to shoot out his hand.

"Privilege of Death." Says Shin to himself as a dark blast starts to fire from his hand.

Force. Demon Born.

As the blast gets close to Mika it is hit by a huge amount of force and shifts up. Mika is then given his buff from his skill Demon Born.

"Quite clever. I've never seen someone use such a thing to counter my magic." Says Shin while walking towards Mika.

"Live and learn huh." Responds Mika as he charges once more.

Mika now faster and stronger then he was before charges in at Shin and this time when he gets close he reaches out making it seem like a slash.

Force.

"The same attack again. pa-" before finishing his sentence Shin gets sent back a couple feet from the force and hits the ground in the distance.

Holy shit I didn't expect him to take the hit like that, I was expecting him to counter it completely.

Shin is slowly getting up in the distance, covered in bruises and scratches from the fall he sustained. He picked his blade up and after getting all the way up, he began to head back towards Mika.

Mika as went towards where he saw Shin sent to and after a few moments the two were within eye distance once more. The desert winds that blinded Mika were no more because of his attack.

"A bit stronger I'll admit but you will die here Mika." Says Shin as he dashes towards Mika.

Dashing towards Mika he quickly realized that something was off. He could sense something wrong with Mika but still wanted to attack.

As Shin goes in to slash up Mika tries to block the attack and his sword is hit out of his hands.

I didn't think I'd lose the grip on my sword but damn this is not a good spot to be in.

Mika quickly goes to grab his sword and is instantly met with that blast from before.

Kabooom!!!

Hitting right under Mika's feet and sending him flying onto the top of one of the dunes.

Damn that was a heavy attack to take, I feel like I was just crushed by a building. This isn't the time to be sitting on the floor. I've gotta get up and Continue fighting or else those people will die at fort Livot.

Before I could get up I felt the Pain of a blade going into my stomach piercing right through my armor.

Gah. I felt the urge to cough and blood quickly followed behind them.

"I knew you just got lucky with that attack." Says Shin as he digs the blade deeper into Mika's gut.

I felt the pain get sharper and sharper, the mist was making it even worse. Whatever he was using was doing a lot more damage than I anticipated.

Don't tell me death is coming for me once more..

{Status Message: Critical Condition Detected}

Damn this doesn't look good.

Mika looking around on the ground for his sword since he had fallen next to it when the blast hit. Finally noticing only a few meters away from him, he started reaching for the blade.

"Do you really wanna die Kid?" Asks a sinister voice.

"No and I won't die." Replies Mika.

"You have some of my power, you just need to activate it." Says the sinister voice.

"Lazarus your power seems dangerous, I could die." Responds Mika as he continues for his sword.

"It won't kill you. Hahaha. Unless you think you're too weak." Says Lazarus as he laughs.

Activate Skill Vessel Strength.

The ground began to Crack around Mika and Shin and a strange aura began to surround Mika.

Shin quickly takes the blade out and backs up a few steps and realizes this is the feeling he had felt when he first went to attack. Suddenly a big blast goes off and knocks back Shin a bit and a Shockwave goes past the fort.

Standing in the face of death has happened twice now, but it won't stop by itself. This is my chance, I was given this power for a reason and I intend to use it no matter what.

This is worth the pain I'll endure.

Walking towards Shin the ground begins to Crack around him and the sky darkens. Then suddenly Mika vanishes before Shin's eyes.

"What the hell." Says Shin holding his sword up.

All of a sudden a fist is felt right to Shin's gut and it sends him up in the air a little bit. Then another hit sends him flying across the sandy lands.

This power feels immense but I can handle it just long enough to kill this bastard.

"That's what you think." Says Lazarus.

Shin flying across the battlefield feels the pain in his ribs and looks down to realize what was happening.

(Shin's POV)

What the hell just happened to him. Suddenly he's a whole different person, that strength is too much for just me to deal with.

I might have no choice but to fall back but the question is, will I have the opportunity?

Finally coming to a stop, Shin had crashed through multiple trees before he had stopped.

This shit hurts.

Looking down at my wounds I realized that it had been a lot more damage than I expected. I've gotta do something or I'm going to bleed out here.

The Great Taker of death Mizut please allow me to use your strength to heal my wounds.

A strange dark aura starts to flow around Shin's wounds and begins to partially heal them but then suddenly a presence is felt in front of him.

I looked up to see this monster of a man in front of me looking down at me.

Before he knew it Mika had stomped down on his leg.

Smash!!!

The ground broke around the impact as well as Shins leg. Completely shattered he couldn't move his leg and let out a scream of pain.

"Gahhh fuck!!!" Screamed Shin in pain.

Suddenly in the distance a chant is lightly heard.

"Oh Heavenly Being please lend me your strength to destroy this evil being." Says someone in the distance.

(Hiroko's POV) Back at fort Livot.

This presence is strong and almost evil, I really hope that's not Mika. If it is, that hero won't be the only one out there.

Not long after that she sensed Sorakami in the distance getting ready to attack.

"I need to head out there please Captain Elliot." Says Hiroko as she stands at the gate.

"I don't know what for but sure, only because your a companion of Mika's. " Replies Elliot while signaling the guards to open the gate.

After the gate opens she quickly begins to run in the direction she believes Mika to be in. Luckily she guessed right and could see Mika in the distance by some broken trees.

"Mika!!!!!!" Shouts Hiroko as she continues to run towards Mika.

Barely batting any attention he continues to focus on Shin who couldn't do anything except wait for Sorakami to attack.

I can't let Sorakami fight him again, not yet. I don't know if this power would provide victory for Mika or not so it can't be tested.

"Nifumi I need you to cast heavily wall to separate Mika from Sorakami and Shin." Says Hiroko.

"Of course." Responds Nifumi as she appears from thin air.

Nifumi was a familiar and the only one that could cast this if Sorakami wasn't here. But he can't break this wall as far as I know.

Within a moments notice a huge beam of light goes across blocking Sorakami from continuing and Shin stuck to recover. Mika was pushed back a bit by the wall and took a little bit of Damage.

(Mika's POV) On His knees.

Everything was all so sudden but I know this wasn't cast by the hero Sorakami. He'd be eager to kill me not to just let me go and save his comrade.

"Vessel Strength reaching critical condition please deactivate for your own safety." Says a voice.

Bursts of blood start coming out from Mika's armor and blood starts dripping down his nose.

Ugh... D...deactivate Vessel Strength.

The skill deactivates and Mika falls to the floor, not long after Hiroko approaches and tries her best to get him up.

After awhile Hiroko managed to get Mika back to the fort and he was then treated by the healers at the fort.

"This is some crazy damage he took." Says a healer.

"It's like he was being ripped apart." Responds another healer.

"Is he going to be okay?" Asks Hiroko as she looks down at Mika.

"He should be okay, there's not enough blood lose luckily and his wounds are treatable." Says a tall woman with blonde hair.

"Lady Aisel I didn't know you came personally here." Says Hiroko with a surprised tone.

"I'm always around to help the wounded, especially mybourn soldiers or well whatever this one may be." Responds Lady Aisel as she sits by Mika.

"He used something powerful but it seemed to take quite a toll." Says Hiroko.

"He's a Vessel of a powerful being so it doesn't surprise me." Replies Lady Aisel.

The talking seemed distant but I know they were near me. It was like being asleep but not at the same time, I don't know whats happening right now.

I'm hoping that nothing bad occurs while I'm in this state but I'll have to thank whoever stopped me this time. I'll have this under control in no time, then Sorakami and the other heroes will die.