442 Angel VS Void Beast (3)
Now that I have what I need to fight the Void Beast, it's finally time to go serious.
"[Lifeblood: 200%]!"
Lifeblood, one of my oldest, simplest, but most trustworthy powerup skills, was technically limitless. The only limiting factor for it was the penalty if you used it beyond your body's capacity.
At the 9th stage, my body could hold the backlash of 100% output without side effects, practically able to keep it running 24/7. However, it's not like 100% is the maximum.
Activating 200% output would lead to a quite heavy penalty, losing almost a year of my lifespan in one minute. But at the 9th stage, my lifespan was basically stretched to over 200 years, so I could spare some, at least.
'There's no use for my remaining lifespan if I'm dead anyway!'
With [Lifeblood] activated, the black marks on my body turned a deep red instead, with a red blood fog seeping out of my skin. It was painful just to maintain the technique, but I had no choice but to use it.
The more time that passes, the higher the possibility that Ember and Namia's "blessing" will fade!
"AZRAEL!"
I roared to the top of my lungs, not minding even if the blood vessels in my vocal cords ruptured.
Azrael noticed me calling him and realized what I was about to do. Thanks to the Energy Recovery Potion I got from Ember, my energy was back to about a quarter. I should be able to fight well enough with that much.
By kicking the ground, I shot forward at lightning speed. In just three steps, I reached the area where the two giants were fighting.
"Take this!"
As soon as I saw an opening, I swung both swords and slashed against the shell protecting the Void Beast. With one hit from the two blades, simultaneously, the shell cracked, and the swords even managed to touch the back of the Void Beast's leg.
"...!"
After the strike, the protective shell was weakened for a short moment. Azrael, true to his words, didn't miss the chance and swung his blade. His target was the exact same spot as before, where the flames from his Flamberg were still burning brightly.
[Dieeeee...!]
He raised a deafening roar, powerful enough to shake the entire space around them. I even had to back away just to avoid having my eardrums ruptured.
However, in the end, even the slash he did just now wasn't enough to finish off the Void Beast.
"As expected, it wouldn't go down that easily...!"
With [Lifeblood] activated and using Minerva's psychic barriers as a platform, I could move around and change directions at any given moment. However, my speed was still far from being comparable to that of beyond-god-level beings.
"...!"
A fist appeared at the spot I was approaching, causing me to make an emergency stop and jump up to evade. However, as if predicting my movements, the Void Beast's mouth was already aiming there, about to fire.
Although the Void Beast was using only two attack patterns—physical attacks or its energy beam—it was still hard to actually evade each of them successively!
*SLASH!*
Fortunately, I wasn't alone. With the Void Beast's attention turning to me, Azrael was free to launch his attacks. A sword swipe aimed at the back of its head sent the beam veering toward the ground, missing its target completely.
Again, despite his attack connecting, Azrael was dealing almost no damage. The flames that he left after each slash, however, were slowly eating up the Void Beast's body. It was starting to "feel" Azrael's attacks!
"Nice! Just like this...!"
After that, I waved the two swords once more, aiming at the Void Beast's face, and managed to cause another small hole in its protective shell. Azrael made use of the imbalance of the shell that followed and attacked the parts that had the thinnest protection.
The Void Beast became confused about which one to attack, adding to the fact that it was feeling pain and threatened by the flames slowly encroaching upon its entire body.
Oh, how I wish we could just end the battle like that...
Of course, the Void Beast wouldn't be a feared being if it fell that easily. After its entire body was almost covered by flames, it suddenly stopped moving and released a deafening roar.
*GGGRRRRAAAAAAAAAAGGHH!*
"Ugh!"
The shockwaves from its voice alone were enough to rupture my internal organs, so I made sure to run to a safe distance before placing several layers of barriers as protection. Looking to the other end, Ember and Namia were also doing the same thing, erecting a barrier to shield themselves from the shockwaves.
When the waves ended, the entire space was covered by the dust that was kicked up by the Void Beast's roar. I squinted my eyes, scanning 360 degrees around me, but couldn't find the figure of either the Void Beast or Azrael.
It took about half a minute before the dust settled.
However, the scene that we saw wasn't something we wanted to see at all.
"Azrael!"
The beyond-god-level angel Azrael had fallen to the ground, his pure white wings now stained with patches of bright red. He was down for the count!
"No way..."
What the hell happened in that short while we couldn't see them? Still, the system didn't notify me that Azrael died, so he must still be alive. It was bad that I ended up using the System's Guardian Halo on him once already, so the cooldown for the skill to be recast on him still had 24 hours on it.
When I turned to the other one, the Void Beast, I quickly noticed how its appearance changed. Earlier, it was like a knight from the Middle Ages, with a full-plate armor covering its entire body.
However, now the plain armor has transformed, with spikes growing out randomly, making it extremely hard to look at. Just staring at it for a while was enough to hurt my eyes! Furthermore, even though it was empty-handed earlier, right now it is holding a pike.
The pike was, the same as its armor, covered in protruding spikes but growing in the other direction. If stabbed by it, then pulling the pike out would be extremely difficult and would gouge out the wound like a blooming flower.
'Did it get Azrael with that?!'
I quickly came to that conclusion, seeing that a pool of blood was slowly spreading around Azrael's body.
A power-upped enemy and a fallen ally. At this moment, despair was the only thing spreading in my heart.
"Wait...!"
But before I could wallow in despair, I noticed that the Void Beast wasn't moving. In the center of its chest, a flamberge was embedded deep!
"It was a draw?!"
Both sides were injured, but it was easy to see who got the shorter end of the stick. Knowing that the enemy was injured quite deeply, as long as Azrael could get back to his feet, then we could win this!
"Can I do it?"
I checked my energy, and thanks to the effect of the potion still going strong, I was near 75% of my capacity even while I was using skills actively. With this much, it should be enough.
"System! Use Forced Cooldown on the Guardian Halo!"
[Calculating... The System's Guardian Halo's maximum remaining cooldown time is 23 hours, 55 minutes, and 3 seconds. Do you confirm using Forced Cooldown to reset all cooldown timers?]
"Yes!"
I didn't even need to listen to the System's voice to the end before giving my consent. As soon as I did, a mix of gold and silver light covered my body before the system's announcement echoed in my ears once again.
[Forced Cooldown was applied successfully. Consumed energy: 5%]
"That was cheaper than I expected..."
As I mused about the unexpected cost of the Forced Cooldown, I turned to Azrael and used the Guardian Halo once again.
"Stand up, Azrael! Finish him!"
I cheered as the golden light started to cover his body. However, before it could be completed, a warning came along with extreme fatigue.
[Warning! You don't have sufficient energy to complete the activation of the Guardian Halo. Prioritizing the healing of the important parts... Error. Injury is applied with a strong curse and needs to be healed all at once... Do you wish to consume life force in exchange for energy?]
"...!"
The system is... asking me to offer my life to heal Azrael?! That's crazy! With him being a beyond-god-level monster, I'm not even sure if offering my entire life would fit the bill!
Just as I was starting to panic, a warm hand was placed on my shoulder.
"You brat, running out of energy all the time...!"
It was Namia's voice coming from behind. Furthermore, a familiar arm circled around my neck before a familiar face approached mine, with our lips touching firmly.
'Ember...!'
From her mouth, pure, non-elemental energy started to pour into my body through my mouth. The same goes for Namia, with a warm stream of energy flowing from her hand to my shoulders and going straight to my core.
[Notice! The energy level reached the required amount. Completing activation of the System's Guardian Halo... Success!]
After the notification echoed in my ears, Ember's face slowly went away, her face beet red from kissing. Although my face was probably the same, now's not the time for that.
"Azrael...!"
Just as I turned to where he was, I saw him slowly standing up, looking at his body with eyes filled with confusion.
[I'm... healed again? Is this your doing, human—no, Will?]
"No time to chat! Finish him!"
Although he was still confused, Azrael knew that we were tight on time. He took a step forward, extending his hand, about to grab his flamberge once again...
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