The Defier of Heaven (6)
"How utterly pathetic. To struggle so miserably against mere lackeys."
"..."
"Did you really think you could kill me with such meager skills? How disappointing."
Tsk, tsk.
The Defier of Heaven clicked his tongue, sneering at us.
His gaze swept over my incapacitated companions before finally settling on me.
"Well, at least all the annoying mayflies have been cleared away, leaving just the two of us—"
"Not yet!"
A voice cut him off.
Squeezing out the words with every ounce of her strength, Adelia interrupted the Defier of Heaven.
She tried desperately to force her trembling body up, but her legs gave out, and she collapsed back to the ground.
Even so, the fierce determination in her eyes remained unbroken.
"I... I have not fallen yet! How dare a creature like you attempt to... ugh!"
Adelia struggled to steady her swaying frame. Looking down at her, I gave a firm command.
"Stay down, Adelia."
"But..."
"If you step forward now, you will only get in the way. He is not an opponent any of you can handle."
"..."
Adelia bit her lip and hung her head.
She clearly knew it too. The Defier of Heaven was a wall that could not be easily scaled.
The Defier of Heaven let out a mocking chuckle and chimed in.
"Indeed. Listen to your master. A bug like you interfering would only ruin the fun."
He dismissed Adelia, a Level 85 knight, without a second thought. Yet, this was neither arrogance nor mere bluffing.
An archmage who had achieved immortality through his own power could snuff out Adelia's life with a single flick of his wrist.
But...
"By the way, did you say you killed Camillo von Taribas?"
Even this Defier of Heaven was now looking at me—a mere Level 33—with wary eyes.
His slit, snake-like pupils locked onto me.
"Seeing how you severed the Living Armor's regeneration earlier, it doesn't seem like an empty boast... Explain yourself. What kind of trick did you pull?"
The Defier of Heaven growled threateningly. His chilling aura made my companions flinch once more.
Shring!
Ignoring his pressure, I adjusted my grip on the Feather Sword.
The archmage stared at the tip of my blade, his expression turning icy.
"I see. You have no intention of explaining."
"Why waste my breath on a dead man?"
"Ha."
The Defier of Heaven let out a dry, incredulous laugh, looking too dumbfounded to even be angry.
Of course, I knew exactly what lay behind that facade of composure.
Fear.
Yes. Deep down, he was terrified that I might actually have the power to kill him.
If he weren't, he wouldn't be babbling so uselessly. After all, it is always the frightened dog that barks the loudest.
"I will ask one last time. How did Camillo meet his end?" the Defier of Heaven growled in a low voice.
There was a reason he asked this.
According to the original game's lore, the Defier of Heaven shared a history with Camillo von Taribas.
Centuries ago, before either of them became immortal—back when they were still human.
As mages seeking immortality, they had exchanged knowledge and shared research advice.
Although their goals differed—the Defier of Heaven dreamed of ascension, while Camillo sought artistic immortality—they had felt a sense of kinship in their shared struggle to transcend mortal limits.
It was only natural for him to wonder about Camillo's end. Of course...
"It was an ugly, pathetic end."
...I had absolutely no reason to give him an honest account.
"He was no different from any other coward who clings to immortality out of sheer terror of death."
The word coward made the Defier of Heaven's lips twitch in irritation.
Clearly provoked, he began to rant in a highly agitated voice.
"A coward? Isn't that a term better suited for Sword Masters like you? You possess the potential to ascend, yet you choose to play the role of loyal lapdogs to the ancient gods..."
"You talk too much."
"..."
Silence fell instantly at my brief interruption.
Cut off mid-sentence, the Defier of Heaven glared down at me, his face contorted with rage. Unbothered, I pressed on.
"I don't understand why you immortals always have so much to say. Did you escape death just so you could flap your gums forever?"
"..."
"If you cheated death just to spend eternity talking... well, what a remarkably trivial existence."
The Defier of Heaven's expression turned murderous.
"You must be eager to die. Are you that desperate to cut your short life even shorter?"
Rumble!
Black mana began to condense over his palm.
I knew exactly what that attack was. A lethal spell designed to eradicate life itself. The opening pattern of Phase 2.
"Fine. I shall personally grant your wish."
With those final words, the true battle against the Defier of Heaven began.
Inhale, exhale.
I took a quick breath and focused.
My mind raced. Even without using Ritardando, the world seemed to slow down.
The first pattern of the second phase. The "Black Rain" unleashed by the Defier of Heaven was a skill that instantly drained 100% of a player's HP.
A single graze means instant death.
It was a wide-range instant-death skill, typical of hardcore games. Normally, players had to bring a high-ranking priest NPC to deploy a holy barrier to survive it.
Of course, I had no such companion right now...
But I have a much better way.
Rumble!
The black mana flowing from the Defier of Heaven's hand compressed tightly, shaping itself into a sphere the size of a fist.
"Die."
Boom!
The sphere detonated alongside his imperious command.
A deafening explosion rang out. At the same time, fragments of black mana scattered in all directions.
Crash!
The Black Rain poured down from all sides. It was an ultimate spell that only a transcendent being like the Defier of Heaven could cast.
I had already used Ritardando to obtain the seal from the Scarlet Empress.
But that wasn't a problem. Thanks to the traits of my dragon-kin body and my exceptionally high Perception stat relative to my level, I could easily react to this attack.
I've already tracked Doricco Shiro's attacks with my own eyes once before.
Doricco Shiro's Talisman Throw and the Defier of Heaven's Black Rain. In terms of the game's system, the projectile speeds of these two patterns were almost identical.
Which meant...
I can react to this one too.
Whoosh!
A heavy downpour commenced. The pitch-black mana, saturated with the aura of death, pelted the ground, leaving absolutely no room to stand.
Yet, I saw it clearly. Even within the dense, suffocating sheets of rain, there were gaps. I read their direction, speed, and precise intervals perfectly.
This feels familiar.
I had done something similar not too long ago.
It was the same sensation I felt when weaving through the swarms of Spear Fish in the Sky Ocean Forest.
The only difference was... back then, I had to twist my body to find the gaps. This time, I would use my sword to create them myself.
Whew.
Had I not said it before? You couldn't kill the Defier of Heaven, who achieved immortality through his own power, with a one-dimensional attack.
Even if he had lowered his own status to directly intervene in this realm, ordinary attacks wouldn't even graze him.
That was only natural. After all, the Defier of Heaven was a being who had reached the absolute pinnacle among mortals bound to the fate of death.
To kill him, a single, definitive strike was required.
However, the 12-star mythic skill that had pulled me through countless crises was currently unavailable. Indeed, I had already expended the Soul of the Sword Master to threaten the Scarlet Empress.
But there's no need to worry.
I still had one more trump card.
Shring!
I tilted the tip of my blade slightly—just a fraction of an inch. Yes. That was more than enough.
"..."
Drip.
A black droplet of rain slid along the flat of my blade.
Drip, drip-drip.
Yet, the droplets did not fall. They merely gathered along the finely honed edge, pooling together.
Just as the pooled liquid was about to spill over, I flicked the blade, reversing its direction and manipulating the droplets as if defying gravity itself.
"What...!"
The Defier of Heaven's eyes widened in shock.
This was not a trick that could be performed simply by having high stats or a high level. It was an overwhelming talent for swordsmanship that had once astounded even the gods of the Pantheon.
Pushing this talent to its absolute limit, I deflected the cascading raindrops one by one with my sword.
The droplets gathered at the tip of my sword, refusing to scatter as they grew denser. Condensing, gathering, compressing.
And...
Ultimate Auto-parrying
Cooldown: 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds
...Finally, reflection.
Claaaaang!
I directed the 10-star evolved Ultimate Auto-parrying according to my will.
A heavy vibration coursed through my hand. At that exact moment, the black droplets gathered on my blade shot backward, hurtling directly toward the Defier of Heaven.
Crash!
The redirected rain of death engulfed the immortal archmage.
Swoosh.
Returning the first attack of Phase 2, the Black Rain, right back to the Defier of Heaven. My plan had succeeded flawlessly.
"Ugh, cough...!"
Of course, the Defier of Heaven didn't just stand there. He hastily threw up a defensive barrier.
However, completely blocking a lethal spell was a daunting task, even for an archmage of his caliber.
Having failed to block the entirety of the Black Rain, the Defier of Heaven's body was already battered and torn.
"D-Damn it...! How could this...!"
Step, step.
I walked toward him.
In contrast, the Defier of Heaven dragged his melting body along the floor, crawling toward the altar. His flesh was liquefying, dripping away like wax...
Thud!
"...?"
It happened in an instant. An invisible barrier blocked my path.
A transparent wall refused to let me take another step forward.
"Ha... haha!"
The Defier of Heaven burst into laughter. Before I knew it, he had reached the top of the altar.
"Fine. I will acknowledge your strength. You are far more skilled than any Sword Master I have ever encountered."
"..."
"Thank you for putting on such an entertaining show until the very end. But... the game ends here."
He reached his hand out toward the body of the young man lying on the altar.
Immediately, a dark red light illuminated the cavern. The ritual to transfer his soul into a new vessel had begun.
"No!"
Selena screamed.
"W-We have to stop him right now! If that ritual is completed...!"
Grim expressions fell over everyone's faces. Yet, pushed to their physical limits, they were powerless to act.
They could only watch in mounting anxiety as the Defier of Heaven conducted his ritual. However...
Perfect.
A smirk spread across my face. My final plan was falling into place beautifully.