Xavier came at the Fetid Forest Troll head on. Or at least, that’s what it looked like he was doing. Observer Xavier might not be able to read his own mind, but he had a good idea of what was about to happen next.

The Fetid Forest Troll stopped running long enough to swing its club. The club had an eerie, dark glow about it, and disgusting black liquid oozed from its head.

Xavier, at the last second, sunk down into a slide and went underneath the beast’s legs, slicing his claws into its thighs as he passed through. Then he whirled and instantly jumped onto its back.

The spirits had re-entered the fray, the dragon being the first of them. He hoped their attacks would be enough to distract the troll, especially now that he was up close.

Xavier wrapped an arm around the beast and dug his claws straight into its neck. The roar that had started when he’d run was still ripping out of his throat. Not being able to feel the emotions involved in the fight, Observer Xavier felt strange watching himself become so bestial, but it was a sensation he’d become to recognise.

The Fetid Forest Troll whacked its chest again. A pulse of energy shock-waved out. Xavier was thrown backward. The pain was immense—Observer Xavier could feel that. He flipped in the air and landed easily on the ground. The troll was already facing him by the time he got his bearings. It pointed its club at him and something shot from it—the black, oozing liquid. Xaivier dodged to the right, his Evasion skill kicking in, but the troll tracked him easily, the stream of black oozing goo shooting through the air as straight as a laser.

Xavier cast Soul Block, infusing what looked like five hundred souls into it. He wasn’t fast enough to avoid the attack. It was faster to point at someone than it was to dodge left or right out of the way.

The souls weren’t enough, however. Somehow, the attack rotted through the soul apparitions, then it went straight for Xavier. It hit him full on the chest and seeped through his robes.

Observer Xavier watched the fight with great interest, and more than a little fear.

And he could feel the pain the spell was doing do his body—it was more intense than anything else he had ever experienced, and that was saying something, considering all he’d been through since being integrated.

The other version of him tried to fight off the effects. He downed several health potions and antidote potions, but they were clearly doing nothing. In the end he had to fling up a Time Alteration spell, keeping the Fetid Forest Troll outside of it, and sit in meditation for hours until the status effect had passed and the damage was healed.

When the other version of him finally opened his eyes, he released a sigh. “This thing is strong.” He stood. “But I haven’t used everything in my arsenal yet.” He shook his head. “I know you’re watching, and listening, and I just want you to know that I won’t be dying for this. If this beast ends up being too powerful… I’m cutting my losses and getting the hell out of here. Maybe I’ll come back another time to face it.”

Observer Xavier felt a bit of relief at that. He didn’t want another version of himself to die, especially not for something as small as this.

When the Time Alteration spell dropped, the other version of Xavier re-entered the fray. He seemed like a man possessed as he moved toward the enemy troll, his reflexes incredibly fast. He slashed at the beast, cutting small wounds in it left and right. The spirits from the Otherworld were back in the fray again, as were the remaining soul puppets, but none of them seemed to be doing enough, especially when this troll was able to push them all away.

Slowly, Xavier left cuts everywhere in the Fetid Forest Troll. He carved his claws through the enemy’s legs, stomach, chest, arms, and back. The armour it wore was tough, but it wasn’t enough to stop Xavier’s claws from piercing through—that was mostly thanks to the Piercing Damage he had.

The Fetid Forest Troll showed no sign of fatigue or flagging even with all of the damage it was taking. Xavier kept flinging spell after spell after spell at it, but he wasn’t having any luck.

Whenever the Fetid Forest Troll tried to use its knock-back attack, Xavier flitted out of range. He could see it coming now—knew how to anticipate it.

Observer Xavier was learning a lot from the fight, and he knew there were plenty of mistakes that he wouldn’t make when it came to fighting this thing himself, but he still had hope that this version of him would be able to defeat the troll.

Then something overcame the Fetid Forest Troll. It released a roar on par with that of the Spirit of Vengeance, and its entire body turned into a black ooze.

By this point in the fight, the soul puppets he’d painstakingly brought to the battle were all dead on the ground. They had been nothing more than a slight distraction for this thing. The spirits, too, hadn’t been enough. They were gone now, their time in this world spent. Even the Spirit of Vengeance, in that form, hadn’t been able to harm the troll all that much.

Xavier supposed he shouldn’t have been all that surprised. It was a C Grade beast, after all. Maybe he was biting off more than he could chew.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

But no version of himself was about to give up until they had tried everything.

For the first time during this battle, Xavier cast Fear Dominion. Observer Xavier thought this Xavier must be feeling a little desperate, as he doubted something like that would even work on this beast.

And he was right.

There was a slight flicker of fear in the Fetid Forest Troll’s eyes, but it was gone in almost an instant as it seemed to shrug it off with ease.

Xavier then leapt backward into the air. Hopefully, even up here, he would be able to dodge any attack that came, for if the Fetid Forest Troll used the rotted-beam attack that it had used earlier, Observer Xavier didn’t know if he would be fast enough—even with his Hover Dodge spell—to avoid it.

Only one way to find out.

That was when Xavier cast his most powerful spell—Soul Strike—throwing thousands of souls into it. Powerful soul apparitions burst into life. White lightning shot forth from his fists as beasts of all manner and size appeared, all of them barrelling through the air toward the Fetid Forest Troll.

The Fetid Forest Troll blinked dumbly at the display before it was hit full on by the attack. It stumbled backward, then fell down to the ground, releasing a scream of pure agony as the strike hit its soul. It didn’t leave any physical sign of the damage it took, but it didn’t need to.

The troll lay on the ground, twitching. It wasn’t dead, but it sure looked close. Xavier landed back on the ground. He didn’t waste any time as he sprinted over to the beast. Its body was still covered completely by that dark, oozing substance. Whatever spell it had cast was still in full effect. Observer Xavier and the version of Xavier making the moves appeared to be in agreement about what that must mean—it was a protection against physical attacks. If Xavier struck the troll, he would likely become infected.

And so Xavier cast Soul Shatter. But it wasn’t enough. Then, he cast Core Burn—again, it wasn’t enough, though this time there were clear cracks in the beast’s mind, ones that he might be able to take advantage of.

Willpower Infusion was the next spell cast—and it worked.

For a fraction of a second, Xavier had been in control of the beast’s mind. Observer Xavier could see the effect it had on the Fetid Forest Troll, even though he couldn’t feel it, for that was something he didn’t have access to, as the sensation was felt in the body and not the mind.

But he could also see that the spell didn’t last very long.

Xavier winced as the attack was shrugged off.

Xavier had expended all of the ranged damage dealing that he had. Soul Shatter simply wasn’t a powerful enough spell, and the Fetid Forest Troll was quickly healing.

If Xavier wanted to end this, he would need to do something else.

Xavier sprang forward in a powerful leap and came down slashing straight for the Fetid Forest Troll’s head. It was already so damaged, surely it wouldn’t take too many strikes before it was pushed over the edge into death.

The instant Xavier’s claws struck the Fetid Forest Troll’s head, they didn’t do what was expected. Instead, they sunk through the troll’s skull as though it were that oozing liquid, and not rock-hard, tough bone.

The black oozing liquid crept over Xavier’s arm and crawled up to his neck, infecting him once more. But that wasn’t all it did. This time, it trapped him in place.

The troll, which had been writhing and twitching in pain, burst into action. Xavier didn’t think it had been pretending or faking the pain it felt. It was evident that it had been real.

This was a last-ditch attack. An animal wounded, cornered, lashing out.

It gripped Xavier by the neck. Unlike its skull, its hand was solid.

And it squeezed.

Observer Xavier didn’t want to watch what happened next, but he forced himself to. He needed to see the consequences of his potential actions.

The other Xavier wasn’t out for the count, however. He cast Time Prison, The spell worked.

Xavier was powerful enough to trap a C Grade beast in time. That alone was an achievement.

Xavier took a few steps back. He stared at the frozen beast. There was no telling how long it would be trapped like that. No telling how long the spell would last.

Get out of there, Observer Xavier thought as he watched. He had seen the other version of him strive and strive, and he had gotten so close… but he didn’t think there was a way, in this version of events, for the battle to be won.

“My health is at 5 percent and dropping fast,” Xavier said, speaking incredibly quickly. “I know you’re listening. The smart thing to do right now would be run, but I don’t know how far I would make it. I can’t use Time Alteration again. I can’t heal the damage that is happening to me. Last time, it acted too quickly, and I was only just about to counteract it. This time… it’s like it’s acting twice as fast, even though it’s the same spell, as though the rot has some sort of cumulative effect.” Xavier shook his head. “My health potions aren’t enough, and in this condition, I won’t be able to outrun it. Something tells me Time Prison it will only last another moment or two—”

The Fetid Forest Troll instantly came back to life. Xavier could have run. He could have made it far enough to be out of this thing’s range. He would have been fast enough. Then, alone, he might have been able to heal himself.

Why hadn’t he run?

“I think I can kill this thing,” Xavier said. “It’s worth the risk.”

Xavier snapped back to where he was standing with the Spirit of Time. He blinked. He’d watched the last few moments… that other version of him had been obliterated.

Why didn’t you run? the Spirit of Time asked. You might have survived.

Xavier inclined his head, wondering the very same thing. But he didn’t need to wonder to know. He thought he could win. He thought the risk was worth it. It always… always has been in the past.

Xavier stared at the Fetid Forest Troll in his own time stream. For him, the world was still frozen as he stood with the half-elf, half-human looking woman that was the Spirit of Time.

Xavier had never expected to die. He had taken so many risks to become as powerful as he was. Taken so many risks to get where he was today…

He knew, deep down, that he never expected to fail. It wasn’t that he was treating this like a game, it was just… he was to be the Weapon of the System. That was something he truly believed, and even before that—everything he had done had paid off.

Of course that other version of himself had thought that he could win. The situation hadn’t been worth him throwing his life away, and yet he’d gone and done it anyway.

Xavier lowered his head and closed his eyes, thinking of that other version of him. He gave that person a moment of silence. “You idiot,” he whispered. “Why did you go and do that?”

But he knew that… he would have done the exact same thing, because that was him.

He wondered if watching his own death would make him change.