The silver-coated creature stares at me, completely unharmed after taking a point blank hit from my most powerful attack.

I'm positive I just blew apart and incinerated over 70% of its body, but in mere seconds it managed to completely regenerate despite me destroying all of its organs and even its entire head.

The creature walks forward and speaks up again.

"Do you see why you are weak? A simple hit to the head or heart will cause irreversible damage in a human body. No matter how much you train, or powers you gain, you will always be an inferior species."

I grip my sword tight and point it forward in a ready stance, waiting for it to finish its point and for the battle to move on.

"Just like my birdbrain partner that I use for a ride, even it is fragile enough to be taken out by your Qi-based attack. One hit in the vitals and it's all over. Such weak creatures..."

My eyes widen as he speaks these words.

From what I recall, fighting the 7th ranked guard, it couldn't see my Qi blades at all, and from what I saw in my moments fighting with the 6th, it wasn't able to perceive them either. Somehow, this metal monster is able to...

Almost as if it has read my mind, the 2nd Ranked Dark Guard continues.

"Just like your Red Soul Energy, I too have borrowed power from the Dark One I am capable of using. However, myself and two other Dark Guards have cultivated Qi and awakened our own Soul Energy. This is why I choose to leave the Dark One's Power Dormant, it's not necessary."

The figure grips his spear tight.

"The Dark One. That being is the only one that is truly strong. You are a fool for challenging its all-powerful might. You're just a human..."

He points his spear forward at me, then lunges forward in a flash of silver speed.

A loud vibrating twang echoes throughout the open desert as the layers of silver energy around its spear tip collide with the dense energy manifestation of my Mana and Qi soaking my sword.

Its spear is deflected and it bounces back in the air a few meters before flying back in toward me.

In my greater form, I'm much larger than it is. Even so, its speed and power do not surpass my own. I'm able to easily block its incoming strikes as it sends in more and more pointed at my heart, head, and upper spine.

It isn't hard to block any individual attacks, and the amount of mana and Qi being used up for just pure defense is rather manageable. It feels as if I've finally obtained the advantage in this exchange. However, there is no time to relax. Its machine-like precision still keeps me on guard.

Every few exchanges, I'm able to see an opening in its movements. There is no mistake that it's made, it's just not physically quick enough to escape my blade.

I land slashes across its torso, slicing off limbs, and even an attack with my elongated sword in my Greater form that cuts off his head at the neck and incinerates it entirely on the spot.

Every time, its mass bubbles and reforms, regrowing everything it's lost without any change in expression or power level. The monster even blocks a second incoming attack with the tip of its spear before its entire head has even grown back.

Over 10 of my attacks land, and over 30 total exchanges of blocks and dodges pass, but not a single time has it managed to land any on me.

It doesn't show any emotion, and no signs of slowing down, so I decide to try a few more options.

I attempt to lock the creature in place with rock and ice, but its strong body breaks through my traps without any resistance because my mana manifestations aren't reinforced with Qi.

Flames from my blade are only super effective when Qi is imbued inside the slashes, and both wind and water attacks are just as effective as the stone and ice. They make the creature exert more energy by breaking them, or pushing through the pure force of the attack, but there is not nearly as much lasting damage as my sword strikes. They don't even slow it down or make a dent in its body.

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It speaks as I continue my testing,

"I've watched your tapes in the arena, I've analyzed your fighting style, I know all of your skills and tricks. This is not a matter of how I will defeat you, it is just a matter of when you will decide to give up. I know your strength and you cannot defeat me."

Its voice rings in my ears, and I decide to activate the one new skill that I've been waiting to try.

All of my other elemental skills are advanced grade combat magic powers, but there is one that I have most recently acquired that is one tier higher.

"Extreme Lightning Summoning..."

As the silver monster comes in to attack with another barrage of calculated spear thrusts, golden arcs of electricity begin to form all over the massive shadowy Greater Form that stands out in the desert.

At first, it just looks like mild static, but as I channel more and more of my MP into it, the arcs of electricity begin to burst outward at a violent uncontrollable rate.

Energy surges through my body, making me feel even faster, and more alert. It's as if I just activated a speed and perception buff, this must be an extra passive perk from an extreme grade elemental skill.

I drain MP crystals from my inventory to allow the skill to fully activate, using up tens of thousands of MP per second to expand the lightning's range outward. I visualize the orb of static that the 40th Floor Boss Created when fighting me, however, as I use it, my arcs of electricity look a bit different.

They're not expanding outward in an even sphere like I remembered before, they're all arcing outward in many directions, then curving in toward a single point.

A bright yellow and white line of concentrated electricity hits the metal man with all of its power.

It seems the arcs of electricity are drawn to it, no matter what direction I spew them out from, they all direct right back into the silver figure that lunges toward me with its spear. Its body vibrates violently on a microscopic level. I see its silver skin twist, swirl, and make thousands of pin-sized spikes all over uncontrollably in rapid succession. Even so, its forward momentum does not stop and it continues to attack.

After a full half a second of pure discharge, I deactivate my lightning skill and focus on swinging my sword down to block its incoming spear strike like usual.

However, this time, the Dark Guard's movement feels slightly off...

It feels like it's lagging behind, as if it's lost half a second of planning time while its body still moves forward in an attack.

For the first time in this entire battle, Its eyes dilate and widen for a split second as it tries to readjust its course, but I don't let that happen. I swing my sword downward and slice the creature in two, releasing extra waves of Qi and black flames I wouldn't have been able to produce and hit so precisely if I didn't have the opportunity of its misstep.

The monster's spear hand in its right half still lunges at me, and I block its hit, jumping back and pushing it back as well.

It reforms into its original form, and its eyes revert back to its normal state, but I'm sure I caught it off guard for a moment. My lightning attack is naturally attracted to its metallic body, and when it was hit with everything I had, I'm positive it froze with shock and made an error.

I grin ear to ear, and activate my lightning summoning skill again, running forward with my sword and going in to test my theory once more. It sprints into full battle mode too, and we run forward to clash.

The same exact results occur, as my lightning blast makes contact, my opponent is stunned for a fraction of a second, and I land an even higher damage-dealing blow, incinerating a solid amount of its body away, but retreating after my attack just in case, to not get hit by a counter.

I do it again, and again, over 5 more times.

Each time I manage to land stronger hits, and I get in position to land the final blow.

If I can land the same attack it let me throw at it earlier, but at closer range, I'm nearly certain I'll be able to incinerate every last particle of this monster and kill it for good.

The only reason it's able to regenerate, is because there is a portion of it remaining. The only logical thing I can think to do is make sure none of it remains...

Attacks with my greater form's sword without releasing any significant percents of my core's Qi are able to incinerate 15-25% of its body mass in a single strike. In its weakened state, the moment after an electric shock, a slash is capable of destroying 25 to upward of 40% of its mass.

With that being said, I managed to decimate over 70% of its mass in a single strike when releasing Qi from my core in a concentrated fire blade when it gave me a free shot. If I'm able to land this attack right after electrifying it, there's a high chance I'll be able to win this battle on the next strike.

My breathing slows, and I get in tune with my heart rate and the rhythm of battle, fending off its robotic attacks and waiting for the perfect time to release another lightning strike.

Eventually, my moment comes.

I release arcs of static from the perfect distance, and ready my manifested blade full of Qi and mana.

Tons of mana crystals from my farming yesterday are drained by my plunderer skill as I focus on making my attacks as dense and potent as possible.

The instant my electricity ceases, I swing my blade and let the black crescent of flames covering a blade of Qi fly across the desert floor, heading toward the silver man frozen in place less than 10 meters away.

It is on a path to hit the creature at point-blank range, and destroy it completely.

Right before impact, the air pressure changes, and I jump backward while restoring my mana and Qi with crystals and pills.

The last thing I see in my enhanced perception skill before impact is the outer layer of its eyes shifting from silver to the bright orange borrowed Soul Energy of the Lich King.