Rashik wasn't able to react quick enough when Noelle attacked, whatever she had done made her much quicker than previously, he didn't even have enough time to lift his blade to block the blow.

Then again, it's not like he needed to block the attack in the first place.

Rashik simply grinned as he dissolved into the shadows below his feet, Noelle's blade hitting nothing as her swing missed.

A moment later, Rashik appeared a few metres away and grinned teasingly.

"What was that? Got some of your own tricks up your sleeve, eh?"

Noelle didn't answer, she remained completetly silent as he eyes focused on the armoured man before her. Talking was a nuisance, talking would waste time, talking was unnecessary.

Without delay, Noelle charged at Rashik again, her scimitar glowing a dark rainbow due to the effects that were placed upon it.

This time, Wa'rak did not dodge, he instead took Noelle head on. His silver blade clashed against Noelle's glowing scimitar, sparks flying from where both weapons met.

Rashik won in the strength department.

Noelle's bones reverberated from the blow as she hopped backwards just as Rashik swung his blade. His silver sword missed her throat by a few inches, to which he promptly attacked again by fusing with the shadows and emerging behind Noelle, who was still mid jump.

Rashik growled as he thrust his blade forward, aiming for the back of Noelle's neck. He hoped to kill her instantly with this one blow.

With an uncanny level of refined finesse, Noelle turned her body mid air and swung her scimitar to intercept Rashik's sword. Both weapons let out a clang as they collided.

Noelle then used the backlash from the block to launch herself backwards to give herself some more space. She had no idea how she was doing it, but she was doing something. All her movements just felt... right.

Glaring at Rashik, Noelle noticed that one of her enchantments was already to take effect. Along the edge of Rashik's sword, a subtle purple was emerging, slowly dissolving the metal.

Rashik, who had also noticed this, scowled and shook his blade, trying to get the purple rust to fall off, but it was to no avail.

Not wanting to give him anytime to figure out her game plan, Noelle rushed at Rashik so they could continue their clash.

Both of their bodies moved masterfully as they dodged and attacked in equal succession.

Rashik would constantly dissolve into the shadows that surrounded them and quickly emerge somewhere else, attempting to catch Noelle off guard and hit her with a sneak attack.

Noelle would anticipate those attacks and would rapidly angle her body in a way that allowed her to defend herself while also offering her some safety incase Rashik tried to hide in the shadows again.

Neither had managed to do any meaningful damage to the other, but Noelle's scimitar had hit off of Rashik's dominating obsidian black armour a couple of times so far, creating a few cracks on its body from the corrosion effect.

Even though one should be dominating the other, it was a stalemate.

Once more, Rashik attempted to kill Noelle. Lifting up his silver blade, he grunted as she slashed down with all his might while Noelle was recovering from her last dodge.

Noelle managed to tilt herself to the side at the last second as the blade brushed her side, cutting off a few strands of her raven black hair. Rashik then followed up with a low kick, aiming to get Noelle off balance or even knock her to the ground. Noelle quickly reacted by lifting her foot and quickly stomping it down to try and crush the leg, but Rashik simply dissolved into the shadows before she could.

The next time Rashik emerged, only his top half appeared from the shadows as he tried to get a cheap shot on one of Noelle's legs, to which Noelle responded by thrusting her scimitar in the ground and gripping it so it blocked Rashik's attack completely. He hissed in response at the sudden halt and dissolved into the shadows once more.

Noelle continued to remain vigilant as she scanned the area around her to see if she could spot where Rashik would emerge, but the cunning bastard remained hidden.

It's only after she heard a whoosh behind her head did she curse.

Quickly turning and lifting her shining scimitar up at the same time, Noelle deflected a dagger that had been thrown from on of the shadows on the bark of a tree that was cast by a branch. The dagger loosely fell to the ground as a look of confusion appeared on Noelle's face.

Rashik wasn't using a dagger.

A small gust of wind pressed into Noelle's back as she heard a voice say from behind her:

"Got you."

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Cursing, Noelle desparately tried to block the incoming attack in any way possible, but she was too slow. She could feel the edge of Rashik's blade getting closer and closer to her neck.

So instead of blocking, she would at least get some king of revenge.

She concentrated on one of the enchantments that was still empowering her blade. The black line along her scimitars edge that had been slowly corroding both Rashik's armour and sword slithered up her blade, concentrating on the very tip of her scimitar.

Switching her grip of the blade on the fly, Noelle thrust her blade backwards, hoping it would hit something important.

The tip of her scimitar impacted Rashik's armour violently, almost bringing the attack to a halt, but since all of the corrosion effect was concentrated on one place, Noelle concentrated and pushed even harder.

She felt the edge of Rashik's sword tickle her neck, but just as it was about to cut her head off, another gust of wind came flying behind her, this one much faster.

Rashik let out a cry of pain from both Noelle's stab to the abdomen and the arrow that had just struck him in the wrist. The injured man gripped his wrist as he dropped his blade to the ground, anger evident on his face as he looked towards the source of the arrow.

"Alqarf. Silvia, what the fuck are you doing?"

Sofia grinned cockily as she drew another arrow from where she was positioned, not even caring to correct Rashik that her name wasn't actually Silvia.

"Something I should have done a long time ago."

Rashik dodged under the second arrow as he dismissed his blade back to his soul, then quickly resummoning the silver sword. Luckily, the act did not dismiss any of the corrosion that was still infecting the swords steel body.

Thanks to Sofia, Noelle had enough time to ready herself for round two. She glanced down at where she had stabbed and grinned madly. There was a hole in the armour where the tip of her scimitar had penetrated, a decent size due to a chunk of the armour falling out along with the corroded section. But there was something even better about the hole.

Noelle saw a cut on Rashik's stomach, blood seeping out of the wound.

The beads effect would soon start working.

There was also the fact that the corrosion on Noelle's blade could also run rampant in Rashik's body, but Noelle wasn't sure how strong the effect would be on a human body.

Noelle attacked Rashik once more, a new game plan in mind. Thrusting seemed to work better than slashing, so she kept the corrode effect concentrated on the tip of her scimitar.

Sofia would also fire off the odd arrow to give Noelle some support and a few moments of respite.

Rashik's black armour obtained more and more holes with even more cracks decorating its whole body. By now, every attack Noelle landed on the sweating man's flesh was further amplifying the effect of the red bead.

Rashik's movements had also started to grow slower, presumably due to the effects of the corroding effect of Noelle's blade. His attacks got weaker, his ability to dodge worsened. Overall, Noelle was now on the upper foot.

Rashik hastily swung his sword in an arc, hoping to delay the inevitable, but by now the silver blade had been made blunt by the corrosion that was damaging it.

"Damn you! Noelle, stop this, I'm sure we can work something out!"

Noelle swiftly dodged the swing and thrust her blade softly into Rashik's chest four times in quick succession through a hole she created previously.

"Why would I want to work something out with you? Fucking scum."

Rashik howled in pain as he desparately tried to hit Noelle with his sword, but it was no use, his body was already failing him.

Left with no other choice as his legs were already giving in, Rashik fell to his knees as his sword fell onto the ground beside him.

He looked up at Noelle with a sweaty face and a crazed look in his eyes.

"What now, you gonna kill me, go ahead then, I knew I was going to die eventually!"

Noelle gazed coldly down at him. He truly was despicable, the epitome of trash. Without warning, she stabbed him softly another seven times in some of the other holes she had created in his domineering armour.

"Ow! What the fuck are you doing?!"

Some of Rashik's veins had already started glowing an odd shade of purple, further signs of something invading his blood.

Yet Noelle paid it no heed, she simply dropped her scimitar on the ground in front of Rashik and spoke.

This was what everything had led up to, all her efforts had been for this single moment, her revenge.

All she could do was hope she had stabbed him enough for the red bead to be successful.

Stat Devourer (Epic)

Coat any weapon in the essence of the Demon ??? Select one stat to temporarily be devoured each time you land a successful blow on your enemies flesh. 1 stat point will be taken away per hit

Stat selected - Will

An incredibly useful item for a low leveled being, but litteraly useless once you got to a higher level and fought against higher leveled foes. Imagine someone with a million strength, having to hit them that many times just for the bead to have some kind of meaningful effect.

But it was all for this, the greatest punishment that Rashik could receive, the worst way he could possibly die.

"Kill yourself."

Infusing her voice with her innate ability, Noelle couldn't help but watch with a dark glee in her eyes.

Until Rashik spoke that is. He snorted and said:

"Ha, Why would I do that? I would never kill myse-"

Rashik couldn't help but look down in horror as his own arms started moving against his will, his fingers wrapping around the hilt of Noelle's scimitar.

"W... what the fuck!"

Rashik's eyes widened in fear as panic overwhelmed him, what the hell was he doing?

His fingers tightly gripped the hilt as he started lifting the still glowing blade up.

"W... what the fuck did you do to me you slut? What the fuck! Stop this shit, I'll fucking kill you!"

Rashik continued to lift the blade higher, his fear rising more.

"You fucking bitch! You're mother was a whore, you're father was a bastard, your uncle was a coward who couldn't make his own fucking decisions!"

The scimitar continued to be lifted even higher, its blade nearly kissing Rashik's throat.

"You fucking slut! I'll kill you, I'll fucking come back and kill you! Don't do this! I... I'm sorry! No, you fucking bitch! I'll ki-"

Following her command, Rashik plunged the scimitar into his own throat. His eyes widened as blood seeped out the corners of his mouth. His body swayed slightly as he fell sideways onto the grass below, more blood seeping out of his mouth.

Noelle looked blankly down at his corpse. Countless emotions were running through her, each very different from the previous one she felt.

A warm feeling was on her cheek, so she lifted up her right hand and felt it. Her fingers got... wet.

Another tear flowed down her face, followed by another, and another, and another.

That was when realisation hit her.

Tears continued to flow freely down her face as she fell to her knees, her heart overflowing with emotions. She sobbed desparately as she grasped at her chest, unsure what she should be even thinking right now.

But there was one main thought in her mind.

"I... I did it."

Then, she was knocked to the ground as a powerful golden shockwave erupted from under the Mother Tree.