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Chapter 67: Sebastian
One man stood in front of Sila. If one excluded the magic particles merging with sprinklings of blood that surrounded him, he would look just like the gentle butler he used to be.
Sebastian looked at Sila while Sila was looking back. No one was taking the initiative to attack.
“For me to not gain too much of an advantage, allow me to fight you in this human form.”
Sila didn’t answer. He had to be on guard at all times. He wasn’t skilled enough to talk while confronting an opponent of this caliber.
“I’m a magic-type monster. The type of magic that I possess is death magic, which is exclusive for grim reapers. The drawback of this magic is that I can’t use any spells of any other kind. Please prepare yourself. I’m going to attack now.”
Sila nodded.
Sebastian rotated his left hand. A black, long scythe suddenly appeared in his hand. The surrounding magic particles fused together in the shape of a shadowy skull behind Sebastian’s back.
If Sila’s eyes weren’t playing tricks on him, the skull was grinning.
Sebastian hit the scythe’s handle against the floor. Then, the ground below Sila began to shake and he had to take several steps back. Afterward, dozens of swords pierced through the ground upward, nearing Sila’s previous spot. Once the swords missed their target, the swords rose up from the ground, revealing that the swords were being held by skeletons.
Dozens of skeleton soldiers handling steel swords stared at Sila with their hollowed eyes. Magic particles flew, surrounding the skeletons like vapor. Meanwhile, Sebastian gripped his scythe and rushed at Sila.
Sila didn’t hesitate. He fired several daggers at Sebastian while dodging the skeleton soldiers using Twelve Celestial-Traveling-Steps.
Unexpectedly, Sebastian didn’t perform any evasive movement. He spun his scythe as if it was lightweight, parrying many of the daggers. The rest of the daggers were blocked by the skeletons that rushed to protect Sebastian.
Sila was within the attack range of the long scythe. The scythe spun beautifully in a circular motion and Sila was almost too late to stoop down, so it cut part of his hair.
Nevertheless, Sila was a step closer to Sebastian. The effective attack range of a long scythe was mid-range. It wouldn’t be easy to wield in close-range. With this idea, Sila heavily kicked the floor, sending himself toward Sebastian.
Despite being unable to use the blade on the scythe, Sebastian was still able to block all of Sila’s attacks using the scythe’s handle. Sila wondered whether all magic-type monsters were proficient in close-range combat. He put qi reinforcement into every punch and every palm. However, Sebastian could easily use the scythe’s handle to cope with them.
Sila, upon briefly losing his focus, was kicked away by Sebastian. Although it didn’t hurt much, the gap was widened. Sebastian lifted the scythe up into the air. Its blade was shaking. Sila was within its attack range again.
“Soul Snatcher Scythe.” Sebastian used a skill, causing the scythe to slash at Sila.
Sila avoided it using Twelve Celestial-Traveling-Steps. He used his left hand to fire a dagger at Sebastian while firing an iron ball to slow down the scythe.
The dagger accurately pierced at Sebastian’s chest while the iron ball wasn’t helpful at all. The iron ball didn’t even touch the scythe as it was slashed into two, then four, eight. The number continued to increase until it turned into dusts as if it was slashed a thousand times over.
The two of them kept their distance. Sila hadn’t been able to completely dodge the last attack and there were several cuts on his arm. He would have been turned into mincemeat, had he been hit by it directly. Sila circulated Immortal Qi into the wounds to make them close.
Sebastian pulled the dagger out of his chest like it was nothing. Blood slightly flew from the wound as he threw the dagger away.
Sila quickly searched for other vital spots since it seemed that the heart was not a vital spot for Sebastian.
“Don’t try to search for my vital spot, sir. There is none. That’s the advantage of us undead race. I won’t die even if your dagger pierces my head. The only way for you to kill me is by causing my health points to reach zero.”
Sebastian’s word caused Sila to tense up. So far, Sila always defeated his opponents by attacking their vital spots. He had never encountered an enemy that had no vital spot before.
“Anyway, Mister Sila is quite skilled. You’re as skilled as Marquis Rank monster even though you’re only a Knight Rank player. I’ll get more serious this time.”
“Soul Eroding Bloody Fog.” Sebastian’s blood evaporated into red vapor. It gradually expanded all over the room. Sila slightly inhaled it and his lungs felt like they were being slashed by a knife. He placed his hand on his chest and gritted his teeth to endure the pain. His Shapeless Qi automatically activated. Maybe it was due to the power of Qi of Little Turtle within, the pain Sila felt gradually disappeared. He could breathe normally.
Sebastian looked at Sila with a surprised expression. “You can endure the pain from the bloody fog? Normal Knight Ranks shouldn’t be able to. Although it doesn’t cause any damage, you should feel great pain and be unable to continue fighting. Mister Sila always amazes me.”
At the end of the sentence, Sebastian threw the scythe toward Sila.
Sila intended to step away. However, his feet were glued to the floor. Looking down, he found that his ankles were grabbed by several skeleton hands.
“You should be more careful, sir. You can’t flee now, right?”
Sila swiftly bent down and used his hands to destroy the skeleton hands pinning his ankles. The scythe flew over Sila’s head, missing by less than an inch. Sila looked up only to witness Sebastian’s smile.
Sila felt a chilling sensation on his neck. He didn’t know what Sebastian's aim was but he sensed the danger. He bent down by intuition. Meanwhile, the scythe flew over his head back into Sebastian’s hand.
“You dodged it again. Am I that unskilled?”
Sila ignored Sebastian’s joke. He couldn’t detect Sebastian's returning scythe at all. If not for his hidden weapon practice lesson with his teacher, he would have already died by now. His teacher told him that martial artists should depend on instinct over brain. Don’t think while fighting because the brain can’t keep up with the speed of battle. Whatever his body told him to do, just do it. Sometimes, his teacher would fire perfectly concealed hidden weapons toward him. Sila couldn’t dodge them at first. However, he could sense the danger later. This kind of training was something he couldn’t experience in the self-training program.
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“I’ll play no more. I have lost a lot of confidence.”
Sebastian put his palms together while the scythe hovered around him. The floor was shaking more than ever. Hundreds of skeleton soldiers rose from the ground, surrounding Sila.
“Heart Piercer Pike.” The skeletons were compressed into tens of spears and flew at Sila from all directions.
Sila disorderly stepped away while slowly moving toward Sebastian. Now, the importance of the training was no longer on Sila’s mind. This was an emergency. He had to do his best to survive. Sila expanded the power of God’s Cathedral, covering the area around himself to help him read the distance to be able to dodge faster. His steps might seem entangled but they were actually well-organized.
Sebastian smiled while saying, “Release”. Then, the bone spears transformed back into skeleton soldiers. Sila was startled. He didn’t know that Sebastian could do this kind of move. Thus, he was held tightly by the skeletons. All of them jumped at Sila, blocking his sight.
“Corpse Sending Soul Returning Life.” The skeletons radiated intense lights.
Sila instantly put up qi reinforcement. Then, the explosions echoed. All of the skeletons exploded into pieces. Sebastian brushed away the dusts on his shoulder.
Several daggers flew from within the smoke. Sebastian wasn’t careful enough so his whole body was pierced. One was even stabbed on his forehead. Nevertheless, Sebastian wasn’t bothered by it. He calmly took the daggers out of his body one by one while looking back at the disappearing smokescreen.
Sila stumbled on the floor. Wounds were all over his body. Just now, upon realizing that the skeletons were about to blow themselves up, Sila did his best to put up qi reinforcement all over this body. Shapeless Qi also helped strengthen the reinforced power. Moreover, he successfully activated both hardening and softening attributes of Formless Soldier for the first time. His outer skin was as hard as steel while his internal organs were as soft as jelly to lessen the damage. He had to use these many skills just to survive Sebastian’s last attack. Sila’s qi was almost depleted.
“And here I even calculated that you wouldn’t survive that level of attack. Mister Sila always continues to surprise me.”
Sila ignored Sebastian’s words. He quickly rushed at the butler. After being attacked so many times, Sila certainly knew. Sebastian was proficient in attacking both long-range and mid-range but would only defend himself and try to keep a distance if the opponent came closer.
“So you have realized.”
Sebastian slashed at Sila, but Sila didn’t back off. His speed accelerated and he stepped closer to Sebastian. Sila used his shoulder to take the scythe’s handle.
Sila changed himself into earth element to increase the power of his body. He used his qi-reinforced right hand to stab into Sebastian’s body.
Blood flew out from the corner of Sebastian’s mouth. The scary thing was that his expression didn’t change at all. Sebastian spun his scythe and stabbed its handle at Sila’s left foot. As Sila didn’t put his qi reinforcement into his foot, the scythe’s handle pierced and pinned it to the ground. Afterward, Sebastian prepared to retreat.
Sila’s left foot was pinned to the ground. He knew he would die if he let Sebastian successfully widen the distance so he stomped his right foot into Sebastian’s foot without thinking. This foot of his was both hard and heavy. Now, Sebastian’s foot was also pinned to the ground by Sila. The distance between them was only a cubit.
Sila rapidly threw several qi-reinforced punches at Sebastian. These punches were not based on any martial arts. Now that he couldn’t perform Twelve Celestial-Traveling-Steps, Sila could only depend on what he had practiced since young; an unorthodox boxing.
Sebastian’s expression didn’t change. His fingers were like claws. “Heart Gouging Bone Claws.” This was the only melee skill of Sebastian. His hands were so transparent that the bones were visible. The claws plunged down at Sila’s body.
Now, the battle had turned into an endurance match. Sebastian was a magic type which had low health points but he was at Lord Rank. Meanwhile, Sila was only at Knight Rank but possessed high health points due to him selecting qi type. As a result, the two of them had similar amount of health points.
However, Sila had spent too much qi in protecting himself from the explosion. The more he punched, the less qi he could put in qi reinforcement. If his qi was depleted, he could no longer defend himself against Sebastian’s attack. The damage he took was kept at minimum thanks to Shapeless Qi and Formless Soldier. If his qi was gone, just one claw from Sebastian would be enough to send him to afterlife.
Meanwhile, it was different for Sebastian. With the unusual trait of user of the death magic, the closer he is to death, the stronger he will become. His magic power was also enormous. He could use the claws all day without taking a break.
Now, Sila had very limited ways out of this predicament. Moon Reflecting Mirror was a no-go since he couldn’t use it together with another skill. Taking out a pellet to eat while fighting was also out of the question since his opponent wouldn’t allow it. As a result, the only way out left for Sila was Orbiting Cosmos.
Sila used his remaining qi only for defense. As for his punches, he kept changing his elements and threw a punch at Sebastian one by one while observing Sebastian’s reaction toward each element.
With that, Sebastian was surprised again. One of Sila’s fists was hard, one was cold, one was hot, one was fast and one was heavy. Sebastian was having a hard time defending against each distinct attack.
After Sila changed his element to lightning, Sebastian’s body jolted. Sila grinned and held the lightning element within his fist. Every fist he punched at Sebastian kept the butler in a stiffened state.
Sila continuously threw punch after punch at Sebastian. All of his magic power was used to empower these attacks.
Sebastian realized the graveness of the situation. Sila was pulling him into his game. If he didn’t do something to fix this situation, he would undoubtedly lose.
Sebastian’s right claw severed his own left leg that Sila was stepping on before jumping backward.
It was a pity for Sila to lose the opportunity to continue his attack. He took the scythe out of his foot and held onto it for a while, before throwing it back for Sebastian to catch.
Throwing the opponent’s weapon away wasn’t his style, especially when he decided to have a fair fight.
Sebastian caught the scythe with suspicion. He used it as a rod to keep his balance while gazing at Sila with a surprised expression.
Actually, Sebastian could call back his scythe anytime by his will. However, not only did Sila not throw his scythe away, Sila even threw it back for him to catch.
Sila took pride in this fair duel. He didn’t take out the pellet to eat. He stood firmly while circulating qi to heal his wounds and recover his power. His eyes were sharp while looking back at Sebastian.
Sebastian sighed, “I quit.”
Sila was surprised.
“The condition is for you to win against me, sir. Fighting to the death is not required. Admittedly, with me fighting in a human form, although I’m sure to be victorious, you would give me a very difficult time accomplishing that feat. Dueling one-on-one is not my forte anyway. Ah, look at me, my uniform is tattered.”
“I also gained precious fighting experience from Mister Sebastian. I don’t want to kill you if possible. By the way, I don’t know whether monsters can revive upon dying.”
“Most can’t, sir. But trust me, Mister Sila doesn’t want me dead. If I were to die, something scary would happen,” Sebastian said mysteriously.
“Then, what’s next for us?”
“Can you treat your own wounds, sir? I don’t possess healing spells. The only similar spell I have will cause you to become a living corpse instead. I can bring a first-aid kit for you though.”
“I can heal myself using qi. More importantly, Mister Sebastian, what will you do about your leg?”
Sebastian didn’t reply. The cut leg flew into his hand. He put it back in its original position as if nothing had happened.
“Please allow me to change my uniform first, sir.” Sebastian vanished.
Sila dragged himself to the resting room since this place had a higher recovery rate. He closed his eyes and circulated qi to regain his strength. With the help of both Immortal Qi and the high recovery rate of the room, all of Sila’s wounds were miraculously closed.
Sebastian appeared after changing his uniform.
“The time Mister Sila can remain in the place is almost running out, sir. Should we go now?”
“We?”
The system sound alerted.
[You have been acknowledged by the Black Grim Reaper Sebastian, Undead Race, Level 350 Lord Rank. It has become your pet. Since the rank of Sebastian is superior than yours, you have no right to decline its offer.]
[You have been acknowledged by the Black Grim Reaper Sebastian and gotten (S) Black Grim Reaper Card.]
[You have been acknowledged by Black Grim Reaper Sebastian and gotten (S) Combat Butler’s Brooch.]
[You have won against Sebastian within the Mansion of the Seven Deadly Sins, achieving a special condition of the hidden quest Duel Against the Black Grim Reaper. You have gotten Special Dimension’s Add-on: Merry Master.]
Once the system sound died down, Sila turned his head to look at Sebastian with amazement.
“I’m the reward of the hidden quest. Please take care of me from now on, my new master.”