It was [Berserk Mode]. One of Damien’s most rarely used Skills. The reason he didn’t employ it often was simple: because he lost all rational thought when it was activated.
But with his [Super Instincts] and [Heightened Senses] combined, [Berserk Mode] became one of Damien’s most deadly Skills. It made him a coldblooded killer that could do anything and everything to kill whoever it was in front of him.
After all, not only did he get a 10% boost in all his Stats, every single one of his offensive Skills were upgraded to an enraged version of itself. Which simply meant that they were far more effective than before.
Status:
Name: Damien Thorne (BERSERK)
Class: [Legendary Brawler - Level 617]
Titles: [The Boss Killer], [Explorer of the New World], [Death Defier], [Monster Hunter], [Master of Martial Arts], [Sage Mage], [Aura Champion], [Coward]
Stats:
[Strength: 1252 (+100) (+10) (+30) (+25) (+25) (+10%)]
[Magic: 733 (+100) (+10) (+20) (+50) (+30)]
[Speed: 1086 (+100) (+10) (+50) (+25) (+50)]
[Vitality: 669 (+100) (+10) (+50) (+25) (+25)]
Skills: [Enraged Supernova Strike], [Enraged Nebular Punch], [Enraged Soulcrusher], [Berserk Mode], [Aura Creation], [Greater Haste], [Enraged Instant Strike], [Enraged A Hundred Blows], [Enraged Basic Slash], [Disengage], [Jump Over Mountains], [Wind Leap], [Object Appraisal], [Eagle Eye]
Passive Skills: [Super Instinct], [Unbreakable Skin], [Heavenly Bones], [Soul Mastery], [Aura Unleashed], [Greater Durability], [Greater Speed], [Greater Strength], [Indomitable Spirit], [Second Life], [Heightened Senses]
So Damien moved. He did so without thinking. Perhaps if he were going up a boss monster like the Unkillable Hydra or any other boss monster, he would have gotten himself killed with this Skill. After all, boss monsters were unpredictable and often had tricks they could employ that needed to be intelligently navigated.
But Damien was going up against Bronz. Even if the Unkillable Hydra was there, that was not Damien’s target.
As such, it didn’t matter. Even if Damien died.
As long as Bronz was killed first.
Damien shot forward as Bronz tried to fly back, cursing under his breath.
“[Berserk Mode]? What the fuck is that—” the Inquisitor started.
But Damien moved faster. [Enraged Instant Strike].
He appeared in front of Bronz, landing a simple jab to the face. Bronz hadn’t even been able to react because of how quick Damien had been. However, it wasn’t like the attack landed was the most powerful strike.
After all, [Instant Strike] was a Skill that allowed Damien to immediately close the distance and strike an enemy, no matter how far away they were— as long as they were within eyeshot. But it was not a powerful attack.
Not that it mattered, because the most important thing was that Damien had to get his hands on Bronz.
The Inquisitor cursed as he swung up with his pitchfork. The attack struck Damien’s shoulder, but Damien ignored it, barely even grunting as blood spilled from his shoulder. Instead, he grabbed onto Bronz as the two of them tumbled through the air.
Meanwhile, the Unkillable Hydra finally picked itself up from the ground. It turned its many heads towards both Damien and Bronz as they flew across in front of the monster.
“You idiot— are you trying to get us both killed?” Bronz screamed as the Unkillable Hydra opened its mouths.
They sent streaks of purple lightning straight at the both of them. Bronz frantically flapped his wings to avoid the oncoming blasts, all the while Damien clung on.
***
Bronz couldn’t control the Unkillable Hydra— not completely. Even though this was a copy, it was still immensely powerful. So he could only give it basic instructions.
Which was to kill Damien.
Except for the fact that Damien was now clinging onto the trufling’s back. So that meant the Unkillable Hydra was now coming after Bronz too.
“No, don’t come after us!” Bronz cursed as a streak of lightning flashed overhead. He pointed past Damien and the human landed a headbutt. Bronz recoiled, his nose bleeding from the strike. “Fuck— go find that little demon girl’s mother and kill her instead!”
It was a ploy. Meant to get Damien off the trufling and to fight the Unkillable Hydra. After all, considering how much Damien showed to care about the two girls, he would surely do everything he could to stop this command from being fulfilled, right?
Unfortunately, it didn’t work.
Bronz’s eyes widened as the half-naked man raised a fist. An iridescent aura wisped off the balled hand, growing brighter with each passing moment. There was an incredible amount of aura coalescing there.
And Bronz knew it would have blown his head off if it landed.
“[Enraged Nebular Punch]!” Damien screamed in a guttural voice.
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Bronz immediately responded by raising his arms, activating his strongest defensive Skill. “[Barrier Of Hades]!”
There was a flash of light as the attack clashed with the barrier. Bronz braced himself, seeing the scintillating light from the clashing of magic with aura. He gritted his teeth as he held on. But eventually, the purple barrier that surrounded him began to crack.
And he watched as the fist came crashing through the barrier and flew into his face. Bronz wheezed from the impact. He felt his bones breaking. His head almost snapped back. But he had been prepared for the attack, so he survived it.
Bronz flew back as he rubbed the blood off his cheek. Meanwhile, Damien tumbled down through the air, the iridescent aura fading away from him. Even though Bronz was badly hurt, he was glad to see this. At the very least, he would be able to avoid the berserking man for a while in the air.
Or so Bronz thought.
But as Damien fell to the ground, he brought his hands up, aiming at the trufling.
“[Enraged Soulcrusher].”
“What—” Bronz blinked.
And he felt his entire body suddenly being grabbed out of the air by a giant and invisible hand. Bronz writhed and tried to break free. But he felt the arm crushing him. His entire body being squished under the sheer force of this invisible attack.
Bronz groaned and screamed in pain as he closed his eyes. His wings folded behind his back, practically tearing apart from the force of being crushed. Or so he thought.
When Bronz opened his eyes again, his entire body was fine. He was bleeding— aside from the injuries he had sustained from Damien’s [Enraged Nebular Punch] earlier.
Blinking, Bronz tried to comprehend this. But his entire body still felt numb. His wings refused to listen to him. And he tumbled out of the air as his wings failed to work.
“This is so annoying—” Bronz clenched his jaw.
All the while, Damien leapt into the air to intercept the falling truffling. Bronz pointed at Damien, sending an [Inferior Death Ray] at Damien. But Damien simply let the attack land, burning his skin partially as he shot straight up for Bronz.
The two men met in the air again. This time, they were tumbling and falling together. Damien swung down wildly with his fists while Bronz stabbed out with his pitchfork. The two exchanged blows— each strike by Damien causing the trufling to cough out blood. But each swing of the pitchfork by Bronz cut deep into the human’s skin.
So Bronz should have been winning this exchange. He should be slowly wearing Damien down.
He should have been winning!
But as the two of them crashed into the ground, Damien’s pummeling didn’t slow in the slightest. All the while, Bronz gasped and struggled to even lift his pitchfork.
This was impossible. He shouldn’t have been losing this exchange. He should be winning. He was the one who slew the Unkillable Hydra of Tertia. How could he lose to a mere human?
Unfortunately, there was nothing Bronz could do to deny reality as his grip slipped, and his pitchfork dropped to the ground.
“Shit—” the trufling started.
Only to be cut off by a fist to the face. He wheezed as Damien continued to land a barrage of punches, headbutts, and kicks to the fallen trufling. And that was when Bronz realized he couldn’t win.
His teeth shattered from a punch as he stared up at Damien’s enraged face. A second punch broke his cheekbones— his nose was already broken from earlier. At the rate things were going, Bronz was going to die.
So he had to escape. He tried to spread his wings wide again. But Damien conjured up a sword made of his aura, before slashing down.
“[Enraged Basic Slash]!”
Damien ripped off the trufling’s wings as Bronz screamed. Then the realization began to settle in. The time to escape had already passed.
Bronz was going to die here.
“No, please—” he started.
But Damien drowned out the Inquisitor’s begging with the thudding sounds of his punches. Until eventually, all that could be heard coming out of Bronz’s mouth were screams.
Before nothing could be heard again.
***
Aria stared nervously at mama’s body. Even though most of the wounds were gone, mama was still unconscious. So the little demon girl could only wait for mama to wake up.
At least, until papa returned.
Glancing back, Aria saw the fighting in the distance continue. The storm raged on, indicating that the battle was ongoing.
But then the little demon girl paused. Her eyes squinted as she stared into the storm. For a moment, she thought she saw the clouds moving. Like tornados were forming and protruding from the storm.
Then her eyes went wide when she realized those were not tornadoes. Those were heads— serpentine-like heads of a giant monster.
One that was nearly half the size of mama’s true form.
Aria rose to her feet, watching as the many-headed beast began to make its way through the sky, heading straight for her. No— not her. It was heading for mama.
The little demon girl glanced between the approaching storm, then back at the unconscious body of her mama. And Aria didn’t waver. She stood tall as she faced the monster, raising her claws.
Even in the face of such a colossal and powerful beast, she didn’t back down. She stood steadfast. Because Aria would never let anyone harm her mama.
It drew closer and closer, ravaging the landscape in its path. And as thunder boomed in the background while lightning crackled, she stepped forward and roared.
And in response, the monster opened its many mouths and— began to crumble.
Aria blinked, watching as the monster suddenly crashed into the ground, its body breaking apart. The storm faded away all around it as the many heads of the beast whimpered. Then with a flash of light, it completely disappeared.
Looking down at herself, Aria stared at her clawed hands. “Did I do that?”
***
Damien continued pummeling the lifeless corpse of Bronz for another half an hour, before he blinked and regained his senses. He looked down at his bloodied body, before he stared at the pile of meat and bones that was once the Inquisitor.
And Damien groaned as he felt the accumulation of injuries he suffered from the battle wash over him. “Ouch…”
He lay back to the ground as he stared at the sky overhead. The dark clouds were clearing, and the azure blue day was returning.
“This is why I don’t like to use that Skill,” Damien whispered to himself.
But then he saw the flash of a blue screen.
And he grinned to himself.
“Although… I guess it does have its upsides too.”
*ding!*
You have slain [Trufling - Level 630]!
You have gained more experience for defeating an enemy at least 10 levels above you!
*ding!*
For defeating a copy of the Unkillable Hydra, the Terror of Tertia, you have earned the Title [Immortalslayer]!
+100 [Strength]
+100 [Magic]
+100 [Speed]
+100 [Vitality]
*ding!*
You have leveled up!
Class [Legendary Brawler] is now Level 618!
[Strength] +5
[Vitality] +15
*ding!*
You have leveled up!
Class [Legendary Brawler] is now Level 619!
[Strength] +3
[Speed] +3
[Vitality] +5
*ding!*
Passive Skill [Super Instinct] has been upgraded to [Ultimate Instinct]!
*ding!*
Skill [Berserk Mode] has been upgraded to [Rage Unleashed]!
*ding*
You have gained the Skill [Vengeance Fist]!