Alarm bells started ringing in my head, and i instinctively tilted my head to the side in a sudden movement. In that split second, I saw a dagger thrown, shaving off a couple of hair strands.

I heightened my senses and became wary of my surroundings. I tried seeing through the darkness yet i could not, like something was preventing me to. There was a glint of silver at the corner of my eye, and i tumbled to the side as i saw two daggers go right past me.

The environment was unfamiliar but i couldn't let it affect my mind. I could figure out where i am later. Not feeling like being the only one being attacked, i used {Lightning Movement} to where the dagger was coming from.

The moment i flashed to the location, i came across a hooded person shrouded in darkness. It was about to stab me with his short sword but i deflected it, and sliced his neck with my knife. But when i supposedly made contact, i felt nothing. Not like emotionally, but i literally felt my blade slicing at the air.

Still, the thing i sliced became a puff of smoke and disappeared. It confused me as i didn't expect this to happen. I expected something like blood spurting but there was nothing. I shook it off and focused on the situation.

Various thoughts ran through my head on what was happening, and i thought of my last memory before being here. Then it hit me.

As i thought the absorption process was over, everything was black after that. So if i am unconscious after that, then there was only one proper answer.

I gave a sigh as i thought, 'I'm dead’.

It seems to be the most logical solution. This place is definitely hell and based on the pitch-black darkness as far as the eye can see, and the massive fireball forming in the distance, it can only mean that im in hell.

I took pride in my high-level deduction and as i was about to praise myself more, I remembered the strange fireball forming in the air. Which was giving me a sense of familiarity, like it was a spell i saw before already. I couldn't observe it anymore since it was rapidly moving towards me.

That’s not good.

Unsheathing my sword in one swift movement, I felt a little confident in cutting it down. It may be the same feel as {Hellfire} but I don't think its as strong as Ms. Flying Tiger uses.

The {Hellfire} was close and I thought it would be lighting up everything in its path. It didn't. The abyss like darkness was still the same and didn't operate by the law of common sense. So without thinking about it much more, I darted towards it and swung my sword, intending to cut it in half.

I expected it to get sliced in half... and it did.

The spell split in half and grazed my sides. I felt an exhilarating feeling when i did, remembering the times i was burnt to crisps by it. But my celebration didn't last long when i saw that another {Hellfire} was about to crash in my direction.

It caught me off guard but I sliced it again nonetheless, and just when I thought that was it. Another one was arriving. Slicing it again, and another one replaced it. Then something terrible happened. Once I sliced one, it became two, then three, and then it became five...

That wasn't fair, they skipped a number. Still, despite my perpetual motion of cutting it in half every time, it became even more absurd when five became eight. Not fair indeed.

When it became ten, it was no longer chopping board material and I dodged it all by using {Lightning Movement}. Cutting that much was way above my current skill set. So I began running in the dark, but the numerous amounts of {Hellfire} chased me at every end.

No matter how much i ran and dodged, the mage kept firing the damned thing like he had infinite mana. So this was what Hell felt like. All of a sudden the ten {Hellfire} became twenty as it came from every possible direction.

Leaving me no place to dodge and only slice but like hell I'm slicing that much. {Lightning Movement} might seem viable but it will keep continuing until i run out of mana or they do. And I don't think I'm gonna be winning that competition.

I calmed down my chaotic mind and thought of a way out. I still had a few seconds to solve this. The few spells i know popped up into my head but none of them were viable. But i suddenly remembered something.

Something i need wasn't a spell, but a weapon. It just so happens that i have one within me right now. I grinned and thought of the weapon that Mr. Lucius Gifted to me.

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I sheathed my Chokuto and conjured my Scythe. It appeared in splendid fashion, its blade lightly gaining. Its shaft being darker than the darkness around me, with its sharpness seemingly unparalleled.

With a spin, i gripped my scythe with both hands and swung at the coming fireball in a full three hundred sixty degrees. Slicing every single one in half as it dissipated in the dark.

Before the mage could fire another twenty at me, i ran to the direction my instincts were telling me and took a swing at the dark. I still felt no contact but i had a feeling that i killed it, as i saw something dissipate into nothingness.

A sense of pure relief washed over me, as i slumped into the ground, panting as i tried to catch my breath. Just as i was about to relax, i felt a tinge of hotness in my body. Before my mind could react, i thought of dodging but i felt that it was too late.

I gazed at the dark sky and saw a {Hellfire} hanging within the heavens. Unmoving yet the utter despair was enough to make me fear it. Running various situations in my head, i saw no foreseeable way in getting out of this one.

The best-case scenario for me this time is that i would it would leave me with a charred body. And even then that seems unlikely.

Several seconds passed but it didn't look like it was about to drop. Puzzling me to why that is. In the corner of my eyes, i glimpsed at something. Sheathing my Chokuto as fast as possible, i threw it and predicted where the shadow will move, feeling as if i pierced something.

I electrified my feet as i used {Lightning Movement} towards where my Chokuto was. I arrived and saw that my Chokuto stabbed the ground instead. But i definitely felt that i pierced something. But even if i did, why is the {Hellfire} still hanging in the sky?

Peering at the sky, without warning the massive {Hellfire} that seemed to cover every part of this space started dropping. It fell slowly at a snail's pace as if it was enjoying my miserable situation. No matter how fast i ran, that thing will eventually hit me regardless of its speed.

Still, i didn’t give up on thinking of various solutions to this.

Since that thing started coming down, then it means that I did indeed kill the mage. I mean nobody is stupid enough to drop a massive fireball that big while they were in it. I looked up and saw that it was getting closer, the glaring brightness of it made me feel it would burn my eyes out.

I grasped the shaft of my scythe and felt the reliable feeling of it. The comfort of defense against my enemies. Yet it only eased the fast-paced beating of my own heart, with my mind slowly declining to utter chaos and despair.

There was still one solution to this but the aftereffects of it will either kill me or leave me half-dead. Either way, I'm fucked.

But that is enough. As long as I am breathing then I have a chance. Sigh, well let’s hope I'm still breathing by the end of it.

I readied myself for what was to come and thought of one of the unlockable skills in my scythe. It turns out that the scythe didn't just come with a damn good weapon, it also came with unlockable skills that i can use but i need to fulfill certain conditions for me to use it.

And it so happens that the first skill i learned once i equipped my scythe can give me an edge in getting out of this mess. But there’s just a slight problem.

My palms started to sweat as i thought of ‘that skill’. The name of the skill is ‘Unity in Death’. From what i can guess, the name of the skill isn't that pretty and the effects of it on me aren’t gonna look pretty either. But hey what the heck, either way, I'm pretty much dead, and at least with this skill, it can give me a fighting chance.

I glared at the sheer brightness of the{Hellfire}, steeling myself i chanted.

“Unity in Death.”

In a split second, i felt powerful. From the cells in my body to feeling everything in my surroundings. I saw through everything. The truth laid out in front of me like the parts of a house, letting me see the complexity of the spell, its structure, and its circuits. I saw everything

I even saw through the supposed darkness which instead of darkness, it contained nothing. The place I was in was limited yet unlimited at the same time. Its complexity was enough to shatter my brain thus forcing me to look away and gaze at the incoming {Hellfire}.

That sequence of events happened at only a fraction of a second. Its effects were even more impressive than i expected, i can only imagine its effects. I felt the limit of my own body and mind disappear. Yet i felt that the duration of this isn't going to last a few seconds.

Half a second passed and i made no more wasted though. I leaped from the ground, going so fast that when a second passed the ball of fire was in front of me. I gripped my scythe with both hands as i felt my veins bulging. I swung my Scythe as powerful as i can and made contact, feeling my body pass through the fireball.

I felt Unharmed as i sliced the fireball in half thus avoiding the terrible disaster in front of me. But there’s a slight problem.

When a second and a half passed, i no longer felt powerful as the duration of the spell seemed to be over. And unfortunately, I'm still high up in the air.

And so with gravity still being a thing here, i started dropping from the sky like a meteor crashing down on the Earth. Familiar feeling I must say. In a few moments, i blasted into the ground and fell flat on my back. Effectively paralyzing me as it broke every bone in my body with the aftereffects of the spell taking effect.

I'm pretty confident now that I won't be using the skill anytime soon as the effects even amplified my pain receptors. I tried breathing but i only felt blood welling up in my throat, as i coughed and blood splattered on the ground.

Despite myself being half dead, a strange sense of relief washed over my body, replacing my mangled and deeply torn body When suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something, and I immediately recognized it when I saw the armor it was wearing.

It was a Knight.

It started coming close to me and when it was staring down at me, i saw its deep red eyes through its helmet, making me realize that this is it for me. I'm dead.

I was about to say something when the knight wasted no more words, he unsheathed his sword and plunged it at my heart, lodging my body against the ground in the process.

Feeling my consciousness fading, i remembered the promise i made to myself when i came to this continent, yet it seemed that i can no longer fulfill it.

I kept my eyes open as i admired the beautiful darkness in the sky one last time.