Artificial Fantasy

Chapter 101: Risky Final Blow

"[Cross Slash]!"

"[Parry]!"

"[Cross Slash]!"

"[Flurry of Blades]!"

"[Cross Slash]!"

This happens a few more times as I try to chip the undead general down until he kneels. Despite this, he keeps standing and I see no scratches or damages on his armor added to the ones I made earlier. And it's all because his [Mana Armor] has overlaid his armored body. When he said it was impenetrable against my physical attacks, he wasn't kidding. What's worse is that he hasn't attacked me at all. He has just taken all of my attacks like nothing! I wondered if he was cheating with this OP skill because he was desperate. No, the better question is how strong he was when he was alive?!

[What's the matter, kid? Where did all that bravado go? You already showed me your conviction. Yet you're starting to give up because you can't use your usual tactics anymore. I can say the same with your defense.]

He's right. I haven't had any luck avoiding and blocking his counterattacks. Even with my [Parry], it isn't enough to endure most of his attacks. And there is no way I can prolong this fight any longer.

"Ask an undead general who has years of experience on the battlefield while a guy like me only spent months beating up bears, living trees, and large ants who killed me and my brother," I snark. "But that doesn't stop me from kicking your ass!"

Yeah, declaration aside, I don't know how to win this fight. I know I have to risk it all to do it, but how can I achieve it by maximizing the damage without killing myself in the process? There must be some way I can defeat him. Even with that one skill failing me back then, it won't be enough!

[Ah, there you go again. Having your conviction doesn't mean you have to get too confident about yourself.]

Now that I think about it, why did it fail in the first place? I met the requirements before, but it never activated. Was it a bug in the system or was it something that seems to be hidden in this fight? He disabled my stats and skill UI windows so I can't rely on them right now. But is there anything else that stands out from this fight?

[Or have you started to have second thoughts about this?]

Okay, think! I have limited time to do so before he starts yapping away. Since I'm limited to [Swordsmanship Mastery] for this fight, then it should affect the same way as Veritates! Although he does have some high-level skills that I don't have right now, I don't know if that's enough for me to determine his strength. But I know he has to have a weakness somehow! There is no way he could have continued fighting if he lets his [Mana Armor] linger for too long. That must have cost him a lot of [MP] and I don't know if this logic applies to monsters, but he must have a large amount of it despite him being an [Insignis] from the past. Then again, does the [Insignis] race have some skills related to [MP]?

[Despite everything, you still rely on brawns instead of your brains.]

Now that I think about it, is there any skill related to his [Mastery] or [Race]?

[Race]... [Mastery]... Something that might have bypassed the handicap of this fight...

Maybe a special skill? A skill that only he can use in his past life? Maybe something similar to Kazu's strange [Mastery] he got from Bai Hu?

[Or rather, you felt like you won't be able to measure up to yourself because of your self-proclamation to protect your brother just to make yourself better?]

I swear if he keeps repeating my issues again and again...

Wait, that's it! I think I got the answer. But all that is left is to find proof of it. If I'm wrong, then I'll have to do this fight all over again and I am so done with this fight!