100 An Unstoppable Force (1/2)

The confident smile on the mouths vanished. I dashed towards the monster, adjusting my approach. Kessiah shot out a lightning fast straight at my face. I sunk into the earth as I spun on my heels. Without having to even duck, I slid under the punch by sinking into the ground.

I slammed my fist into Kessiah’s stomach. It rattled my fist before Kessiah kicked at my legs. Using my overcharged runes, I jumped upwards. Kessiah’s kick glided past my feet as I grabbed her helmet. I dragged her up with me before slamming her into the ground.

As we landed, giant slabs of earth upturned as a pit formed beneath us. I stood over her with her back against the ground. Keeping composed, I kept my elbows tight against my sides. With quick, controlled strikes, I sliced three hooks against her jaw. Her head whipped back and forth against the ground before she reached out.

I leaned back just enough, her clawed hands scraping my armor. As her arm pulled back, I shot forward, pummeling two more hooks into her jaw. She reached out with her right hand towards my neck, but I sidestepped her grab. With her arm reaching up, I countered with a right straight. It slammed into her face as she howled in frustration,

“Why can I never hit you when we fight?”

I ignored her, gaging my range as I dashed in and out of her grasp. She raised her hands and slammed the ground. A wave of dust and chips of stone billowed out. It might have stopped me a 1000 levels ago, but that was no longer the case.

I covered my eyes and ears with armor, using my gravitational sense in place of sight and hearing. I stomped her chest three times before she flailed her arms in frustration. Based on her her mouth moved as she did, she was screaming obscenities. I couldn’t hear her. I focused on the task at hand. I slammed strike after strike against her, whittling her down over time.

After several minutes of literally beating her into the ground, I stomped her neck. A shockwave ushered forth form her, pushing me back. She stood up, the eldritch armor smiling.

“She has succumbed.”

I analyzed her,

Kessiah Crow, the Flesh Golem(lvl 3143) - The tiny bits and pieces of the Endless Flesh lingering in Kessiah’s body have taken control of her mind. In order to use Kessiah’s Blood Arts, the Endless Flesh hasn’t assimilated her. This means the eldritch can use its rapid regeneration as fuel for Kessiah’s Blood Arts.

Fortunately, even rudimentary combat techniques aren’t within this monster’s arsenal. It’s strength, speed, and power are all extremely high, but it doesn’t have the skill to use them. Sacrificing its high regeneration for Blood Arts also makes it susceptible to prolonged combat.

The host, Kessiah Crow, can also create instability in the monster’s combat patterns. These limitations lower the danger level of this eldritch. At your current combat level, this enemy will surely kill you regardless. The gap in levels and attributes is simply too high. Evasion is advised until you’ve strengthened yourself.

Something I learned early on about Schema’s advisories are that they are like carpet bombing. They don’t consider my history, my armor, not anything important. The warnings are based on what I specced points into and my level, nothing else. Based on my own performance, killing higher level creatures was expected. This fucker would be no different.

So without fear, I kept myself tucked in and tight as I paced towards Kessiah. She bulleted towards me, the ground cracking in her wake. I couldn’t keep up as she slammed her fist into my stomach.

The ground beneath us quaked with a great rumble as I shot backwards. The air spiraled around me before I hit it. I adapted, piercing my fingers and feet into the ground. I dragged backwards, momentum carrying me a block further away. Kessiah already enlarged in my sight as she charged towards me.

Ready for impact, I planted my feet. There was no running away. Hod might be dead in a nearby house. Torix laid face down in the dirt, his unconscious body not even breathing. We weakened the eldritch with our fights, but it would feast on the planet if I left it unchecked. The next time I faced it, the monster would be unstoppable.

My only answer was to become unstoppable first. The monster was only so fast. It was only so strong. It was like a child given the body of a god. I didn’t need to be faster than it. I needed enough speed to counter, duck, and dodge around is.

The last strike almost hit me faster than my senses could perceive it. In the back of my mind, there was a tiny weakness in my foe. At the very edge of my limits, I could’ve dodged that strike. At the horizon of my current potential, victory was within my grasp.

This was not impossible. It bordered on impossible, but it only skirted that line. I needed focus. I needed to dig deep and pull out all the stops. Every advantage, every skill, every second of my last year of life boiled down to this. I fought hard every day for this single opportunity. If I slacked off anymore, I wouldn’t have the skills I needed for winning this.

But I had put in the time. I had put in the effort. I grounded myself, rooting my mind in a firm belief that I could and would win. All these thoughts passed in a moment before Kessiah reached me. With that absolute conviction, I was ready for her charge.

And so, she came.

Like a tidal wave, she crashed towards me. Straining my senses, I demanded they react faster than before. I overworked my body, commanding it move in time. Kessiah punched for my gut once more, but I countered her.

It took all I was. Nothing else existed in my mind but that single moment. Every part of my body, from my fists to my feet, worked with a brutal grace. I shifted myself, my hand colliding into her face. The force flowed from the my knuckles to my shoulders and into the ground.