BXBX NOVEL Chapter 47: You Don't Stand A Chance
He knew that the Pantheon was not paying heed to him today, after all, Ikaris had ascended into the cosmos a few hours before and was in the middle of a challenge issued by Renia, usually he would have refused the offer, but she promised to not break anything or anyone, so he let her do as she pleased, they had stacked up on two months of magic and she was beginning to become restless.
With her absence and Renia\'s challenge, the entire pantheon was paying attention, he had already warned her of betrayals and told her to return to his side by any means if they tried to ambush her, the key here was that she not reveal that she is in a weakened state and dependent on him to access her full power.
[Due to your opponent\'s special conditions your overall strength and stats have increased by 80%]
The heroes saw the message and looked at Sol, it was a calm morning, just a little before noon, the wind was still cool and the birds were still chirping. But before them stood a figure that felt like a moon was crashing toward them.
"Why, even after I see and feel such a massive increase in magic, I still feel like if I attack him I might die?" Bruce asked, and the others seemed to agree.
Sol was patient, he stood there facing them without action or a single word for over five minutes, and they had yet to attack, but as that time dragged on, he began losing interest.
[Boredom]
The five heroes saw the popup and looked ahead at Sol again, his guard was down, and he yawned lazily and sighed at their hesitance.
"I understand you\'re unsure, but even if there isn\'t a time limit the object of this challenge is not to defeat me, because frankly speaking; even with your stats raised by eighty percent, you still don\'t stand a chance." He stared at them with his one eye.
"I even gave you the advantage of numbers and took magic and weapons from myself, just get it over with." He went into a fighting pose with one hand folded behind his back. "If you don\'t attack me within the next ten seconds, I\'m going to end this challenge in five strikes!"
"Fuck!" Dina used wind magic to gain height above everyone\'s heads and cast three firebolts at him, Sol\'s taunt had worked.
"There we go," Sol dodged the first two and sunk under the third as he went into a slow sprint, further nerfing himself just so he could fight on their level.
"Fine then-" Eris clashed her palm onto her fist and created a large ring of healing magic that encompassed the entire field.
"Dina, keep him away from our healer, Bruce take the first hit and create an opening, and Usami, back me up with midranged melee!" Han took command and Sol raised a brow.
Sara had told him that they lacked teamwork but those were very good instructions coming from the heroes\' party leader.
"Let\'s see then," Sol dodged Bruce\'s broadsword and stopped the shield with a flick of his finger sending the tanker skating backwards on his heels as Usami came from above him with two spears in her grasp and several more appearing around her.
"Don\'t blame me if anything happens!" Usami spun and released the first spear from several metres away, and Sol easily dodged it and then the other three spears that followed like a slow shower of arrows.
While she approached him slowly Han snaked his way through her spears and tried cleaving into Sol\'s leg with his sword, but Sol caught the sword between his index and middle finger and spun it out of the man\'s hands raising his foot and thrusting it forward with a chuckle.
"Han!" Eris jolted with a wince when she saw Han raise his arms into a cross just fast enough to prevent his chest from caving in when Sol kicked him toward Brice causing the two of them to crash again.
"Uoooooo" Usami cancelled her many spear summons and approached Sol with a single spear spinning and twirling it around her body skillfully to try and distract him.
"All these unnecessary movements..." Sol raised his foot and blocked several of her swings midway, throwing her off balance and spinning within her strike space before she could attack, stepping on the spear and causing the blade to get buried in the ground at her feet. "You should focus on being more precise," Sol stood directly before her while she struggled to raise her spear.
"Being flashy barely ever wins a 1v1." Sol raised his knee in her stomach and then retreated several paces away from her dodging Han\'s attack after he and Bruce had recovered.
"Damnit!" Han patted Usami\'s shoulder as he and Bruce rushed toward Sol again.
"Oop!" Sol seemed to teleport with the speed he moved after a bolt of lightning descended from the blue skies above appearing within Striking distance of Han who took the bate and almost had his arm broken when Sol swiped his feet from beneath him while ducking beneath his strike.
"Damn...!" Bruce charged with his shield.
[Minotaur rampage]
Sol barely leapt and pressed his foot against the shield riding out the shock of the wild attack that cleaved a path through the ground and sent him flying into the air.
[Gravity manipulation]
[Fireball]
[Energy bolt]
Dina triple casted while she was still airborne and swiped her staff downward.
[Combined magic]
"Origin explosion!" She yelled out just as a large golden sphere crackling with electricity manifested above Sol\'s head like a small sun. "Han, Bruce, back off!" Dina created several more of the destructive spheres without words and swung her staff around, controlling them toward him.
"Well, at least Dina gets it," Sol stood his ground swinging his hand and batting the first one off to the far side of the field where it exploded into a pillar of lightning that shot up into the air causing the entire field to rumble, and then speedily avoided the rest leaving craters in the field like a battleground.
"Did you teach her that?" Morn looked at Arla, but saw the surprise on the half-elf\'s face as she grinned in fascination.
"I\'m not done yet!" Dina released her spear and took hold of the magic in the air around her with her bare hands, forcing it into a star-like shape of solid magic and then holding on to it.
[New magic: Spirit, has been created]
"Whaaa~?" Arla stood and started cheering excitedly.
"He gained all this strength by sneaking out and training in private?" Lyra asked shocked as she stared at Sol. "How terrifying."
[Origin explosion x3]
"Descend!" Dina balled her fist and punched downward, sending the spheres after Sol like cannon balls, but again he dodged the first two simply and swatted the third out of the way and toward Eris who was using long-distance healing on Han so he could recover faster.
[Spirit has been activated]
Dina released the star, and it rushed over to Eris faster than [origin explosion] and erected a barrier around her that deflected the attack skyward where it harmlessly dissipated.
"Why you...!" Dina abandoned her wind magic and fell to the ground as she closed her eyes and prepared another large scale spell, and while Sol attempted to charge and remove her from the challenge, Bruce intercepted him with his [minotaur rampage], but unlike the first time Sol spun out of the way of his attack, grabbed him by the back plate of his armour and held him over his back like a shield, using him to block a spear from Usami that pierced and tore out a chunk of his side.
"Usami, what the fuck!?" Han looked around at Usami who had an expression of disbelief on her face as she released her grasp of another spear.
[Mountain Cleaver]
"I\'m not down yet!" Bruce struggled his way out of Sol\'s loose grip and landed on his feet, spinning with his large sword, but he and everyone watched shocked when Sol casually caught the sword by the blade, putting the momentum to a sudden stop and causing the ground behind him to explode outward as the kinetic energy behind the swing carried on.
"No, you are done," Sol pulled the blade toward himself and spun with a roundhouse kick in Bruce\'s temple that sent him flying across the field and creating a ditch as he crashed next to the spectating captains. "Rest."
[Challenger Bruce Chaolong has been forefeit from the duel by way of knockout]
"Shit!" Eris lowered her gaze.
"I- I\'ll heal him, Eris, do not lose focus!" Idria rushed over toward Bruce who had already started bleeding out from Usami\'s spear-wound.
"Thanks, healer!" Han summoned a katana and went into a stance, while Usami fell to her hands and knees and began shaking from shock.
Sol frowned at her, and in that moment a sword appeared at his neck, and behind it swinging with full momentum arching and turning almost like a dancer was Han, his teeth grit tightly and his eyes glazed over with murderous intent. "Sol Vestic-"
[Strengthen activated]
[Quick steps activated]
[Conditions met]
[Unique trait acquired: skill creation activated]
[Sword Dance form 1: Thunderbird]
"-you\'re dead!!"