She couldn’t take pleasure in forcing her to use a sixth-tier scroll. No guarantee it was her only one. She might have several more. In which case, she stood no chance of winning with standard tactics. Still—no matter how many Heal scrolls this girl had, she had an ace that could kill her.
She couldn’t use it yet, though. She had few things to try first.
For one, nobody used Heal on a scratch. She’d done plenty of damage, so what she should do now is attack so relentlessly, the girl couldn’t use another scroll.
Her plan set, No Death raised her scythe. She used her martial arts and lunged back into range.
This time, she was aiming for the wrist.
What?!
The girl didn’t even try and dodge.
A moment ago, she’d merely seemed unable to match No Death’s speed, but not now. She didn’t even show signs of trying to defend herself. No Death remembered how this had gone last time—but if she was this close, she had to attack.
As she entered lethal range, she spun herself like a top, maximizing centrifugal force and slamming the scythe on the girl’s forearm.
She sped past. Did blood spray as the girl’s hand and armor flew away? Nope. That move had typically sliced through lesser armors, but this girl’s wrist remained intact.
It was insanely hard.
Nothing like that belly.
Those wrists were covered in armor, so that might go without saying, but it was even harder than expected. Was the armor itself a match for what the Six Gods had worn, or was she using some sort of defensive martial art?
Worst of all was how she’d blocked No Death’s mightiest blow with her arm alone, not even staggering.
But No Death didn’t have time to think.
As she blocked the blow to her right wrist, the girl shifted the staff to her left hand only and was already swinging it down.
Wanting to avoid a painful repeat, No Death used Instant Reflex and Evasion, desperately twisting away.
But even with this, she couldn’t fully avoid it.
Instant Reflex ensured she was positioned right, and she had activated a martial art as the attack came in but it was still too late to evade.
The blow dug into No Death’s shoulder. She was mentally ready for this one, so she timed a martial art at the same instant she expected the hit to land.
Super Defense Boost.
This upped her defenses. Not as powerful as Reinforce Outer Skin, but No Death was a half elf; she had no outer skin.
Even with the martial art, the blow hurt like it had gone halfway through her. Super Defense Boost barely did a thing. The outcome was only slightly better than last time.
She managed to stifle a groan. No need to tell her foe how hurt she was. But—
Not good.
The exchange had made it clear this was the girl’s true strategy.
Just like it had the first time.
When No Death attacked, she struck back. The girl’s approach was simply let her opponent land a blow and then hit back harder.
Possibly because she couldn’t score a clean hit fighting any other way, but No Death doubted that. The girl had chosen this approach for a reason.
She knows she’s got the defenses for it…is she a tank, like Cedran? Is that why the belly’s exposed? What damage she takes, Heal can handle.
If her offense was a bit lacking and her build focused on defense—a tank who could cast and as strong as No Death herself—then the girl’s estimated abilities made sense. Though the battering damage seemed a bit too brutal for that.
Maybe the staff was a magic item, with power of its own. It was strong enough that even a weapon used by the Six Gods could not cut through it, so that seemed likely.
No Death was growing more and more certain this was the girl who’d been at the King of Darkness’s side. Given his powerful spells and terrifying armies, it made sense he’d have a store of incredible equipment for his minions.
She stepped back a bit, bracing her scythe, watching the girl’s movements carefully.
The dark elf was standing rock steady while No Death kept throwing herself at her.
Like a rookie going at a veteran.
I really am screwed here.
The girl had the advantage.
She could fully block No Death’s blows, while unleashing attacks No Death couldn’t dodge. Did the source of the girl’s confidence lie in her physical skills, her defense, her offense, or her healing? It was hard to say, but if this girl had decided on the simple formula of taking a hit, hitting back, and then healing up, then she must have decided she could win that way. Maybe she was intentionally choosing a less efficient fighting style to see what tricks No Death had to offer.
Given that this girl seemed to have no intention of closing the distance and attacking herself, she might be trying to buy time until her backup arrived. She wasn’t sure how strong they were, but their arrival would definitely tip the balance to the girl’s side. That would explain why she’d be going for a battle of attrition, slowly but surely racking up damage.
No Death had few options here. Ideally, she wanted to play her foe’s game and come out ahead. Landing her own hits, while preventing the girl from landing any more. But that was clearly not working out.
The girl’s armor was absurdly impenetrable, and to stand any chance of harming her, No Death had to fully commit to the attack. And that meant she would inevitably be exposed, which the girl could use against her. So what now?
I’m at an impasse. Do I use this?
No Death’s gaze flicked down to her grip, to the scythe in her hand.
Charon’s Guidance, the scythe once used by the god Sulshana. It was made of a rare metal the Theocracy had yet to discover, giving it durability and lethality that matched its previous owner.
It allowed the use of Death twice every eight hours.
It also had an extensive spell list; every four hours, it allowed five casts from it.
Undead Flames, which applied negative energy to her attacks.
Undeath Avoidance, protection against intelligent undead.
Create Undead, which allowed her to make undead monsters.
Disease, which could inflict sickness.
Sleep to the Undead, which had a shot at instantly destroying undead with no Repel resistance.
Evileye, which allowed her choice of a range of sight-based effects.
Death Mask, which defended against sight-based effects while boosting Fear.
And Hand of Glory, which could be used two ways.
That wasn’t all, either—every twenty-four hours it could summon thirty spartiates—a special undead equivalent to the fifth-tier summonable heavy skeleton warrior. Spartiates came with better equipment, but since they couldn’t be buffed with special skills, they were weaker overall. Still, this was a genuinely impressive magic item.
No Death thought it felt too early to pull a card from her sleeve.
She still had options in basic combat and showing her hand while still having no clue what her foe had in store felt like she was losing the mind games.
“Er, um…a-are you not coming?” the girl stammered.
No Death swore under her breath.
She wants me to attack?! I’ll show this little shit!
She leaped backward, activating a few martial arts.
Dual Air Slash. Sturdy Arm, Strong Blow. Flow Acceleration. She swung her scythe, and two blades formed in the path of the swing, shooting toward the girl.
Who stepped forward.
Forward.
Projectile-based martial arts—like Air Slash—had less force than a direct hit. But with a blade bearing down on you, paying that no heed and advancing right into it? That was madness.
No, I did the same thing to her. This sure does rattle you.
When the aura blades hit the girl, she winced—though this also seemed kinda phony—but that was all. As she stepped within range, she grunted, swinging that black staff with a highly telegraphed motion.
No Death managed to evade this one.
The girl’s attacks still didn’t pass muster. But they were clearly getting more polished. At first, they’d been something No Death could manage, but now even if she was ready for them, a moment’s hesitation would mean she wouldn’t land a clean hit.
Keep grinning! Laugh! Make her think you can read every move!
No Death forced a smile onto her lips and laughed loud enough that the girl could hear.
Was that stiff smile convincing? The girl was swinging again.
I’ve gotta leave myself enough room to pop Greater Evasion or I’m done.
She tried backing off to get some range, but the girl just closed on in.
The gap wasn’t widening.
“Spartiates!”
Five undead rose up like a wall between them.
The girl swung, and one went down.
Five spartiates wouldn’t block more than five of this girl’s blows, but that was plenty.
No Death kicked off the wall into a vault, skimming the ceiling and trying to get behind the girl.
But the girl’s knees bent, and then she leaped back like the ground had exploded. Really didn’t want to get surrounded? The spartiates weren’t a threat, but maybe she thought they’d get in her way, act as a distraction?
She clearly wasn’t taking any damage from their blows.
The girl launched herself backward, and as her feet touched down, she stabbed the staff into the floor, scraping a groove to bring herself to a quick stop. A ridiculous action. Too much momentum forcibly controlled by ludicrous arm strength.
Such a…weird choice. Is she not used to going all out? Or just not that experienced in combat?
No Death sent a mental order to her spartiates to advance. Undead knew no fear, so they obeyed, all throwing themselves at the girl. No Death followed in their wake.
The girl pulled out another scroll.
“Fire Storm.”
A torrent of flames blanketed the area. The raging inferno burned No Death but vanished in an instant, as if it had been but an illusion. The blistering burns left behind proved it had been real. The only saving grace was that since she’d used a scroll, the spell hadn’t done that much damage.
The spartiates were still technically mobile, too. But that just meant they hadn’t taken fatal damage. If another spell hit, they’d be gone for sure.
No Death spun the scythe around her body, sideswiping the girl with the butt end. She hit armor, so it was hard to be sure, but it didn’t seem like the blunt strike did any extra damage. The spartiates each thrust their spear, but all were parried with a single sweep of the staff, which moved so fast that it kicked up a gale. Only No Death’s blows were even capable of making contact.
But she took advantage of the opening, spinning like a dancer and dropping low like a scuttling spider, skimming a slash at the girl’s ankles.
This went right through the nearby spartiate, and it vanished. That was a summon’s lot in life.
Moving like she was aiming for the girl’s Achilles tendon, the scythe’s blade sliced her armor. Sparks flew.