Chapter 32

Skill active: Relentless! Survived with 1 HP after taking fatal damage!

Crap! I’m in trouble!

I punched through a building behind me to activate God-Killing Fist. The skill negated the damage of each impact, but I still smashed through more than thirty buildings before coming to a stop.

I landed safely, but I couldn’t relax long. I noticed a strange shadow looming over me, then looked up to see Baldy holding a massive tower in his hands! What in the world?!

“Bwah ha ha ha ha! When my HP drops below half, I get a boost from my Frantic Strength skill! Now I can do some real damage!” With his strength boosted to some ridiculous new high, he threw the tower down at me like a slam dunk!

That’s the last thing I need! If I get crushed under that, I won’t survive the constant damage! I’ve got no choice but to use... “Forbidden summoning! Chimeratic Machine Goblin!”

An ominous dark summoning circle appeared in front of me, followed by the creaking of rusted gears as an artificial Goblin King emerged. This monster was born from a fusion of Goblin King meat and a rare item known as Broken Mechanism from an Advanced Ancient Civilization. Its stats were all close to zero with the exception of its high defense. The creature was born to die as my shield.

“I’m counting on you! Die for me!”

“Gob gih gah!” Gas vented from pipes along the machine goblin’s entire body as it caught the tower. The ground at its feet immediately cracked, and sparks flew from its many gears, but the mechanical goblin held its ground with a mighty show of spirit and resilience as I took refuge behind it.

Now I’d better make a good showing of my own. As the machine goblin was breaking down, I leaped onto its back, then began running up the side of the tower. “I’m coming for you, Baldy!”

At the tower’s peak, Baldy looked down at me in shock. “Wh-What?! You can run up walls?! Do rules not apply to you?!”

I could never have pulled off this stunt alone. From within my boots, Armor Knight was making sure my feet found the tiny imperfections in the tower’s surface to give me enough purchase.

“Goh gih... Guh... Go... Master go!” I heard the machine goblin cheering me on, followed by the sound of it being crushed under the tower’s weight.

Meanwhile, I was conjuring another dark summoning circle. “Forbidden summoning! Chimeratic Lightning Wolf, come forth!”

“Awooooooooooo!” With a bold howl, an artificial wolf king with a body coated in white electricity shot out like a bullet. This monster was born from a fusion of Wolf King meat with a rare item called Divine Lightning Ore. Similarly to the machine goblin, its stats were all close to zero, save for its high agility. It was an electrified missile made for a single purpose.

The lightning wolf fully understood its role as it ran up the tower then leaped at Baldy with literal lightning speed.

“Gah! Get away from me, runt!” Baldy stopped the wolf with an uppercut just as it tried to bite him...but the wolf had carried out its duty perfectly. In the same instant that I heard its neck break, a current ran through Baldy’s body. “Nghgahgahgahgahgah?!” Baldy fell from the top of the tower, twitching and with smoke rising from his charred skin.

This was the lightning wolf’s power. Any enemy that touched it was inflicted with the paralysis status. This was exactly what I’d envisioned when creating it.

When I at long last reached the top of the tower, I summoned another chimera to send after Baldy. “Forbidden summoning! Chimeratic Genocide Bird, come forth!”

A summoning circle appeared, ushering forth a nightmarish firebird with a body bathed in black flame. This monster was born out of a fusion between firebird meat and a rare item known as Hellfire Ore. Its main stat was magic, and it was even more foolproof than the wolf chimera.

“Genocide bird, dive down after him!”

“Pikraaaaaaaaaaw!” Its one and only attack was a fireburst so powerful it would roast itself upon using it.

I still wasn’t done. As I leaped from the tower with bow in hand, I shot Puffster arrows down at Baldy. The power of Shade Clone meant that my eleven arrows became 110.

Navi gasped once more. “Wh-Whaaaat?! Showing no mercy is one thing, but this is something else! Demon Lord Yuri hasn’t just thrown a self-destructing chimera into the fray, she’s combining monster-possession with the bow to create an arrow hailstorm! And it’s all closing in on Baldy while he’s still paralyzed!”

The genocide bird and the Puffster force surged ahead, intent on destroying their target. I had Baldy in an impossible position.

But just as this devastating barrage was about to hit him, life returned to his eyes. The red aura given off by his entire body grew in intensity, and he broke free of the paralysis. “Bwah ha ha ha ha ha! I’m under thirty percent HP and inflicted with an ailment! That’s the trigger condition I needed! Skill activate! Self-Annihilation in the Face of Death!” Then Baldy exploded! Or more accurately, he flew upward, propelled by a blast of blood and gas shooting out of his back.

Oh, I remember seeing this one on the online guide.

Self-Annihilation in the Face of Death was a skill that could only be used while below thirty percent HP and inflicted with a status ailment. Once activated, it cured all ailments and made the player rush toward their enemy while their HP declined by one percent per second. It was designed for dying players who wanted to take an enemy down with them.

“Urrrrrggggghhh!”

“Pikraaaaaaa?!”

With every ounce of his life force weaponized, Baldy was unstoppable. He grabbed the approaching genocide bird by the beak and used a judo throw to send it hurtling downward at supersonic speed. The unfortunate bird exploded so spectacularly upon hitting the ground that the last few surviving players—who’d all been too scared to join in the fight—were caught up in the blast. The player count in the corner of my vision dropped to two, confirming that there was only me and Baldy left.

“Ora ora ora ora ora ora ora!”

“Currsscurrsscurrsss?!”

Baldy remained unstoppable. His punches came at supersonic speed as he knocked aside the Puffster arrows and continued flying toward me. With Death Wish still draining his HP, he couldn’t have had more than ten seconds left to live.

Then let’s not waste time... “Come at me, Baldy! I’ll finish you with a single punch!”

“You wish, Yuri! It’s gonna be my fist that puts an end to this!”

I threw my bow aside and we collided midair. Even though my fist met his, the jet propulsion from Baldy’s back was so strong that my Demon Lord Shock Wave couldn’t stop him. We traded blows again and again as we hurtled toward our deaths.

“I’m winning this one!” Every time Baldy’s fist hit me, my HP dropped to zero.

“No, you’re not beating me!” Every time I landed a blow, Baldy’s inevitable demise drew closer.

We were utterly focused on one another. We thought of nothing but throwing and enduring each punch.

“Yuriiiiiii!”

“Baldyyyy!”

Then came the final exchange. I ducked under Baldy’s fist and delivered a crushing blow to his abdomen!

“Nghgaaaah?!” Baldy wheezed, and blood spurted from his mouth.

I can’t waste this moment! I drew back my arm to deliver a final blow. “Now it’s over!” My fist slammed hard into Baldy’s face, sending him smashing into the ground.

I heard fanfare the moment he hit the dirt, and it was closely followed by a message window.