Chapter 93: Reaching the Climax
(117th try)
He would get decapitated by Judicator
…
(194th try)
He would get pierced by Malakar's [Dark Pulse], putting dozens upon dozens of black sharp spikes through his body.
…
(250th try)
He would finally manage to kill the warrior all the while avoiding [All-Area Strike].
But then…
"CONJOINED BOND," forced to back away because of the other monsters, the warrior would get up only after a minute because of this skill since his sister was still alive, meaning that it was pointless.
'I need to get the clones to kill the sister too…' he mumbled before getting cut by [Water Bending] from the Black Water Devourer.
…
(381st try)
Stark wiped the sweat off his brow as he stood up once more, determination etched into every line of his face.
His heart pounded fiercely in his chest, echoing the throbbing ache of each of his failed attempts.
"Not enough…" he sighed, he had been able to kill the warrior and witch, but it wasn't enough.
"AURA SMASH! THE CANE! WATER BENDING! DIVINE BLINDNESS!"
Stark was blinded by the light, and all the other attacks came to reduce his HP to 0 again.
…
[Do you want to try again?]
'…'
[Do you want to try again?]
He had seen this screen so many times by this point that he really started to dislike it.
[Do you want to try…]
'Yeah.'
[Do you want to…]
'Yes…'
[Do you…]
'YES!'
He sat on the museum's floor and pulled out a giant pizza, taking his time to eat it while pondering what his next move should be.
It felt like no matter what he did, the monsters would always coordinate to fuck him over.
"…" he hadn't used [Double Assault] or his new legendary skill [Heaven's Wrath] yet since he kept them for the final showdown, but maybe he should try to do something with them…?
In comparison to in actual rifts or fights, each time he launched a fight inside the Memories Museum, all his skills would be reset, meaning that he wouldn't have to wait for the cooldown.
'Fuck it,' he got up after eating his pizza and immediately clicked on the panel to try again.
…
(382nd try)
[FIGHT!]
The moment the battle started, before any of the monsters could move, Stark unleashed his skill.
"HEAVEN'S WRATH!"
A blinding light erupted from Stark, enveloping the entire room in a crimson glow.
And then…
That same light appeared in the sky (or ceiling in this case), growing more and more.
~FWISH, FWISH, FWIIIIIIISHHHH~
It became so big that it took the entire area of where the monsters stood.
And then…
~BAM~
The entire room shook as a deafening explosion echoed throughout the arena, and a giant beam of divine light hurtled from above, except it wasn't golden like it was supposed to, but crimson, just like Stark's aura.
"-28371!"
"-34623!"
"-29874!"
All the monsters were hit one way or another since they didn't expect such a thing, and the attack charged up rather quickly.
But Judicator immediately used his wings to get away, the Black Water Devourer disappeared into the water, and The Mirror Master teleported thanks to a mirror.
But as for the Conjoined Siblings, they were both killed, both not having the speed to avoid the attack as staying inside three seconds was enough to remove all of their life.
And even the [Creeping Shadow] got immediately one-shotted by the attack.
'THIS IS INSANE,' Stark laughed, he had finally figured out a way to win.
Or did he?
"HEAVEN'S WRATH!" he had forgotten that his shadow could copy ANY of his moves, meaning that before it died, it also used the legendary skill, sending down a beam toward Stark, who couldn't avoid it.
"-24273!"
He got one-shotted too.
…
[Do you want to try again?]
'Need to get rid of the shadow before using it…'
He had still died, but he was getting closer to his goal.
And so just like that… a week passed.
***
(One week later)
He had tried all sorts of strategies against the bosses, some had worked, others didn't, but in the end, little by little, he was building up his strategy.
And so only after a week of pure grind and repeating this cycle of trial and death… he was ready to end it.
After getting so close his previous tries… he was sure this one was the right one.
[Do you want to try again?]
'Yes,' he smirked and was surrounded by that dark mist again, just to be teleported at the arena.
"THIS IS THE FINAL TRY, I PROMISE!"
[Inventory: x1 Potion of Strength, x1 Potion of Speed, x10 Potion of Regeneration]
…
[3…]
Stark closed his eyes, sensing the air around him.
It was something weird he had learned while fighting: sensing the monsters' auras became much easier for him, and adding that to Focus meant he could manage to avoid a few attacks while blinded.
This would be useful if he ever encountered another monster like Judicator, with the ability to blind someone, he had died so many times to this that his mind and body created a counter.
[2…]
But it didn't mean it was easy, not at all.
[1…]
All bosses stared at Stark, knowing that they needed to get rid of him.
[FIGHT!]
His plan began the moment that screen appeared.
~FWISH~
"SPATIAL INVENTORY," he took his last remaining [Potion of Speed] from the void and gulped it down in one ago, it was rather sweet.
The reason this was his final real try was because these were his last potions, and he truly needed those to hopefully survive this thing, otherwise it was a game over.
Of course, he could always leave to the market and get new ones.
But…
'It would feel like I lost against them,' he had vowed to not go out until he won, so he didn't want to lose this.
[Speed enhanced thanks to potion]
Immediately, he dashed toward his shadow.
~BAM~
He tried to punch it using his bare aura-filled fists, but it obviously just returned the attack.
"-1!"
The other monsters were just turning around, summoning their attacks.
But…
~FWISH, BAM~
"-24827!" Stark managed to hit his shadow and make it disappear as it only had 10k HP.
The reason he was able to hit a perfect mimic of himself? Well… it was the [Potion of Speed]!
The shadow wouldn't receive the status effect when he drank it, so he figured that doing that would allow him to fight back, no matter how strong it was.
That 10% increase in speed was enough to make the difference: it was enough for Stark to hit the shadow first.
And so with his shadow out of the equation…
Stark looked at the others, a wide grin on his face.
But it didn't mean there weren't other ways for him to die, after all… he had reached this exact point two times before, yet was taken aback and killed.
"HEAVEN'S WRATH!" he summoned the beam.