Chapter 1101: Powerful Fists!
"I suppose I shouldn't leave everything to her," Izroth said as he stepped forward.
A single step forward put Peaceful Chaos on edge as he immediately went on the defensive and took a step back.
Peaceful Chaos retreated instinctively without even realizing his actions until it was already over. His expression darkened as he felt a tinge of shame wash over him.
"This is ridiculous...! My class was made for one on one combat and yet I'm retreating to some combat master?!" Peaceful Chaos thought to himself as he silently grit his teeth.
'It's been a while since I've fought this way.'
Izroth took a simple combative stance as he stood straight with his left arm behind his back and his right arm out with his palm facing him.
When Peaceful Chaos saw Izroth's stance, he was filled with a newfound surge of rage as the shame quickly vanished. As if facing him one-on-one was not humiliating enough, Izroth had not even drawn his sword. Did he plan on fighting without a weapon? No matter how Peaceful Chaos viewed it, he was being looked down on!
"Good...! Let's see how long you can keep up that arrogant act of yours!" Peaceful Chaos said through his teeth as he tried to hold back his anger.
"Maybe a duel with those restrictions was the wrong approach. Even if he has good equipment, the items I've collected are nothing to scoff at. Besides, I have that trump card sitting in my inventory. Although it would be a waste to use it in a place like this, I can't allow myself to be humiliated any more than this. I have to regain the face I've lost in front of my guild members. At the very least, I need to have some good news to deliver after losing our rights to access the Mystical Realm Palace." Peaceful Chaos thought to himself.
Meanwhile, in the nearby distance, the confused and horrified sounds of the Blue Oasis players echoed throughout the surroundings.
"Gaaah!"
"She's over-! Ah!"
"Stop her!"
"I can't debuff!"
"Crowd control isn't working!"
As the chaotic scene unfolded, Peaceful Chaos tuned out the voices of his falling guild members and focused solely on Izroth. Even though he wanted to aid them, Peaceful Chaos could sense it-an overwhelming pressure. He knew that the moment he took his eyes off Izroth would spell his defeat. Therefore, even if it meant having to listen to his guild members being slaughtered under his watch, he could only silently suffer and look for a way to avenge their deaths.
"If you won't make the first move, then I'll come to you," Izroth said in a carefree manner.
The next moment, Izroth kicked off his back foot and shot forward with a huge burst of speed. Since he had been out of combat long enough, he received the bonus of increased agility from his Gift of Divine Speed title.
Peaceful Chaos was caught off guard by Izroth's speed. Compared to when they dueled, the difference was like that of night and day. Of course, he expected Izroth to be fast after what happened during their first fight; however, for it to be this much so was a surprise.
That being said, even if Izroth was fast, Peaceful Chaos was still able to keep track of his movement. He had long since consumed a Five Cycles Pill and improved his sense of perception. Additionally, as a core player of Blue Oasis, he was no stranger to facing individuals who were faster than him.
"Mythical Conjure: Blazing Fiery Phoenix!" Peaceful Chaos roared as a red aura encompassed his body that exuded the fire element.
Simultaneously, several towering pillars of flames erupted from the ground around his location, obstructing the path between him and Izroth.
However, instead of retreating or finding a way around the pillars like Peaceful Chaos anticipated, Izroth did the unthinkable and charged in head first!
"Is this guy insane? Well, that works all the better for me." Peaceful Chaos said to himself with a grin.
Mythical Conjure: Blazing Fiery Phoenix was a damage-over-time skill that inflicted harsh fire damage on those who got too close to its flaming pillars. And, if one were foolish enough to make contact with the flames, they would be automatically afflicted with the burn status effect.
While under the effects of burn, one would take 100% increased damage from fire-related attacks, receive a small percentage of their HP as damage every second, and have all healing reduced by 50% for 30 seconds.
Furthermore, Peaceful Chaos had a special trinket equipped that slowed any enemies that he recently affected with an elemental status effect. He knew that such an impairment would give him a massive advantage against a player like Izroth, who seemed to rely heavily on his speed.
Woosh!
As Izroth stepped through the flames, the grin on Peaceful Chaos' face widened. However, just as he was about to launch a counterattack, the grin on his face quickly disappeared as he crossed his arms together.
Bang!
>
-114
Just as Peaceful Chaos raised his arms and guarded against Izroth's first strike, he felt a stinging pain in his side.
>
-424
"The damage isn't that serious, but he managed to slip through my guard with a second attack from my blind spot in that short window of time? He's also unaffected by my slow somehow. This guy... He's a real monster." Peaceful Chaos thought to himself with a troubled expression on his face.
A part of Peaceful Chaos still looked down on Izroth when it came to PVP combat. After all, even if he just suffered a loss, ultimately, it was with restrictions in place. Additionally, he speculated that Izroth must have used a different means outside of skills or items to increase his agility during the duel that he had not accounted for, such as a trait or title effect.
In the end, Peaceful Chaos held onto the belief that Izroth was impeccable at PVE such as boss fights or quests. It would explain how Izroth created a seemingly insurmountable gap between him and the other players on the event leaderboards. But, even though Peaceful Chaos hated to admit it, he had no choice but to acknowledge that Izroth was not just someone skilled solely in boss fights or conquering quests. He was also highly experienced in
PVP.
'Oh? Something has changed.'
The expression on Peaceful Chaos' had become serious and the aura around him had calmed.
'Not that it changes anything.'
Regardless of the shift in Peaceful Chaos' demeanor, Izroth did not slow down on his assault as a hail of fists rained down nonstop at the Blue Oasis captain.
'I have to adjust the power of my strikes slowly.'
Every time Izroth struck out at Peaceful Chaos with his fists, the power of his strike changed. At first, the strikes could almost be described as being gentle. However, the force behind the strikes seemed to compound and each consecutive fist brought with it a new weight.
Woosh!
Peaceful Chaos was on the defensive as he braced himself to intercept Izroth's fist; however, just as he thought his guard was successful, Peaceful Chaos felt a stinging pain at the center of
his torso.
>
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"How is he doing so much damage without a weapon...?!" Peaceful Chaos thought to himself
with furrowed brows as he grit his teeth.
While his class did not specialize in defense, it was by no means brittle. If necessary, he could even act as an off-tank in case of emergencies. Yet, he was being overwhelmed without a chance to counterattack and the damage was no longer negligible.
At the same time, right after Izroth's last blow landed on Peaceful Chaos, he received an alert
from the system.
System Alert: Congratulations, you have created a new skill. Please name the skill.
'It finally appeared.'
Izroth did not sheath his Sword of the Storm just as a means of looking down on Peaceful Chaos. He wanted to use the chance to hone his hand-to-hand combat skills. Izroth believed that going down too many paths at once could lead to nowhere, which is why he focused mainly on sword skills despite his ability to branch out as a combat master. However, now that he had learned the Three Baneful Swords along with all ten sword forms and mastered nearly all of them, he could finally look forward with a solid foundation.
[System Alert: Generating skill... Complete!
Skill Name: Endless Chained Strikes
Skill Creator: Izroth
Skill Level: 1/4
Skill Rank: A
Energy Cost: 10
Active: The user strikes at their target, dealing 10% of their attack as physical damage and applying 1 stack of «> for 3 seconds. If the user has at least 1 stack of , this skill will deal an additional 10% physical damage per stack of > is applied, the timer for all stacks of > is refreshed. If a target is affected by 7 or more stacks of <
user's attack].
Description: A skill created by Izroth that was made to overwhelm an opponent with its
constant wave of attacks!
Cooldown: 0.10 seconds
"That man would probably turn over in his grave if he saw me using his fist techniques. Even though
his temper and personality weren't the best, his fist techniques were among the top in the Seven Realms. The Soul Severing Fist Demon, Baalgua-well, it's not like we ever got along.'