A punch, it was just a punch to the chest from that dark arm that broke seven of Enrico's bones and sent him flying upward, and to make matters worse, he hadn't even used magic. If not for the resistance of his enhanced body, it would have been worse.
'Damn it, why now?'
In the air he saw everyone taking the same attacks, with the only one really posing a problem being Kael, who was his water clone, but he didn't have all his power—in fact, he was below half.
"You're very troublesome."
To make matters worse, the clone's time was running out—at most another minute. But there was still a chance he could extend it, so he had an idea, since his percentage was now at ninety-nine thanks to defeating two bosses in the false dungeon. Kael pointed at Tilios looking confident while the others were on the ground.
"Yes, I am very troublesome, and you're very strong, so I'll have to use you as a stepping stone for my improvement."
"…You talk too much crap for someone who's about to die."
"I agree with you, Kael. If he evolved, then we can do the same."
Putting his plan into practice, Enrico also spoke, agreeing with Kael. He had to make them get up, and Tilios became irritated, which seemed to have worked, as he now had a dark look.
"Looks like there are still two idiots with hope, so I should erase them."
He appeared in front of Kael, holding his head and trying to crush it in his dark hand. From behind, he felt some attacks hitting his back, but he didn't remove his hands from Kael's head.
'I have to help him.'
The one who had attacked was Arvanys, desperate and unable to move with her broken bones. Around him, Enrico and Kaela combined their attacks, managing to damage the arm enough to make him let go.
'Damn it, I had to use a lot of mana for my clone to resist that.'
Several water spears appeared around, trying to hit Tilios, who dodged and rushed at Enrico. But Kael intercepted, taking a blow that splashed water from his face, almost spinning it completely around. Tilios grew more and more irritated with Kael and that annoying ability.
"You're very weird. Are you really human?"
"Of course I am, it's just that my ability is incredible."
The Kael clone began to lead him out of everyone's sight, jumping into the river, and Tilios climbed onto a rock right after. Not seeing Kael anywhere, only that hood floating in the water, he decided not to lower his guard, determined to kill him once and for all.
Enrico regrouped with Kaela to discuss something. He made his clone disappear so he could use it for a little longer, since only thirty seconds remained. Meanwhile, Arvanys felt useless on the ground.
'Am I going to be useless again?'
She bit her lips, not wanting to remember her past, so she forced herself to stand and bit her arm. She still didn't control this, but she had to use it.
'I hate the beastmen's unique ability, but I have to use it to survive.'
By biting her arm and channeling her magic into her own blood, she forced the Beast Instinct ability to emerge. Since she didn't want to look like an animal, she didn't roar, which was something her race liked to do to show power.
"Snow Blade Claws."
Several blades appeared in her hand, and among them one was larger. She wanted to shoot that one, but felt her blood boil, wanting to enter the battle, and even trying to restrain herself, her body moved on its own, quickly reaching Tilios's back.
"I thought you were out of the fight."
Ignoring the two in front of him for a second, he created a shadow claw beneath her, holding her. Her hood fell, revealing white hair—her beast side was that of a Snow Panther.
"You look out of control, as always, a wild race."
"Fire Fist!"
Both Enrico and Kaela struck his face, making him turn toward them, forming a dark ball in his hands that enveloped them. Arvanys appeared behind and bit his shoulder, making him scream.
"Kaela, now!"
"I'll try!"
Kaela moved behind Tilios and, for a second, closed her eyes, trying to draw something from her mana core. Enrico had told her she had something special in her mana core, able to draw out much more magic than normal.
"Fire Serpent!"
Tilios saw that attack coming again, with much more mana than before. Raising his hand, he managed to stop it with relative ease.
"Did you forget I'm now a fourth circle?"
"Huff… It's not damage I wanted, idiot, I simply put an effect on it."
"Effect?"
He was still being bitten by Arvanys and felt his body growing slower from some ability of hers. And now he began to feel a new effect, as if his mana was being consumed faster.
"It's like my mana is being burned."
He raised his fist to hit Arvanys's head, but a spear coming from the river made his arm slightly deviate. Enrico seized the moment to summon his fire bow.
"Flaming Shot!"
His best attack pierced Tilios's back. He prepared a second shot until Tilios let out a furious scream and a dark explosion sent everyone flying.
"You bastards, I was playing around a bit to test my new power, but now I'll end this."
Among all those sent flying, Enrico was the only one who managed to stay conscious, thanks to his body resisting a little. He then heard a strange voice that he felt he had heard before.
'Damn it, my body…'
"Who?"
"That bastard in the water hasn't come out yet, so you'll be the first."
'Give me your body, just for a few seconds at least.'
That voice seemed very eager for him to give in, but he didn't trust it, so he looked at the system screen. For some strange reason, it was dark and black with red letters asking him to surrender his body. With no choice, seeing Tilios approaching, he decided.
"Just for forty seconds."
'That's enough for me to have fun.'
The system screen in front of him started a countdown of the seconds he had said, and then everything went dark with his last thought—
'I hope I didn't screw up.'
Tilios approached and raised his dark arm, aiming for his head. He punched with concentrated magic, expecting Kael to interfere somehow, but when Enrico caught his fist with his hand, he couldn't hide the surprise on his face.
"What the—"
"HAHAHAHAHA I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR MONTHS!"
His fist was squeezed, and from the moment Tilios had evolved his circle, he now felt real pain. Enrico raised his head, showing only the left side of his face with a cross in the middle, and the sclera of his left eye was completely black, while the rest of him began to form a panther's pupil.
"I don't have much time, so try to entertain me as much as you can, alright? Mister."
The smile on Enrico's face was confident and sinister, with absurd cruelty radiating from it.