The orcling swung its axe without mercy, aiming to behead Luck and cull the invaders permanently.
*Boom*
Spiderwebs of cracks rapidly spread along Valerian's shield and body as his torso descended into the ground because of the residual force.
That made sense, though. A mere undead of common grade could never try to block a Variant's attack and leave unscathed.
The only reason he wasn't a pile of bones yet was due to that skill.
[Life Saver(Ep)]
Allows the host to survive an attack that would otherwise kill them, leaving them with 1% of their current health. (Active Charges: 1/day)
It was safe to say that Valerian had become an ideal meat shield despite having just been 'born' a few days ago.
With him taking the fall, Luck sank into the shadows as he managed to escape between its legs.
The chief's eyes, which were bloodshot from range, locked onto the escaping shadow as it launched itself towards it, effectively allowing the Shield Warrior to live another day.
*Boom**Boom**Boom*...
The ground shook as the goblin banged its large axe on the floor, intending to crush the little black shape that held the enemy it so desperately wanted to kill.
Numerous shadow walls appeared in front of the orcling to give Luck a chance to regroup, but it proved ineffective as with a swing of its axe laced with qi, they were all destroyed, leaving the shadow, who was trying to escape around the green-skinned monster, unprotected.
The chief swung its weapon, causing numerous arcs of qi to be sent towards Luck, who barely dodged because of leaping out of his shadow.
Unfortunately for him, though, he didn't get very far, as in less than a second, the chief appeared beside him, brandishing his axe.
His head separated from the rest of his body.
The orcling smiled wildly, relishing in the de-
*Poof*
The halfling's smile threatened to break as 'Luck's' body disappeared in a puff of smoke, which obscured its vision of something heading fast towards it.
*Puchi*
"ROOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRR"
The chief wailed in agony as it felt its eye being pierced by a cool, sharp object.
With his undamaged eye, containing enough shock to restart an old man's heart, he saw the person he had just killed, piercing its eye.
Luck immediately kicked the orcling's body to get away, just in time to avoid the pulse of qi it sent out.
That wasn't the end, though.
*Boom*
The chief appeared before a shocked Luck, and with a swing of its fist.
*Boom*
Sent the necromancer flying.
Surprisingly, despite being disoriented, Luck managed to right himself mid-air, landing on the trunk of a tree several meters away.
Immediately his feet touched bark, Luck disappeared, replaced by his shadow with such urgency that normal eyes almost couldn't follow the transition anymore.
*Boom*
A swipe from the orcling sent the top half of the tree flying. It didn't even bother to use his axe again, displaying his evident annoyance that had long passed the bounds of rage.
Luck dashed towards the orcling as several tendrils constructed of bone and shadow moved forward to intercept the monster before their master.
The chief stretched its hands out. Its palms glowed with the qi as it suddenly brought them together for a resounding clap.
*Boom*
An explosion of qi as well as sound followed the gesture, destroying the constructs, but leaving Luck enough space to close the distance.
Luck swung Asta, aiming to sever the chief's heel and once again put its balance in disarray.
Though, as a monster, a hybrid nonetheless, its reflexes were incredibly sharp, allowing it to parry Luck's strike, although barely.
Unfortunately for the orcling, though, Luck had long disappeared before his scythe made contact.
Reappearing behind the chief, Luck once again lunged with his dagger, aiming to pierce the chief's jugular vein.
*Crack*
Luck's eyes widened in shock as he saw the goblin chief, followed by the sounds of several bones and joints breaking and dislocating, do a 360-degree turn on its anchor foot, swinging its axe to fend off Luck's sneak attack.
Luck barely blocked with his dagger, causing Luck to be blown away, and giving the orcling some time to heal and rest.
Luck flashed a small smile as he sailed through the air, unexpected for someone who was subtly on the losing side of the fight between them.
Well, that was until...
*Poof**Puchi*
The orcling's expression couldn't even change as the 'boy' whom it had smacked away, suddenly vanished from existence, while a large and supernaturally thick tendril made of shadows pierced its chest.
"Tsk."
Luck 'appeared' a distance away from the orcling, as he clicked his tongue in annoyance, his hands on the floor, which seemed to be controlling the shadows on the ground as they merged and pierced the goblin's body.
His plan, considering that he had just made it on the fly, was ingenious.
Using the skill Shadow Vale, which was gotten from his armor, he concealed himself in shadows, while he allowed his newly formed shadow copy to charge recklessly in a frontal assault that anyone with a brain cell knew he would fail.
Of course, a simple concealment spell wasn't enough to fool an A-rank monster. That was where the Mantle of Shadows passive skill, Extra's Invisibility, truly shone.
Extra's Invisibility wasn't a concealment skill in the conventional way. It made the host practically unnoticed by another when the said person directed their focus elsewhere.
This meant that the host was essentially invisible if that person did not focus on them.
Make no mistake, though, the skill was far from broken, as many would find the skill practically useless, especially those who specialized in frontal assaults.
Even assassins would find this skill troublesome. The skill would become useless if the opponent focused any senses on the host. Essentially, the skill would apply on their first attempt.
Instakills were not common even on assassination missions. In a world of energies, a person would have several life-saving measures enforced, making assassination attempts into battles.
But to Luck, though, whose very battle style, although rudimentary, was unusually focused on a large concept of deceit, it was like a rare gem he practically needed to polish.
And polish he did.
Luck watched as the shadow he had merged with entered the orcling's body and began to wreak havoc in its internal systems.
That is to say, even with its regeneration speed, it would only live for so long.
And the chief noticed it, and without delay, he rushed towards Luck.
It was said that a cornered beast was the most dangerous. When left with no odds, a beast would use anything to its advantage, completely disregarding its life to bring their opponent down with it.
And the necromancer knew this. Which was why he also didn't pull his punches.
Luck's mana circulation roared with life as it sped up to threatening levels, while he simultaneously activated his movement skills and decreased the gravity weighing on him.
And to ice the cake,
"Limit Break."
He deactivated his restraints, bringing his speed to a whole new level.
(I hope that's enough.) Luck thought as he looked into the chief's bloodthirsty eyes.
The final battle was a battle of attrition. The last man standing took it all.
*Boom*