Chapter 99: Chapter 99 - Battle [ Part 1 ]
To him, if he were to perish at this moment, then their families would be left destitute and without anyone to take care of them after their main hope had died.
So, he had no choice but to confront the imminent battle with everything he had, even if it meant doing something that might call his own demise to the monster in front of him.
But he still stood resolute as he gazed at his fallen comrades one last time before calling for their aid in this dire time of his.
\'Guys, grant me the strength to overcome this situation and help me kill this monster I\'m about to face.\'
As he was ruminating on life and death, Delmar grew impatient, bored by the sight of Nile\'s contemplative face.
He couldn\'t wait any longer and said, "Hey! How much longer are you going to delay this?"
"Don\'t tell me you\'re having second thoughts now, right?" He continued as Delmar wanted to add a few more jabs to the guy who had lost everything because of him.
"Oh! I get it, you\'re just trying to delay your death aren\'t you.\'
\'Well, delay it as long as you can because one can only fabricate so many excuses before his execution," Delmar added the real truth towards the man with a wicked snicker.
Nile was jolted out of his reverie, as he gave a deep sigh, and said to Delmar, "Has anyone ever told you how insufferably annoying you are?"
"You know what, yeah, actually a lot of them did, just like you, and then they died too… just like your going to."
Delmar smiled as he said his part, awaiting for the battle he knew he was going to enjoy.
"Alright, no more nonsense. We are going to do this right NOW!" Nile declared with a tone brimming with gravity.
"Well, you are the one who\'s delaying it but sure, let\'s do this," Delmar replied with a nonchalant smile.
Both of them assumed their stances.
Delmar adopted a more relaxed stance, positioning himself to maximize his fluidity and showing that he didn\'t need to go full-on as he could take on someone like Alexforge Nile.
Nile, on the other hand, adopted a fully offensive stance, crouching slightly while raising his left hand in front of him in a fist formation, with his right hand beside his abdomen to maximize his striking force.
He used his most offensive stance as he knew the battle ahead of him was going to be one that would need his skills at its best.
Delmar raised his right hand and used his middle finger to beckon Nile to advance mockingly.
Seizing the right moment, Nile leaped forward and, with astonishing speed, charged towards Delmar who awaited him with his casual stance.
In an instant, Nile was close enough as he punched towards Delmar with all the force he had mustered.
Delmar used his left palm to intercept the incoming blow, much to Nile\'s astonishment, doing so with minimal effort.
Nile thought as he looked at the scene, \'What a monster, he stopped my punch with just his left hand and it didn\'t look like he had much force too.\'
Nile tried to take his hand back from Delmar\'s grip but couldn\'t as Delmar held on firmly.
Delmar looked at him as he tried to free his hand and said, "No, no, you shouldn\'t punch like that. Let ME show you how to punch."
Delmar swiftly pulled back his right hand and punched Nile. Nile couldn\'t stop it as his other hand was still trapped in Delmar\'s grip, so he used his left hand to defend his chest.
The punch landed on his hand with a resounding crunch, signaling that Nile\'s hand was broken.
The force behind the punch continued, and at the moment of impact, Delmar released Nile\'s right hand.
Due to the immense force behind the punch, Nile was sent flying backward, hitting the ground and rolling several times before he could stop himself.
After regaining his composure, Nile looked at his left hand and saw that his wrist was indeed broken. He thought, \'What monstrous strength! I can\'t fight him head-on, not if I have a death wish.\'
\'Now, my only option is to use all of my spells to at least injure him. If I can\'t do that, then I need to stun him momentarily so that I can escape.\'
Nile got up and looked at Delmar, who was waiting to see what his next move would be, standing there with no intention of advancing.
Nile was grateful for that and assumed a new stance, one that allowed him to utilize his signature affinity spells.
Delmar observed his peculiar stance and thought, \'Finally, some action.\'
Nile closed his eyes as a dark red aura gradually enveloped him, giving him a sinister appearance. As the aura surrounded him, Nile leaped into the sky and used that momentum to plummet towards Delmar.
Seeing this, Delmar laughed maniacally and said, "BRING IT ON!" and He too leaped towards Nile\'s descending figure.
Just as they were about to collide, Delmar punched towards Nile, but his fist passed through him with no resistance as Nile\'s figure suddenly burst into a red mist that obscured his vision.
Delmar was momentarily baffled until he realized, \'Diversion.\'
\'He\'s going to strike, but from where?\' Delmar thought and scanned his surroundings.
Because of the red mist, he couldn\'t see a dark red blade with a translucent appearance swiftly approaching from behind him.
Nile was on the ground, exactly where he had stood before. He had never actually left that spot; what had left was his clone. He could clearly see what was transpiring inside the red mist, as it was a part of him.
Nile maneuvered the red blade to strike right behind Delmar\'s back, aiming to penetrate his vertebrae and immobilize or even kill him if possible.
As the blade was about to strike, to Nile\'s dismay, Delmar suddenly caught it in his hands.
Delmar thought, \'Just as I suspected, cowards like him only attack from behind.\'
Delmar examined the blade in his hands, scrutinizing its nature. \'What affinity is this? It resembles blood spells, but the blade is too thick and too shallow.\' He applied force and the blade disintegrated into red mist.
However, he couldn\'t ponder any longer as his instincts urged him to move. He looked down and saw several blades, similar to the previous one, rapidly approaching him.
But he couldn\'t move because he was still airborne, slowly descending. Worse yet, he was falling directly towards the blades.
Delmar looked at the blades and said, "Well, fuc-"
But he couldn\'t finish his sentence as he was struck by most of the blades, sent flying, and landed far back on the scorched ground.
Nile watched the scene with glee, thinking he had finally injured the basta*d… until.
"What\'s with that creepy smirk?"