Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion (Book 2) - Chapter 49 - Always Mind Your Surroundings

The next few minutes were a whirlwind of pain.

The Lord of the Endless Horde’s smile grew more and more sinister as the fight went on. Xavier continued to cast spells at the golden barrier, hoping that his Magical Damage skill would rank up, but nothing at all was coming from it. The barrier flickered, more and more, but Xavier quickly realised the damage he was inflicting upon it wasn’t enough.

And because he wasn’t damaging the Lord himself, it didn’t help him receive any ranks in the skill.

He would need soul damage, to truly hurt the man. When Soul Strike had reached the end of its cooldown, he’d once again considered infusing all of his souls into the attack. It might very well be his only option—but he wasn’t ready to do that.

He had other plans for this fight.

Physical Resistance has reached Rank 60!

…

Physical Resistance has reached Rank 65!

Your Health is at 43%.

Xavier pushed through the pain. It was nothing compared to what he’d experienced during his advancement. Each time he took a hit, it took less of his health from him. But even if Physical Resistance gained a hundred ranks, he knew it wouldn’t be enough to keep him alive from a true onslaught of attacks from this man.

As the fight progressed, Xavier always on the backfoot, he practised his ability to evade the Lord of the Endless Horde’s strikes—in hopes his health would have enough time to regenerate.

You have learnt the skill Evasion!

Evasion – Rank 1

Evasion is half speed, half anticipating your enemy. You are practised in the art of not getting hit, and now you have the skill to prove it.

+5% perception of enemy’s attacks.

+5% Speed.

The notification had taken him by surprise. The skill rank ups he’d expected, but learning anotherskill, while in the middle of battle?

Xavier hid the smile from his face. He hadn’t earnt it yet. Besides, he needed the Lord of the Endless Horde to see him suffer.

I will tear every ounce of possible advantage out of this fight as I can!

The difference was instantaneous. The skill ranked up quickly. Every single time he dodged one of the man’s lightning-fast sword strikes—which had become easier than ever, as instincts he’d never had became ingrained in his mind—another notification popped up. He felt his Speed notch up and up.

And it wasn’t just his Speed.

Just as the skill had said, his perception of the Lord of the Endless Horde’s attacks improved tremendously. He’d already been getting a feel for how the man fought, the skill simply helped him advance that.

Xavier didn’t only focus on evading the man’s attacks, he also used the two halves of his broken staff-scythe. He no longer blocked the man’s strikes head on. Instead, he angled them away, ensuring Soultaker’s hafts never touched the man’s blade. Even turning away the man’s strikes put an immeasurable toll on his body.

But he knew the Lord of the Endless Horde would tire of this soon enough. At any moment, he could turn. Show Xavier his full power.

I need to be ready.

“Are you hurting yet, boy?” The Lord broke through Xavier’s guard and dug his sword straight into his side. His mouth was close enough that Xavier could feel his breath on his own face.

Xavier held the Lord’s gaze. The pain bit into him—another rank of Physical Resistance gained—but he only let a flicker of that pain onto his face.

There was a look of confusion in the man’s eyes. “Why aren’t you begging for death? You should be begging for death!” He pulled the sword out and kicked Xavier in the chest.

An anger overtook the Lord of the Endless Horde then. An anger that had been simmering slowly behind the man’s eyes. His aura, which had already been unleashed, putting a constant pressure onto Xavier’s shoulders, flared even more powerfully than before.

The kick sent Xavier flying. The pain in his side was intense. He felt his health tick under ten percent. A weakness overtook him. A futility.

He tried to reorient himself in the air. To land feet first against the wall behind him. But as pained as he was, he wasn’t able to. He slammed into the rock. This building, unlike the last he’d slammed into, wasn’t made from stone. It was made from metal—one of the grand skyscrapers he’d gazed at when he’d first entered this place.

The force of his impact dented the metal wall. He heard a massive metallic creak, as though the very foundation of the tall building had been compromised.

Perhaps it has been.

Xavier slid down the wall. He had the presence of mind to land on his feet in a crouch. He stood, wincing at the pain in his side. The wound was healing, but his health was incredibly low. Even with all the new ranks in Physical Resistance, he wouldn’t be able to take another hit from the Lord of the Endless Horde.

I’d die in an instant.

But the sound of that metallic creak had given him an idea. He’d been so focused on his enemy he hadn’t been paying attention to his surroundings. Words from one of his favourite movies played in his mind.

Always mind your surroundings.

He didn’t know how strong these buildings were, but he now knew they were vulnerable.

The Lord of the Endless Horde’s steps were featherlight and silent. His laughter, on the other hand, echoed off the alley walls. “You’re turning out to be quite the disappointment, Xavier Collins. Did you really think coming to my home world was a good idea?”

Xaiver didn’t respond. He tried to look weak, vulnerable. Wasn’t hard, considering how damned low his health was. The two halves of Soultaker were still gripped tightly in his hands. The black blade was deadly sharp, even if it was nowhere near as powerful as the weapon his opponent wielded.

Xavier threw a glance upward and hid a smirk. He’d definitely been blind to his surroundings. He’d assumed that everyone in the area had simply run away from the fight—then he remembered the flying ships that had come for him. The quest they must have received to kill him.

He imagined no citizen of this world or any other within the sector would be foolish enough to come between the Lord of the Endless Horde and whoever he intended to kill.

But that didn’t mean they wouldn’t wish to observe the fight.

I’ve been thinking too small.

He slashed behind him, at the wall he’d just been flung into and dented, hoping he wasn’t a fool. Hoping he was right. The alleyway had three walls, each a building. The one that marked the dead end was so close together to the others that they were almost touching. One could only fit a hand through the gap.

But they weren’ttouching. Which meant it could fall, straight down in the alley, if the right amount of pressure were applied…

“What are you doing?” the Lord asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Xavier’s blade cut straight through the metal. He didn’t know a damned thing about construction, but he’d played a fair amount of Jenga in his time. He knew that if you took a chunk from the bottom of something tall…

To his great pleasure, the strikes he inflicted didn’t only cut, they burned. It was the first time he’d seen his new trait in action. Though as the building was metal, he doubted the fire damage would be of much help.

Most of Xavier’s physical spells didn’t cause much damage, but the first spell he’d ever chosen would be perfect for this.

Heavy Telekinesis!

Xavier’s Intelligence was his third highest attribute. Close to breaking three thousand points. Since advancing to E Grade, he’d only ever used his Heavy Telekinesis spell on the Lord of the Endless Horde.

And so he hadn’t realised just how powerful it had become.

Boom!

Creeeeeeeeeeeeeeak!

He’d slammed the spell straight into the dent his body hitting into the building hat created. Straight where he’d put the cuts.

I’ve done it, Xavier thought. The building’s going to fall.

All he needed to do was get the hell out of the way—and hit the Lord of the Endless Horde with a distraction that would stop him from getting out of the way.

While he’d been taking the bastard’s strikes, ranking up his Physical Resistance skill and his new Evasion skill to boot, Xavier hadn’t simply been moving onto his back foot. He’d been throwing Spirit Breaks at his enemy, weakening his mind as much as he could manage.

His soulkeeping reserve had fallen to just above a thousand.

This might be my only chance.

The Lord of the Endless Horde, still seeing Xavier as no threat at all, was idly staring at the skyscraper as it continued to creak and veer downward toward them. Any moment now, it was sure to fall.

“That’s your plan?” The man shook his head, a look of utter disappoint on his face. “You’ve seen how fast I am. You truly believe that thing’s going to fall on me? Or are you trying to anger me, by damaging my city, as though I would care?”

That’s right you bastard, keep talking.

Xavier took a step toward the man. He raised the two halves of Soultaker. This only made the Lord of the Endless Horde laugh all the more.

“I admire your… level of foolishness. Something tells me you do not understand the difference between us. That you do not understand the sheer gulf that separates the power of our grades. There is nothing that you can do to defeat me, child. Even if you had my entire Horde by your side.”

“We’ll see about that.”

In quick succession, Xavier cast four spells.

Heavy Telekinesis came first, flickering that damned golden barrier. Spirit Break came next. With five hundred souls infused into the attack—more than he’d ever used with it—the reaction it caused on the Lord was far more than a simple flinch.

He took a whole step back, a look of pained shock afire on his face.

Something told Xavier the man wasn’t used to feeling pain, and hadn’t been for a long, long time.

Soul Strike came next. As with Spirit Break, Xavier infused it with five hundred souls. His soulkeeping reserve was down to twenty-three. And though it would cause no mental damage, Xavier hoped the soul damage would be enough of a shock to make the man’s focus crumble.

Finally, he cast Willpower Infusion.

Willpower Energy flowed through Xavier, and out both halves of the scythe-staff until a thick purple mist filled the alleyway. It sped straight for the man in front of him.

Creeeeeak.

The skyscraper was falling. Ever faster. It blocked out the sun as it veered toward them.

Not much longer now.

The Lord of the Endless Horde, in his abundant arrogance, had simply stood there and taken the spells, for he had taken Xavier’s spells before and no harm had come to him.

What harm could an E Grade possibly cause against a D Grade, after all?

He’d resisted Willpower Infusion several times, and again, no harm had come to him.

But this time, things were different.

There was a crack in the wall that was the Lord of the Endless Horde’s mental block. A crack that Xavier was about to take full advantage of.

The apparitions from Xavier’s five-hundred infused Soul Strike and the mist both reached the D Grade Denizen in the same instant.