Chapter 33: Chapter 33 - The Boss
Chapter 33 - The Boss
The voice rings out in the sky and I freeze for a few moments. Okay, I have officially reached the final. I just hope that the remaining person is injured or that they will lose because of the fire, me, on my side I prefer to get out of there. I keep walking away and suddenly I stop moving forward. Literally, I can't go any further at all. I can still move, no worries, put my foot in front of me, same. But my body doesn't go an extra inch in the direction I want to go.
Ah. This story of a shrinking area. I had forgotten. That's why I feel like I'm running against a wall in a video game.
I stop after about thirty seconds. It's just ridiculous.
Not only can I not take another step, but it has to be in the worst possible place: on the edge of the fire I started and where the last candidate is. I don't know how much time I have left, but apparently I have no choice. I'll have to go face it. I turn around with a stiletto in my hand.
I probably seem relaxed like that, but not at all. It's the end of the exercise and I don't control anything. Micha is tired. The fire has largely started and I am locked in with a candidate capable of fighting on an equal footing with another candidate for a long period of time which probably means that he is a hundred times more trained in combat than I am. I didn't go to personally see the fight since I went to start the fire, so it's only a guess, but I'm not reassured ...
Anyway, I head for the center of the fire again. There are a few alleys that are still accessible, but it would be a bad idea to take them since the situation is deteriorating rapidly. I just have to face head-on for a final duel in the middle of the street. I pour water on my head just in case and readjust the end of the shirt on my face. I then pick up a few stones on the ground of good size before advancing in the center of the street.
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I look to the right and to the left, but I only see flames. The nearest houses don't look too bad just yet, however the air has become heavier and hotter than before. The crackle of burning wood is heard and there is almost something reassuring about it as a change after spending so much time in the silence and stillness of the area. Finally enough discussed.
I keep moving forward and ask Micha to get on my shoulder to watch my back. I can't be sure of anything in this situation and would rather not lose to a surprise attack. I keep moving forward until Micha tells me I'm standing at the exact spot where the fight took place.
I'm really asking too much of her today and through the bond I can feel that she is at the end of her tether, but still wants to help me. I imagine she appreciates feeling useful, but once it's over I'll let her rest for the day.
I freeze in the middle of the street and watch for any sign for a few moments. I play with my sword with one hand and keep a stone in the other. I must have about six in my wallet. After several minutes of waiting, I start to shout a big "Hey" which resounds in the street. I could very well wait longer or ask Micha to go on reconnaissance, but as the temperature rises more and more and the air starts to burn my lungs, it is better not to ask him more. I keep in mind the idea that I wouldn't do anything to him that I wouldn't do myself and honestly going out and exploring a fire isn't one of them.
After a few minutes of waiting a figure approaches me from the other side of the street. I tell Micha to go back to his pocket and not move it no matter what. As she approaches, I see he's a short-haired, armored man with a two-handed sword. He's about twenty centimeters taller than me and looks rather beefy, but I might be wrong about the armor.
He doesn't seem to be in a hurry and walks at his own pace in my direction. Thanks to the closer and closer flames, I can see that his cloak is torn in places and that he has recent wounds on his face which must bear witness to his fight against the other candidate. His face is expressionless, or rather tired. It's hard to say given the situation.
I'm in a very bad position, between the armor and the sword it's going to be difficult to win this fight. I throw a stone directly at him and it bounces off the armor without his reacting. I take a second stone, throw it at him and the same happens. Still no reaction, he continues to walk towards me and there is a kind of fatality in there that I could not explain and that is starting to worry me. I would love to have a real ranged weapon in this kind of circumstance, but I just have to throw stones.
My stock continues to shrink, but as it advances it's easier for me to aim. I throw my fifth or sixth stone and it hits him in the head. Still no reaction as ten meters separate us and I can see blood flow from the cut I just made with my stone.
I decide to take my second stiletto out of its sheath and prepare to rush towards it. He suddenly looks at me with his bloodshot eyes wide open as if he understands I'm going to run into him. He grabs his sword in both hands and waves it in my direction, ready to charge. A bloodthirsty aura emanates from him which makes me shiver. This is the second time that I have felt this. The first time was with Emy, but this time it's much stronger. To describe the feeling, it's like being a mouse in front of a lion.
He clearly has a lot more experience than me and I clearly have no chance of winning. He also doesn't seem to have his whole head seeing his expression and that's probably because of the previous fight.
Change of plan. Leaking seems like a better idea to me. No chance that I will win in a direct clash so better not to risk losing like that just because I didn't train as much as he did after spending so much time in the zone. So I decide to make a strategic withdrawal in the direction of a house not yet too on fire, I turn around and realize that he is chasing me. The end boss is going to be hard to beat.
I'm faster than him and so he can't catch up with me. I walk into the house, closing the door behind me with a wave of my arm. Inside I can see some rustic furniture here and there because of the flames, but nothing really useful. There is mostly smoke and I have trouble seeing much. I decide to flip the table to the side and as I do, the door gets kicked in by the boss who then walks in with his sword forward. If I want to win I have to use the fire that's the best I can do given the situation, but I'm not sure things are going the way I want them to. Before entering, I asked Micha to hold her breath three times and couldn't confirm if she understood correctly. For my part, I breathe somehow through my protection on the face, but he has nothing to protect himself from the smoke in the house. Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say it's impossible to breathe, but it's complicated and it won't escape the rule. It can already be seen on his face after two hard breaths. Of course, that does not prevent him from continuing to advance towards me. He then throws his sword in my direction and I duck it by bending down, a hair's breadth away from losing part of my skull.
His sword stops in the wood of the central pillar of the house, which he cuts into three quarters of the way. The house creaks and seems ready to collapse, unfortunately that will not be enough and I will have to change my plan.
To make him fall the house on the head seems enough to me to win, but seeing that I have no way out of here since he is in front of the only exit and he did not break the pillar of the first suddenly the plan doesn't really make sense unless I have a suicide attack. He prepares to send a second blow of his sword in my direction and this time from top to bottom.
This is where I move. I probably couldn't dodge his blow a second time not with the speed at which he waves his sword. I rush towards him while preparing myself with my two stilettos to attack him. He lowers his sword towards me and I dodge as best I can, planting my two blades in his armor and piercing it.
For a second I could have been happy with the result, but I can't do all of this because its blade just cut off my foot and I fall to the ground in pain and off balance.
However, there is something much worse than me on the floor trying to stay conscious when I barely realize I don't have my left foot anymore. The final boss should have vanished with that "death" blow, but he's still standing there in front of me, expressionless, breathing heavy and ready to finish me off.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone