Chapter 26: Boss Fight 1
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* The Gravekeeper kept punching the wall, slowly making his way out.
Meanwhile, Zero was kneeling on both knees with his back arched. His eyes completely lost focus and if one was to see his eyes, they would think he is either dead or blind. He couldn't even hear anything while surrounded by the dark wind circulating around him.
"Hehehe" His lips curled up into a crazy smile as he started laughing, feeling that he was being overflowed by negative emotions.
'Control it! I will be the one using hatred, not the other way around! I didn't come so far just to let negative emotions take control over me' Despite his strange actions, Zero was doing his best to control the flood of negative emotions inside him. Only the moment he consumed the liquid, he came to know that it wasn't just some simple enhancement drug, it stirred up something deeply hidden inside him.
*BANG!* *crumble* "Finally! Crazy bastard, even when I split your head open, you still managed to stand up and even erect such tough walls around me...I will definitely take your skull as a prize." The Gravekeeper finally got out and immediately looked towards Guy who was laying on the ground.
"Eh? What now?" He finally noticed the strange phenomenon happening around Zero and started analyzing the situation.
"Hmph, whatever you are doing, I won't let you finish!" He shouted but instead of rushing at Zero, he started spewing flames out of his mouth from a safe distance.
When the flames made contact with the wind around Zero, both got canceled out, revealing Zero kneeling there without moving.
'Hmm...Did it work?' The Gravekeeper took only one step towards him and Zero suddenly started moving.
*Inhale* *exhale* Zero slowly raised his head and stood up, surprising the others who saw his face.
"What is that? You can actually transform like us!?" The Gravekeeper asked while looking at Zero's paler face with black tear lines under his eyes, even his hair grew a bit longer but no one really took notice of such small detail.
'What is this feeling? I have always had to suppress my feelings whenever I was witnessing some horrendous crimes or whenever I killed anyone who wasn't exactly aiming for my life. But right now I feel emptiness...a comfortable emptiness, however, it's also not like I can't feel any emotions. I can still feel a bit of sadness over Guy's unnecessary death.' Zero thought while he was observing his hands in front of him, feeling like even his sight got sharper.
"Zero, watch out!" Tsukushi shouted when she noticed the Gravekeeper kicked off the ground.
"This is the second time you dare to ignore me, brat! I will show you the wrath of Nubis!" The Gravekeeper appeared in front of Zero in an instant, thrusting his arm forward, trying to stab Zero with his hand.
Zero finally looked at his enemy and put his hand on the hilt of his sword but it was too late to draw it. 'Nubis...is that a reference to Anubis? It might be, considering his jackal-like ears. If I were to guess his powers just from what I saw on the internet...it would be regeneration, toughness, and obviously superhuman strength and speed. He even can breathe fire which is quite a surprise for me since I don't remember anything about it'
However, as the Gravekeeper's hand was a few inches from Zero's face, it was abruptly stopped.
'?! What are those? Black snakes?!' He thought as pitch-black snakes that appeared out of nowhere entangled his arm. He didn't have much time to be surprised as he saw Zero's sword coming towards him so he spewed some flames at the snakes and jumped back to evade Zero's slash. His reaction time was perfect yet he still suffered a shallow cut on his chest.
'It feels strange, knowing how to use those powers without ever using them before. My speed has also increased a lot.' Zero thought while clenching his hand and then relaxing it once again before he looked at his enemy and raised his sword above his head.
The Gravekeeper frowned and opened his mouth, ready to spew flames at Zero again but before he could even do that, Zero abruptly appeared in front of him and swung his sword downwards.
"What?!" He shouted with a shocked expression, blocking Zero's sword with his short staff but Zero's sword still found its way to cut his shoulder before stopping. The Gravekeeper gritted his teeth and threw a kick towards Zero's stomach which made him slide a few good meters back but he didn't seem hurt at all.
'He is even faster than the previous guy but in return lacks the strength. What worries me is that strange power of his...These black snakes appeared once again and blocked my kick therefore he bounced back only due to impact. I will activate the curse and finish him quickly before more rats like him will swarm this room. I am unbeatable with my restorative powers!' Strange black markings appeared around the injury on the Gravekeeper's shoulder, the very same markings appeared on the same location on Zero's shoulder.
Suddenly a cut appeared on Zero's shoulder out of nowhere with blood flowing down along his arm.
"Oh? So that's how you defeated Guy. You used your toughness and regeneration, tanking his hits. He was probably stronger than you but didn't have your regenerative powers. You used thorns to defeat your opponent...I am quite knowledgeable about it." Zero nonchalantly looked at his wound before speaking out since he strangely didn't feel pain.
"!? Whatever, even if you figured it out by seeing it once, you can't do anything against me" The Gravekeeper was shocked that his secret power was so quickly discovered but he was still feeling confident.
"That's not true. I have also built thorns during my diablo playthrough and I could still be killed if my regeneration wasn't high enough. Plus, you can only reflect the damage you have received to the one who has attacked you." *Clang* Zero let go of his sword and undo his belt with other daggers and weapons. He completely let go of all of his weapons which shocked everyone in the hall.
"This way, I will be even faster." Zero spread his arms and black snakes materialized on his both arms, affectionally wrapping themselves around his neck and arms.
"Are you ready to be eaten little by little by my friends?" Zero asked and the snakes wrapped around his body turned their heads to the Gravekeeper and started hissing aloud.
'T-This fucker! How did he think of such strategy literally within a few seconds?!'
"Whatever! I will burn all of your lizards before they can come near me!" The Gravekeeper shouted, getting ready to resume the fight.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone