The king could not believe the audacity of someone who was essentially a child, not even fifty years old and already he was making such statements to his betters. At the same time he had just lost a large number of champions to Aranor’s spell as well as Aurexion’s [Dragon’s Breath] and from the looks of things while his blow hurt the dragon it wouldn’t be long until he got back up.
“You think I wanted your attention.” The king spat to one side, his feet almost on the ground. “After what you did to my son, were you expecting me to just ignore you?”
The king was upset that Ajax had gotten a moment to heal Aurexion but at the same time this meant that he had the time to recover after using the Space effect of his hammer, the period of weakness didn’t last for more than half a minute or so but the pressure on his body was just that large.
His words had barely left his mouth as his Epic Skill [Survival Instincts] kicked into overdrive, the skill was valuable as it combined the warning effect of danger sensing Skills with the automatic response of instinct Skills allowing him to respond appropriately to threats he didn’t even know were coming without delay. The only downside to the Skill was that he needed to be in danger of death or severe harm to activate.
It wasn’t hard to see why his [Survival Instincts] kicked in however as Ajax started to move. He was moving so fast his body was barely a blur, it was a good thing his Skill knew to start moving in advance and also knew where the blow was going to land. Ajax covered the hundred foot distance between them in less than a second, his movement so fast even he was a little surprised to see the king had managed to get his hammer in the perfect position to block his attack. More than that he had somehow managed to perfectly bleed off the momentum of the attack by perfectly placing the hammer, his strike simply forced his arm to move wide leaving his body fully exposed.
But whilst he may have been surprised [Absolute Body Enhancement] did also boost his Style Skill, his body was already moving and even if he didn’t have a second weapon out that didn’t mean he was harmless. Ajax’s leg snapped out and connected cleanly into the king’s ribs showing off the Vibration enhanced attack he had practised inside the dungeon.
Unlike the monsters he fought in the dungeon, the king with all of his defensive enchantments was actually a little sturdier and he could feel his own bone break from the power of the kick but without the large mass the monsters had the king was sent skipping off the ground like a flat rock on the surface of a pond. Ajax took a moment to admire his own handy word before lowering his leg, his healing already fixing the bone before his leg even touched the ground.
Ajax would have loved to chase the king before he even got a chance to get back up but two of the traps on the battlefield triggered summoning a wall to separate them, more than that the mage that had previously been helping the king keep Aurexion occupied finally got off a spell targeting Ajax. The fireball wasn’t all that powerful, but the green color of the flames was already peculiar and Ajax was surprised to see that the spell actually changed direction and followed him as he moved to go around the summoned walls.
Not wanting to deal with something like that for long Ajax quickly changed target to the mage. He was at least a mile away but that distance mattered little as Ajax charged towards him with the fireball following behind him.
Unlike the king the mage didn’t have the ability to track Ajax, his body tensed up for a moment when Ajax stopped in front of him, his mouth never stopping from chanting even as his head was separated from his shoulders following the swing of Ajax’s sword. His mind didn’t even have the chance to catch up to what was happening before his field of view tilted to one side for a brief moment, his brain realizing what had happened an instant before his eyes closed forever.
The mages hadn’t been left unprotected, an entire squad of ten people all strong enough that they should be able to at least delay a champion by working together were close to the mage to help him yet none of them could react to Ajax. The instant it took them to notice his presence was long enough for Ajax to kill the mage they were supposed to be protecting.
If it hadn’t been for his anger Ajax would have even commended them for attacking him once they actually realized he was there but right now they were nothing more than an annoyance, none of them were prepared for the [Telekinesis] that slammed them all together lined up perfectly for the Magma infused axe strike that cleaved cleanly through them and four trees around them.
Ajax knew he couldn’t drag his feet any longer dealing with such distractions if he wanted to kill the king. He had already used up a bit of Mana when the battle started and a fair amount of his Mana and Stamina had been spent while fighting to protect Aranor. That wasn’t to mention his use of Life Mana to heal Aurexion and his recent extravagant use of [Telekinesis] on top of [Absolute Body Enhancement]. Despite all of the training he had with his Pseudo-Mythic Skill it was still a drain like no other on both his Stamina and Mana.
His short detour to deal with the mage did give him a straight shot back to the king. The whole thing probably took less than ten seconds to deal with but by now the king was already back on his feet. At his feet sat a discarded empty flask with blood on the lip of the bottle, the color matching the on the lips of the king that was slowly dripping down his chin. Not only that but the king wasn’t alone any more.
“You brought help, they won’t matter.” Ajax didn’t actually believe his own words as he charged towards the trio, he recognised both of the champions as the same pair that had been supporting the high general a few days ago. He didn’t know which one of them was the caster of that annoying vine spell but he did know things could get tricky if he got caught by it again.
The king didn’t hesitate this time. He trusted in his Skills and charged to meet Ajax’s attack, he knew neither of the high general’s aides could keep up with him from this close so he would need to give them an opening.
Charging in to meet Ajax’s strike felt like he charged into a steel wall,but this time Ajax wasn’t just using a sword, instead he had his trusty axe and hammer in each hand. [Survival Instincts] already hard at work again getting him to pull back enough that the hammer strike that followed the axe swing only crushed his shoulder and sent him back and out of the way of the champions behind him.
With the king taking Ajax’s initial charge the hybrid champion had a chance to follow the battle and wasted no time joining the fight, his runes lighting up as his wolfish fur fluttered in the shockwave of Ajax’s and the king’s first strike. With the king knocked aside he had the space to attack Ajax himself, his spear surrounded by wind as he sliced for Ajax’s neck.
[Danger Sense] warned Ajax of the blow in time for him to move his head out of the way even as he could see strands of his hair be cut from where his neck had been but an instant before.
A swing of Ajax’s axe was all it took to break the shaft of the spear. In a move inspired by Aurexion’s tail swipe Ajax turned his entire body with the momentum of his initial dodge to bring his hammer in an overhead strike, infusing Metal Mana into it to ensure it had the power it needed to crush the champion’s skull.
Right as his blow was about to land Ajax noticed the vine out of the corner of his eye, it had slithered around the leg of the hybrid fighter and pulled him looking to get him to safety yet it simply wasn’t fast enough. The movement might have moved his head out of the way of Ajax’s hammer but it wasn’t enough, Ajax’s blow landed on the champion’s shoulder and caved in the mail armor through the protective enchantments, the blow went a foot deep crushing the heart and lungs. With his final breath the champion activated all of his intact runes in hopes of taking Ajax with him, without a care in the world for how much Mana he was spending at once.
The explosion of Mana was enough to knock Ajax back, the few cuts and bruises from the explosion already healing but without a real target and with so many of the runes broken by Ajax’s hammer there wasn’t enough power to actually do any serious damage. The only thing the champions last stand managed to do was buy enough time for the king to get back up.
With one of his legs already broken the king already knew he would be in a world of pain should he survive the battle as he pushed his body to fight beyond all its limits as he brought his hammer around for a second strike with Space.
This time however Ajax was ready for him, even with his Mana and Stamina drying up Ajax managed to switch out his axe and hammer for his spear, the extra range making up for the spacing as he stuck the king in the belly Ice Mana flooding the strike. A lethal blow, so long as no healer got to the king.
Despite the spear thrust killing a lot of his momentum the king still managed to launch follow through with his own blow, the hammer in his hands cracking the air itself a moment before Ajax felt the blow smash into him and send him crashing into the ground, before the king collapsed, his body broken and his breath shallow.
Ajax could already feel his body healing itself once more but his Mana and Stamina were down to almost nothing when he felt the final champion standing casting his spell. He knew he wasn’t in any position to dodge the vines that were about to bind him, the blow had knocked him off his feet. Instead Ajax turned off [Absolute Body Enhancement] and with the last of his Mana and Stamina he used [Telekinesis] to send the tip of the hybrid champion’s spear flying with as much force as he could towards the mage.