There was no more doubt in Apophis's mind: his opponent was indeed Lucifer… though with a new set of impossible powers.
Time was running out. It was time for Apophis to end this duel.
After all, despite the power and trickery which Apophis had just shown, it was nothing compared to what Apophis felt he was now capable of!
Multiclassing was indeed a very rare ability in Horus, but even among those who gained this power, it was often foolish to use it as recklessly as Lucifer had apparently done. Apophis had ignored the Warrior Talent Tree up till this point for a good reason: he wanted to get as much power out of the Esper tree first. There were some incredible Warrior Skills which he intended to purchase later, but it would be so much less efficient to spend his Skill Points on them now when he could keep investing in Esper abilities which hadn't yet reached their full potential.
Yet… it seemed as though Lucifer had gained a huge number of Skill Points and then had decided to spend them on abilities from other classes instead of bolstering his already-incredible light-based abilities. Sure, he'd been able to play some interesting tricks…
…But they'd only managed to slow Apophis down a bit. It had taken almost all of Lucifer's ~Energy Protection Shield~ to block one salvo of attacks from Apophis, after all! This sort of strategy was simply unworthy of a player as renowned and mighty as Lucifer.
Leaping back into the fight, Apophis feinted with Regnier's sword. When Lucifer dodged, Apophis took one hand off the hilt and threw a huge, flaming punch towards Lucifer. Unfortunately, Lucifer was agile enough to dodge even this. He didn't even seem to have the slightest bit of concern while doing so! His dodge brought him to Apophis's left side, and then he stabbed his blade of light into ~Susanoo~, which had reformed around Apophis by this point.
The skeletal guardian armor absorbed this attack completely, then tried to swing its massive arms to smash Lucifer. Once he realized ~Susanoo~ wasn't able to react as lightning-fast as Apophis, Lucifer started attacking more wildly, using ~Flicker Strike~ over and over to smash it in the spine and the back of its skull.
With every blow, Apophis's Energy drained further.
"No you don't!" Apophis growled. He quickly used ~Dark Lord of Flames~ to create a swirling inferno that raged in a 100-meter radius around ~Susanoo~, scorching the still-cooling wreckage around them.
Lucifer dodged out of range of the fire before it reached him. He immediately used ~Earthbending~ again to pull up slabs of stone from deep under the ground, ones that hadn't been touched by Apophis's attacks. These stones quickly broke and reshaped into armor which hovered a few centimeters from Lucifer's body, protecting him very well from the heat for a short time.
In addition, he channeled the remaining Energy within his ring to use ~Energy Protection Shield~, and the haze of protection appeared around him again.
Then he resumed his attack against ~Susanoo~, jumping back into the torrent of flames.
However, this turned out to be a terrible idea! The super-powered flames and the tremendous air pressure which they generated depleted the tiny amount of Energy left in his shield in an instant, then incinerated the arm which held his light blade, ignoring his stone armor!
Lucifer immediately retreated a hundred meters further away… and used yet another new Skill. He manifested a syringe full of glowing Energy, then injected it directly into the scorched shoulder of his missing arm.
Apophis, creating a channel through the flames so that he could see his opponent, was astonished. This was ~Care of the Beast~, a powerful healing Skill from the Hunter Talent Tree! Exactly how many classes did Lucifer have?!
In moments, a new light shimmered under Lucifer's soot-stained skin. His arm grew back at once, and some other wounds closed up, since the Skill gave him a short-term HP regeneration effect.
Apophis had now had enough of all these tricks. "So you've found some Legendary or Runic Skill, or maybe even an Artifact, that gives you access to a huge repertoire of Skills?" he muttered. Of course, the roaring flames which swirled around him completely prevented Lucifer from hearing. "You just keep running away… wasting my precious time! And yet, I doubt that you have the Energy to keep all of this up for much longer. Eventually, your luck will run out, and then I'll rip you apart like I did last time!"
And the time was, indeed, running short. Apophis needed to change his tactics quickly.
He knew that he wouldn't be able to increase his speed enough to catch up with Lucifer while also keeping his flames active, so Apophis dropped the fiery maelstrom and spread his demonic wings once again. He infused them with even more Energy than usual, trying to get as much power out of each wingbeat as he could. Then he once more wielded Regnier's sword in both hands and hurled himself towards Lucifer!
Lucifer seemed to be trying to conserve his Energy, because he waited until Apophis was almost within range to materialize his blade of light and parry Apophis's blow. He didn't try to fully retreat this time, perhaps understanding that Apophis was focusing on speed to catch up with him. Instead, Lucifer's eyebrows lowered as he intensely focused on parrying and counter-attacking. The two of them exchanged blow after blow in a cataclysmic duel of force between the two master swordsmen.
But by this point, Apophis's might and skill were undeniably superior to those of Lucifer. All he needed was for Lucifer to make a single mistake, and the duel would be over.
However, the minutes ticked by, and their blades still rang out, creating shock waves with every blow. If they'd been using ordinary weapons, the metal would have been pulverized after the first few blows.
However, Lucifer began to sweat as the time dragged on. He was clearly spending every bit of his Energy to try to match Apophis, but he simply couldn't keep it up forever. Eventually, when there was barely a minute left in the battle, he hesitated for just a fraction of a second after parrying—Apophis immediately despawned ~Susanoo~, opening himself up to a full counterattack if he messed up his timing, and then respawned it behind Lucifer. If he couldn't win within this minute, his character would be banned… So there was no holding back any longer, not even if it meant opening himself up being destroyed in battle!
Now two heavy attacks were coming towards Lucifer at the same time while he was in a moment of fatigue! Apophis in the front, ~Susanoo~ in the back, both attacking with grim desperation.
Lucifer realized what was happening and began dematerializing into light. However, Apophis had expected this would happen, and he immediately summoned a sphere of black fire around both of them. If Lucifer tried to flee as a stream of light, most of his particles would be annihilated!
So Lucifer reformed himself and tried to adapt to fighting both Apophis and ~Susanoo~ at the same time. But it became apparent within a few moments that there would be no escape, and Lucifer's face twisted into a rare grimace."Checkmate!" Apophis laughed victoriously.
Only a few seconds left.
But Lucifer hadn't given up hope. With ~Susanoo~ no longer protecting Apophis's smoke body, he was now open for a vital blow from the light sword. Lucifer completely abandoned attack and defense, receiving two severe blows that destroyed his right arm and his left leg…
…And placing him right behind Apophis, perfectly situated for a critical backstab!
Apophis couldn't let this happen. A brutal strike like this would likely stun him long enough for Lucifer to recover and perhaps even to regenerate his limbs again. If Lucifer found even an atom-sized gap in the black flames, he could escape as a stream of light!
Unfortunately, Apophis's regular fire Skills would take too long to respond. Instead, he used ~Advanced Zooanthropy~.
Three.
Instantly, Apophis transformed into a black phoenix, situated facing the opposite direction Apophis had originally faced! The creature screeched in triumph as its two huge wings surrounded Lucifer.
Two.
There was nowhere to run.
One.
The black phoenix opened its beak and spewed forth black fire, immolating Lucifer.
Server Announcement: Congratulations to the player "Apophis" who has won his duel to death against the player "Lucifer".
Server Announcement: The player "Apophis," by killing the player "Lucifer," has won an award of 200,000,000 GC.
Server Announcement: The player "Lucifer" has just died in a PvP battle. He has been removed from the Bounty Table and will receive a 100% EXP penalty for 60 days.
Apophis immediately deactivated all his Skills, shaking with adrenaline and pride. For a moment, he stared at Lucifer's remains on the melted ground, a charred skeleton with only a few scraps of remaining flesh and two missing limbs.
Despite his victory, Apophis wasted no time. Though everyone else had fled once the duel began, they could be watching from a distance. Now that the duel had ended, they were free to attack without any consequences.
And, well, Apophis was almost worn out.
He immediately drank all the Energy and HP potions, then checked his inventory to see that the reward had increased his wallet to 215,125,552 GC.
He immediately transferred 210,000,000 GC to his out-of-game account, then lay down on the remains of the ground to rest and wait for his Energy and HP bars to return to normal. Based on all his Skills, stats, and potions, he estimated the process to take about ten minutes.
While lying on his back, Apophis looked up at the sky and saw a magnificent spectacle. The Imperial fleet was frantically bombarding the Stellar Dragon, which was apparently still sluggish after its long sleep. However, their attacks seemed to be doing very little damage.
Apophis smiled. This creature was quite difficult to kill, even for a fleet of this scale!
Suddenly, another fleet emerged from hyperspace... and began to engage the Imperial fleet above Terra!
Apophis frowned and whispered, "What the hell is going on up there?" Well, whatever it was, it might be the players' ticket off Terra.
After five minutes had passed, Apophis decided that he was at a safe enough level of Energy and HP to continue on. He got up and began walking away… but something at the back of his mind made him turn around and stare at the remains of the battlefield.
Lucifer's body was still there.
"How's that possible?" Apophis muttered, quite surprised. When players died, their Energy spread from their forehead to consume the rest of their body, resulting in them respawning in the appropriate zone. However, after five minutes, Lucifer's charred skeleton was still there.
Suddenly, the bones of Lucifer's corpse cracked open. Rather than marrow, what seeped out of the cracked bones was something like gleaming liquid metal.
The pool of liquid seemed impossibly large, far more than should have been able to fit into Lucifer's skeleton. Then it warped and shifted, condensing and materializing into the form of a man.
A man covered in liquid metal, but with a terrifying face beginning to form.
