"Why do I have to go, father?" A silhouette encompassed by darkness complained, as if throwing a tantrum. His words were akin to that of a child, and although he was only exaggerating, they were still based on his true thoughts.
One would never believe that the entity who spoke was Hermes, a Divine Ranker affiliated to Olympus, and the Son of Zeus.
"Just send Perseus," Hermes insisted. "He has been slacking off recently, ever since he became an almost peerless High Ranker. He thinks there isn't a sky above the narrow well that he resides in."
"Enough, Hermes," an arrogant, booming voice reverberated across the darkness. Hermes's lips clamped shut, and the words remained forever in his mind, unable to be transmitted as sound. He couldn't interrupt his father. "You are the only Divine Ranker left. Everyone else is either on a mission or simply has matters to deal with."
"Yes, but why send a Divine Ranker?"
"Who do you think that person is? Do you think they would be charmed if Perseus showed up, describing the tales of the mighty Olympus?" Zeus spoke, allowing faint laughter to escape his lips. It was like he was mocking Hermes.
Hermes couldn't respond, but several questions lingered in his mind. He scratched his head, leaning back on his throne. A sharp, cold sigh escaped his lips, after which he lifted his head to face the ceiling.
His outburst was truly akin to a child throwing a tantrum.
However, the power behind his existence shattered all bounds. The Son of Lightning, Olympus's Messenger… the Divine Ranker of Thieves. All titles described the legends he had crafted throughout his life.
"I will go, father."
*
With calm eyes despite the searing pain that ran across his abdomen and sternum due to shattered ribs, Arthur moved across the crimson soil rapidly. His steps were soft, but each indicated intense suffering.
As his knees suffered the impact, a fraction of it transferred towards the injury near his torso, causing immeasurable pain.
Bam! Klang! Bam!
Yet, disregarding all sensations, Arthur mindlessly slashed and thrusted, forcing the ogre into an uncomfortable position. His foe was unable to counter most attacks, having to simply endure the numbness of its fingers as Skofnung collided with its club.
"Just fucking die," Arthur muttered under his breath. His breathing was erratic, and his appearance disheveled. Despite his pain tolerance, moving at rapid speeds while continuously preventing further injuries was incredibly difficult.
Not only was his mental power being drained, his mana reserve and body were weakening by the second. The ogre, however, defended without a problem. The most annoying aspect of the battle was that the ogre would not allow the crimson-eyed man to touch him.
'If only I can use [Judgment Regeneration,' thought Arthur. His mana reserve was being drained, and eventually, he wouldn't have enough mana to activate the skill. 'I have just one chance.'
Coating his feet with mana, Arthur shot forward, narrowly avoiding the brunt of the ogre's attack. Then, without hesitation, he twisted his body mid-air, altering his trajectory and willingly pushing himself to the ground.
The ogre swung without thinking, but Arthur was nowhere to be seen.
"Tag."
[Judgment Regeneration has been used.]
[The Sins and Virtues of the target are being examined.]
[Target has ?% Sin and ?% Virtue.]
[Judgment Regeneration has failed.]
'What…?'
Arthur's eyes widened, and the ogre used the opportunity to swing at the man's head. Gritting his teeth, Arthur swiftly moved his body out of the way, but couldn't prevent his left ear from being crushed.
As an annoying, ringing sound permeated across Arthur's mind, all that remained was resentment and utter shock. Why hadn't Judgment Regeneration worked? Was it because the ogre was a Necromantic Beast?
'But [Sin Toll] worked in my previous life…' Arthur thought, quickly tying the wound on his ear using his clothes. Then, he used [Judgment Regeneration] to stop the bleeding and prevent it from worsening.
Although, his concentration was on its last legs.
With pain interrupting his train of thought from two directions, Arthur could barely maintain his rationality. No, it wasn't about rationality. Instead, it was about focusing solely on defeating your opponent.
Pain was a mere distraction.
But sometimes, distractions could ruin more than they were worth.
'I get it….' Arthur suddenly realized, inspecting the properties related to [Judgment Regeneration]. It wasn't only [Sin Toll] that the skill consisted of. It also contained an aspect of [Basic Recovery].
Although the original healing skill had been propelled several fold in terms of efficiency, it still contained the property of Life and Regeneration. Since that was the case, the death aura emanated by the Necromantic Beast could suppress it.
It wasn't always like this. Death aura couldn't always suppress Life.
However, since [Sin Toll] made up most of [Judgment Regeneration], and since [Basic Recovery] was such a low-level skill, its presence was faint. But that didn't mean it was non-existent.
Taking advantage of this loophole, the ogre's death aura could suppress the entirety of [Judgment Regeneration] solely because of [Basic Recovery]'s existence. Just because a tiny bit of life energy was involved in the creation of the skill.
'I have to win without the use of [Judgment Regeneration]...' Arthur concluded. Determination was visible in his eyes as he evaded the endless barrage of attacks that threatened to crush his body at any moment.
The most troublesome aspect of the first tier was that the enemies were designed to be equally as powerful as their opponent. This made it increasingly difficult to unleash small bursts of energy, as that was accounted as one's own power, resulting in an increasingly powerful opponent.
The ogre let out a mighty roar, and the necromantic aura surrounding its body sharpened. It was like the abyss was gazing towards Arthur, who simply looked back with a calm, unperturbed expression.
It was as if he was challenging the abyss.
"I haven't tested out Skofnung ever since the first trial," Arthur muttered, cracking a smile as he tightened his grip on Melzer's falchion.
