Chapter 113. HP Race
Chapter 113. HP Race
He arrived as another hut was destroyed. There were now only four left, including the one he was hiding behind. So his distance from the two Lizardmen was pretty short.
Jack got ready as he waited for the Lizardman Chief to take action. When he heard the sound of another hut getting destroyed, Jack jumped out of hiding and cast Energy Bolts. He swiftly circled behind the same hut and ran out the other side.
The Energy Bolts had taken both the Lizardmen's attention. As they watched the bolts coming from one side of the hut, Jack dashed towards them from the other side.
As they faced attacks from two directions, their reaction was a bit delayed. Jack threw a Mana Bullet at the Lizardman Archer, but it managed to dodge. However, Jack had intentionally aimed the Mana Bullet a little to the side between the Archer and the Chief. So when the Lizardman Archer moved to the side to dodge the Bullet, it increased its distance from the Lizardman Chief.
Jack used Sword of Light for the second time. The Lizardman Archer could not dodge as the crescent light traveled at a blinding speed. It struck at the Archer's chest, but it didn't produce a critical hit this time, and the Archer held onto its life. But its HP had fallen below 10%.
Jack then closed on the Lizardman Archer, but instead of delivering slashes, he used Charge. Since Jack was only one meter away from it, the Lizardman Archer had no chance to dodge. The Charge traveled eight meters, so the monster got dragged another seven meters away from the Lizardman Chief.
With the Lizardman Chief some distance away, the Archer had no chance to escape from Jack's relentless sword attacks. The monster soon lost its remaining life and fell to the ground.
Jack turned and stared at the approaching Lizardman Chief.
The Chief stopped in its tracks, seeing its last guard dead at Jack's feet. Its body trembled, and the Chief uttered a low growl. Another soul-rending roar burst from its throat, and the berserk red aura enveloped its body.
Jack remembered Peniel saying the Chief's defense was reduced when it was in this berserk state. Now that it was the last monster left and there were not enough huts to play hide and seek with the monster, Jack decided to just gamble on this final confrontation.
He drank one of his two remaining Basic Healing Potions to replenish his life to his full 640 HP. He then activated the Life Burning Art, costing him an immediate 192 HP and another 1 HP every second. He only had a little over seven minutes before his life ran out, less with any damage he took during the time.
He then activated his sword skill Overlimit to increase his sword damage output; his Storm Breaker transformed as it released energy with an intimidating screeching sound. He also activated the Heightened State skill to increase stamina and mana regeneration while reducing the cooldown on all skills.
He was now as buffed as he could get and in his most robust condition.
The Lizardman Chief attacked first, swinging its heavy axe down at Jack's head. Jack sidestepped to dodge it easily. With the Life Burning Art active, all Jack's stats were doubled; thus, his speed was much faster even with the Lizardman Chief having the berserk buff.
He slashed at the Chief's body. 199 damage!
It was just a normal slash. Even Jack was slightly shocked by the damage.
The Overlimit skill only lasted for 85 seconds, so Jack could not afford to let it go to waste. He utilized his overwhelming speed to deliver more slashes, producing over 200 damage. Jack figured this must have been due to the Overlimit effect that reduced the opponent's defense further after the first hit.
Jack continued with his barrage of sword attacks, but the Lizardman Chief was not going to just stand there and let Jack hit it freely. It swung its axe to the side and started to spin its body. The berserk state had reset all its skills' cooldowns, so it could use the spinning move again.
Jack jumped back multiple times as the spinning Lizardman rushed towards him. When it was about to connect, Jack turned to the side and used Charge. Fortunately, Heightened State reduced his skill's cooldown, so he could use the skill again.
With Charge, Jack shot out of the Spinning Lizardman's path and out of the dangerous situation.
At the end of the Charge, Jack turned and cast Mana Bullet and Energy Bolts. The Lizardman Chief's spinning stopped as both spells hit him. It ignored the damage, squatted down, kicked the ground, and leaped forward. It flew rapidly towards Jack, covering the distance in an instant.
Jack anticipated the move. He jumped forward and rolled on the ground. They passed each other with the Lizardman Chief in the air above and Jack rolling on the ground below.
The Lizardman Chief landed, striking his axe on the ground in frustration. It turned around, but Jack immediately greeted it with a Power Strike to its knee, dealing 394 damage. The Lizardman Chief howled in pain as its knee buckled under it.
It still tried to strike back with a swing upward, but Jack blocked it with Magic Shield.
Jack continued to dance around the monster, slashing and blocking with Magic Shield. With an injured knee, the Lizardman Chief had the worst time trying to deal with Jack.
Jack continued to bombard the Lizardman Chief with attacks. The Chief landed some attacks as well, but Jack could dodge most of the time with his remarkable speed. The damage Jack suffered from these attacks and the continual HP loss from Life Burning Art actually left Jack with a little more HP than the Lizardman Chief in term of percentage. It was as though their HP bars were racing to see who would drop to zero first.
Jack's Overlimit expired. His sword turned back to its original appearance, and his damage-dealing potential plummeted. But his Life Burning Skill was still active. So he was still faster and stronger than usual. The Lizardman Chief HP was below 30%, while Jack's was around 40%.
With his damage output lower than before, Jack took a more cautious approach. He could no longer just focus on offense and hope that the Lizardman Chief's life would expire before his.
He kept his Magic Shield active constantly and used it, combined with his speed, to reduce the damage he took while attacking whenever he safely could to chip away the enemy's HP. When Jack's Heightened State ended, the Lizardman Chief's HP was below 10% while his was a bit below 20%.
However, his remaining life was not comparable to the Lizardman Chief's. Jack had only 119 HP remaining; the Lizardman Chief in its berserk state could kill him with one blow if it used its skills and scored a clean hit. Fortunately, it had used all its skills when its berserk state started, so now it could only rely on its normal attacks. However, even with normal attacks, two clean hits would most likely take Jack out.
With that in mind, Jack jumped back to get out of melee range. It was time to switch to kiting technique. He got rid of his Magic Shield and started to spam the two ranged spells in his arsenal, alternating with standard range attacks when the spells were on cooldown.
The Lizardman Chief was frustrated. It tried to chase Jack, but it was a futile effort as its speed was lacking compared to Jack's. When its HP was only a little over 300, Jack felt assured of his victory.
'Just a few more hits,' he thought.
But the Lizardman Chief suddenly loosed another angry roar; streams of red energy burst out.
"Careful!" Peniel warned.