The fight started slowly, with Annath and I both slowly approaching each other. She walked with smug calmness on her face, as if she was merely putting on a show. She equipped her helmet, held her sword with two hands, and went into stance.

  With a smooth hop, she activated [Sword Dance]. Her sword flowed behind her, winding up a slow attack.

  Until her body suddenly burst into movement as she cast [Sword Dash] at the apex of her swing. The sword launched at me with explosive force, far faster than any attack she’d used in our earlier fight, giving me less than a quarter of a second to react.

  I moved The Immortal for a block, and in a panic I simultaneously activated [Shadow Dash], just to confirm I wouldn’t die. Her sword collided with my dagger first. The knockback took effect just before my dash activated, making my shadowed figure fly back. I landed a few feet from Veyra.

  “Give me a few turns,” I said. “I’ll match her rhythm.”

  Annath kept slowly approaching and taking space for herself. She wasn’t taking this seriously. She could have charged us to the edge of the arena, where a fall to the death awaited. Annath hadn’t even used a single one of her overpowered item skills yet.

  I need the first few hits, I thought, and I charged her on foot.

  The second I was in melee range, she hopped back, creating just enough distance to keep my daggers out of reach. The tip of her sword could, however, reach further than my daggers. Veyra shot an arrow, but Annath didn’t even react, tanking it with her shoulder.

  I gritted my teeth. On top of all of her skills that I had to keep track of, her weapon also had a longer reach. She could keep me at her sweet spot a few feet away, where her sword could hit me, but my daggers would be too short to damage her. Blocking would also send me flying to the air.

  “Anything you do,” she said, “I have an answer for.”

  I needed her defence. Even just a few hits, enough that I could land perfect blocks on her. From there, the fight could really start. Veyra would start doing damage as well.

  Annath danced, initiating a swing with her annoyingly beautiful footwork. Her sword moved slowly at first, the wind-up slow, until the explosive swing followed at an angle way different from what she showed.

  Predicting her was unreliable. Reacting to her swings required perfect concentration, and I still risked missing a perfect block.

  But Annath wasn’t the only one with fast, undodgeable attacks.

  I [Shadow Dashed] straight through her sword, thrusting my dagger against her chestplate with a satisfying cling. I stole 76 defence, landing a single stack of evisceration.

  She initiated another quick hop backward, escaping from my melee range, and swinging at the tip of her sword’s range. I was too slow to dodge.

  The swing cut me straight in half, one-shotting me.

  But not before Veyra cast [Astral Defiance].

  My health rose to thirty percent as [Astral Rage] and [Blood Desperation] both became active. I glowed with an aura of time magic, my damage doubled twice. I slashed at Annath’s chestplate.

  Sablethorn’s blade blinked like a glowstick upon the heavy impact, stealing 290 defence in one hit.

  Her sword was already on its way to kill me. I planted my feet on the ground and flicked The Immortal on its path.

  [Perfect Block!]

  I felt a jolt, My legs burned from the impact, but I stayed firmly in place.

  Rampant attacks followed as Annath continued swinging at me. She stood in Veyra’s [Chronorift], but she didn’t care, tanking the damage. Her health fell to 94%.

  Each one of her slashes was stronger than the last as her ring stacked [Sundering Rhythm]. Soon, she could enter [Perfect Flow], making her attacks hit twice.

  But the more she swung at The Immortal, the more she risked hitting an unlucky chance. Another attack came.

  [Perfect Block!]

  [Immortal Parry - Active Conditions Met]

  Her stance was barely affected thanks to her boots’ knockback resistance. But just for a moment, her rhythm broke. I thrust at her chestplate.

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  Another cling came as the third stack of evisceration landed on her chest, another 184 defence moving to me. A [Ray Of Time] landed on her helmet, dealing 10% damage. She was losing defence. Veyra’s spells would slowly start doing more damage.

  “For an epic dagger,” Annath said calmly, “those blocks are way too strong. But for how long can you keep landing perfect blocks?”

  Annath hopped back, and this time, she continued hopping back, retreating, until she [Double Jumped], her feet on level with my head.

  Then she finally decided to get serious.

  White heavenly wings sprouted from her back. Her breastplate lit with golden veins, a bright shine blaring active, and her eyes turned fully golden by the effects of [Touch Of Godhood]. Each rune in her greatsword ascended alongside, with cursed red energy mixed in from [Cursegiver]. She flew five feet from the ground and slashed down.

  The air rippled around the golden projectile. Blocking that would be suicide. I [Shadow Dashed] forward. I had to keep my stacks up, or this was a loss.

  She blocked with her left gauntlet. Sablethorn blinked, stealing 69 defence and applying another evisceration stack, until her sword followed with a heavy uppercut immediately after. With my feet still in the air, I blocked.

  The perfect block couldn’t save me from being blown into the air like a football being kicked. I flew up for over a second, finally hitting the apex of the jump, where I rotated my body.

  Annath’s winged figure flew after me. She double jumped, and her sword crashed down from above with force akin to the portal mage’s quarterstaff.

  I blocked, but the impact shot me cannoning down. I couldn’t do anything at all as my back made contact with the ground.

  I landed on Veyra's portal, traveled through, only to continue cannoning up to the air on the other side as the momentum of Annath’s attack remained.

  The world was a mess of dizzying perspectives. I blinked, reoriented myself, and examined the battlefield.

  Annath was flying at me with [Sword Dash]. The runes of her sword activated in a beautiful rainbow as she threw an overhead swing.

  The sky itself split as [Celestial Slash] hit from a range. I couldn’t side-step in the air. I held The Immortal for the block, only for the dagger to fall from my hand. My health fell to zero.

  Slash.

  I lost control of my character, and I could only watch the remaining fight.

  It didn’t take long for Annath to finish the fight. Veyra gave a good struggle, landing a half-charged [Time Freeze], but she simply didn’t have enough damage, and she’d already used a portal on me, meaning she was unable to escape.

  [You Have Lost Round One]

  [Team Solo Mage 0 - 1 Team Celestial Order]

  Annath won the first round.

  Alone.

  Well, I thought. Shit.

  I faced the dark loading screen for a short while, my heart beating as I recalled the fight we just had. Was I stupid for thinking we had a chance? Annath was one of the five gods of the game for a reason. Her mythic items were complete nonsense. Especially her breastplate. [Touch Of Godhood] combined with [Double Jump] and [Sword Dance] was one of the most overpowered combinations I’d seen, especially with Annath’s footwork. She didn’t just abuse her items to be powerful. She made perfect use of everything she had available.

  How the hell will we beat her?

  While I was thinking, a new system pop-up came.

  [Round two is starting. Please select your preferred items. You have one minute to join.]

  [Click To Join]

  I bit my lip and joined, logging in. I found myself once again in the same mountainside arena next to Veyra. She wore a difficult expression on her face.

  “Well,” I said. “The good news is that I think I can read her footwork now and land perfect blocks if we fight on even ground.”

  “And the bad news is that we’re screwed anyway,” Veyra said.

  I tapped my foot, glancing at Annath. She had once again spawned alone without any teammates.

  “Sorry, I wasn’t very useful,” Veyra said.

  “No, you dealt a lot of damage,” I said. Honestly, I had no idea how Veyra managed to land any spells at all during that fight. Her aim was just too good. “It’s my fault for not getting enough stacks in. Four isn’t nearly enough. I can do better this time. My mistake was following her into the air. That let her toss me around as she pleased. I’ll need to wait for her to return to the ground to reset Double Jump. She can’t fly for long with Light Flight.”

  “You’ll need a lot of defence to keep blocking,” Veyra said.

  “I’ll get it done. Go with plan A.”

  Veyra raised an eyebrow. “You want to just charge in?”

  “Yep,” I said. “Go with plan A. Let’s surprise the fuck out of her. I’ll get it done this time. Trust me.”

  She didn’t look convinced. We debated strategies for a bit with me insisting that I’d win this time, until Veyra shrugged, deciding it was worth a shot. We clicked the ready button. Annath had already been ready, waiting for us to start the match.

  The arena opened up, and I immediately activated [Shadow Dash], aimed at Annath’s chestplate like a missile.

  Not a second had passed when a loud cling resounded, 139 defence making it to me. I could feel surprise from the way she leaned back, from the little hesitation in her feet. I hit again, stealing 90 defence.

  She activated [Touch Of Godhood] immediately, sprouting wings and ascending, and she slashed at me again.

  [Astral Rage - Active Conditions Met]

  [Blood Desperation - Active Conditions Met]

  I tanked the attack without a care, letting me land one free counter-attack. I slashed like a maniac, hitting once again for 194 defence. She attacked again. Now I was forced to block, feet firmly on the ground.

  I’d stolen enough. The initial charge put me at over 600 defence. Just enough for perfect blocks to effectively deal with her sword.

  While she was hopping away, I landed one more hit for the fourth stack of evisceration, when she [Double Jumped] and got to the air.

  I threw my dagger, hitting her boot, stealing 45 more defence and used [Recall Daggers].

  She threw ranged attacks at me, but I’d stolen enough defence that I could now block them. She ran back, while throwing more and more ranged attacks.

  But her flight wasn’t endless, and she had to hit the ground to reset [Double Jump]. She landed on a layer of [Chronorift].

  And I [Shadow Dashed] straight to her face with both of my daggers ready to do their jobs. I activated [Eviscerate] and aimed a thrust straight at her helmet.

  Show off now, you piece of shit, I thought as a Sablethorn made contact with Annath’s visor.

  20 chapters ahead on !