Black Online-Chapter 133: Blademan vs. Shield of Mortality

[-1 HP]

[-1 HP]

"Ngh... Agh..."

Fang Raon grabbed a stone hold in the mountain wall and pulled himself up with all of his strength.

His fingers, toes, and face were turning numb.

The higher in the mountain he got, the colder it became, and the closer to death he was inching.

"You cannot escape!"

Behind him, Rickard roared and chased after him through the snowy, cold, and dangerous mountain terrain.

The Speed Attribute boost had already ended.

Scarred Raider Coin only had one use, and its attribute boost only lasted for three minutes.

But still, Fang Raon didn’t regret picking that object from the treasure pile, as it helped him to survive this far.

Without the Speed boost, he doubted he could’ve escaped Rickard and would most likely already be dead.

"...Fine, you want to keep chasing? Alright then..."

Fang Raon pulled his sword from his inventory and threw it down towards Rickard. It grazed the cheek of Rickard, leaving a shallow cut.

The sword fell into a snow pile a few feet away, lost beneath the white blanket.

"Return!"

Fang Raon shouted, and the sword twitched before hurling straight back into his hand, and he quickly returned it to his inventory.

Without further ado, he continued climbing and soon pulled himself up onto the snowy ledge that was leading up.

"Huff... Haah..."

Breathing cold air, Fang Raon followed the snowy ledge, and soon, it took him to a "road" that was barely more than a narrow path winding up the mountain.

He immediately followed it.

"Aaaaargh!"

Rickard reached the snowy ledge, followed Fang Raon to the narrow path, and stomped after him up the path.

Dragging his feet through the snow, Fang Raon reached the mountain peak and looked down at the land below.

In the distance, he could see the faraway lights of the Snowberry Village and the beautiful aurora borealis dancing across the night sky.

"Ah... So beautiful..."

He pulled out a camera, snapped a picture, and then heard grunting behind him, belonging to Rickard.

"You..."

Rickard pulled out his sword, his teeth clattering in coldness, and his coat had turned from brown to white.

"What was your plan, huh, asshole? Waste my time or what?"

"...Yes, exactly that."

Fang Raon wryly smiled, and then he pulled out his sword and then turned to face the red-faced Rickard.

His face was red because of a mixture of things. The cold and anger were the main factors.

"And now I’ll waste more of your time."

Fang Raon said.

The cold wind, carrying snowflakes, breezed past them, and they looked at each other like strangers meeting for the first time.

A perfect scenery for a heroic battle.

"I don’t care anymore if Della manages to escape. Thanks to you, I’ve found another entrance to Snowberry Village.

"I’ll bring that information to Monsieur Rascal and Grinding Grief, and with this, we can launch a secret attack that they won’t see coming."

Rickard said with a laugh.

"I’ll warn them."

Fang Raon said.

"I’ll capture you and make sure that you cannot even log off to tell them. We’re locked in a Combat Zone and during that, you cannot log off. That’ll last twelve hours. I’ll keep you captive for those twelve hours.

"And we won’t care about that little ban. As long as we kill all of Rose Records, we can wait for a month until we can access that place."

Rickard said with a smirk.

"...I guess you have a plan in mind already. It sounds quite waterproof... Except that I am the only one that can spoil your party."

Fang Raon said coldly.

"Haha, you aren’t that powerful, Raon. Don’t get ahead of yourself. This is nothing but formality. You’re basically already my captive."

Rickard said, and then stomping down the snow under his boot, he slowly approached him with sword in hand.

[Duelist Instinct Activated!]

"...Basic Slash!"

Fang Raon made the first move, and his blade—cutting through the falling snowflakes—came down.

Rickard wielded his sword with two hands, and met Fang Raon’s blade with a powerful upward swing.

The steel screeched against steel.

"My sword is a Tier IV weapon. You know what that means, don’t you?"

Rickard laughed and pushed the Refined Sword down to the snowy ground.

[-1 Durability]

With his heart slightly dropping, Fang Raon noticed the durability on his sword dropping.

When going against a person who had a higher-tiered weapon, it was always a bad idea to go head-to-head with them.

"Sword Stab!"

Fang Raon pulled the sword back and thrust it forward, but Rickard swung his sword, and the sword was thrust aside.

"You’re weak, boy!"

Rickard laughed and brought his sword down on him, and Fang Raon desperately changed his sword to a shield and brought it up to block the blow.

Thump! Crack!

It felt like his entire skeleton was shaking from the impact, and Rickard kept swinging his sword against the shield.

The thick sword dug into the shield. The steel frame buckled under the pressure.

Another swing, and the shield’s edge began to splinter and crack.

"Agh..."

Fang Raon stumbled back, and Rickard kept pressing forward with a giant grin and hammered his sword down at him.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Strike, strike, strike, another strike, and yet another.

The shield—which was before round and entire— now dented and broken.

It had a large crack down the middle, barely holding together. Looking like a sword had cut through it. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The shield more like looked like a pizza that was slashed into slices.

[Durability: 0/100]

[Steel Shield has broken!]

Looking at the broken shield, he tossed it aside and pulled out his Refined Sword back from his inventory.

Because of his missing arm, he had to keep switching between shield and sword, but now that the shield was gone and destroyed, he only had his sword left.

"I’ll also destroy that sword of yours if you don’t stop. I am getting tired of this cat-and-mouse game."

Rickard said with annoyance.

"Aurel’s Blade Dance!"

Fang Raon cried out as he swung his sword in a mesmerizing dance of steel, and Rickard stopped it with his shield and sword.

’What the hell is this?’

Rickard frowned.

Fang Raon waved the sword in a graceful arc, and the blade grazed Rickard’s other cheek, leaving a thin trail of blood in its wake.

"ENOUGH!"

Rickard roared, and that scream sent Fang Raon sliding backwards, and the mountain also crumbled in response.

’That’s one of his Tank skills?’

Fang Raon with a frowned.

He was just biding his time and waiting.

In that moment, a notification that he’d been waiting for at last arrived, and all of his hope rested in this.

[Closing Sequence Activated!]