Waiting for the perfect moment as the demonic foe winded up for another attack, he bolted forward, using a [Blink Step] to dash between its planted legs and continuing past it in haste.
But, he knew a bit of distance would be easily covered by the swiftness of the high-leveled demon.
…Alright, let's lose him! He thought.
This time, he immediately used successive, instantaneous steps to duck into one of the stores within the mall, tossing himself into a woman's clothing store within moments of executing his glorified retreat.
"--"
He breathed out quietly, hearing confused stomps from the demon as he slowly, and quietly, opened the door stationed at the back of the clothing store.
To his luck, it led into a storage warehouse that seemed interconnected to all of the stores, but separated from the main section of the mall.
Bingo…! He thought.
He immediately raced down its unknown length, pushing past abandoned, dusty crates and palettes, aiming his sights on the door with an unmissable "EXIST" sign plastered above it.
"--"
BOOM.
–Again, the persistent, tenacious, and dreadful being crashed through one of the walls with enough force to produce a burst of wind that howled forth.
"Again?!"
It was beginning to feel futile and repetitive, though he could hardly feel annoyed as fear and desperation is what coated his mind.
As it swung its blades, producing range-less slashes of fire towards him, he prioritized only defensive maneuvers as he raced past it.
Swiftly lifting up and throwing crates, tossing a bundle of clothes in the air to disturb the demonic boss' sight, he was able to get past it and through the exit with a harsh kick to the handle of the door, slamming it open as he rushed out.
This time as it crashed through the brick wall to follow after him, he drew his daggers, using this moment to go for an attack of his own–having already leapt up to a point above its head.
Sage Period, activate!
"Hell's Ripper!"
[Spirit: -350. Remaining Spirit: 3200/3600]
It was a combination of [Ripper], [Dark Edge], and [Flame Lance], creating an amplification of powerful darkness around his dual-wielded daggers, enveloping them with the aspect of roaring, black flames, and finishing it with a dozen, weak-point targeting attacks all within an instant.
Before the colossal, demonic being could recognize his position, he unleashed each of his slashes without mercy, going so far as to push his muscles to their limit to include every ounce of strength he could in the attack.
I know this won't kill it, but it should at least hurt it enough to give me time to get away! He planned.
The trail left by his slashes were of black, curving flames, left across the golden-jeweled, humanoid demon after he finished his assault, rolling as he landed back down onto the sediment-coated sidewalk.
Good!...That should do it, right–? He thought
Or so he hoped.
Standing tall and unmoving, covered in the residual, dark embers, Hadimba simply looked at him as if perplexed by the series of bugbites left on his form.
No way…! He thought.
It wasn't his most powerful attack, but it was high enough up there that it made him realize one, simple fact: he could not beat the enemy before him.
There was not a scratch left on the red-skin of the demonic colossus, and not a nick that etched itself on the many jewels he wore.
"...Shit!" He yelled out in frustration.
Sage Period, deactivate!--He thought.
It was a miracle his reflexes guided him to release Sage Period, just in time for what came next.
–As if punishing his previous lapse of judgment, a strike so swift, so vicious, swept across his vision before he could react, leaving him standing frozen for a moment as his mind adjusted to what had just occurred.
A fountain of blood shot out in front of him, or rather–from him.
"Gyugh…!"
Across his chest, stretching diagonally from his right shoulder and down to his left hip, a massive gash split open from the unseen, sharp slash, leaving a spray of blood on the concrete in front of him as his body ran cold in a veil of dread.
[Health Points: -2000. Remaining Health Points: 1250/3250]
It was at least clear where the attack came from, as through his trembling vision he could see Hadimba returning his massive, cleaver-like sword back after it had been coated in blood.
There was already a shallow pool of blood beneath him just seconds after being slashed, leaving him no choice but to test out a new ability developed through his Sage System's optimization of his body.
It was something born from his martial arts proficiency being risen from his previous battle:
"Raaaagh–!"
He screamed out from the top of his lungs, from the bottom of his gut, clenching all of his muscles to their maximum, causing his complexion to shift to a strained red just like his very own blood that stained his black uniform.
"Flesh Temple," was the name of the technique–one bordering on superhuman, yet teetering just on that threshold of what was humanly possible.
Through almost supernatural control of his own body, he managed to compress and flex the muscles around the open gash on his chest, forcing it to close through a rock-solid, sealed flex that remained.
"--"
He panted, feeling a surge of pain flow through his body after using such a brutal technique, but the bleeding had successfully stopped.
[Remaining Health Points: 950/3250]
The blood loss had caused his health to dwindle further, now testing the threshold between life and death, but–he was alive, at least for the time being.
As if interested in the unorthodox technique, Hadimba had spectated his countermeasure to blood loss before finally making his move once more, raising all six of his weapon-wielding hands as if displaying his intent to attack once more.
Shit…He thought.
While out of breath, he held his daggers up, but felt just how dreadful the situation was; surrounding him in the abandoned street corner, the Rakshasa arrived once more, landing atop the stationary vehicles.
There was no avenue of escape now, the man-eaters salivated as they clang their blades together in a chime as if coaxing the colossal, crimson-skinned leader of theirs to finish him off.
"...Just great…two times in a row this week I get a personal confrontation with death, huh?" He muttered to himself.
As the dozen Rakshasa closed in, presenting their flesh-eating, vicious teeth with their tattooed tongues hanging from their mouths, he huffed, gathering what little energy he could to prepare for the impossible battle.
Swoosh.
Before his eyes, he witnessed a flash sweep across his vision, going straight through the necks of the two closest Rakshasa.
That same, platinum light sharply turned, bouncing from one plate to another as a trail of radiance was left, sweeping through each and every Rakshasa within a second.
A hum resounded, filling the air with a fluctuating heat that sat in contention to the gloomy, crimson horizon above; the zig-zagging, curved stream of light surrounded him, but only touched his enemies.
After the blinding blitz finished, the one responsible for the swift attack finally appeared, leading the trail of platinum light as a fur-lined, black cape flowed behind their back, almost blending with their fluttering, jet-black, silken hair.
[Player Recognized…]
[Ma-Ri | Level: 30]
Not a moment later, each of the Rakshasa's heads popped off, resulting in many geysers of blood raining down.
The rapier-wielding woman turned back, looking at him as her golden-badged, white-and-black uniform of sleek, flexible leather and a black skirt accompanied by the same colored leggings, looking at him with her unwavering gaze.
"Jeong-Hui. Return to the hotel at once," Ma-Ri issued her command.
"But, that thing is too strong–even for you, Ma-Ri!" He contested.
Though his point was easily countered by his own actions as he attempted to step forward by her side, but keeled over in pain as the simplest movements caused his temporarily-closed wound to reopen partly.
"You've taken critical injuries," Ma-Ri told him, "Eunji will heal you. I can handle this–worry not, others will be on their way to help me."
"--"
It was difficult to swallow, but his worries were aided somewhat as he looked up just in time to witness Hadimba going for a strike with three of its arms, swinging downward towards the black-haired, co-leader of Gangcheori.
With a movement of her needle-like blade that resulted in a flash of light, the tri-attack was repelled swiftly.
"Go," Ma-Ri repeated, "That's an order, Jeong-Hui."
He gritted his teeth, finally accepting his own position as he ran the other way, holding his chest to help his muscles clamp shut as running made it difficult to concentrate his abnormally flexed chest muscles.
Don't die, Ma-Ri! He thought.
Racing through the car-filled streets, he could feel the massive, temporarily-closed gash on his chest burning with a fiery pain, yearning to open as trickles of blood still managed to seep through slowly, running against his hand.
Coughing out, something emerged within him–a desperation crawling through his skin right before a pain clenched itself into his body, causing his next cough to spit out crimson fluid.
Huh…? He thought.
He was already a few blocks away, too far from Ma-Ri as he could hear their clash continuing, but he was unable to move forward, instead falling to his knees as an inexplicable agony took hold of him.
What…is this? He wondered.
Looking down, he realized where it originated from: the forcibly-shut wound across his upper-body; it was searing, releasing a lofty amount of steam upwards to his complete, unknowing confusion.
Why…? I don't understand, he thought.
It was only then that the pain against his palm was realized by his consciousness as he reared his hand back, looking at the skin of his palm that was clutching his searing wound–seeing that his flesh had been scorched and peeled away.
He began to understand once seeing the crimson embers that fluttered from his clutched wound that ran alongside the scarce trailings of now heated blood that ran down his chest and abdomen like boiled water.
…That demon did this. It's attack…holds some sort of burning after-effect? A curse? He guessed.
It was likely the shock in that moment that kept the pain in the back of the mind, but it all returned as he began to realize what it truly was–screaming out in agony as the massive gash burned violently.
Repeatedly, he could feel his numerical life value dropping, sinking low as he was left helpless.
What should I do? What can I do?...Is this it? Even after being saved…? Even after surviving all of this time–? This is how it ends?! He thought.
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