End of the Mission

77

Smoke exhaled an intense aura that made the entire residence tremble, causing everything around it to collapse upon itself.

The sound of cracks spread through the ruined corridors, covering the entire hall. Light entered through the fissures in the cracked ceiling, only to be devoured by the dense fog moments later.

Knight John stepped forward his black armor crackled with crackling electricity, the air around his body vibrating with white lightning. His two short swords hummed softly.

Feliciana raised her black spear, strange runes glowing along its carved shaft as fragments of ice condensed around her.

Alex stood at the center formed by the two knights, motionless, his eyes fixed on Smoke's figure.

Smoke's human form began to merge with the surrounding mist, as if dissolving into the air, spreading and corroding everything nearby.

"Let's see how long you'll last in my living hell," Smoke said, his voice echoing everywhere and nowhere at once.

Knight John moved at a staggering speed, leaving a residual image behind. His twin blades crossed the air, unleashing countless slashes of white lightning.

Smoke's body dissolved, evading John's strikes. Behind him, the mist condensed once again, delivering a surprise attack.

The sword and dagger clashed midair, sending sparks flying in every direction. Taking advantage of the opening left by the previous assault, Knight Feliciana spun her spear in her hand with flawless choreography.

A pillar of ice rose, freezing Smoke, who had condensed to strike at Knight John.

Spears of ice took shape in midair and shot toward the massive frozen pillar. Knight John relied on his agility and his 150 dexterity points.

The knight had 91 base points in his attributes, mirrored from Alex. But since he was using John's body, Knight John gained an additional 59 points, surpassing Alex's own stats.

Smoke was hit squarely by Knight Feliciana's attack every ice spear pierced his body. Yet, he suffered no significant damage; his form turned into mist again, retreating almost unscathed.

Electricity exploded from Knight Alex's body, making his black armor creak. He left afterimages behind as he unleashed a flurry of rising twin-sword strikes.

Amid the chaos of ice and lightning unleashed by his knights, Alex watched the battle, preparing to join in but first, he needed to find a weakness or a pattern in his enemy's movements.

He couldn't just fight head-on as he was used to; his knights were his sword and spear, and he had to learn how to draw the greatest advantage from them.

Alex had little experience as a hunter, but he was growing with each battle and now, facing a three-star hunter, it was time to finally prove himself.

The air around them was tainted with poison. The system kept sending constant notifications to Alex about the infection spreading through his body. He could see his HP and MP decreasing at a steady rate.

Three minutes that's all he had before dying, or so the system told him.

Alex's vision was growing blurry. He drank several potions from his inventory to delay the symptoms and keep fighting alongside his knights.

The electricity surrounding Knight John was distorting amid the mist; he was struggling to land his blows as Smoke's aura grew ever stronger, making everything around them collapse.

Even though Knight John wasn't infected like Alex, Smoke had found a way to deal with him his white eyes darkened slightly.

With his vision obscured, Smoke attacked violently, sending Knight John crashing into the ground and creating a massive crater.

A large portion of Alex's HP was consumed to repair the tear in the armor.

Knight Feliciana reacted by conjuring ice pillars to block Smoke's advance. However, the ice began to corrode, melting into a sticky, repulsive liquid.

The knight watched as her own body started freezing from her own ice she neither spoke nor screamed.

Alex was using Gravitational Control Lv5 and Gravitational Defense Lv5 to contain the corrosive mist around his body, minimizing the damage and buying himself some time.

It was difficult for him to stay alive amid such a destructive haze.

The sound around him seemed to vanish; everything moved in slow motion. Alex's eyes radiated an intense purple light, his hair dancing in the polluted wind.

There was no more time it was live or die. He would use everything at his disposal to end this battle.

In that state, where gravity and electricity merged within his overwhelming aura, the weight on his body disappeared, allowing him to surpass his own speed.

The Excalibur in his hand trembled, eager for his enemy's blood the sword seemed alive.

Alex saw his knights immobilized. Knight John struggled to move as his armor regenerated, while Knight Feliciana was trapped in a block of ice.

Alex moved at high speed, forcing the mist to retreat, pushed aside by the gravity surrounding him.

"Rise and fight, my knights!" Alex shouted, his voice amplified by the King's Command skill.

A spark ignited within the sealed souls of his knights. They rose again Knight John flared with explosive lightning, while Knight Feliciana melted the ice binding her, overflowing with aquatic power.

Alex and Feliciana combined their skills.

Alex and Knight John ran at high speed around Smoke, cutting off his escape route. A prison of purple and white lightning trapped Smoke in place.

Knight Feliciana swung her spear, summoning an ice prison reinforced by gravitational authority. The ice, impossibly heavy on its own, completely sealed the area where Smoke was trapped.

Feliciana's blue eyes regained their deep ocean glow, while cold sweat streamed down Alex's face as he moved. It was his HP that sustained the abilities both he and his knights were using.

Alex felt he could collapse at any moment; his stats were draining away like spilled water.

Knight Feliciana looked at Alex, silently conveying her will.

Knight John and Alex stopped moving as they saw Smoke trapped. Inside the prison, the hunter thrashed violently, crashing against the icy walls shifting between poisonous mist and his human form, wielding two daggers.

Alex fell to his knees, coughing up black blood, his eyes bleeding. He used his sword to push himself up he was at his absolute limit.

His HP and MP were nearly depleted he only had a few seconds left before his abilities stopped functioning. He would lose his sword, his knights, and possibly his life.

Alex's gaze pierced through the ice prison that threatened to shatter. He had to admit it a three-star hunter was incredibly difficult to handle. Even with his knights aiding him, the task still felt impossible to accomplish.

He couldn't allow himself to be defeated. His sister had yet to be rescued he didn't know where she was, but he knew he had to find her.

Alex still wasn't strong enough to uncover the secrets of the hunters' world and was far from finding a way back to his original reality.

With so much left to do, Alex couldn't afford to die. He would do anything to survive he would fight, drawing strength from where none remained, to reach his goals.

Alex raised Excalibur above his head, channeling all the remaining power he had. Lightning crackled; the air around him warped under the gravitational force.

He felt a crushing weight on his sword, one he could barely withstand. He shouted, pouring all his pain into a cry that split the heavens.

Before the sword descended, Alex had a vision.

Ever since he had crossed into this reality, his visions had ceased yet now, one returned.

But this time, it was different.

He saw himself walking toward a sword embedded in stone, surrounded by thousands of people cheering his name.

"My king!" voices of all ages shouted in unison. Twelve knights looked upon Alex with pride.

A mage with a long beard watched him as though gazing at his own son.

Alex gripped the sword's hilt, and slowly, the blade was pulled free from the stone. When he raised it above his head, the crowd knelt.

The mage, the twelve knights, and fifty squires all bowed down before him.

Alex broke free from the vision as the sword descended, draining all his remaining strength. He had no time to understand what was happening.

Smoke had somehow managed to break free.

Gravitational Slash Lv5.

Gravity itself seemed to collapse as the sword came down. Space trembled under the force of the gravitational cut.

Alex's eyes lost focus, and he fell unconscious to the ground. He couldn't tell what had happened as darkness claimed him completely.

Gravity seemed to collapse as the sword came down. Space trembled within the gravitational slash.

Alex's eyes lost focus, and he fell unconscious to the ground. He couldn't tell what had happened as darkness pulled him into oblivion.

Just like Alex, his knights also collapsed. Without his HP to sustain their existence, they vanished in a burst of violet light.

Feliciana and John were left stripped of their armor, lying unconscious on the floor. They, too, were unable to witness what had taken place.

The hunters from the Association…

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