The Second Life of Adam Cosmos

"You're not the only one hiding a secret skill," said Rebecca with a smirk. "I'll take this up a notch,"

Rebecca had been mostly passive and reactive during the fight so far. It was mainly due to Akamir being aggressive and far more skilled in swordplay than she is, but it is also because she has used only recovery skills and items to supplement her attacks.

Now, it is time to unleash her entire arsenal.

Paladin's Barrier! Divine Aura!

Paladin's Barrier 2

Description: Conjures a defensive barrier with 450 hit points that coats the user. If the attack is Dark, the damage the guard takes is reduced.

Cost: 40 MP

Cooldown: 60 seconds

Divine Aura 4

Description: Wrap the caster in an aura of divine energy for 40 seconds, granting increased health and stamina regen. Deals 65 damage to undead or Dark-affinity opponents within close range. It boosts Dark and Physical resistance by 20% and enhances the holy damage of the user by 25%.

Cost: 120 MP

Cooldown: 60 seconds

Rebecca wouldn't have to worry as much about Akamir's attacks with the Paladin's Barrier. But that's not the only thing she activated. Divine Aura granted her extra damage boost and can now inflict damage on Dark-type opponents within close range.

With her offensive and defensive capabilities boosted, she launched her attack.

Slash! Strike! Thrust!

Sensing the holy energy emanating from Rebecca, Akamir is now on the defensive and is taking evasive maneuvers instead of counterattacking. The Paladin's Barrier provides Rebecca an extra layer of protection, and the Divine Aura ensures he takes damage if she gets close to him.

For the next few seconds, Rebecca has the upper hand.

[You have dealt 53 damage to Akamir, the Undead Ronin Lvl ???.]

[You have dealt 51 damage to Akamir, the Undead Ronin Lvl ???.]

[You have dealt 54 damage to Akamir, the Undead Ronin Lvl ???.]

[You have dealt 54...]

[You have dealt 52...]

[You have dealt 56...]

When she attacked, her sword did not have to make contact with Akamir to inflict damage. Even being close to the blade's vicinity is enough to inflict damage on Akamir, thanks to the Divine Aura that extends to the sword the user wields.

While the chip damage is relatively low, nearly all of Rebecca's swing is causing some damage, causing it to stack up considerably. It is a testament to the Undead Ronin's skill that even when the Paladin boosted her attacks, all she could inflict was chip damage- albeit the damage cannot be neglected.

For the duration of the buff spell, Rebecca has inflicted nearly 30% damage to Akamir's fully recovered health. And when only a few seconds remained for Divine Aura, Rebecca took the opportunity to throw a grenade at Akamir.

Boom!

[You have dealt 250 damage to Akamir, the Undead Ronin Lvl ???.]

Taking the opportunity while Akamir was stunned, Rebecca drank a mana potion to replenish her MP. Her health is also back to full thanks to her recovery trait.

Akamir, sensing that the Paladin's Divine Aura had ended, began to counterattack. Now realizing that his opponent has not only recovery skills but offensive and defensive buffs, it has become dangerous for him to prolong the fight any longer.

But first, he needs to break the Paldin's Barrier. Unlike the Divine Aura, the Paladin's Barrier will persist unless broken. In other words, he needs to destroy it.

Akamir began his counter-assault by closing the distance with a lunging attack.

Lunge!

[Paladin's Barrier has taken -180 damage.]

Swift Triple Strike!

All his three strikes connected- but not with the shield. Instead, Rebecca blocked his attacks with her sword to conserve the hit points of the guard. The only thing that damaged her Barrier was the lunging attack by Akamir.

Previously, Rebecca would have been on the defensive. But now, she has finally gotten the tempo of the Undead Ronin's attacks.

Unlike before, her attacks are only made to ensure Akamir does not control the fight's pace. Now, Rebecca is fighting with the intent to control the battle. So, once again, Rebecca activated an offense buff.

Holy Enchantment!

While Divine Aura granted a buff to her body and weapon, Holy Enchantment only coats her weapon with holy energy. Nevertheless, it would still buff her attacks like Divine Aura did earlier. Once again, chip damage starts to pepper Akamir despite him avoiding a direct hit.

[You have dealt 53 damage to Akamir, the Undead Ronin Lvl ???.]

[You have dealt 51 damage to Akamir, the Undead Ronin Lvl ???.]

[You have dealt 54 damage to Akamir, the Undead Ronin Lvl ???.]

[You have dealt 54...]

[You have dealt 52...]

[You have dealt 56...]

But this time, Akamir is determined to trade blows. Judging that he is on the losing end due to his opponent's overwhelming buffs, he decides to go all out in exchange for achieving one thing: destroying the Barrier.

Triple Strike!

Akamir swung his nodachi three times in quick succession. He made two horizontal slashes; the third attack was an overhead slash. Rebecca tried to block them with her blade, but it was too fast, and she could only catch the third attack. As a result, the Barrier sustained damage.

[Paladin's Barrier has taken -80 damage.]

[Paladin's Barrier has taken -80 damage.]

Clang!

Fortunately, the first two attacks that went through were quick but not too strong, so the damage her Barrier took wasn't as significant. Still, the remaining hit points of the Barrier can only take one more attack before breaking.

The pressure is once again back on Rebecca. Realizing this, she decided to go on the offensive, too.

Holy Strike!

[You have dealt 161 damage to Akamir, the Undead Ronin Lvl ???.]

But Akamir did not let the damage he was taking go through for free; he delivered a heavy slash that finally destroyed the Barrier.

Nodachi Slash!

[Paladin's Barrier has taken -200 damage.]

[Paladin's Barrier has been destroyed.]

At this point, Akamir has taken over 1000 damage to his HP, but the Paladin's Barrier has finally been destroyed. Now, he can resume his brutal attacks.

Lacerating Triple Strike!

Typically, Rebecca would have sustained the Laceration debuff as she did before, but something different happened this time. Not only did Rebecca not take any damage, but Akamir found himself being thrown backward several feet and taking massive damage in the process.

Paladin's Set Unique Skill 1: Divine Burst!

[You have dealt 300 damage to Akamir, the Undead Ronin Lvl ???.]

Paladin's Set Unique Skill 1: Divine Burst

Description: Emits divine and physical force that explodes upon the caster's will. Deals 300 points of damage in a 6-foot radius.

Cost: 40 MP

Cooldown: 120 seconds

Rebecca had been waiting for the opportunity to use her Paladin's Set unique skills; the first is Divine Burst. It was the special armor set for Paladins that Adam gave her. And one of its unique skills is the area-of-effect attack close to the wearer.

Not only is the damage higher than a Holy Grenade's, but it perfectly compliments a Paladin's skillset as they are typically in melee confrontation.

Taking advantage of her downed opponent, she took the opportunity to attack.

Holy Slash! -201

Holy Slash! -205

Holy Slash! -209

Since her blade is still coated with holy energy, she significantly damaged her opponent. But learning from her mistake, she no longer greedily attacked the opponent as he was undoubtedly about to recover soon.

Lunge!

Dodge!

And sure enough, after the third attack, Akamir is back on his feet and tries to counter with a terrifying lunch attack. Luckily, Rebecca was no longer in the act of attacking, so she could dodge in time.

Sensing he was in danger, Akamir also stopped holding back. After his failed lunge counterattack, he took the remaining momentum from the failed lunge and transitioned into a series of quick and brutal slash attacks.

Nodachi Twelve Slash Technique!

Dark Sword Aura!

He then imbued his blade with Aura while his slashes were in mid-swing.

As a swordsman, his sword aura would typically only be imbued with mana that enhances his physical attack and range. However, his mana had taken the dark attribute since becoming an undead. Now, aside from improving the damage of his attack and extending its range, it also has the added Dark affinity in his attacks.

To any other opponent, this would have been terrible news. But not to Rebecca, a Paladin.

Although some attacks went through, Rebecca activated Divine Recovery to ensure her health did not drop to zero. Additionally, her Paladin's Barrier cooldown ended moments ago so she could re-deploy it.

Although the Paladin's Barrier was destroyed shortly after due to the Nodachi Twelse Slash Technique, it still gave Rebecca breathing space to chug one more health potion to ensure her HP was safe and a mana potion to refill her MP.

Of the twelve slashes, only two hit Rebecca- the rest were either blocked by her blade or by the Paladin's Barrier. And for the two that did land on her, the damage was not as significant as Akamir had hoped for.

[A Paladin will not easily succumb to the Dark.]

[Trait 'Dark Resistance' prevents you from taking extra damage from the Dark.]

Of course, Rebecca didn't simply stand idle as the hits landed on her. She bravely traded in the attacks she was tanking to also deal damage at Akamir.

Holy Slash! -201

Holy Slash! -205

"Aaaaargh!" screamed Akamir, the Undead Ronin.

At this point, his health has been reduced to 50%. Meanwhile, Rebecca's HP is at 70% and is consistently regenerating thanks to her Divine Recovery skill, which she activated a few seconds ago.

All his means of attacking have been neutralized. Or, at the very least, he cannot attack without sustaining damage of his own. Since he is a melee fighter, the aura buffs that Rebecca has is proving to be a severe deterrent to him. He also cannot get too close due to Divine Burst's AOE.

Rebecca initially did not use most of her offensive and defensive buffs to make Akamir reveal all his skills. But so far, it is apparent that Akamir is a swordsman with little to no dark-based ability. That is, aside from the Dark Sword Aura. This means that aside from his sword techniques, he has nothing else.

This is Rebecca's conclusion after she reduced Akamir's HP to 50% and still hasn't seen any new ability.

"I guess that's all you got, huh?" taunted Rebecca. "This is my win."

She began to launch a series of attacks of her own. Unfortunately, tempting fate by making such a declaration was never a good idea.

Since Akamir is now highly wary of fighting her up close, he decides to modify his means of attacking.

His weapon, the nodachi, is an impressive 5.7-foot weapon. Specifically- the blade is 5.7 feet. But if one were to include the length of the handle, it would be a foot longer. So, if he used the hilt's 1-foot to his advantage, it would mean he has an impressive reach of 6.7 feet!

And that is precisely what Akamir did.

He slid his grip down to the very edge of the hilt to the point that only his thumb, pointy, and middle finger were holding handle of the weapon. It was a very awkward grip for such a long weapon. But Akamir is a highly skilled swordsman who knows what he is doing.

Furthermore, thanks to his undead strength, he can wield the sword single-handed using only his three fingers, which is still secure enough to launch an attack. Since his nodachi is already long, to begin with, this manner of handling gave him a staggering reach of nearly 9 feet once his arm's reach was accounted for.

In comparison, Rebecca's Krieggmesser is only about 4.5 feet long.

Akamir has the unquestionable advantage in reach. His reach is so great that even if Rebecca had been using a spear as a weapon, she would still lose in terms of distance.

On the subject of the spears, Akamir switched to using thrusting attacks to maximize the distance further after adopting this peculiar way of holding his weapon.

Thrust! Thrust! Thrust!

[You have taken -141 damage.]

[You have taken -121 damage.]

Clang!

Like most katana-type weapons, the nodachi is most effective at delivering slash attacks. So Akamir using the nodachi as a thrusting weapon is not as effective- in most cases. But in this particular instance, it is being used effectively.

Now, Rebecca is taking continuous damage without the means to attack.

Akamir would deliver two to three thrusting attacks and then backstep, thus not allowing Rebecca the opportunity to approach him.

While she can deflect or block some of the attacks, the ones she can't are cleanly hitting her. And with Akamir's attack outside the reach of her Divine Burst, Rebecca cannot reach him close enough to damage him with her AOE or Aura skills.

Rebecca tried throwing grenades at him, but the Undead Ronin sidestepped the explosives and continued his ruthless barrage.

Akamir's attacks had been reduced to simple, predictable thrusting attacks. But simple and predictable does not mean it's not practical. On the contrary, the battle is once again in Akamir's favor.

Thrust!

[You have taken -142 damage.]

Thrust!

[You have taken -132 damage.]

Slash!

Clang!

Backstep!

Divine Recovery!

"Perhaps I spoke too soon," said Rebecca in regret of her earlier declaration. "The fight has gotten tougher."

Akamir's attack is gaining momentum; he is now dictating the flow of the fight.

The Undead Ronin dominates the fight with simple-to-execute but difficult-to-counter thrusting attacks.

Moreover, Rebecca has already drunk her 3rd health potion- anything more, and she will receive a random debuff if she drinks a fourth bottle.

Healing Potion, Healing Spell, Defensive Barrier, Holy Aura, all of her skills ensure that she survives and can effectively launch an attack- but only if they work together as a cohesive unit. But with the health potion out of the equation, her healing spell will not be sufficient due to its cooldown.

She only has two cards left to play. And it will be a risky play.

"I didn't want to use these skills if I could help it, but I guess I have no choice," said Rebecca.

This time, her voice is full of determination, her earlier arrogance wholly gone.

Wings of Divinity! Paladin's Barrier!

Paladin's Set Unique Skill 2: Wings of Divinity

Description: Restores HP to full. Wraps the caster in an aura of divine energy for 60 seconds and significantly boosts HP and stamina recovery. Decreases damage taken by 50%. Increases HP and Strength by 20%.

Cost: 10,000 Essence

Cooldown: 3-Days

Not only is the cooldown a lengthy three days, but the activation costs a hefty amount of Essence. To anyone not named Adam, ten thousand Essence is a considerable cost. Rebecca did not want to use this skill until the last moment.

But she sees no other choice. She needed a massive buff to tip the favor of the fight on her side and find an opening to end it. The Undead Ronin is undoubtedly a troublesome opponent. She can only hope to prevail by overwhelming him with several burst skills and buffs.

And to defeat Akamir once and for all, she needed to do something to neutralize the devastating swordplay and agility of her opponent. Rebecca already has a plan in mind. The only thing left to do now is to do it.

With the massive buff of Wings of Divinity and the defensive buff of Paladin's Barrier, Rebecca hurled herself forward.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!" yelled Rebecca.

Akamir welcomed her with three thrusting attacks that hit her, breaking the shield almost immediately. And on the third attack, Akamir successfully stabbed Rebecca's stomach.

Thrust!

[You have taken -90 damage.]

Thanks to Wings of Divinity's damage reduction of 50%, the thrusting attack did not take as much damage as it usually would have. Furthermore, her HP has been increased, so her health pool is relatively safe even with the thrusting attack connecting.

And more importantly, Rebecca expected this outcome. Or rather, she was hoping for it.

With the nodachi still stabbed in her stomach, she held on and moved forward- with the blade still in her stomach.

[You have taken -40 damage.]

For as long as the weapon is stabbed in her stomach and for as long as she tries to move forward while the weapon is lodged, she will take continuous damage.

[You have taken -45 damage.]

Fortunately, the Wings of Divinity increased her HP and regeneration significantly so that even as she took damage, the restored HP prevented her from dying. But, of course, Akamir is not going to leave Rebecca. While she holds on to the nodachi stuck in her stomach, Akamir is making every effort to try to remove her from it so he can deliver the killing blow.

Ironically, the stab trapped both the nodachi and, to an extent, Akamir himself. Meanwhile, Rebecca's Wings of Divinity is making her stay precisely an inch away from reaching zero HP.

[You have taken -50 damage.]

[You have taken -55 damage.]

[You have taken -60 damage.]

After sustaining more damage, Rebecca finally got ahold of Akamir. With the sword still lodged in her body and Akamir refusing to relinquish his weapon, Rebecca successfully grabbed Akamir's sword arm. Upon getting ahold of him, she let go of her Kriegsmesser and held on to Akamir's arm with both of hers.

"I got you now," said Rebecca with a smirk.

Paladin's Set Unique Skill 1: Divine Burst!

BANG!

[You have dealt 300 damage to Akamir, the Undead Ronin Lvl ???.]

[You have taken -40 damage.]

The blast hit Akamir completely at close range- stunning him in the process. While Akamir is incapacitated, Rebecca takes the opportunity to drop several Holy Grandes right where they are standing.

Holy Grenade! Boom!

[You have dealt 250 damage to Akamir, the Undead Ronin Lvl ???.]

[Paladin trait' Divine Absorption' has been activated. +62 HP restored.]

[You have taken -40 damage.]

Holy Grenade! Boom!

[You have dealt 250 damage to Akamir, the Undead Ronin Lvl ???.]

[Paladin trait' Divine Absorption' has been activated. +62 HP restored.]

[You have taken -40 damage.]

Holy Grenade! Boom!

[You have dealt 250 damage to Akamir, the Undead Ronin Lvl ???.]

[Paladin trait' Divine Absorption' has been activated. +62 HP restored.]

[You have taken -40 damage.]

Holy Grenade! Boom!

[You have dealt...]

[Paladin trait 'Divine Absorption'...]

[You have taken...]

The cycle of the holy grenade inflicting damage to Akamir, healing Rebecca, and the sword damaging her went for nearly ten cycles. Meanwhile, Rebecca is hurriedly trying to pull out the nodachi, still stabbed in her stomach as it happens.

Once again, Adam's item saved her; she, along with Jessica and Dexter, received an enchanted utility belt that allowed her to store several consumable items despite their size. This is why she has several dozen grenades in her person. It's essentially a smaller version of the Bag of Holding.

In exchange, Adam asked Dexter to strengthen the effects of several flasks of poisonous mixtures.

Eventually, the successive blasts finally took out the Undead Ronin.

She has slain Akamir and won the fight. But right now, her attention is focused on pulling the weapon out of her body.

"Argh!" exclaimed Rebecca. "Come on!"

This is because the damage she's sustaining from the stab is starting to pile up more than what the Wings of Divinity and Divine Absorption can restore. Unfortunately, the more she hurriedly pulls it out, the more damage she takes.

In hindsight, her plan had been somewhat reckless. But given that the opponent is highly skilled, a crazy and reckless plan may have been the only thing that could work. And right now, she's about to do something else that is reckless.

"Dammit," said Rebecca. "I have no choice."

Deciding it was an extreme situation, she chugged her fourth bottle of health potion. And while the potion restoring her health is welcome, she braced herself for the inevitable debuff.

[You have taken a potion beyond the acceptable dosage.]

+150 HP

[You have sustained Intense Fatigue.]

[Physical attacks have been weakened by 25% for 00:59:59.]

[Physical skill cooldown increased by 25% for 00:59:59.]

Not even paying attention to the debuff she sustained, she focused on nothing but removing the weapon stabbed in her belly. The nodachi was so long that the mere task of removing the blade from her stomach took several seconds.

"Come on!"

[You have taken -40 damage.]

Usually, the act of removing a lodged weapon in one's body is not the best course of action. But in this case, the nodachi lodged in her body has the passive effect of causing Laceration. This is why she's taking huge chunks of damage with every effort to remove the sword.

[You have taken -50 damage.]

Nevertheless, she has no choice. Pulling the sword out is her best chance of survival. Otherwise, the fight will end in a mutual kill.

[You have taken -60 damage.]

"Urgh!"

In truth, she has one more Paladin's Set Unique Skill. But unfortunately, it is not going to be helpful in this situation. She has no choice but to race against the clock to stop the increasing damage over time.

[You have taken -70 damage.]

"Grrrrr!"

[You have taken -80 damage.]

"ALMOST!"

[You have taken -90 damage.]

"THERE!"

[You have taken -100 damage.]

"YES!"

She pulled out the weapon just as her HP reached below 5%.

Fortunately, with the last few seconds of the HP regen effect, she will regain at least 10% of her health before the Wings of Divinity expires.

"Yes, I won," she declared as she collapsed on the floor.

There she lies as the mental fatigue starts to creep up on her.

"This has been one tough fight," she said to herself. "Glad my gambit worked out."

As she lay down, she reviewed the messages she could not focus on while removing the nodachi from her stomach.

[You have slain Akamir, the Undead Ronin Level 210. You have gained 210,000 Essence.]

[You have slain Akamir, the Undead Ronin. The title and achievement "Akamir's Slayer" has been added.]

[Quest: Present Akamir's Nodachi to Imperatrix Demetra.]

[Quest: Present the body of Akamir, the Undead Ronin, to Imperatrix Demetra.]

Details: Deliver the body of the slain swordsman to Imperatrix Demetra for a reward.

'I see,' thought Rebecca. 'I think it's time we visit the Fortress.'

Then, her thoughts wandered towards her teammates.

"I wonder how those two are doing?" she wondered out loud. "I hope they're okay."

With the message of the quest fresh in her mind, she carried Akamir's body with her as she returned to where she left Jessica and Dexter.