ALL NOVEL Chapter 22 Desperation Conclusion
The meteor crashed into Zero creating a concussive wave that knocked both the demon and knight off their feet. Zero had spent the last of his mana blocking the attack however this did not fully stop the attack and he received some light burns on his body. Taking advantage of the demon's disorientation Zero grabbed his spare katana out of his soul dimension, rushed at full speed towards the demon, jumped, and brought his sword down on the demon. The momentum of Zero's dash combined with the weight of gravity allowed Zero to slice the demon's right arm off completely.
Howling in pain and anger the demon launched a fireball at Zero but Zero moved as soon as he finished attacking so the fireball missed. Zero retreated and faced his back to the wall now that his mana was finished the shadow avatar could no longer distract the knights. Although Zero had been too busy with the demon to notice his avatar had managed to kill 6 knights. This left the injured Arc demon and 92 armored knights to defeat although Zero was unaware in his desperate state. He was in a bad position because of his increased mana capacity it would take about an hour to fully recharge. If he tried to use it earlier it wouldn't be enough to survive this predicament.
'System you got any ideas?' asked Zero
YOU CURRENTLY HAVE 2 SHADOW KNIGHT SOULS AND 4 FINAL GUARD SOULS
IT IS ADVISED TO USE A FINAL GUARD SOUL TO INCREASE YOUR STATS AND QUICKLY DISPATCH THE ARC DEMON
'I didn't defeat any knight so where did the souls come' asked the confused Zero
SOULS WERE OBTAINED BY SHADOW AVATAR
'Well, it's actually more useful than I thought. Go ahead and use 1 final guard soul for stats and another for ability.' Ordered Zero
CONFIRMED
USER STAT INCREASED
STAT INCREASE STRENGTH: +1350, SPEED: +340, MAGIC ENERGY: +1000, VITALITY: +18,000
SKILL FIREBALL AND STRENGTHEN GUARD GAINED
FIREBALL: DIRECTLY COVERTS MANA INTO A FIREBALL WITHOUT THE USE OF MAGIC
STRENGTHEN GUARD: CHANNEL MANA THOUGHT OUT THE BODY TO INCREASE DEFENSE BY 50%
Zero smiled as he thought of a plan. Gripping the katana in his hand he ran toward the demon but kept his speed only at 70% which was his maximum before his stat increase. This demon fired a fireball at Zero who managed to dodge to the left but the demon having seen it so many times had prepared a fire pillar spell in the direction he dodged. Zero then increased his speed to maximum and ran toward the demon dodging the flame pillar. The demon had not expected this and quickly tried to activate a spell but it was already too late.
Zero slashed the katana at the neck of the demon and succeeded in decapitating the demon. Unused to his new speed Zero was unable to stop and crashed into a stone pillar. Zero got up and saw a dark blue soul fly towards him and absorb into his body. With this the demon was dead and now the only thing left to do was knights. It was then that received a notification from the system.
ALERT TARGET ARC DEMON ACTIVATED SKILL SUMMONING AND USED ITS OWN BODY AS INTENDED SACRIFICE
SPACE ANOMALY DETECTED SUMMONING SUCCEEDED
NULLIFICATION ABILITY DISABLED IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE USER TELEPORT AWAY IMMEDIATELY
Not wanting to argue with the system's decision Zero mustered all the mana he had and teleported to the castle entrance. The scene wrapped and he landed at the castle gate where Alucard had made the barrier to protect Mina and collapsed.
(***Mina POV***)
Mina was shocked when her cousin Zero suddenly appeared out of nowhere. His clothes were in tatters and blood could be seen all over his body. Alucard had discovered that she had the ability to heal. She had healed Soma a few times during the beginning of his joinery through the castle. His visits decreased as time went on which was great news for Mina as it meant he was getting hurt less. She focused all her healing power on Zero with an anxious concerned look as she wondered what had happened to him and how he was even here. When they first arrived they searched high and low for any sign of him but found no trace so they hoped he hadn't gotten caught up in this mess.
When she finished healing him she was still worried about him because he was still incredibly pale and his skin was slightly cold. She worried he had lost too much blood before he appeared from wherever he came from. She sat on the ground and laid Zero's head on her lap so that he could sleep comfortably. After an hour Zero began to stir a little and he opened his eyes but they strangely glowed purple.
(***Zero POV ***)
Zero awoke to feel fully healed and refreshed and saw that he was lying on Mina's lap. Wasting no time he activated his mesmerize skill and ordered her to forget meeting him here. He then asked her about what had happened since they arrived. He found out that Soma had made it to the area which he had previously fought the sirens and was still trying to clear that area currently. This caused Zero to relax because he was unsure of how much time he had spent fighting the Arc demon and knights. He had a schedule to keep and unexpected incidents like the teleportation traps could no longer happen or his plan would fail.
He then teleported to the area he was at before being forcefully teleported away. He then ordered his system to absorb the abilities of the Arc demon's soul.
CORRUPTED DEMONIC SOUL ABSORBED
SKILLS GAINED
MAGIC CANCELATION: THE USER HAS THE ABILITY TO USE ANTI-MAGIC WHICH CAN DESTABILIZE MOST IF NOT ALL FORMS OF MAGIC AND EVEN DESTROY A MAGE'S CAPABILITY TO UTILIZE MAGIC.
FIRE MAGIC MASTERY: ABLE TO LEARN ANY FORM OF FIRE MAGIC EASILY
MANA NULLIFICATION: THE USER CAN NEGATE POWERS AND EFFECTS THAT ORIGINATE FROM MAGIC. SPELLS, CURSES, HEXES, JINXES, AND CHARMS MAY ALL BE NEGATED BY THE USER. IN ADDITION, MAGICAL OBJECTS AND POTIONS ARE RENDERED USELESS. MAGICAL CREATIONS EVEN WEAKEN, AND EVENTUALLY CRUMBLE, DISPERSE OR DISSOLVE QUICKLY IN THE USER'S PRESENCE.
DARKNESS RESISTANCE: RECEIVE 25% LESS DAMAGE FROM DARKNESS ATTACKS AND MAGIC
SUMMONING: THE POWER TO SUMMON FORTH AN OBJECT OR ENTITY. USERS CAN TRANSPORT A PERSON, CREATURE, OR OBJECT OF CHOICE BY MEDIUM OF DIMENSIONAL TRAVEL, PORTAL CREATION, OR SOME OTHER WAY. THIS MAY ALSO RESULT IN THE FORM OF A SUMMONING CONTRACT, WHICH CREATES A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE SUMMONED AND THE SUMMONER. HIGH-LEVEL USERS MAY NOT BE BOUND BY RESTRICTIONS SUCH AS A CONTRACT AND CAN SUMMON ANYTHING THEY WANT, INCLUDING POWERFUL BEINGS OR "FAMILIAR SPIRITS" AND OFTEN REQUIRE STRONG MYSTIC CONNECTIONS TO WHERE THESE ENTITIES RESIDE. USERS CAN CALL UPON FAIRIES, ANGELS, DEMONS, OR ANIMAL SPIRITS, JUST TO NAME A FEW. A SACRIFICE WILL TEMPORALLY BOOST THE SUMMONER'S CAPABILITIES ALLOWING THE USER TO SUMMON A CREATURE FAR ABOVE WHAT THE USER IS CAPABLE OF BUT THE SUMMONED CREATURE WILL BE UNBOUND BY A CONTRACT SO A PSEUDO CONTRACT SHOULD BE PREPARED.
'What is the difference between magic cancelation and mana nullification?' asked Zero
MAGIC CANCELATION ALLOWS USER TO CANCEL MAGIC THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN CAST
MANA NULLIFICATION WILL CREATE A SPACE WHERE MAGIC IS IMPOSSIBLE TO CAST AND SKILLS THAT USE MANA WILL BE WEAKENED AND DRAIN MANA QUICKLY BEFORE DISSIPATING
'So cancelation is after and nullification is before okay I got' said Zero as he then proceeded to walk forward while being vigilant to avoid any traps. He went over the skill he just obtained and found summoning to be a very powerful skill which was useless to him as he had no magical knowledge. He could use an overwhelming amount of mana to force the spell through but that would only produce an effect that wasn't even 1/1000 of the intended effect. He then reached the area that he remembered from the game and began to wait.