[Infinity Arena Final – Match 2]
[Battlefield: Great Forest of Fairy Oaks]
[vs AT Cerberus (Dark Knight)]
At last, I’m facing the opponent I was supposed to face.
The ace of the prestigious AT from Europe. The main star of a glittering career.
Right in front of me stands the Dark Knight, who is ranked among the best in the world.
After the first ambush, as promised…
…a dark knight on horseback charged through the emerald forest.
It appears he thought of crushing me under his horse hooves with great vigor.
I have no interest in being flattened under that enormous horse.
I rolled to the side holding my shield.
The beast’s blood soaked the field simply by my dagger’s proximity.
With the summoning of the warhorse canceled, Cerberus planted his feet back on the ground.
‘Instead of an axe, a sword. Impressive, indeed.’
Among Cerberus’s two signature weapons, the sword was chosen.
The axe, with its unmatched destructive power, was clearly superior.
However, the sword’s appearance suggests that the brute force approach has been abandoned.
For the first time, our weapons clashed.
The intensity from the full-force assault was on an entirely different level from the previous fight.
I thought I had successfully prevented him from gathering any usable data.
But Cerberus’s defense was much sturdier and more secure than I had anticipated.
Still, every single blow carried a sense of weight.
It is a fact that Knight-class characters inherently possess high strength.
Nevertheless, this is clearly beyond the realm of mere stats.
Such sheer power wouldn’t be possible without perfect timing and swordsmanship.
The success rate of a parry improves with higher defense on my side but decreases with the greater strength of the incoming attack.
With blows of this magnitude, I’ll need to overcome challenging timing to deflect them.
The purple-blue aura of magic spread as if taking over the surroundings.
The lush green foliage of the Great Forest began to wither, turning gradually black.
Even the flowers that bloomed again came out grotesque.
[‘Fierce Malevolence’ effect has been applied.]
[This effect layers upon receiving dark knight attacks.]
[With each layer, more severe damage will be inflicted.]
The Dark Knight class is designed as a direct antithesis to the Paladin.
No ability to assist allies. No inherent healing ability.
Instead, it debuffs the enemy and finishes them off with offensive skills.
All of this – the sinister purple aura, the unsettling flowers – is part of that debuff.
Just by getting close, you fall into the influence of the curse, and the layers of malevolence stack up.
From what it seems, they’ve opted for a reduction in speed instead of an enhancement in defense buffs during this match.
If the match drags on too long, my mobility will also weaken.
This move should normally deplete an immense amount of magic power.
But our current battlefield is the Great Forest of Fairy Oaks. Magic power? It can be replenished as much as needed.
‘A bit suffocating.’
There’s no apparent weak spot I can find.
Perhaps mindful of our previous fight, his lower defense has become significantly reinforced, and his strategies against rear attacks are air-tight.
Even my attempts to provoke aggressive exchanges with my skills have gone nowhere.
Although I managed to stab his wrist multiple times…
[‘Fierce Malevolence’ effect has been applied.]
[The damage increases proportionally…]
[‘Nacht’s Curse’ effect has been applied.]
[Movement speed decreases by 3%, scaling with the number of stacked layers.]
The exchanges aren’t entirely favorable with these debuffs stacking up.
I thought I had successfully parried, but the delayed explosion of magic power dealt its damage afterward.
This is what Reapers excel at.
Though it doesn’t come close to comparing to the original, Cerberus just added one more tricky technique to his arsenal.
A trick never seen before, even in professional matches.
‘So, it wasn’t just me with hidden weapons.’
Cerberus plunged his sword into the ground.
A menacing ripple spread around the blade, leaving the sky as the only possible escape.
A shadow erupted from the opposite side, arcing in a half-circle toward Cerberus.
Though I had thought it wouldn’t give him good sightline…
Judging by the clear sound, it seems he successfully parried.
I took the shadows I’d set up as a stepping stone, propelling myself to the branch of a Fairy Oak.
Using the skies briefly as temporary cover, I dove downwards.
Even Cerberus can’t deflect this with a mere guard.
[‘Whisper of the Black Moon’ effect has been applied.]
[Increases all attack, movement speed, and counterattack effectiveness…]
[Amplifies certain skills…]
Consuming an important buff, I shattered his left shoulder.
The longsword restraint was quickly followed by an imposing shield.
Naturally gripping the top of the shield, I launched upward.
In that upside-down world, Cerberus’s head came into view.
A kindhearted assassin usually marks these moments with poison and throwing daggers.
Beside his black helmet, I aimed a dagger toward the chainmail encasing his neck.
Though my aim was thrown off by curling my body, one of the three daggers hit the mark.
This kind of exchange is satisfying enough.
I returned to the cover of the Fairy Oak to once again install more shadows.
It’s better to install them in advance so they’re ready when I need them.
‘While this weapon was not originally made for such uses…’
The advantage I have in this match is the ability to utilize the air.
The enemy is a slow-moving Dark Knight, and the only purpose of my shadows was for stepping stones.
It’d be impossible for him to trip over my shadows, so it’s better to place them high up and use them myself.
While distracting Cerberus with thrown daggers, a shadow surged from behind him.
A dark spike pierced through his shoulder.
The decoy I’d created was crushed under a violet hue of his opponent’s hand.
During this window, I inflicted a wound on his side before leaping.
Taking advantage of the previously laid shadows, I pivoted.
The moment I swung over, a black fatal strike flew toward the spot I was just in,
cutting my precious shadow tether as a result.
Even though it’s unfortunate to lose it, I continued my assault on Cerberus’s head.
“Annoying.”
“Isn’t that what assassins are usually like?”
Though I said that, my side still didn’t resolve the feeling of being stifled.
Cerberus’s defense isn’t invincible.
I’ve pierced the paladin’s shield before. Anyone brought in would not be able to achieve a perfect defense against me.
However, the main issue is that as I break through this robust wall again and again, my side continues to hemorrhage.
The “Fierce Malevolence” effect keeps stacking endlessly.
As his attacks grow more potent, the impregnable knight shows no signs of faltering, and simply calculating shows that the current health lead isn’t enough.
The enhanced critical strikes have split into multiple directions.
Deflecting them isn’t difficult. Blocking them simultaneously with two daggers guarantees success in parrying.
However, spending time deflecting these strikes only offers Cerberus opportunities.
To avoid doing that…
Moving backward via shadows, a deluge of pitch-black rain followed as if waiting for just that moment.
I’m being read. Or, more accurately, I’m being led.
Assuming both of us are playing optimally, I wouldn’t have many other choices but to end up here.
‘This can’t continue.’
At first glance, it might look like I’m in the dominant position in our combat.
And in this acrobatic exchange, it’s true that I’ve held the upper hand in control.
But the things I can use as stepping stones are gradually disappearing.
Branches of the Fairy Oak are falling one after another.
Even my shadows, which are continuously being cut down, are not infinite.
Even someone like me can’t move around in mid-air without platforms.
Little by little, my movement is being restricted.
‘Time to throw down all caution before it’s too late.’
As the last shadow was consumed and magic power drained in large chunks,
I hid behind the leaves of the Fairy Oak when a giant chain descended from the sky.
To kill my opponent, I, too, must take risks.
My decoys and I entered the skill’s range, and the summoned chain barely grazed by.
While Cerberus’s shield deflected the chain, I maneuvered through the shadows straight to his back.
Got it. I’ve pierced through the guard ──
“Expected a bold move like that.”
The moment I thought I had broken through his guard,
in my vision appeared a swirling mass of magic on Cerberus’s armor.
Could he have been concealing it behind his shield all this time?
I know what it is.
A skill used originally to dominate a region.
Rather than targeting someone specifically, it is a wide-area skill designed to drive someone out of a specific region.
Holding this near his body can only mean one thing.
Self-destruction. The brute plans on detonating a bomb in front of me, trusting his defense.
Cerberus discarded even his sword, grasping my arm.
“What the hell is this…!”
Even at a glance, the countdown was not long.
And it was easily adjustable by injecting just a bit of magic power.
Time is running out. I need to utilize even this small gap.
I launched the best attack I could muster.
I tore his shoulder muscle and plunged a dagger into his weak neck armor.
Right as I was about to push through and cut his larynx, a colossal explosion pushed me away.
The guard gauge crumbled instantly.
My body flew uncontrollably, stopped only when it slammed into a tree post.
When my vision returned after briefly darkening, the surroundings were only hazy.
The match has not concluded yet.
I somehow survived, but my body feels more like a living corpse.
With only about 3% of my health remaining and numerous injuries and fractures, I can barely move.
Before that – it’s too painful.
I clenched my teeth, embarrassed even to cry out in pain.
Cerberus, who quickly recovered, approached me in a few strides.
He held a broken sword in his hand.
The dagger I had thrust into his neck had narrowly caught on his vertebrae.
Cerberus spoke, sounding slightly irritated.
“Didn’t expect to be pushed this far in such a short time. You’re some kind of monster yourself.”
Soon after, a sharp pain hit my chest, followed by numbness.
[You have been defeated by AT Cerberus.]
[Death penalty is nullified due to “Infinity Arena”.]
[You will respawn in the ‘Arena Player Waiting Room’.]
