All Good Novel
Chapter 45 The Final Pearl
45 The Final Pearl
"That guy's doing fine," Stark was relieved, if Orasio had died, then he would have had to fight the fake Stark, which was a game over, yet now there was no way he could lose since he could just use [Block] forever.
But Stark failed to take something into account: that the shadow was smart enough to know that too.
And so sensing that it was about to lose, it did something they hadn't expected: it rushed at Stark, abandoning its fight with Orasio.
"Huh?" Stark saw it coming thanks to the upgraded [Focus] and was able to block the attack by crossing his arms.
"-321!" he received minimal damage, and then he kicked the air in the creeping shadow's direction, but it just backed away.
Stark was surrounded by the two shadows now, behind was Orasio's, which just had its shield positioned to block, and on the other hand was Stark's, its eyes burning with an extremely familiar determination.
It was almost as if the shadow was a real being.
"EXPLOSIVE SHIELD"
"AURA SMASH!"
And suddenly, from both directions, he was attacked.
A shield strong enough to destroy him, and two crimson fists strong enough not only to kill him, but also stun him, were both coming his way.
"Ah shit…"
But Stark didn't even feel the need to dodge, and the reason was obvious.
"Ally Protection," Orasio, who was free from both shadows, used his shield to create a barrier around Stark.
~BOOM, SLAM, SLAM~
The shield and the two fists hit the barrier, which shattered it, but in the end Stark had been saved from taking any damage.
And he decided to take advantage of that opportunity.
"Aura Smash!" he sent two crimson fists at Orasio's shadow, which was essentially defenseless since it was forced to send its shield away to use [Explosive Shield].
The first fist hit the [All-Time Barrier] as it was still activate at all times, but it was immediately shattered as Stark had done too much damage to it.
And so the second hit it in full force.
~BOOM~
"-4961!"
But that wasn't all…
[Enemy Stunned]
The shadow found itself unable to move any of its shadowy limbs, and it fell to its knees.
[Shadow Orasio: 311/10000]
[Shadow Stark: 58/10000]
"You take care of your shadow," Stark shouted while smiling, and Orasio grinned while dashing toward the stunned guardian.
Meanwhile, Stark charged at the imposter version of himself, pinning it against a wall. The fake Stark's HP were low, and it would surely lose if they played the long game.
"GOODBYE," Stark declared confidently as he delivered a final blow to the fake with a powerful attack, and it didn't even defend itself or dodge.
"-12182!" it received its entire life in that single attack, and it immediately vanished into thin air before their eyes.
Orasio had reached his own shadow by then, and with swift precision, unleashed a powerful swing upon it.
"-472!" The damage was not significant, but it was enough to finish off the shadow and make it disappear like its counterpart.
And just like that, the two participants had successfully defeated the last guardians.
But their victory was short-lived as suddenly…
~CRACK, SMASH~
All the mirrors shattered into pieces, except for two that hung on the far wall away from them.
There was a golden aura around those mirrors, almost inviting them to shatter them.
"We did it," Orasio sighed while approaching the mirror to the left, "We fucking DID IT!"
"Not yet," Stark shock his head while walking toward the mirror on his right, "The 'Greater One' is still there."
"…" Orasio didn't say anything and immediately used his shield to destroy the mirror, resulting in him vanishing before Stark's eyes.
"Phew~" Stark looked back at the mirror chamber, it was completely destroyed, "One more…"
And he used his fist to destroy his mirror too.
***
The two of them were back at the 'Colossal Paths'.
[2 participants alive]
[You have slain "Creeping Shadows (GUARDIAN)", gained 150000EXP!]
[All paths cleared, please proceed.]
Stark had yet again gotten a ton of EXP, which meant…
[Your level has increased to level 15, granting you one skill point and boost in stats]
[Level 15 Reached: please pick a skill card]
Three purple cards appeared in front of him, and just like last time there was no way for him to check their content no matter how hard he tried.
"Choosing a skill?" Orasio suddenly said as he had been observing Stark, he had also leveled up and reached level 15 just now, meaning that he had picked a skill too, "I got a new one too, I think it's pretty good!"
"Hm…" Stark scratched his chin, and in the end picked the purple card on his right, "Let's see…"
He took the card and flipped it, and there he saw a drawing of a figure doing a roll.
…
[Name: Invincible Dodge]
[Type: Epic]
[Level: 1]
[Description: A unique skill that grants the user temporary invincibility during a dodge maneuver, when the user uses this skill at the perfect moment, they have invincibility frames that can stop them from receiving damage/status effect, no matter how strong the skill is, cooldown of one minute between each use]
[Note: if the user uses this skill with the wrong timing (it is extremely short), then it will not work]
…
'Doesn't that mean even if some level 999 guy tries to kill me, but I roll, i'll be able to avoid damage?' to Stark, this sounded too good to be true, but he understood upon reading the note that he had to have good timing to use it.
After checking both of their skills out, the two boys instinctively looked at the statue in the middle: The Sphinx.
It's third and final pearl was now glowing with a dark aura, meaning that all of them were lit up.
And suddenly…
~BRRRRRR~
The entire 'Colossal Paths' chamber began to tremble, echoing with a loud humming noise that seemed to come from the very stone walls themselves. Stark and Orasio exchanged a quick glance, their hearts beating in anticipation of what was to come next. The ground beneath their feet cracked open, revealing a blinding light that enveloped the chamber.
And as the light faded and their adjusted, they noticed that in the location the satue was in stood a massive staircase that led down the abyss of the chamber.
This was the staircase to the 'Greater One', the final trial of the domination trial before they could fianlly get out of this hell hole where no one escapes from.
"Let's take a break, and then let's face that little shit," Stark sat on the ground beside the staircase.
"Alright, partner," Orasio smiled and lay down too.
And so just like that, they were getting ready to face whatever awaited them down there.
Down the deepest pits of the 'Glass Purgatory'.
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!
Creation is hard, cheer me up! Nôv(el)B\\jnn
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EndKun
Creator's Thought
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