Like two fiery cannonballs, we sped through air to destroy one another.
Astracus was faster. He tried to slam his horns into me, but I was more adept. Being much smaller in size, I twisted my body mid air, closely dodging his attack and slid down parallel to his rising body. The cross that was stuck in his stomach came within my reach. I grabbed hold of the rod with my body and right hand. Contrary to my expectations, the light within it accepted my embrace and the impact didn't shatter my body. Instead it closely resonated with my will. I pulled down on the rod with all my momentum, and the cross sliced into Astracus' torso.
Astracus roared in pain.
A disastrous sound wave was about to hit me point blank.
'Lianne! Sacrifice my ribs and amplify your healing!'
My lower floating ribs disappeared and my breathing stopped.
'Ray, his tail!'
The metallic tail came to slam me from his upper right side. I obliged and with my further increased agility, I turned my body and placed my legs in its direction. As soon as it made contact with me, I used my feet to push myself away from him.
My legs got destroyed. All of my abdominal organs bled. My entire lower body got obliterated.
But I safely managed to get away. With my amplified autoheal, my lower body started regenerating instantaneously to cover for the large amount of blood loss.
A huge sound wave from Astracus' deadly war cry came after me with great speed but my escape velocity was much greater and it never got a chance to reach me.
I looked at Astracus as I was falling.
He was bellowing in agony.
I had managed to slice all the way up to his neck.
'Ray, you're about to hit the ground! I'll eject you back to the physical world. As soon as you wake up, close your eyes immediately. Use the route I'll give to you, to re enter the dreamland. I'll set the coordinates so that we don't stray far!"
My body fell like a meteorite. I looked at what remained. One arm and half a body falling from the sky with a beautiful grey background.
'Ray, I need to amplify the stopwatch further or else by the time you re-enter, Astracus will have escaped!'
'Take my other arm'. My voice lacked enthusiasm.
I was about to hit the ground at lightning speed.
My other arm shattered.
At the exact point in time, when I made contact with the soil, my consciousness bounced through, what felt like a wormhole.
I rapidly opened my eyes with cold sweat all over me. My body that was lying on the smelly roof jerked up.
I felt the sensations of my intact physical body. Both my arms were present. My lower body was okay.
A sea of pain started to flood my sentience.
I wasted no time and closed my eyes again.
Following what Lianne told me, I pushed myself back through the same path and had that wormhole traversing experience again.
I jumped back into the other world. My body was lying on the ground. My lower part was regenerating but I had no arms.
I had difficulty breathing.
Sacrificing my ribs was a mistake.
The pain had returned. It was the autoheal penalty from before.
'Wait, I'll make it easier for you to breathe. I'm going to focus all my power into healing you', Lianne was working extra hard for me.
I looked at Astracus. He was already injured from before since he had that cross in his belly. I had just made that injury a fatal one. That's why he had lost his strength and was falling...
Wait.
Falling? Falling where?
Isn't he about to fall on top of me?!
I quickly stood up with my incompletely regenerated lower legs. Almost tipping over multiple times, I started running away.
Astracus fell directly on the spot at which I was lying.
His body went inside the Earth like a rabbit entering its tunnel.
Large dust clouds arose and covered the area.
I had no arms so I just closed my eyes to protect my vision.
'Ray, get ready.'
'Are all my skills and stats back to their normal state?'
'Yes.'
'How much RP do I have?'
[RP: 439]
'Keep using the stopwatch. And if it looks like I'm about to die, break one of my intact bones and activate the unique skill.'
'Understood!'
A thunderous roar came from below.
'Lianne! Problem!'
'Starting calculations!'
Astracus rose up from the ground. His wings had decomposed and his body was rotting.
With just his upper body above the ground, his red eyes gave me a death stare.
'I have to survive this.'
He snorted heavily. He was furious.
A fallen angel with no hands was being mocked by a human with no arms.
He'll most likely hit me with his tail.
Roaring furiously, he swung his iron tail towards me in a horizontal arc.
I shoulder rolled on the floor to dodge his attack.
It was very fast. If I weren't expecting it, it would have cut me in half.
The tail rammed into the buildings behind me, demolishing them in an instant.
He was really angry!
The tail was going to come back anytime soon.
I waited for it and rolled again as soon as it did.
He roared loudly and then breathed in deeply.
"Another sound blast? Come on."
I sprinted towards a huge boulder and took cover behind it.
The blast came faster than I expected.
'Looks like he wants to end things fast.'
Astracus slammed his head into the ground.
I immediately changed locations.
The boulder I was behind blasted like a balloon popping.
'Calculations complete! Ray! Follow what I say!'
'As you wish, your highness!'
'Run towards him and reach close. When he headslams you, dodge and climb up his back.'
What the? Does she think it's as easy to do as she says?
I looked at Astracus. He breathed in and released a dark mist.
'Ray, that's poisonous!'
'That's pretty obvious, haha!'
I started running away from him and then rolled again.
The iron tail brushed over my head.
"Sneaky attacks are cowardly, Astracus!", I laughed.
My chest hurts. Fuck, too much pain, no laughing.
I changed directions like an ice skater and dashed towards him.
Expecting an attack, he raised his head.
'Berserker but a stupid one.' I charged straight ahead and rolled sideways.
The tail slammed into the ground beside me.
'Ray, an attack is coming from below!'
I kept rolling as his leg came out from the ground.
Nimbly dodging it, I got up and closed the distance in an instant.
He thrusted his horns towards me, trying to impale me.
I jumped to the side and slid on my back. His horn got stuck in the hard ground, missing me.
Quickly, I took off my shoes using my legs and circled around him.
Then I jumped on his back and climbed up to his head.
'Kick the cross stuck in his neck and decapitate him!'
'I need strength to do that! Take my shoulder!'
My right shoulder got crushed into powder.
The muscles in my leg became a bomb, ready to explode.
With exponentially multiplied strength, I kicked down on the cross.
Astracus screamed in pain.
I didn't stop and kept kicking. Every kick carried all my pain and suffering.
Without holding anything back, I just kicked and kicked until I finally cut off his head.
Astracus' head rolled on the ground.
I had won.