Tier 3+ - Accidental Champion (Book 2) - Chapter 79 - The White-Masked Figure

Howard’s eyes widened as his Bulwark barrier burst at the might of the warrior’s hammer strike. He cursed the System for putting him into this situation. For throwing him into an arena, forced to fight other Champions.

At least they aren’t Champions from Earth…

He wasn’t a fool. When his Bulwark spell had been up, he hadn’t just stood there idly watching as it was ever more weakened by the hammer-wielding warrior attacking it. He’d been infusing Toughness Energy into his armour and into his shield to further strengthen them. He’d also activated two of his spells: Hold Ground and Backfire.

Howard might not be a focused damage dealer, but he packed a wallop when he wanted to. He might not have anything against any of the Denizens here, but he wasn’t just going to stand by while they tied to kill him.

The warrior slammed his hammer into Howard’s shield—he wanted to get an idea of the guy’s level of strength.

BAM!

Holy crap.

Howard was pushed back a step. The Hold Ground spell shattered in an instant.

How strong is this guy?

Howard had never been pushed back so easily. He had a skill called Immovable, which helped him stay in one place. It coupled perfectly with Hold Ground. And yet… it had done barely anything against that hammer strike. His shield had vibrated something fierce, the strength of the attack shaking his arm.

Who have I been thrown in this arena with?

He held his shield up high, despite the pain his arm was in from the initial strike, and took another hit.

BAM!

Howard gritted his teeth. The hammer-wielding warrior was too strong. At this rate, he was going to take out Howard’s shield arm. That was simply something he couldn’t let happen. He was starting to wonder what he’d gotten himself into. The System said it was making them face Champions of their own skill, but the Champions here… they seemed to vary quite considerably in power.

I can do this.

Howard took a third strike on his shield and could have sworn that hammer dented it. This time, however, he hadn’t been pushed backward. A moment before the hammer strike was to hit, he pushed forward, shortening the man’s attack.

He’s not a man,Howard couldn’t help but think. He’s just a kid.

Howard pushed that thought out of his mind.

He couldn’t afford to think of this kid as just any, young teenager. This was the enemy. Someone who was trying to kill him. Nothing more than a threat that needed to be eliminated.

He slammed his double-bearded axe into the man’s neck. At least, that’s where he tried to slam it. The warrior was faster than Howard had expected. Somehow, he was already out of the way when he axe strike fell. He’d slipped away from Howard’s attack as though he were as fast and nimble as Justin.

How could this kid be this fast?

Howard cursed himself.

Stop thinking of him as a kid! It’s holding you back!

He wasn’t sure why he was having so much difficulty with this. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t been in situations like this before, back when he’d been a cop. He’d had to deal with more than one violent teenager in his time, and he hadn’t had any trouble subduing them.

Then again, it wasn’t exactly as though subduing them was what he had on his agenda right now. If he focused on that, he surely wouldn’t survive this fight.

He needed to go all out.

BAM!

Another hammer strike slammed into his tower shield, denting it a second time. Howard glanced around the arena, making sure there weren’t any other Champions about to attack him. Then he looked the hammer-wielding warrior in the eye. “You really want to do this?” he snarled at the Champion. “Okay then, let’s dance.”

Howard came in. A horizontal slash, for the man’s side. Dodged. An overhead, skull-splitting strike. Dodged.

He’s too fast.

Howard growled and stepped back. He raised his shield, knowing he wasn’t fast enough to get out of the way of the man’s attack. His hammer strikes, though well and truly telegraphed, were too swift for Howard to get out of the way. Howard hadn’t exactly spent many of his stat points on his Speed attribute, something that had never been an issue in the past. Howard was a tank, after all. He didn’t needto be fast; he could just stand there and take it.

Which made him realise he’d been going about this fight all wrong. This Champion was strong, but that didn’t mean he was strong enough to kill Howard in a single strike, even if he’d been able to dent his shield. That just wasn’t going to happen.

But who takes a hit on purpose?

Someone with the Backfire skill.

Howard flung his shield out of the way a split second before the hammer was to fall onto it. The hammer strike slammed into his abdomen instead. He’d braced himself for the hit, knowing where it would contact him. Even so, it winded him, and he heard—and felt—a crack. One or more of his ribs had definitely broken.

Now, Backfire wasn’t the most powerful spell. It didn’t actually do anything to prevent Howard from taking damage. But it did put half of any damage he took back on his enemy. And with Toughness being Howard’s most powerful stat, he could take a lot more damage than the average warrior.

The hammer wielder hissed in pain as the damage backfired onto him. The pain made the man falter, and it was time for Howard to sweep in and take advantage.

He activated Power Strike. His axe cleaved for the closest target—the man’s arm.

His axe made contact. It didn’t cut all the way through the arm. Didn’t severe the limb like he might have expected. But it did break it. Made it entirely unusable—at least for the next few minutes when it would really count.

Howard didn’t hesitate. He lunged forward and slammed his shield into the warrior’s head. The warrior’s head snapped backward. Howard followed that up with a swift kick to the man’s chest. A kick that sent him flying backward. Howard might not be as strong as this kid, but that didn’t mean he was weak.

The moment the kid slammed into the ground, Howard took a step back. He activated his Bulwark spell. The barrier sprang back up. He was glad he’d gotten his Toughness stat up so high, reducing the cooldown of the spell significantly. This whole time, he’d been working himself up to killing the young Champion he faced, but now maybe he wouldn’t have to.

With his Bulwark up, Howard looked around the arena again, seeing how many of the other Champions were left.

The mysterious Denizen who wore the strange mask had even more corpses gathered about them. Strange, how the other contenders kept running at the powerful Denizen.

The goblin mage stood proudly. Two corpses around him.

And that was it—those were the only Champions, besides the hammer-wielder—who remained. The rest were either dead, or they’d surrendered.

There was still a few minutes left until the floor ended. Howard watched as the hammer-wielder stood. His hammer had fallen out of his hand. He took it back up and tried to hold it in both hands, but holding it with his right arm—the arm that Howard had injured—clearly hurt too much. He kept it in his left.

Don’t attack again, kid. It won’t end well for you.

The Champion stared at Howard. There was a hate in his eyes. An anger that burned bright. It made Howard wonder what his life had been like.

Suddenly, the warrior turned. He looked over at the white-masked figure.

“Don’t do it,” Howard muttered. “Just wait it out.”

The Champion sprinted toward the powerful denizen. He held his massive hammer in a single hand.

Howard’s eyes widened. Was the kid an idiot? Why would he go after someone who was clearly the most powerful Denizen here? It didn’t make any sense to him.

The goblin mage took several steps back, its eyes wide with fear, watching what was happening.

The hammer-wielding warrior let out a war cry. The white-masked figure stood calmly, awaiting the attack. An overhead strike came for him.

White-Mask raised a single hand and stopped the hammer dead.

How strong is this Denizen?

Howard glanced at his dented shield, then looked back at the fight unfolding in front of him. White-Mask wrapped his fingers around the hammer head and—the hammer head cracked.

What the hell?

The hammer was shoved out of the way. White-Mask gripped Hammer-Wielder’s head with his other hand.

It he going to crush his skull?

Howard stood rooted to the spot. He didn’t like this. Not one bit.

A glowing silver light emanated from White-Mask’s hand. Behind the mask, the figure’s eyes glowed with the same silver light.

That’s similar to Xavier’s glow!

Howard had no idea what was happening. It didn’t seem to be a damage-dealing spell.

Hammer-Wielder’s entire body shuddered. He screamed in what must have been terrible agony as the silver light enveloped his head. Howard glared at White-Mask. Whoever that Champion was, they clearly had the power to give this man a swift death, or not kill him at all if they wished. Hammer-Wielder was by no means a threat to White-Mask, that was clear as day.

After a moment, the silver glow faded. The screaming stopped. Hammer-Wielder let out a pitiful whine.

He’s still alive.

White-Mask cocked his head to the side and twisted his wrist.

Snap.

The warrior’s neck broke. The kid fell to the ground, falling into one of the other corpses. Another one for the pile.

White-Mask let his arm drop, looking just as calm as he had before.

Howard swallowed. The worst was over, wasn’t it? He was one of only three Champions left, and as powerful as White-Mask was, he’d only attacked those that had attacked him. Goblin-Mage didn’t look as though they were about to attack anyone. He wondered if the System would intervene if all three of them just stood there.

Goblin-Mage was stepping backward. It still had that ring of fireballs rotating around it in a constant flow.

Then Goblin-Mage’s posture shifted. They gripped their staff tighter. Their lips pulled back in a bestial snarl.

And they bolted forward, heading straight for White-Mask.

What… what the hell!?

“Oh,” Howard uttered, as he finally realised what must be happening. With the shock of all that had been going on, it had taken him far too long to realise it, but now that he had, it was far too obvious. Other Champions kept running at the figure in the white mask, despite the Denizen’s clear power, because they were being taunted—or at least, their minds were being influenced somehow.

This is not good.

Howard watched, unable to do a damned thing, as Goblin-Mage attacked White-Mask. They didn’t attack like a mage should have. The goblin didn’t need to run in close. That was the absolute worst thing for them to do. The goblin still flung fireballs toward their enemy, but the fireballs just slammed into the figure without seeming to bother them at all. Howard had seen a Denizen shrug off attacks like that.

Xavier could do that with ease…

Whoever this person was, they couldn’t be as powerful as Xavier, could they? That didn’t seem possible at all. Xavier was a damned E Grade Denizen already!

No. They aren’t that strong. But they’re far stronger than they should be for this floor.

Goblin-Mage came in close, and suffered from the same treatment that Hammer-Wielder had. In moments, they were just another corpse littered on the ground.

Howard looked at the countdown timer.

The Melee has 2 minutes and 21 seconds remaining.

He wasn’t surprised not much time had passed, but he was pissed.

Is this the end of me?

He didn’t want to surrender. Not if there was even the smallest chance that he could return to Earth. What good would he be, barred from his home planet for a hundred years? How could he be away from his family for that long? Things were different now, he knew. A hundred years wasn’t a lifetime, not when a Denizen’s lifespan could stretch into thousands of years as they grew in power, but he would never forgive himself if something happened to his wife and kids and he wasn’t there to stop it. Not in a hundred years. Not in a million years.

Maybe his taunt spell won’t work in me…

It was a foolish thought. Whoever White-Mask was, they were on a different level of power entirely to Howard. It would be a different story if Xavier were here.

But I’m not about to give up.

Howard prepared himself for it. He saw it coming. Knew what was about to happen. At first, it was just a single thought. A thought that sounded as though it came from his own mind.

Attack them. Kill them.

The thought was easy to shrug off. Then, it became more insistent. More powerful. He kept telling himself the idea wasn’t his own. Kept telling himself he didn’t need to listen.

Then, suddenly, his mind shifted. He blinked. He wasn’t standing in the arena anymore. He was standing in his living room back on Earth. And so was the figure in the White-Mask. In one hand, the figure held Howard’s daughter’s head. In the other hand, he held Howard’s wife’s head.

“No!” Howard sprinted forward. His mind was filled with only one thing—the desire to protect his family and kill White-Mask. In the back of his mind a voice whispered to him that this wasn’t real. But how could he believe that voice over what his own eyes were showing him? How could he believe that voice when every other part of his mind urged him to attack? To protect?

He did not get in a single strike.

A hand was gripping his head. A silver light enveloped him. Then pain like he’d never felt before took over.

[Let’s see what we have here.]

The voice sounded in his mind. It wasn’t his own. He’d never heard the voice before. It was light, feminine, and filled with immense power. Suddenly Howard’s entire mind was laid bare, and all that he was was revealed to the person—the woman—who held his head. His life flicked before his eyes, so fast he could barely make it out, until more recent memories, of the tower, of the floors, and—specifically—of Xavier, were shown.

[Ahhh. Well, isn’t this interesting?]

The grip on Howard’s head released. He fell to his knees. The pain… he still felt such immense pain. As though his very mind had been shattered, cracked into a thousand tiny pieces, and he didn’t know how to put it back together.

“Do you wish to live, Howard of Earth?” The voice was no longer speaking in his mind. It was coming from behind the white mask. The woman had her head cocked. Her eyes retained their silver glow. “Do you wish to protect your family?”

Howard swallowed. “Yes,” he said. Speaking was difficult. His shattered mind barely worked.

“What will you do to get back to them?”

“Anything,” the word slipped out of his mouth before his mind could even catch up.

“Goooood,” the woman crooned. “Very goood. We have very little time, Howard of Earth, but just enough for us to make a contract. Will you do that?”

Howard gritted his teeth. He could surrender, right now.

No. I can’t abandon them.

“Yes.”

The woman produced something from her Storage Ring. It materialised in her hand, and she passed it to him.

Howard didn’t need to scan it to know what it was. He’d seen one—or rather, two—before.

A Communication Stone.

“Now,” the woman said. “Let’s make this quick.”