[ STATUS — ARON ]
[ Condition: CRITICAL ]
[ Physical Integrity: 43% ]
[ Structural Damage: SEVERE ]
[ Pain Memory: Saturated ]
[ Loop Residue: Accumulating ]
[ Mental State: STABILIZED (Forced) ]
[ Core Directive: PROTECT TARGET ]
[ Resonance State: UNSTABLE ]
[ Synchronization: PARTIAL ]
[ Ability Trace: Emerging ]
[ Type: Unknown (Self-Origin) ]
[ SYSTEM: UNYIELDING RESOLVE DETECTED. ]
That meant he could still fight. Physically, he wasn't done yet. Mentally, he was standing on the edge of an abyss. This was the moment. Life or death.
"…Whatever happens, I'll face it," Aron muttered, his voice raspy but firm.
The translucent screen violently glitched, the crimson warning lights flashing rapidly before turning into a deep, solid violet.
[ STATUS — ARON ]
[ Condition: CRITICAL ]
[ Resonance: ACTIVE ]
[ SYSTEM: RESOLVE AWAKENED. ]
[ Origin: Self-Origin ]
[ SKILLS UNLOCKED: ]
▶ [ Colossal Resolve ] (Passive)
▶ [ Colossal Strike ] (Active)
▶ [ Colossal Force ] (Active)
[ WARNING: SYNCHRONIZATION INCOMPLETE (44%) ]
Aron forced air into his burning lungs and pushed his body back up to his feet. Whatever this power was, it felt like something completely beyond him, yet it was responding at the exact microsecond he needed it most.
The wispy black energy coiling around his frame suddenly intensified, wrapping tighter and denser around his muscles, behaving like a physical extension of his raw resolve.
The King Knight didn't hesitate. Recognizing the threat, it raised its massive sword, holding it steady at the center line—pointed directly at Aron's throat. It was an unmistakable challenge.
"Come," its posture screamed. 'Let's see which one of us is erased from this board."
"…Fine," Aron whispered, his knuckles turning white as he gripped his sword with both hands. "Come on!"
BOOM!
Aron moved. He exploded forward with a speed that defied ordinary human biology, leaving a slipstream of dark energy in his wake.
He lunged, his blade cutting across the air in a brutal cross angle aimed straight for the knight's helmet. At the exact same time, the King Knight thrust its weapon forward with geometric precision, targeting Aron's heart.
He lunged. It thrust.
CLANG—!
Steel met steel in a deafening explosion of sparks. Aron twisted his blade sideways at the absolute last second, redirecting the lethal thrust away from his chest. The weapons tore past each other, breaking their initial lock.
Aron's blade slipped under the kinetic force, but he ruthlessly forced his muscles to lock. He braced his footing, channeled the black aura, and poured every remaining ounce of his life force into a follow-up swing.
"Take this… [Colossal Strike]!"
BAAAAM—!
The skill activated, multiplying the weight of his blow tenfold. The sheer impact exploded through the clash. The King Knight's massive sword was violently torn from its grip, flying through the air before embedding itself deeply into the ruined concrete floor.
"…How is that for a clean finish?!"
He didn't give the disarmed King Knight a single frame to recover. He charged immediately, capitalizing on the opening.
He unleashed a flurry of strikes the King Knight never saw coming. The blade blurred through the air, cutting precisely across the creature's abdomen, followed instantly by another slash in a violent cross pattern.
But nothing happened. The blade connected, yet it couldn't break through the underlying armor.
'I don't know what I'm doing,' Aron realized, his vision tunneling. 'Only that I can't stop moving!'
'If I stop, I die.'
The King Knight paused. Then, its entire presence shifted. Its passive aura vanished, replaced by an aggressive, suffocating pressure that caused the air to vibrate.
It extended its gauntleted hand. Black smoke swirled into its palm, and another massive blade materialized instantly within its grip. Without a single moment of hesitation, it rushed Aron like a dark meteor.
"Come… come! This is exactly what I wanted!"
It was too fast. Too precise.
Aron stepped forward anyway. He didn't take a single step back.
The first strike missed his throat by millimeters. The second strike came down like a guillotine—Aron parried it, cutting through the trajectory and breaking the monster's rhythm. He closed the distance.
The King Knight's movements sharpened, becoming faster, more violent, and erratic. It attacked like a relentless storm, its blade spinning in a lethal dance that cut the air into ribbons.
Aron focused his mind, his eyes tracking the micro-movements of the armor.
"But I'm not who you think I am anymore. You might have fought and slaughtered others before… but I'm not the same as before."
He stepped directly into the dead zone of the storm. Every step felt fundamentally wrong—like walking straight into an executioner's block—but his new instincts guided his feet.
[ WARNING: STABILITY FLUCTUATING ]
[ SYSTEM: SYNCHRONIZATION INCOMPLETE ]
"I don't care what these system messages say," Aron snarled inside his mind. Compared to what he had already endured in this hellhole, a glitching screen meant absolutely nothing.
'I remember every single death. Even the ones that haven't technically happened yet.'
His hands were shaking violently, but they didn't stop. His foot slipped against a piece of broken stone, the knight's blade barely missing his shoulder, shearing through his clothes. His balance shifted for a split second—an error large enough to get him killed.
But he forced his center of gravity back down.
"That weak version of me already died."
He jumped straight into the teeth of the storm, swinging his sword in one clean, uninterrupted motion. The strike shattered the knight's rhythm, splitting the storm wide open.
Aron closed the final inch of distance, slipped past the guard, and drove his sword straight into the King Knight's throat.
"Take back what you gave me!"
End of Chapter 14: The Kind One Fights Back