"You have dealt with it numerous times. Did you forget Soul energy corruption, already?" The Reaper suddenly reminded him when nothing seemed to work out against this robot. "And why are you forcing it to defend? Increase the time interval between your attacks. It seemed to mind Vajra's attacks the most rather than you."
"But, I only have 50 thousand soul power worth of soul energy left for Vajra. If I use the remaining energy in the fists, I have to draw some of it once again and Vajra would be left with almost nothing. I can't use Soul Absorption here either." Azzy expressed his concern about the usage of soul energy.
"Well, you are partly to blame for trying to get its attention by sheer force." The Reaper indicated that Azzy should have been smart in expending his soul energy when he knew the function of the red shield very well.
"Anyway, use the corruption to take away that shield. As for Vajra, as soon as you dismiss it, the machine will focus on you. Moreover, you have an energy recovery skill card in your storage. You can always buy them in the stores as long as you have enough money."
"Got it." Azzy abandoned his original plan and followed the Reaper's advice. "Claire and Vajra, both of you back off a bit."
He then transferred all of the remaining 15% soul energy into his right fist and threw a solid punch towards the shield.
As Claire and Vajra moved away, the robot defended the punch with its shield.
Just when they were about to collide, all of sudden, deathly soul energy left his fist and hit the shield.
"Ugh…" Azzy groaned in pain as his plain fist landed on the sturdy shield while his death energy started to infect the divine shield.
He turned around and quickly grabbed Claire to move away from the opponent while dismissing the wolf at the same time.
A big black spot appeared in the middle of the shield. The robot shifted its attention towards it. Soon, the whole shield was covered in black. Even its fingers were turned to black.
To prevent further corruption, it left the shield and pulled out its hand. After a while, as if something eating it, several holes formed on the shield before it disappeared.
As the hand was metallic, it only turned black.
"What was that?" Claire and Barbara fell into thoughts. They felt not only Azzy but even his skills were also mysterious.
As the beast was nowhere to be seen, the robot finally changed its target to Azzy that damaged its shield, and forced it to cut off its hand.
"Okay, its shield is gone. Now is the time to act." Azzy put his revised plan into motion. "Claire, I want you to oscillate between supporter and attacker, according to the situation. I will be the vanguard to face the robot. Look for an opening and strike it with the sword. In the meantime, heal me if I get injured."
Claire nodded seriously. She didn't know what Azzy is planning but decided to see it through to the end as she still hasn't found a way to cross the wall. Not to mention, it was the first time Azzy asked her to support him, which means he wishes to depend on her.
Just then, the robot started its offense. It dashed towards Azzy who then moved away from Claire. The robot also followed him.
Closing the distance, it once again attempted to hit him. However, instead of dodging with side steps, Azzy made a wrestling move.
He jumped and evaded the saber before locking its head with his legs before throwing it behind him.
Just as the robot about to crash onto the wall, it displayed its frightening control of landing its feet on the wall.
Taking the rebound force as an advantage, it leaped towards Azzy while spinning around its own body in the air.
Azzy who just stood on the floor saw the spinning attack almost reached him. Not able to dodge it, he put his arms over the chest and tried to block it.
"Don't do it, Azrael. The aim isn't the right place. Don't retract the soul energy." The Reaper's voice echoed in his brain as he hurriedly warned him.
Alas, he was already late as Azzy transferred the soul energy to his arms and took the hit on his chest directly.
"Azrael…" Claire and Barbara shouted in panic as the energy saber was pierced in the middle of his chest while he got crashed onto the opposite wall heavily and fell on the floor.
He started to heavily bleed and soon, he lost his consciousness.
Azzy's soul appeared at the mindscape before the Reaper. Sensing his condition, Azzy sighed in relief, "heavy injury… only one lung has been destroyed. Not life-threatening."
"What's happening on outside, Chronos?" He asked the Reaper whether the plan is working well or not.
The Reaper looked at him and commented, "Sometimes, your kindness for others even scares me a bit."
"Eh?" Azzy was taken aback by his unexpected comment.
The Reaper lectured, "You almost sought death foolishly, and the first thing you are concerned about whether your plan is a success or not? I warned you it isn't the right time, didn't I?"
"Anything went wrong?" He asked in worry. "Don't tell me Claire and Barbara got injured?"
"You idiot..." For the first time, the Reaper roared at him, making Azzy shiver in fright. Thunder rumbled in the skies of his mindscape.
The Reaper then sighed realizing he's just a 13-year-old boy and bound to make mistakes. He calmly explained, "Nothing happened to them. And yes, Claire broke through to rank-5 but not through healing. The girl really is gifted. Once she finds the remaining fragments of Michael's sword, she would be a force to reckon with…"
"Michael's sword?" Azzy became curious but didn't ask him, minding the Reaper's bad mood.
Meanwhile, on the outside, as Claire was in a stalemate against the robot while attacking it with all her strength, Barbara, on the other hand, was struggling to remove the energy saber that was absorbing the healing power.
Upon removing it, she shouted, "I took it out. Hurry up…"
"Find the remote," Claire replied in return while slashing at its arm.
A moment later, the robot finally stopped and Claire immediately dashed towards Azzy and started to heal him after applying soul skill that lets her recover her soul power instantly for a period of time.
Half an hour later, Azzy opened his eyes and saw the faces of the two girls. While Barbara looked worried, he saw tear marks on Claire's face.
"Thank goodness, you are fine…" He was immediately hugged by Claire and got lectured, "You know that berserk mode is dangerous. Why do you have to dismiss the beast and faced it alone… What would have happened if I wasn't the healer…"
While she continued to nag, Azzy opened his mouth, "Congratulations on becoming a rank-5 Arcana Master."
Barbara, who was silently grinning on the sidelines, was shocked as she pointed her shaking finger at him. "You… You are smiling?"
"Eh?" Claire backed off and looked at him. Indeed, there was a smile on his face.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺