Chapter 400 Face Off
[Terror of the Infernal Tyrant] has been renamed [Infernal Tyrant's Oppression]
"It's ironic, how this happened," Mercy's voice sounded from all over the place.
Dave was pacing around, steady and calm, waiting for the time when the Assassin in White would strike before he could retaliate.
"How so?" Dave asked as he looked around, a futile hope trying to assess or locate the White Death.
"It was just yesterday when everyone was asking who among us can beat you," Mercy said.
"Yeah, you think you have a shot?" Dave asked in a wide grin.
"Probably," came the answer, with a dagger thrust in Dave's left flank.
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Dave grunted it was for only one second that Mercy had appeared, he swung his gauntleted fist toward her torso, but Mercy disappeared once again with the same speed as she had attacked.
Dave had finally realized that he was in a tight spot. Fighting an Assassin as a Melee Fighter Class was a recipient for disaster. His attacks are powerful, but they needed to land, and Mercy was a pro at evading attacks.
"So, you think you can win?" Mercy asked.
"Perhaps," Dave said in a grin then threw a fist at empty air.
His fist struck nothing, but an infernal dragon burst out from his gauntlet and coursed forward like an avalanche. The dragon opened its maw wide ad engulfed a transparent silhouette.
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A damage value appeared in Dave's vision. He had touched Mercy with his attack.
The Assassin didn't speak, Dave was thankful, her occasional remarks were throwing his thinking process all over the place. This was a tactic used by predators when hunting lesser prey. To make them stumble, make mistakes and attack irrationally.
Dave knew how this hunter versus prey play would go and had already prepared for countermeasures. Just as he knew that Mercy knew a lot of his skills and habits, he too had been witnessing her attack patterns and play-style when they partied together.
But, just knowing how your opponent would fight you, didn't mean that you will win. There were also other possible variables, and he knows that for the number one assassin in the game, a constant or rigid playstyle wasn't their thing.
Dave instinctively jumped aside dodging a dagger swing that went too close to his face for comfort.
"How did you dodge that?" Mercy asked as she disappeared into the shadows once again.
Dave wasn't about to tell her that it was pure luck that he managed to dodge the attack, so he remained calm and didn't answer. The gears in his mind were churning and rolling like twisters.
An Assassin was one of the most annoying and stressful characters to face off against. Their DPS was massive, their escape potential is immense, and their tactics were always dependent on striking the enemy's weak spots.
Dave knew this well, and he knew how to outwit an Assassin, simply put, Dave had to place himself in the Assassin's shoes and think, 'What is the best way to attack my opponent without getting struck back."
Therefore, he would reveal a blindspot, give the opponent a clear target to attack, and once he feels that enough time had passed for the Assassin to capitulate on the opportunity given, Dave would move away and strike back.
It was barely a plan, barely logical, barely applicable, but it appears that Mercy had fallen for it.
Dave's arms were raised in front of him in a fighter's stance, and once again, he instinctively jumped back. Mercy's silhouette appeared right where he was standing, slashing with her dagger at empty air.
Dave propelled himself forward and struck at Mercy with his fist. The expected damage value never appeared as the Assassin in white had ducked under Dave's fist and followed with a stab to the small opening in his armor under his armpit.
Dave couldn't help but grunt from the painful attack, but that wasn't the end of Mercy's attack, she followed with a leg sweep that threw Dave from over his feet.
Mercy stabbed down toward his eye, but he moved his head to the side and went for a grapple.
Yet the Assassin was too nimble to be locked down and she managed to slide from between Dave's arms and retaliated with snapping her fingers right in front of his face.
An explosive flash of light disoriented Dave. Then a flurry of attacks struck at him from everywhere.
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Several damage values appeared on top of Dave's head as he tried to blindly strike at Mercy. But in his blinded and disoriented state, he failed all of his aimless retaliations.
Annoyed by the amount of damage he was receiving, Dave activated [Aura] or what was now became [Infernal Tyrant's Oppression].
Abysmal black fire burst out from Dave's avatar as if the gates of hell itself had opened from within him.
A gigantic black skull made of fire rose up from above Dave's head, the skull laughed in madness as flames burst out from around Dave's avatar and moved away from him like liquid.
Mercy grunted the area of effect skill forced her to move away because receiving damage from attacks would force Assassins out of invisibility so she had to make her distance.
"That's a new Skill," Mercy mentioned.
Dave's eyes finally regained vision. He looked around and noticed the Assassin dissipating into the shadows once again.
"Yeah, I have my secrets you know," Dave smirked.
He then began moving to where he had seen Mercy last. The AOE effect was actually a great method for him to force Mercy to the boundaries of the arena. Even if she was invisible, the large zone of effect of [Infernal Tyrant's Oppression] would push her, and if she tried to force her way through, she would reveal herself to Dave's assault.
But Dave didn't know that the number one Assassin in the game was not just a title for show. Mercy revealed herself to Dave way before he could push her to the edge of the arena. She actually began sprinting toward him then she disappeared, not in invisibility, but she had used a skill that he had seen Lone use many times.
Mercy had used [Blink]
The Teleportation Skill helped her mitigate the first tick of the [Infernal Tyrant's Oppression] as she appeared behind Dave, almost in one single motion, Mercy did a backflip, slashing with the tip of her boot at his back and while in mid-air she threw two throwing daggers that embedded themselves in Dave's back.
Mercy's backflip helped her dodge away from Dave's aura and she once again turned invisible.
A notification appeared in front of Dave.
[You have been struck by, Poison Dagger! x2
Poison resisted!
As an undead, you cannot be poisoned!]
"Impressive," Dave said as he turned. The two daggers fell down from his back "But the Undead can't be affected by poison.".
"Yeah, was worth the shot anyway," Mercy chided.
Dave realized that he couldn't keep [Infernal Tyrant's Oppression] activated for long, it would consume a lot of his mana, and once he needed to use the Skill, he won't have enough resources. So he disabled the ability.
"Guess we should stop testing the waters, how about you come at me for real, Mercy," Dave said.
"Oh, wasn't I doing so from the beginning," Mercy said in a playful tone.
"Nah, you haven't used any of your Legacy Skills, you don't think I am worth the effort?" Dave asked.
…
Mercy remained quiet.
He knew that she was holding back, and he was more than certain that she knew he was holding back also. S Class Legacy players were no pushovers, and every move had to be executed with care and prudence.
"Alright then, if you're not going to take this seriously, then let me do it for you." Dave switched out of his Sworn Stalwart Gauntlets and drew the Ultra Great Sword of Durandal and the Cursed Great Shield of Ajax.
"Switching your weapon won't change much you know," Mercy said.
"Well, I won't be so sure about that if I were you," Dave said smiling, he then raised his shield above himself, the metallic jaws opened up revealing the demonic eye.
"Let's call some chaos then shall we?" Dave said smiling.
Suddenly, the darkened skies of Limbo turned bright red. A meteor the size of a small stadium was falling down.
"Let me see you dodge that!" Dave said as he gave an eerie laugh.