The twin Waves landed on the dark elf’s skin as the Forgotten spun in place. Because of the Forgotten’s movement, they couldn’t pierce straight through his torso, but they still managed to destroy part of the dark elf’s back and side. Skin and muscle gave way to the ferocious mana to create a large, cross-shaped injury marred by boiling blood.

  But Michael knew it wasn’t over. There had been no kill notification.

  He looked at the incoming blade, his senses empowered by Lightspeed. The darkness coating the weapon’s edge had become thicker.

  It’s faster than before.

  Michael cursed inwardly. He should’ve known that this Forgotten wouldn’t be so easy to beat. He started moving, ignoring the sharp pain from his several injuries. Lightspeed’s time limit hung over his head like a guillotine.

  He just barely avoided the strong swing. Like before, a wave of dark energy shot out as the blade moved and destroyed the house right behind him. He hurriedly raised his staff and cast twin Mana Missiles, but the dark elf reacted as if uninjured. The Forgotten slashed the projectiles in mid-air, forcing them to crumble with speed that surpassed what it had shown so far. Michael gritted his teeth.

  He cast twin Mana Waves, trying to create an injury similar to the last one. As the Waves grazed the Forgotten’s uninjured side, he felt the dark elf get distinctly faster.

  No fucking way.

  Michael jumped backward as fast as he could in an attempt to widen the distance between them. Dumbfounded, he stared at the Forgotten. The dark elf wasn’t standing as stably as when the battle started, due to the injuries to its lower body, but the darkness around it was certainly thicker. No, even its muscles looked more defined. Once the Forgotten stared into Michael’s eyes with clear green eyes that cried tears of light, he became certain of his theory.

  He's a berserker.

  He had no idea if there was a Class like that, or if he was simply wrong. He didn’t recall being offered a Berserker Class during his Class Evolution, but it didn’t matter. The dark elf seemed to have gotten stronger after getting injured. It was possible that the enemy had simply activated an empowerment Skill, but if his theory was true…

  I need to kill him without injuring him more than this.

  No matter what, his next spell needed to be the one to end the battle. The Forgotten took a step forward, his body tensing up. Michael cursed in his mind, starting to chant again. There were only a couple of seconds left to Lightspeed. His head would fly through the air a moment after it ended. His mind raced faster than ever before. There was no way to win and survive without risking everything. He clenched his jaw. So be it.

  The dark elf ran toward Michael under his fixed gaze. The Forgotten’s newfound speed helped him land a slash on Michael’s chest, from shoulder to waist, though it wasn’t a deep injury. Michael tried to move, only for another attack to graze his side, drawing blood. He jumped backward again, wasting a precious second. The dark elf chased after him.

  The Forgotten seamlessly transitioned from a run into a thrust attack, the darkness extending the range of the blade like a physical force. Michael knew that if it hit him, he could end up not very different from the shredded wooden houses. But he only smiled, looking like a beast baring its fangs. Instead of moving to avoid the attack, he leaped forward, finishing his chant.

  “Fireball.”

  The spheres of pure fire took shape as the blade arrived. The darkness pierced straight through Michael’s belly, slicing past his stomach and intestines, and severed his spine before coming out of his back. He lost all feeling in his lower body, but it didn’t matter. Under the darkness, his blood-covered teeth looked grim, but his eyes shone as he waved his staff.

  The Forgotten’s dark energy flooded his body as if trying to finish him off, but the twin Fireballs flew toward the dark elf, expanding on the way. The enemy pulled back his sword, ripping the blade out of Michael’s body, and began to raise it, but it was too late. The Fireballs reached the Forgotten’s upper body. Michael snapped his fingers.

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  The explosion shook the atmosphere weighed down by the Curse of Darkness. Magic flames roiled across the Forgotten’s skin and devoured his body completely. The darkness around him tried to fight back, but because most of it had been used to deal as much damage to Michael as possible, there had been no time for it to return to a defensive position.

  The fire engulfed the dark elf, melting his skin and muscles and charring his blood vessels. The hole where the dark elf’s heart used to be was flooded by the flames, which then used it as a way to melt the dark elf’s insides. Michael fed as much mana into the spell as he could, increasing its power to its possible maximum.

  Michael watched this happen with bloodshot eyes. He coughed a mouthful of blood, but he paid it no heed. This wasn’t the time to evaluate the damage done to his body. Even as the darkness tried to cut through whatever it touched inside his body, he remained focused on the Forgotten, powering through the inhuman pain. The images of Allison and his friends flashed through his mind.

  The Forgotten looked at Michael. The skin on the dark elf’s face had melted, as had its eyes, to reveal a grim-looking gray skull with carvings. The Forgotten tried to get into position to attack again, but it was too late. Most of the muscles on its lower body had been destroyed, crippling its mobility. The large broadsword fell to the stone ground, no longer supported by powerful arms.

  The dark elf tried to extend his arm toward Michael, but failed miserably as the muscles burned. Michael heaved, keeping his guard up. The seconds slowly ticked by. In the end, the Forgotten’s remains crumbled into a charred skeleton. A single System notification rang out in his head and appeared at the edge of his vision.

  [You have slain Iki, The Forgotten (Level 72).]

  There was nothing different about this Forgotten’s notification, except for its higher Level, but Michael wasn’t in any mood to consider if there were no different ranks within the Forgotten, even if their power levels were different. He gritted his teeth, blinking hard. The stab wound in his belly kept radiating darkness, even after Iki’s death. It felt like there were blades dragging themselves on his organs, slowly slicing through them. His pain was only amplified by Lightspeed’s strain and rebound.

  Illumination!

  Light flooded his body and soul again. This time, however, the purpose was different. The draconic golden light began to fiercely destroy the darkness, slower than before. The Curse of Darkness all around Michael recoiled like a living creature. The light incinerated all darkness within him as if enraged by the darkness’ existence. The moment the dark energy disappeared, Michael switched to Cleansing.

  A halo appeared over his head, rotating slowly. Michael hurriedly cast Minor Heal, coughing out blood as he did. The first twin waves of green mana coursed through him, amplified by Cleansing. He cast it again. And again. Until he could no longer feel the pain of his organs being cut by a non-existent blade, until his muscles stopped screaming at him to rest.

  Michael heaved, sitting on the ground. He ran his free hand’s trembling fingers on the place where the blade had pierced through his robe.

  …It was a piece of Equipment, too.

  He let out a sigh. The pain he’d felt was still fresh in his mind, but he couldn’t stop now. It was possible that more of the Forgotten had been drawn to this location during his brief activation of Illumination.

  Michael rose to his feet, stumbling a bit even though he was completely healed. For the umpteenth time, he thanked his vast mana reserves and Constitution. He briefly ran his gaze over his surroundings. Destroyed houses and fragmented wood and stone, complemented by small ravines on the ground and craters. A bit ahead, the charred skeleton of Iki.

  Damn zombie was strong.

  He walked up to the skeleton and scanned the remains, but he couldn’t find anything, not even a ring or necklace. A bit dejected, he scoffed and started running back to where the golden sphere of light was. On the way, he managed to grasp the full extent of the destruction his battle had caused, making him shake his head and speed up. After running for less than a minute, he reached his goal.

  Still catching his breath, Michael approached the sphere. It still floated peacefully, uncaring about the ruined surroundings. He stared at it fixatedly for a few seconds. With a deep breath, he touched it. The sphere’s glow abruptly intensified, making him squint. Once the light devoured him completely, a System notification appeared in front of him.

  [You have purified part of the Consumed Territory. You have received five Skill Points and three Levels.]

  [The Curse of Darkness resents your existence. Its effects have increased by 5%.]

  [The Forgotten rejoice, for a powerful warrior now remembers their names. All XP gains from the Forgotten have increased by 10%.]

  The light disappeared into shimmering particles. Michael looked around, letting out a breath of admiration. The darkness had disappeared completely to reveal a Village that looked surprisingly ordinary, apart from the destroyed buildings. It even resembled Bluestone quite a bit. He glanced back. From his current position until the very edge of the Consumed Territory, there was now a clear path covered by the blue hue of Bluestone Village’s Territory. It was as if a trail of light had appeared on the night sky. The path wasn’t very wide, but it existed nonetheless.

  Michael turned his gaze to the small sphere of light still floating in front of him, unlike all others, that had disappeared. It shimmered to reveal a plain golden ring with a carving in the shape of what looked like a wolf. In the middle, a crimson gem glowed.

  Once he grabbed it, its information window appeared in front of him.