Snippet #2279477

“Yeah… I suggest you stay back, considering your health bar… Join in once you’ve healed.” Asher responded. “I’d heal you, but then the boss will catch us both by surprise.”

Suddenly, the boss made a battle roar and charge at The Voice of Treason. Its swords were high in the air, prepared for a downward X-slash. However, the swordsman armored in black stepped to the side, and thrust his sword into the boss’s side. The boss, using the momentum from the charge, narrowly escaped the full damage, but had been scraped by the blade, as well as its health bar. However, Asher wouldn’t let it escape with barely an injury, and side stepped to his right to make another slash. The hit was successful, and the boss’s health bar decreased once again.

The boss jumped up and flipped. Then, it tried to do another Assault Slash mimic. Asher jumped and did a blackflip, using his new skill Tempest Reversal (not to be confused with Kanna’s Reverse Tempest). Asher successfully caught the boss, and made a few slashes before slashing it downwards. Then, Asher brought his sword down and used the force of gravity to power his skill, Assault Slash. The boss didn’t even have the chance to roll out of the way, and Asher’s sword slammed into its chest. Because the move was especially effective on downed enemies, the hit registered as a critical, and the boss’s health bar showed itself as 2 bars left.

However, the boss roared, and got up while simultaneously grabbing Asher’s hand and sword. The brute then threw Asher across the room. Asher flipped midair and planted his feet on the wall. Had Asher not recovered in time, he would’ve been in shock from the impact on the wall and the boss would’ve followed up with a devastating attack. However, the boss still followed up with astonishing speed and slashed at Asher, who jumped from the wall and used Dropkick, landing both his feet on the boss’s face. The boss fell down on his back, his health dropping to 9/10 of its health bar. “Rain frigid wrath upon thy enemy!” Asher chanted Icicle Rain, and a small white orb appeared just over the boss. It rained down a multitude of icicles on the downed enemy. Because Asher made it appear so close to the boss, the orb’s icicles all hit their mark. The boss, after being sprayed point-blank by a bunch of icicles, was then slammed down by another Assault Slash.

Asher jumped off before the boss could grab him again, and followed up with three flaming kicks from his Somersault Kick skill. The boss was knocked back again, but still on its feet. Asher followed the combo with Tempest, Ghost Wolf, and ending the combo with Heavenly Tempest. The boss’s health was reduced to 1 and a half bars. It still stood strong, and, while Asher had just landed on the ground, charged at Asher. Because the boss attacked while Asher was in an open position, his hands and sword down, the boss’s slash connected, and Asher was knocked back. The hit registered in as a critical, leaving Asher with 2/3 of his health. “Damn…” Asher cursed.

The Fallen Kick Archeron tries to follow up again, this time using the downward X-slash. Asher responded by throwing his sword into the air and doing a spin back-kick on it, sending the sword straight into the center of the boss. The boss stumbled back, and Asher used the opportunity again. This time, Asher used Windmill, kicking his sword deeper into the boss and eventually sending it out its back. Then, Asher activated Ghost Wolf, using it's firt part to rush behind the enemy and grabbing his sword, then turning around to slash it from behind. However, the boss, even though it got hit, turned around quickly and slashed using the momentum from the spin. Asher jumped back, only to see the boss following it up with a stab using the other sword.

Asher's response was to bring his sword up in front of him in a vertical position. He leapt left even though there was no time to dodge and tilted the sword so the boss's stab with slide off the blade and to the side of Asher. The tactic worked, but the sword ended up stabbing Asher in the far right side of Asher's abdomen. Because of Asher's momentum from the leap, the sword also found itself unintentionally slashing Asher and coming out of his right side. The mark it left was shone with a large line of red. Asher's health bar was decreased to just under 50%, bringing him into Endangered Threat mode.

The two opponents made a standoff just then. Neither of them moved... Until Asher charged at the boss. The boss, in return, charged at Asher, preparing for a side slash. However, Asher ducked the slash and got in close, chanting "Burn by my hand!" and slamming a Fireball into the boss's upper abdomen. To continue his combo, Asher jumped up and used Dropkick and sent the boss away. Then, Asher chanted for another Critical Heart Break and threw it at the flying target, followed by Asher's Devil Lance skill. The boss's health bar was reduced to 1/10 of each bar's maximum. Asher started to run to the boss, only to be stunned by the sheer force of its roar's soundwaves. Asher quickly chanted his Wind Blade skill and sent it at the boss. It hit the boss in its neck, making a critical hit once again. Furthermore, the second bar broke away into pixels, leaving the final health bar left.

This didn't come without consquence, however. The boss suddebnly roared its loudest, causing the ground to rumble and small debris to fall. Asher's sword, which used to be impaled in the boss's abdomen, flew away from the boss when it roared. The sword spun midair and caught Asher's left arm. It was a major scratch, which also caused a Bleeding Effect that slightly outmatched Asher's Rejuvenate skill, and stuck itself on the wall near where Kanna rested.

Before Asher could go into the menu and equip his spare Fluted Short Sword, the boss charged at Asher and football-rammed him. Asher flew across the room and also landed near where Kanna was rejuvenating. He was under the Dazed State, meaning Asher had blurred vision and difficulty to move. "Crap..." Asher managed to let out a curse. His health bar was at 33%, and dropped by one percent every few minutes. His health bar also turned completely gray. Asher's situation wasn't serious, fortunately.

"Sorry Kanna..." Asher apologized. "You're gonna have to handle this bastard from here..."

BGM: SW3 OST- Life or Death
Alternate BGM: SW3 OST Battle of Honnoji