Robert was catching his breath as he took refuge behind a cart, no doubt an article of one of the villagers. Robert knew they were all either dead or turned but still, he gave his thanks to whoever owned this cart as it offered him a recess.

Robert peeked out from the cart, catching the sight of the berserk Baxton with blood leaking from his eyes. The Master Paladin clobbered everything that even remotely moved. There were many monsters and Ghouls who challenged the frenzied captain of the Paladins, they only became another scrap of meat on his mace.

“Damn, he’s pissed.” And Robert only had himself to thank for.

The Beast Fury Pellet had done its job. It turned Baxton into a mindless brute that saw everything that moves as something to be crushed. It held no concerns over his own tearing wounds or splitting injuries. At the cost of his mind, he became stronger and faster.

Though at the end of the drug’s effect, his body will crumbled under the overexerted load he had put on himself.

That was the moment Robert was waiting for. He had no intention to duel Baxton fairly. His original plan was for Limbo itself to consume the clergymen, saving himself the troubles but he was discovered by one of the Clerics. He knew then the odds were against him.

He had wanted leave Baxton to the Ghouls but seeing his strength and skill in spite of his grave wounds, that plan went down the drain. It got worse when Baxton decided to retreat. He would have gotten healed by the Clerics and came back later for him. If it was left the way it was, Baxton would have already captured Robert in a swift and probably beat him into a pulp like he declared.

Robert thought, if he could just keep Baxton here and occupied, it would be his victory. But to do that, he would need to destroy Baxton’s sound mind. And the only thing he had on hand was a double-edged means, Beast Fury Pellets, which he crushed into fine powder and smeared it on the blade of the spear. Unlike his last excursion, he was well-stock with weapons and tools.

“One could never be too prepared,” Robert told himself. He was sure there was a limit to the Storage Ring but he hadn’t gotten there yet.

This was Robert’s strategy but it was by no means perfect. A few times it had went off the course but then again, everything had went off course when he was pulled into Limbo.

In addition to his strength and speed, Baxton’s sense was now at a level of a beast. It took Robert not a small amount of effort to lose Baxton of his tail but he sought Robert out quite easily. Baxton was relentless in his chase.

In his attempts, Robert made a few missteps, one of which had cause him his left arm. The mace had literally pulverized his whole arm. It won’t be far in the future to have the misfortune bestowed on his whole body. Still, Robert had a finite space to run.

He thought about the option of venturing outside of the village boundaries but there was a catch in that choice. He feared when the world shifted again and if he wasn’t in the village, he would be left stranded here in Limbo. This wasn’t a fact but it was the most plausible theory he concocted.

The whole village was something like a gateway to Limbo, Robert conjectured. Which led to his wondering, were the sources of all the anomalies just portals to Limbo? It was likely but he hadn’t see the other sites for himself. He decided to reserve his judgement for now.

Robert looked over at his left arm which he healed with the partitioned force, stretching his fingers and twisting his wrist, ensuring its resume to normal functions.

He heaved a sigh. “All good.”

In this fifteen years of life, he considered this his most severe and gruesome injury yet.

The ground shook as another Ghoul was turn into smithereens. The tremor lasted for a while before coming to a pause. It was a sign, a sign for Robert to move.

With his left arm back to usual, Robert prepared to run. After much prior experiences, it would only be a matter of seconds before Baxton found this place too.

He took only two steps away from the cart before a carcass was drop right in front of him. In that mangled state, Robert could only guessed that it was once an animal with horns.

Robert took a deep breath and turn to face the deranged Paladin. He gulped at the literal bloodshot glare he was given.

“Oh? Where’s your shield?” Robert mused at the fact that Baxton was wielding his mace instead of his shield with his right hand. He guessed Baxton traded defense for offense. As for Baxton’s left hand, it was maim beyond its shape from the excessive movements. And Baxton didn’t had any care for the sad state of his own limb.

The drug was doing wonders.

Robert knew it would turn the user into a mindless being but he didn’t know it would made them completely disregard pain and the well-being of their body.

Absorbed with the minor distractions, Robert only came back to his senses after being shook by the running of Baxton. If he was to jump and land, Robert thought an earthquake wouldn’t be overestimating it.

“Is that—?” Robert blurted out as he caught sight of the discarded shield by chance and the odd planning of the village. There was much space between houses.

The shield was considerably far away from where Robert stood and Baxton stood in between. Getting to the shield was a deathly risk but the shield could give him an edge, a deep one at that.

Robert decided to run towards the charging Baxton.

The temple knight brought his mace around a wide arc.

Robert reclined and bent his knees, allowing only the impetus to carry him forward. The mace soared over his head as he slid past and under. It was at times like this Robert was grateful for his inferior height.

As soon as he was in the clear, he broke off running again.

Baxton roared with fury and turned abruptly using his mace, sending off a wave of shock. The surrounding houses and remnant Ghouls were blown off together.

“Whoa.” Robert felt that swing.

Robert sped up to outrun the gaining shock wave but he was not even at an Elite-level. It was impossible for him to outrun the might of a Master.

However, it wasn’t all bad. This could just be the boost he needed.

He diverted all of his Magic to his back. When the shock wave caught him, it launched him off.

“Bad ideaaa!” Robert shouted as he lost his posture in the air. He tumbled head over heels into the ground and he rolled to a stop against a randomly placed pole. The pole was there for a reason but with the village desecrated, Robert had no way of knowing.

When he retrieved his bearings, he looked around for the shield.

“There.” He found the shield a few houses away but the force had threw him past his goal. He was closer to it but there was still some distance.

A mace crashed in between him and the shield.

Robert moved around the mace and sprinted towards the shield without giving any mind to the enraged Baxton.

“Why is everyone throwing shit at me!”

Robert ran with all his might. He infused all the Magic his feet could take. He hopped over strewn logs. He slipped under a fallen apple tree. He dove through a wreckage. He dispatched the obstructing and leftover Ghouls with precision. If he couldn’t manage a fatal blow, he merely hit them aside. He had to get the shield.

While Baxton’s decline in focus helped, his speed was something Robert couldn’t compete. And his immense strength could explode Robert with a casual hit. The shield was vital to his survival but to be explicit, it was the centerpiece of the shield that Robert was after.

The shield was now close. Robert had his hand reaching out for it.

“Oh shit,” muttered Robert as his hyper-cognition sent shivers to skin.

His world darkened, a larger shadow swallowed his own. He needn’t to look up. There was no hesitation to his next course of actions. He stopped and threw himself back away from the enlarging shadow.

From the sky, Baxton landed by hollowing the ground into a small crater. Everything around him was thrown into the air, Robert included.

“Fuck this!” squealed Robert.

Spikes of Magic jutted out of Baxton’s entire right arm.

“So that’s his Specialization Magic,” Robert observed. He wondered about the infrequent usage but his question was answered when he witness the rapid depletion of Baxton’s Magic Pool. “That’s really inefficient.”

Baxton leaped at Robert who was still lingering in the air, his right arm winded all the way back.

Robert twisted his body out of the way but he could only move so much in the air.

He peeled of his mask and loosed his cloak. He threw the mask towards Baxton’s face, incurring little to no reaction but that was enough. The loosed cloak fell upon his face and covered his eyes.

Unguided by his sights, Baxton’s fist caught the empty air.

But that was not all for Robert.

He held onto Baxton’s arm as gravity reclaimed them. With the thick and armored arm as a pole, Robert swung to position himself above Baxton as they continued falling.

Robert took out a pair of short swords and stabbed them through the gaps between the armor plates, right into the chest. He would loved to aim for the head but he didn’t see any weak points on those parts. A shame.

On an off note, Robert felt it to be queer to not hear any screams or cries of pain when he stabbed Baxton.

Robert wasn’t finish. He planted both of his feet surging with Magic on his chest. Right before they crashed, Robert kicked off with a ripple in the air, denting the chest armor slightly.

There were already gravity and Baxton’s own massive weight but Robert added two blades and his own downward force, the result was a sight to behold.

While Robert had flipped himself over to safety, Baxton was literally shot into the ground, caving the crater deeper than before and spreading fissures to the nearby lands.

“Ow…” Robert groaned as he rubbed his own calves. It was a lot of strain for his legs, especially for one with a frail body. His left leg was fine but his right leg was throbbing with pain. He quickly mend his leg with the partitioned force.

Robert thought of this many times. Without the nigh-omnipotent power, he would be looking at a life of clutches.

There was no dust nor smoke. The fall itself had clear all of those away. Only scraps of armor and blood splatters remained in those stead.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, Baxton stood right back up. He glared at Robert as he pulled out the short swords plunged in his chest without flinching. The blades gouged quite a bit of Baxton’s flesh but it wasn’t enough to put him down.

“Fucking amazing,” Robert commended the potency and effects of the Beast Fury Pellet. It truly lived up to the reasons leading it to be banned.

The drug had truly cause him more lost than gain. His helmet was broken beyond wearable shape. Not a few pieces of his armor had broken off. His own body was smother with all kinds of injuries, from bruises to bone protrusions. There were even parts of his armor stuck in his flesh.

The rage burned ever so blazing in Baxton’s eyes. Fury was the only thing left in him.

“Beast Fury— now I see why.”

Although Robert saw Baxton’s battered condition, he spared not a second more to spectate. He knew the Beast Fury Pellet was still in effect.

Baxton’s condition would not matter to his incessant hunt for Robert’s head. He howled and Magic spikes grew all over of his body. He chased after Robert, disregarding the worsening ruptures and contusions of his body.

He caught up to his juvenile nemesis in just seconds.

“Fuck me!!” Robert cursed out as he blindly dodged a hook with his hyper-cognition. He felt death grazing past him and also felt it coming back for him. He leaped as Baxton scooped the ground with just his fist covered with Magic spikes.

Robert’s eyes remained steadfast at the shield just in front of him. He was close, very close.

With the final leap and evading a lethal blow by happenstance, he reached out for the shield.

“Got it!” Robert squealed with glee as he acquired the shield which was of his size. Although proud of his own efforts, he had not the time to savor his hard-earned fleeting victory. He made a sharp turn around and brought the shield up, pouring Magic into it as he did so.

Robert braced for the next moment.

Sound drained from his world and time seemed to slow down. Overwhelmed by an inordinate force, his legs left the ground and so did his whole body. He felt the shield slipping from his grip but he held on. After the somersaults in the air, he went skipping on the ground and skidding to a stop.

At that instance, Robert made a correction in his mind. This was now his most severe injury to date. He called it injury but it was more of a collective of fractured bones and bruises.

Robert struggled to even move his head and all that he saw was doubles. Everything was unfocused but the one approaching dot in his vision was clear, Baxton.

The Paladin was also at death’s door. The spikes of Magic were no more. He was a size smaller than he once was. Even his wounds had stop bleeding. He was as pale as a sheet but his colors and size were not the only thing he lost. His blistering speed was replace with a hobble. Nonetheless, he was still faster than Robert who couldn’t move. At this rate, Baxton would reach Robert before he gave in to the Beast Fury Pellet.

It was a miracle that Robert was still breathing at this point. Though, Robert did have a major advantage, Limbo. The Beast Fury Pellet would not have worked on Baxton in the normal world. He could easily use the Blessings from his god to rid himself of any poison or curse but in Limbo, his Blessings were immersed in repelling Limbo’s grasp.

Robert had such an advantage and quite a bit of luck but in the end, Baxton was still a Master-level Magic user. Robert was a little vex at the vast difference in abilities but he was still alive, the only thing that mattered.

He found the shield which landed just an arm’s reach away from him. It was crumpled from that single hit. Although the shield was deform, the centerpiece remained as good as the day it was forged. Truly a testament to the potential of Dragon.

As long as the centerpiece was intact, Robert still had a use for it. In fact, he did not the whole shield at all. He needed only the centerpiece, the Dragon part of this otherwise dull oversized shield. He intended to reach out and just grab it but his body was in full protest of the agony which it would cause.

Robert’s left arm which he had just healed was once again bent in ways it wasn’t suppose to. He tried to move his body but it did not obey him. At most, he could only move the fingers on his right hand.

It was strange. Pain was suppose to be one’s ally. It let one be aware that they were still alive and still rooted to reality. Robert constantly heard this from the retired veterans in his hometown. But for him, it was no ally nor enemy. He felt pain but it didn’t bother him the way people described it to. Which was why, he did not care for the pain it would cause to his body but it was something he had to. This was still his body in the end. If he didn’t listen and act against it, he would die, plain and simple.

He lived by those words but now— it felt like a good time to be rebellious.

Robert moaned his pains away as he whipped his right arm to move. Withstanding his instincts that shouted into his mind to cease his movements, his right hand slowly made its way to the shield.

At the corner of his eyes, Baxton was closing in. All the more reason to defy the pain and the limitation of flesh and blood.

There was only a tiny distance left to the shield but his right hand had truly meet its limits. The bones were displace, any further push would render his arm crippled.

He thought about using the partitioned force but there wouldn’t be enough time to heal damages of this degree, not when Baxton was persisting towards him with his collapsing body.

With great resolve, Robert crawled with his face. It was strenuous but better than the pounding awaited if he gave up. The skin on his face pared off against the rough surface as he covered the remaining gap.

He was in range.

His right hand touched the shield with feeble movements.

He let loose his partitioned force in an amount greater than before but still little, a stream as thin as a reed.

“Return to me,” Robert commanded.

The partitioned force seized the distinctive and lonesome essence in the shield, the essence that exuded from the centerpiece, the Dragon Essence. The partitioned force dragged its captive back into its host.

Drained of its prominence, the centerpiece withered and crumbled in a way much like the Ghouls’ deaths.

The Dragon Essence found its way into Robert. It traveled into his veins and seeped into his very cores, assimilating with his Magic and the partitioned force.

Robert felt his body burning up as steam rose through his wounds which were closing up. The broken and displaced bones were mend back to its structure. In due time, Robert was restore to his full health. He replaced his damaged armor with a new one by using his Specialization Magic, Quick-dress. It was no longer his only Specialization Magic.

Robert pushed himself off the ground to face his dying opponent with renewed vigor.

“Ah?”

However, his dying opponent was no more.

Baxton was dead. No question about it, given the fact that his corpse was currently mauled by a creature.

Robert did thought it was weird that he made it in time but now he knew why.

The creature noticed Robert who was back on his feet. It stopped its feasting. It crept over its food and towards Robert.

“Huh, it’s you.”

It was only last night that he learned of this creature. This creature— monster echoed the descriptions he read about, save for its three pair of eyes and a tail with a sharp stinger that resembled a sickle. Aside from these two disparities, it looked the same as it did in the rough sketch, especially the way its lower jaw split vertically into two.

Robert did not expect to find it here of all places but it confirmed that one theory in his mind.

“I have been waiting for you.” Robert drew out a short sword and a spear as he took a stance. “Raksa.”