Mad Hatter's Guide to Clearing The Game
Chapter 152: Ch150. [World Quest] (10) - Bleeding anger

Chapter 152: Ch150. [World Quest] (10) - Bleeding anger

"That-" Sarissa had less than a second to react.

There was a flash behind her, she spun with pure instinct and reflex, but still, she was barely able to deflect the downward slash with her sword. However, Miles did not let up.

He disappeared once more, and sent a vertical strike towards Sarissa’s head, hammering into her forearm and almost shattering the barrier she had raised around her body at the last second.

"I created this one just a while ago." Miles said, growling. "I call it [Lapsing Slash]. Barely no reaction time to it."

Sarissa gritted her teeth, and activated her [Wonderland’s Inferno], creating a whirlwind of flames that absorbed the next strike, but the fourth slash came from a diagonal she had not predicted.

Blood sprayed from her shoulder, and she staggered, her knees buckling.

Sarissa reeled across from him, breathing hard. Miles’ weird attack had ended, but the damage was done.

"You wanted this duel." He said. "Don’t forget that."

"You also wanted this to happen, didn’t you?" Sarissa growled, splashing a vial of healing potion on her shoulder, and less than a second after, the wound was sealed shut. The only memory of it being real was the crack on her armor and the pristine white fabric underneath, now tinted red with her blood.

"I did." Miles reached into his pocket. "Because you forgot something that you yourself taught me in these last few hours."

Sarissa raised her eyebrows as Miles lowered his stance even lower than before.

For a moment, nothing happened.

But the next second, a shudder. A low, keening hum filled the air, vibrating against the wards of the arena. The torches flickered darker, the ground quaked, almost rhythmically, and then...

Miles vanished.

But no, he did not vanish.

Sarissa felt the hairs on her neck stand on end, and tried thinking as fast as she could.

"This feels-"

But before she could complete the sentence, Miles had reappeared in front of her, so abruptly that she almost lost her balance in a failed attempt to step back, looking at the deadly black blade flying towards her waist with insane speed.

"Choices have consequences."

Her eyes widened as she tried to move, and for the first time, she couldn’t.

Sarissa’s body froze completely, the hairs on her arm standing on end underneath her armor, a cold certainty coiling in her gut.

And then she saw it, vividly, like life flashing in front of her eyes in slow motion.

The glowing crystal at the heart of Miles’ scythe...

’Wait... wasn’t it blue before?’

However, right before Miles’ blade cleaved her in half, he spun it faster than the eye could perceive, and struck her with its hilt, sending her flying towards the arena’s barrier once more, the impact so hard that she coughed a mouthful of blood, even with the barrier absorbing most of the impact.

"What did... You do?" Sarissa coughed.

Miles smiled underneath the [Ender’s Mask].

"What level are you at?" He asked, leaning nonchalantly against his weapon.

"Fifty..." Sarissa tilted her head, frowning. "But you know that already!"

"Yes." Miles nodded, acquiescing. "And that was exactly what I did..."

He vanished once again.

But this time, Sarissa was able to perceive it slightly clearer.

The golden crystal at the heart of his scythe...

It glowed briefly before he vanished, and the system echoed in her head.

[Your Attribute is resonating with the memories of your regressions]

However, Miles appeared in front of her again, and before he landed his strike, he spoke.

"I crossed the threshold."

And instead of attacking with his scythe, Miles launched a fierce punch aimed at her face.

Sarissa could swear she saw one of her teeth flying from her mouth with the violent impact of Miles blow, along with a red smudge of saliva and blood that painted the sands of the arena in red.

She tried ducking, but Miles’ next blow punched the air out of her lungs like a siege ram.

"You saved me before I even knew what this damned game was about!" He landed another blow atop of her head before she could straighten up, and Sarissa saw stars. "Do you remember? The scared and confused guy, ready to become [Tutorial Spawn]’s dinner right before you fried them with your flames?"

Another blow, aimed at her face, and she lost another tooth.

"Then, at my first quest, when all I needed to do was to get rid of a few [Goblins] for a pocketful of gold, and a few experience points..." One more blow to her stomach, and Sarissa fell to her knees, raising her arms in a somewhat defensive stance. "And then, a few more times."

He grabbed her by her hair, the stitched smile on his mask looking ominous and cruel.

Then, the mask vanished into a whirlwind of black sparks, and Miles brought Sarissa’s face so close to his, that he was able to smell her bloody breath.

"NO!" He yelled at her face. "IT WEREN’T ’A FEW MORE TIMES’! IT WERE SEVEN! SEVEN MORE TIMES IN TOTAL!" He smashed his fist at her face again. "BUT YOU DON’T REMEMBER THAT, DO YOU? BECAUSE YOU’RE SO STRONG! SO HIGH AND MIGHTY, THAT YOU DON’T GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT WHO’S PRIDE YOU STEP ON, IF IT MEANS ACHIEVING WHATEVER SICK GOALS YOU HAVE! AND YOU DON’T EVEN-"

Miles had no time to finish his sentence, the world swirling around him dizzyingly as he fell sideways.

"Careful with your feet." Sarissa said, staggering to get back up. Her face was a mess of bruises, cuts and swelling, and her whole body ached like she had only experienced in her regressions. "So, that’s what it’s all about?"

Her voice was soggy through her swollen and bloodied lips, but she still spoke.

"It’s all about you, then?"

She did not wait this time, launching herself over Miles, but he was already on the other side of the arena, ready to lunge against her.

They collided mid-charge, steel against hands, fire flaring in pulses as Miles’ summoned his scythe and his blade surged between them. The arena’s circle pulsed brighter with every clash, struggling to contain the raw output of the duel.

"YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!" He tried to punch her, but she avoided the blow, entangling even harder with him in a flurry of strikes.

"IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU!" Sarissa screamed, avoiding a sideways slash that could have split her in half. "YOU DON’T EVEN CARE ABOUT OTHER PLAYERS! YOU DON’T EVEN CARE ABOUT THE PAST!"

Sarissa ducked a vicious swipe and countered with a rising arc of her blade, carving into the shadowy buckles across Miles’ chest.

He hissed, then returned the favor, the hilt of his scythe smashing into her ribs again with enough force to make her gasp.

"WHAT DOES THE PAST HAVE TO DO WITH ANY OF THIS?!" Miles rebuked, blocking Sarissa’s next strike with one of his pauldrons.

The sound of metal clashing against metal resounded through the arena and across the Archivist’s study, so loud was the impact.

"Everything..." Sarissa muttered, her eyes meeting Miles’.

And in that briefest of moments, many things happened at the same time, as their blades kept colliding with each other.