The Gamer's System

Chapter 166: Fighting Death's Cheater

[Skill Name: The One Who Cheats Death]

[Cost: 40 Skill Points]

[Rank: N/A]

[Skill Type: Passive]

[Information: Upon death, the user of the skill momentarily gains a body that is immune to all kinds of damage. This is in the form of black mana, the same that emanates from the goddess of death and, the goddess of darkness.]

[Information: The skill stacks up all the damage received by the user before death. The damage received is turned into attribute point which will be divided evenly to the skill user's stats.]

[Information: While on this state, all the gamer's skills are automatically upgraded to their highest ranking. And, additional skills only available to this form are added to the ones which can be used.]

[Information: Although seemingly strong, the user of the skill cannot damage those that did not take part in killing him or her. And, upon taking down the murderer, the user will go back to his/her original body. The skill user will then pay the penalty of having his/her level decreased day by day until, he/she goes back to level 1.]

[Information: The skill cannot be used by the same person twice under normal circumstances.]

This is the data of the skill which Z used. Any opponent would cower away at the sight of the individual who oozed with the aura of death itself. A wraith like figure, clad in black, with eyes that knew all agonies of the tormented souls in Hades. It was the ultimate form of a vengeful spirit, one which could not be taken down until its target has been killed. 

"I knew he still had a trump card left." Zeke said, finally feeling that the fight would be worth it.

"No tricks this time. I'm going to fight you fair and square." He said, with his enemy coldly gazing at him as if the fight was already won.

Z raised his hand and on it, a sword formed from the black mist surrounding him. Zeke tried taking his opponent down immediately trough a rain of bullets. Yet none of this dealt any damage.

Z then released [Decimating Slashes], as he returned the favor. All of this have been coated by the form he took. Making each swing lethal. In fact, Zeke wasn't sure if he could come out of the attack unscathed so he kept on moving and dodging.

It was a dangerous skill. With all of Z's stats reaching [999] Zeke knew that there was only trouble for him if he tried fighting head on.

"When was the last time someone gave me a run for my money?" He asked himself, enjoying the trill of the fight as his enemy pursued him. 

This skill was a huge cheat because, the form can never end unless the target has been killed. Thus, the fight could go on forever. As long as Zeke was alive, Z would maintain the form he was in. Forever being coated by the spirit of vengeance, with powers rivaling that of the gods.

"Sub Zero!" Zeke chanted.

The skill enclosed his enemy in pure ice, with even the dark mana getting trapped as well. Yet this didn't even last for a single second as black flames consumed the spell. As it did, Zeke's enemy was nowhere to be seen. 

He then felt an otherworldly chill run down his spine. But before he could confirm anything, he was already stabbed through the shoulder. Immediately making him activated [Overdrive]. He escaped by following up with [Shadow Dive]. [Flash Freeze] was then used on the wound in order to stop the [Black Flames] from completely burning his body.

[Danger! You cannot regenerate any part that has recently been damage by the entity.]

"Yeah, I know that already." Zeke said, thinking of what move he should be making use of next. 

He summoned all of his [Conjured] knights on the area. The conquest was almost done on the continent. So he didn't need them on the field anymore. Only the cleanup was left and, this he left to the weaker [Conjures]

Horizon, Kayle, and the twelve knights were all there. They fought the Count for Zeke as the gamer also jumped in on the fight. Yet even this was ineffective as every slash made by the count was infused with the enhanced version of [Decimating Slash]. Each and every blow killed off Zeke's knights. Hence, an immense amount of mana was used just to maintain them.

Another attack was able to pass through the gamer's [Conjures] and into his right leg. The burn was about to get higher but, Zeke cut off his leg. Stopping the attack from reaching his whole body.

"Yup. I would've won without problems if I had this skill back then." Zeke told himself, seeing how powerful an individual is once they had their hands on the skill. 

The fight raged on with Z not uttering a single word due to his form. But Zeke could still feel the glee on the count. One which showed his satisfaction on proving that he was really the most powerful. It was a small wonder why he referred to himself aa the strongest among the counts. He had all skills owned by Zeke before and, mixing with these were the skills of Gallio Leonis.

"That means my counter skills are also accessible to him." Zeke thought to himself, playing a game of chess on his game and calculating the efficiency of every move.

Meanwhile, Z kept on disappearing around the battlefield. They couldn't catch his movements anymore as the count was too swift and noiseless on his movements. This proved to be troublesome as the count simply destroyed everything on his path. What was even more troublesome was how the body of the count couldn't actually be damaged. Zeke tried everything in his power. Every element and every form of attack. Even making use of [Death's Void] to cut. 

Nothing worked. Z was impenetrable.

But instead of getting worked up or worrying about this, Zeke simply smiled. Raising his hands in the air, he freely accepted the last attack of Z. A burst of black flames came out of Zeke's back as his body got torn to a hundred pieces. This met the requirement of [The One Who Cheated Death], turning Z back to normal. 

"That's what you get for underestimating the count of this continent you fool!" He said arrogantly. Looking at the raining flesh that didn't seem to stop. 

Until it did.

Z saw blood forming on a single area and all of Zeke's scattered flesh also came toward that direction. The count began chanting skills, hitting whatever abomination it was that was forming. But all of this was futile. Zeke had [The Curse of the Blood King] activated. Allowing him to come back to life after dying. All while being immune before regenerating completely.

It was the complete counter to [The One Who Cheated Death]. A skill which had a time limit decided by the death of its opponent. No matter how temporary it may be.

The count felt fear. Genuine one as he tried escaping from the area. But Zeke came at him, with flesh still being restored. But with eyes very much alive. He gripped unto the count's writs, breaking his bones in the process. Leaving Z screaming in pain.

"Where do you think you are going?" He said, as parts of him came back piece by piece.

"No spare me! Spare me my lord!" Z said, pissing his pants which was an unbecoming sight for Zeke.

As soon as his transformation finished, the halberd of the [Blood King] came to his hands. A weapon which he was only using for the third time.

There was a reason why Zeke dragged the fight out. Of course he knew how to deal with the skill. As mentioned, Zeke already thought of every preventive measure for the fight on Elysium. And part of this were measures against the possibility of the fake Zeke having all of his skills. 

Yet, he extended the length of the fight. Reason being, he needed to know just how reliable the skill was. He needed to see if it was really impenetrable as the description dictates. Because, Zeke needed the skill for something else. His grand scheme which was yet to come.

Indeed. The skill was being saved for his battle with the gods.

"Thank you for being my test subject on the skill. It saved me a lot of time which I would've used thinking about the skill." Zeke said, smiling warmly at his unfortunate victim who had a glimmer of hope.

"So you will spare me my lord?" Z asked, with Zeke saying:

"Yes." 

The blood king's halberd pierced through Z's chest. Sucking out every ounce of life on him. It was a weapon which was cruel to all it killed. Devouring everything which the person was. Flesh. Bones. Everything was taken in by the greedy halberd. Which also got stronger from the opponents it took in.

Yet Z's soul was left on the scene. A tongue of fire which contained the fake Zeke Elwood. 

"As promised. You will serve under me. So rejoice." It was a soul which had both the skills of Zeke and Gallio. One who could easily deal with all of Zeke's knights and even topping off Samael. 

"You will serve me for as long as I hunt those gods which toyed with our fates. You will be by my side. Fighting for my cause, and heeding all of my commands." He began, with the flame resonating with him.

"I am your master from this day forth." Zeke said, as if the soul could hear him. Then, he finally finished by uttering the command:

"Conjure."