Reincarnated Hero System

Two gold-rimmed portals manifested beside the both of them and unleashed beams of prismatic flames which they were just barely able to dodge.

As for Kailu who was holding Evan, the boy opened his mouth and fired a short, barely charged breath attack to his head.

The force knocked Kailu off Evan and then Evan charged up a breath and unleashed another one on the elf, with three times more power.

**BOOOMM!!!

"Kailu!!!"

Evan apported an energy potion into his hand and downed the content, while he activated Paladin's limited healing on his wounded left arm.

Turning around, Evan grabbed the Unforged, activating 'Adamantine Might' and 'Flammable Arm' to boost his power before swinging his sword to meet Darfin's slash.

Shockwaves rippled outwards as the ground beneath their feet shattered to pieces. Gold and black auras clashed with each other, locked in a battle for dominance.

However, Evan had no intention of fighting that battle.

'Elemental Weapon Projection!'

Countless weapons of flames appeared behind Darfin and hurtled towards him but he rolled to the side to avoid getting hit.

Instead of colliding with Evan, the weapons curved around him and launched towards Sana who wanted to attack him from behind, forcing her to use her aura to knock them down.

Evan left Sana behind and chased after Darfin, unleashing a Prismatic Vortex which Darfin dodged with lightning-fast reflexes.

'Both their Speed and Power have increased considerably. It's like I'm fighting Craitid all over again.

What was that thing they drank? A power booster? If they're doping then there's gotta be side effects…'

Such thoughts crossed the boy's mind as he appraised Sana who was casting a spell, noting her current stats which had been boosted, along with the demerit that came with the boost.

'Durability! Their Durability has been reduced to 1/3 of the original! Their Health is also maxed at 50%!'

Considering this boost gave them around 60-70 levels worth of power in an instant, it was a fair trade-off.

Of course, it had a time limit too.

A very short one.

"Lightning Magic Overload: Arcane Bolts of Severance."

Dozens of crimson lightning bolts descended from the heavens, reaching Evan faster than he could call out Stout Guardian.

He coated his blade in destruction essence and swung it to deflect the lightning bolts and it was at that moment that Darfin charged in from his left flank.

Evan, who was in mid-attack motion, could not rapidly redirect his movements to deflect so he created multi-layered elemental barriers around his body to protect himself.

He doubled the layers of Imperial scales covering his vitals; his chest, neck, head and joints, making them strong enough to buy time for him to deflect the lightning trying to strike him down and evade.

A wise decision, however, Darfin was not aiming for any of Evan's vitals in the first place.

He activated his unique skill's full power and slashed…right at the midpoint of Evan's left shoulder and elbow, the spot that Kailu had wounded earlier.

His sword effortlessly slashed through the single layer of imperial scales there, as well as the ice Evan had used to freeze the wound.

The blade tore through the remaining dregs of Evan's skin, sliced through his bone and severed Evan's left arm completely.

It was a miracle—the fact that Evan did not scream out in pain, that is.

They said there was a first time for everything, and now, Evan had just lost a limb for the first time.

Darfin's blade collided with his side, however, the power in the sword had already been consumed in cutting off Evan's arm, so all it could do was knock the boy to the side without dealing any real damage.

Of course, blood sprayed from the severed arm like a fountain, and Evan blanked out momentarily due to the pain.

However, Evan clenched his right fist and used Harbinger of Ice to freeze the stump left to seal it off and stop the blood loss.

He tumbled on the ground for a few metres before getting up to his feet, breathing heavily while his hearts beat wildly.

Darfin flicked the blood off his blade, pointing it at Evan before speaking.

"The next would be your head."

"…Unforged."

The jet-black blade launched through the air and towards Evan's hand, but Sana intercepted it and stopped it from reaching him.

"His weapon is down!"

"You think that's enough to 'disarm' me?"

Evan snorted and activated Elemental Weapon Projection, creating over a thousand blades which were all laden with his prismatic flames.

Seeing this, Sana didn't think twice about letting go of the Unforged if it meant avoiding the rain of swords.

Unforged flew back into Evan's hand and the instant the sword entered his hand, Evan thrust the blade forward.

"Prismatic Vortex."

The swirling mass of spiral prismatic flames was too fast for Darfin who had been targeted to evade so with a swift counterattack using his dark aura, Darfin barely managed to nullify the vortex, but his relief was short-lived as Evan unleashed a Dragon Breath upon him.

Despite Darfin's best efforts to block the attack with his unique skill, he couldn't fully mitigate the damage, leaving him reeling from the impact.

Suddenly, the breath attack stopped and Evan coughed out a mouthful of blood, dropping down on one knee.

Evan's heart was currently working on overdrive to replace the blood he had lost, and now he just strained his Dragon Heart to fire a Breath. This naturally did not end well.

Sana, after managing to evade the storm of blades, flashed in with her crimson lightning and unleashed multiple arcing slashes towards the boy.

"Stout Guardian!"

The trusty knight materialized and mounted its shield to block the strikes, before turning to the side and deflecting the beam of darkness that Darfin fired towards Evan.

A four-ringed magic circle manifested above Evan's head and before the boy could get out of the way, a beam of crimson lightning descended from the heavens, shattering Evan's Elemental Shield and crashing down upon him with devastating force.

Darfin and Sana charged in towards him, ready to attack the wounded Evan and end him, but the boy was not done yet.

"BURN, MESARTHIM!!!"

"Shi-!"

***KAAABOOOMM!!!!

The massive explosion released shockwaves that sent both Darfin and Sana flying through the air like ragdolls.

Evan blitzed out of the smoke and charged right at Darfin, unleashing six lightning-fast strikes with flames and destruction essence.

He then swirled the energy around the sword and activated Vortex, slamming the man into the ground and shredding apart his life with the spiralling energy.

Sana who seemed to have taken far less damage from the earlier explosion, charged in from behind and Evan's eyes glowed dangerously as he infused his sword with his flames and turned around.

"Mesarthim; Red: Hell Unleashed!"

Evan's swing unleashed hell upon the earth, the flames tearing through the air with unstoppable force.

Sana's saving grace was the fact that she specialized in speed due to her lightning attribute, otherwise, the blade would have cleaved through her head and not just barely scraped her hair.

The young Hero saw his slash had missed and followed it up with a powerful kick that sent her reeling, before turning around to clash with Darfin.

'He's on his last legs! If we can keep up the pressure a bit, he'd burn out by himself!'

Darfin had that thought as he matched Evan's fierce assault with his full power, his vision red from the blood in his eyes.

Suddenly, Evan's body was engulfed with orange flames and with an unexpected burst of speed, the boy stabbed Darfin's wrist and forced the man to drop his weapon.

Evan's eyes gleamed as he saw a chance, drawing his sword back and swirling his energy around it, preparing a full power strike.

"Vorte-"

"Sacred Star Arrow."

"?!"

The supersonic arrow of green light tore through the air and collided with Evan's back at this unexpected moment, piercing through his chest in the split second before he could complete his skill activation.

Over a kilometre away, the Elf Kailu, his body covered in blood and burns running all the way up and down both his arms and the sides of his face, coughed out blood before parting his lips to speak three last words.

"Get him, Darfin."

Darfin did not hear him due to how far they were, but he could tell the elf's intent. The attack he unleashed at the cost of all his remaining power, created the perfect opening for Darfin to finish the job.

He clenched his wounded fist and immediately took action, circling around Evan's body and locking onto the spot where Kailu's arrow had pierced.

"Divergent Fist!!"

Darfin punched with all his might, his fist blasting a hole right into the left side of Evan's chest.

He grabbed the boy's heart in the process and ripped it out of his body before speaking.

"Even mighty dragons would die if their hearts are destroyed, much less a human borrowing a dragon's power."

With those words, he crushed the blood-pumping organ in his hand, and like a puppet whose strings had been cut, Evan's body collapsed onto the ground lifelessly.