Requiem Of A Failed Hero

Undoubtedly. There were many things to consider when fighting a monster, it was common sense that the monster should be studied, including its attack pattern, body structure, and most especially weak points. These were the normal ways to ascertain a sure win when hunting monsters, for these reasons were scouts available.

Raith on the other hand never learned the logical way to do things, always having to learn from his death. Until when was that going to continue? He wished he had learned it the logical way now that he couldn't afford to die anymore.

But what to do? What is lost is lost. All he just had to do now was pay attention to how Omnisavant effectively used his body to battle the monster.

The monster's strikes were fast, almost unseen as if they disintegrated before getting to him, but Omnisavant still managed to block the attacks. Even when her block was belated one time, a gold coin appeared out of thin air and formed an arc over her, absorbing and sending the monster's attack impact back to him.

Not wasting a second, she darted towards him like a knife, with its pointed edge patiently waiting to pierce through–her speed tore through the air, defying the direction of the wind.

Wrapping her hands with a clothe of flame, she arced a punch from the side. The monk curled to one side, blocking her punch but the flames surged around him, threatening to burn him to a crisp.

He flew out and rolled into the air, then landed away from Raith.

'Wow... these flames are something!'

[Blaze originates from the abyss. While it has not taken the property of darkness, it is almost like an Amaterasu. A flame that doesn't stop burning until ashes]

'By that description, this guy should be long gone then'

[I said almost]

[It also explains why the monster is cautious of the flames]

[Although I am more curious as to how it can know the properties of the flame. Perhaps it is a monster that possesses an appraisal skill]

'This keeps getting more confusing. How did a monster like this come into existence?'

[Beats me]

Raith? Omnisavant frowned.

The monster closed the distance with a flash, razing across the land with an overwhelming ferocity, Raith's hand instinctively crossed over his chest to block the punch. But at the last minute the monster drew a grin and pulled his punch back, from beneath, he jabbed an uppercut into his belly, lodging him with an astounding into the air.

Raith felt an agonizing pain shoot through his muscles, he spat out blood as he scaled into the air uncontrollably.

Not sparing a second, the monster hauled itself, catching up to him before he could recover from the torment that unfurled within his stomach.

Raith widened his eyes and forced a roll out of his body, spinning out of the direction of the monster. He crashed into a tree but that was bearable compared to receiving another one of that attack.

The monster stayed afloat for a few minutes and turned its body to the fallen trees where Raith had crashed into.

He folded his arms together and made a sign, stretching his index and middle fingers and folding the rest, while one of his hands with this sign was facing upwards, another was facing downward.

"Ishmi...Shippeo!"

Wrroiinggg!

A golden line originating from its fist began to run throughout its body, giving him a glow that could be likened to that of a god. The monster even though a monster, looked majestic in this form.

The line with a faint glow ran across his body, four different lines, tracing their straight path across his body and finally to his back where they all formed four different dots.

The monster's eyes suddenly became, shining with a blinding intensity. And at once, it disappeared. With an even greater speed than Raith had ever seen, it closed the distance again.

Raith braced himself as the monster vanished from sight, his senses heightened by the anticipation of the impending attack.

As the monster reappeared, it was as if a bolt of lightning had struck. Raith barely had time to react. The monster's fist drove into Raith's chest, sending shockwaves of pain through his body. He gasped for air as he was lifted off his feet, and thrown backward with immense force.

Raith crashed into a stand of trees, branches, and leaves breaking under the impact. Struggling to his feet, Omnisavant knew something was wrong. Yes, she had mentioned that the monster's hidden cards were bothering her but she had never expected that the level of strength would be this wide.

At that point, she knew she had to come up with a plan, and fast. The monster's newfound speed and power were unlike anything she ever predicted. That is the thing about monsters with a sense of self, they can never be predicted.

'Hey, Omnisavant...'

[Yes?]

'I'll take it from here.'

[Bu‐

Her voice seized as she noticed the serious Raith sounded with.

[Okay]

The golden glow and stiff expression attached to Raith's face slowly faded as the AI relinquished control to him.

Raith's eyebrows creased to a frown.

'I have a plan... I don't know if it will work but I have been in several battles, I should be able to work a thing or two out'

[Hmm...]

[Focus on his movements. Try to anticipate his attacks, and remember his pattern]

'Yes ma'am'

[I do not have a gender]

'But you do sound like a lady'

[...]

Wiping blood from his lips, Raith frowned his brow tighter. Omnisavant was right, if he at least wanted to be able to survive the onslaught enough for a counterattack, he needed to keep his eyes on the monster's movements and study its pattern, that was if it had any.

The monster reappeared, streaking toward him with blinding speed. This time, Raith dodged to the side just before the punch connected, narrowly avoiding another bone-shattering blow.

Seizing the opportunity, Raith launched a counterattack. He flowed through a series of precise strikes, aiming for the monster's joints and weak spots. Bal materializing last minute whistled as it sliced through the air with the precision of a master swordsman, drawing sparks as it met the monster's rapidly parrying limbs.

The two of them were immediately locked in a flurry of steel, a metallic clang resounding through the air each time Raith's sword met with the monster's steel hands. Their movements got faster making it a spinning headache for anyone who'd dare to follow the sequence.

Their attacks flushed in with a breakneck velocity, whizzing through the air. Raith was still able to keep up with the momentum, his eyes deftly locked onto the monster, his hands moving so fast he felt as though they now had minds of their own.

The monster too did not lift its eyes off him, they stood on the same ground and continually battered each other with no attack slipping past one another.

That was the case until Raith got creative.

His two hands were tenaciously clenched to the sword, expending every ounce of his muscle with the way he moved, keeping his feet dug into the ground but all of a sudden released one hand, swiftly bringing it to the back, another sword materialized into it.

With the second sword now in his grip, Raith's movements became even more fluid and unpredictable. But that was not even the creativity that he had implored. The monster's eyes widened as it noticed the flames that cloaked the second sword as they arced at him.

Raith unleashed a torrent of flames from the second sword, creating a wall of fire that surged toward the monster. The intense heat and searing flames enveloped the creature, forcing it to stumble back in surprise.

The monster attempted to shield itself with its arms, but the flames licked at its flesh, leaving scorch marks and sizzling sounds in their wake. He let out a pained roar as it struggled to withstand the fiery assault.

Raith seized this opportunity, not wasting a moment. He pressed the attack, driving both swords forward with a renewed ferocity.

The monster, still engulfed in flames, couldn't effectively defend itself. The dual blades sliced through the air, seeking the creature's vulnerable spots.

The monster's movements became erratic as it tried to escape the flames and Raith's relentless assault simultaneously. Its attacks grew uncoordinated, and it failed to mount an effective defense.

'Yes! This is it!!'

Raith celebrated internally, he didn't think he could pull it off. He had this hypothesis in his mind. Actually, from the beginning, Raith had been trying to figure out the monster's pattern. He also thought that Omnisavant would have been able to do it better and inform him about it.

But instead, she told him to watch out for it. With the level of intelligence, she claims and her ability, Raith felt that there was no way she wouldn't have paid attention to the monster's movement. If she had figured it out, she would have told him about it instead of asking him to pay attention to it.

Hence this brought him to the conclusion:

'Instead of trying to study its attack pattern, why not scatter the whole thing'

It was a wild idea. The foundation of every martial artist is their pattern, Raith might not have been one for a long time, but he did learn swordsmanship from his father and there were a few lessons that had stuck with him even until this day.

So, he knew that the monster surely had an attack pattern, but it was difficult to find it because the monster didn't repeat moves, it was difficult to find the kind of pattern he adopted, and even if he did find it, was he sure he would be able to accurately predict the monster attacks or he would just be lured into the monster's trap like it had happened before.

That was after all the downside of focusing on one's pattern—it can be used to lure one into it. If the monster guessed that Raith was able to familiarize himself with his attack pattern, then he would have lured Raith in based on Raith's own prediction and changed its attack pattern to further deal more unaffordable damages to him.

These were Raith's instances, and that was even if all this went the right way and he was able to find the pattern amidst the pending murderous intent that each attack of the monster exuded threatening to rip his body to shreds.

So, he decided that he was going to disjoint the monster's attack, and using that period, he would land as much attack as he could.