The Villain Reborn as Game's Final Boss-Chapter 169: Stop, Please! [2]

I had fought a Gold ranked monster before—The scorpion from the practical session that had evolved during the fight.

That monster, despite being a newly evolved one, had managed to corner me quite easily.

I could have defeated it, given that the monster was already injured, but doing so would have required me to go all out, using my regenerative abilities and everything else to their best extent possible.

But just as I was about to test my strength for real— Elsa had intervened and killed the monster on her own without a hint of trouble.

That fight had somewhat shattered my confidence, but after the practical ended, I had thought on the matter in detail.

The only outcome for a Gold Core to be able to dominate me was that the monster was a genius among its kind.

And it had already reached Gold 2 or maybe Gold 3 during evolving, as it was a desperate attempt on the monster’s part.

That said—Victoria too was at Gold 2, still she wasn’t able to dominate me like the scorpion did.

The reason, according to me, was pretty simple.

Victoria was a human and a female at that.

Monsters always had strong physiques from their birth, making them far more dangerous than their core rank.

Then there was the size of monsters and their body shape that played a major role in buffing their already strong defences.

As for humans, they were the weakest by physique—Well, excluding the elves in comparison, as elves too had a naturally weak physique.

Then there was a difference in genders.

Males generally had stronger bodies than their female counterparts, which resulted in an average male cultivator being somewhat stronger than an average female cultivator.

As for the geniuses who were females...

Well—All of them were geniuses for a reason. Their quality of mana essence was far higher than the rest, which allowed them to compensate for their weaker physiques.

Though the bodies of individuals could be trained to grow stronger, there was a natural limit to it—Genetics being the main factor.

So considering all things, I had a decent chance of being able to fight Victoria without being defeated.

If I used all my abilities, then maybe...

I could theoretically defeat her.

But that was just an assumption—

Clank!

Blocking the sword that was aimed at my neck, I ducked down before sweeping my right leg in a wide arc.

Victoria’s face twisted in a frown as she stumbled back from the impact.

It had been a minute since our fight began, and I could see that Victoria was losing her edge.

In terms of the availability of raw mana, she was far ahead of me, but in all other aspects, I was better than her.

Though her combat experience was decent enough, as she had managed to avoid many of my traps that I had hidden in my attacks.

She might have shown an arrogant side on the outside, but each of her movements was based on caution and restraint.

"Come on, miss. Or is this all you have got?"

A small smile was etched on my lips while asking the question.

Though I looked in control on the outside, my current situation wasn’t the best.

Victoria was, after all, a Gold 2, and defending against each of her attacks required me to use more mana behind my own strikes.

Though I was being efficient enough in my consumption of mana, the fight was becoming draining on my reserves.

But it wasn’t up to the point of despair.

It was just that I was not used to pushing my mana to its absolute limits while fighting fellow humans, to be specific. That just went on to show the capability of the girl before me.

Swoosh!

Sidestepping to avoid the blade that flashed before my eyes, I quickly appeared behind Victoria, who, sensing my presence, was about to turn around, but—

I was faster.

Throwing my sword in a straight path, I charged at Victoria as her eyes widened from my attack pattern.

Victoria might have been good with swords, but was that the same for her melee skills?

Well...

It was time to test them.

Clank!

Seeing my movements, Victoria deflected the incoming sword while retreating to create distance between us.

Not that I would allow it.

I willed more of my mana through the muscles in my leg before charging without restraint.

In a blink of an eye, I was already before Victoria, who looked helpless as the sudden spike in my speed caught her off guard.

Without giving her any time to react, I reached out my hands to grab her waist in order to slam her on the ground below.

One.

Two.

Three—Huh?!

Just as I was about to touch her body, a barrier appeared between us, making my hand bounce off.

Before I could process what had happened, Victoria had already retreated, her hands raised before her, as her lips parted, to—

Chant?

A spell?

Haa... In the heat of the battle, I had nearly forgotten about that.

Victoria was a third year student, a Frost no less.

It was a given that she would have learned a spell or two.

As I focused my attention on her, she seemed to be midway in completing the incantation.

How foolish.

Using a spell while leaving her body unguarded.

Maybe...

She wasn’t good at multitasking, though I found it hard to believe—

My pupils dilated in surprise as I jumped into the air, twisting my body, while at the same time, my right hand blurred as it moved in rapid succession, grabbing the projectile that was aimed from behind me.

Spurt!

Blood sprayed across the ground as I landed softly.

My hand was dyed red, as the blade had pierced through my palm.

The power behind the weapon was far greater than what I had initially assumed.

I didn’t panic, nor did I scream.

The pain existed, but it wasn’t enough to overwhelm my mind.

I was calm... Too calm for the situation around me, as I analysed the attack that had managed to bypass my senses.