Chapter 152: Demonic Assassin vs Midnight Warden

The Midnight Warden stared at Luke with silent hatred. That rotting face, lipless, covered in dried, necrotic flesh. One eye burned like an ember inside the decaying skull. They were both falling apart. Luke could barely stand. Alone now, with Charlie gone, and the monster still standing.

At least the bastard looks as wrecked as I feel, Luke thought, feeling the sharp, deep ache from the lance wound still tearing at his side.

The creature’s armor was shredded, entire chunks missing, scattered on the floor. Its helmet had been obliterated when Luke threw his kukri with all the stamina he had left. Now the monster raised its sword again, eyes locked on him.

Luke’s arms barely worked. But every second was precious. He looked at his stamina bar.

[Stamina: 300/590]

The two potions had recharged his body just enough. He grabbed the last one from his necklace.

I have to… try.

But time ran out.

“ROOOOOAAR!!”

The Warden’s roar tore through the cavern as it charged with its sword raised high. Luke barely reacted in time. He had no strength left to move his body—but he’d burn his stamina to the bone if he had to. He downed the potion and activated Refined Perception.

Pain exploded behind his eyes like a lightning bolt through his skull. The kukri snapped back to his hand with magnetism, and he raised it just in time.

The Warden’s blade came crashing down.

Luke blocked. The force of the impact, amplified by the way he had forced stamina through his shattered muscles, traveled through his bones like a hammer blow. Something cracked. His arm. The bone was broken.

He clenched his teeth and endured it.

The creature snarled inches from his face and raised the sword again. Luke rolled clumsily to the side. Both of them were exhausted, slowed, drenched in pain. The blade struck stone where he had just been.

Luke staggered up, dragging himself along the ground. He pulled his other kukri back with magnetism—but his arm wouldn’t move. It just wouldn’t.

He looked back—too late.

The Warden was already there.

Luke dodged the first strike. Duck. Rise. The second passed overhead.

The third connected.

The blade slashed across his stomach, biting deep. The Warden’s fist followed, slamming into his chest and launching him across the cave like a ragdoll. He hit the ground hard. Everything spun.

He was at the edge.

[Health Points (HP): 193/1220]

[Mana Points (MP): 519/880]

[Stamina: 417/590]

Luke tried to rise. The Warden marched toward him, slow and certain, every step echoing like a funeral bell.

The third stamina potion had bought him breath—but nothing more. His injuries were too many. His muscles refused to respond. He staggered. Collapsed to his knees. Fell forward, face to the cold dust.

[Health Points (HP): 168 / 1220]

His vision blurred. He could barely make out the silhouette of the monster approaching. Like death itself, walking.

“I… can’t… die here…” he whispered. Barely a breath.

He forced his stamina to circulate, pushing energy where he needed it most—muscles, organs, skin. Every cell screamed in protest. He wanted to stand. He wanted to fight.

But his mind… had already given up.

The pain was drowning him. He was too mentally drained to truly resist. And maybe… maybe it would be easier to just let go. The blood kept flowing, hot and steady, soaking into the stone beneath him.

[Health Points (HP): 159 / 1220]

The Warden roared, then stopped right in front of him. The creature stared in silence, like an executioner preparing to carry out his duty. The blade rose above its head, heavy with finality.

Luke closed his eyes. The stamina he’d been forcing through his body was slipping away. His strength faded like a candle dying out. It wasn’t fear anymore. It was resignation.

But his mind wouldn’t stop. Wouldn’t let him rest.

There, on the edge of death, the questions came rushing back. Had I really done everything I could? Did I use everything I learned? Was there something I missed? Something I could have changed?

He laughed to himself. No flashbacks. No life flashing before his eyes. Just the cold taste of solitude. Of how small he really was. Stamina reinforcement had kept him alive this long. But he couldn’t even lift his own arm anymore.

The Warden’s sword gleamed red. A skill had been activated. The next hit would be fatal.

Luke gave a soft, bitter laugh. If only… if only I could reinforce my body with mana.

Absurd.

But then… something sparked. A thought. Thin as a thread: ‘Who says you can’t reinforce the body with mana?’

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The thread became a wire.

The sword came down.

Luke’s eyes snapped open. With pure desperation, he fumbled to activate his Dash and rolled sideways at the last possible moment. The blade struck the ground with earth-shaking force, splitting the stone where his skull had just been.

Panting, Luke scrambled back, kukri in hand. His eyes locked onto the enemy’s sword. It glowed red. It pulsed.

Mana!

The Warden turned to face him, eyes blazing with rage.

Luke started coughing. His chest burned. But his mind—his mind raced like never before. That single thought was no longer a thread. It was a path. He didn’t know how, but he knew the answer was there.

[Health Points (HP): 133 / 1220]

The enemy’s gaze burned with fury. But Luke wasn’t on the ground anymore.

He was learning.

He tried to step forward, but his legs collapsed beneath him. He dropped to his knees, his body barely holding together. The pain wasn’t a warning anymore—it was a sentence. At this pace, he wouldn’t last another three minutes.

But then—one last, reckless idea surfaced.

There was no way to reinforce the body with mana. Not with what he currently knew. Not in the few seconds he had left. Learning it now was impossible. Unless he cheated. Every time he used Wraith Form, he felt his body vanish—flesh, bone, blood—all becoming living mist. And that form was made of magic.

It was mana.

The Midnight Warden charged, roaring, sword raised to cleave him in two.