Chapter 86 Boss (4)

Even though he didn't like this, Liam had to acknowledge that the Shedim Champion was stronger than him.

The only advantage he had was his high Vitality. Without his [S] rank Vitality, he would have lost consciousness due to the heavy impact of the kick.

It smashed him against the basalt wall that was tens of meters away from his current position. Liam recalled smashing into the wall before he slumped to the ground but he might be mistaken.

The memories of the impact were a little complicated and hard to recall. He could only tell that he had felt a bolt of pain travel up his spine and shoulder blade.

In fact, he was currently still in pain, lots of pain at that!

His forearm was broken and his hand was bleeding severely. Even holding the Arcane Kunai, which was not that heavy, would be hardly possible with his left hand in the state he found himself in right now.

Liam could still move his right arm and he knew that he had to get up from the ground as quickly as possible. The Shedim Champion was already charging at him, running on all fours. It had given up on being a member of a bipedal race and gave in to the wild and ferocious side of its existence.

Now, the Shedim Champion was neither a Lesser Demon with just a flicker of genius nor a Champion…the Boss Monster facing Liam was a bloodthirsting beast that charged at its prey with the desire to tear it apart and play around with it until its prey would bleed to death.

Having let go of the heavy harpoon allowed the Lesser Demon to regain some of the speed it lost due to its half-petrified leg. The Boss Monster's thigh was not petrified which hardly made a difference as the monster was running on all fours rather than its two hind legs.

It reached Liam in a second or two, long before the Halfling was able to properly get up. Liam had to act quickly, otherwise, he would succumb to the swipe of claws that came down on him from the right.

The Lesser Demon's Claws were razor-sharp and they provided a broader area of attack when slashing out in a wide motion. However, the attack range was shorter and the attack itself took a moment longer to impact as well.

Liam could make use of that by jumping forward with all his might. He jumped straight in between the front legs of the Lesser Shedim.

He was just trying to survive the fight and emerge unscathed and victorious. Rolling over the ground, he forced his aching body to get up in an instant.

However, it was already too late as the Lesser Demon's other claw shot toward him from the left.

The Shedim Champion lost its balance as it switched from running on its four legs back to its hind legs. In its haste to hurt Liam, it forgot tot take into consideration that its right leg was half-petrified. Thus, as the Lesser Demon was trying to readjust its weight uniformly again on its legs, it lost its balance and fell to the right.

The claw that came from his left was thus altered. It reached him a tad slower than intended and it moved in a different way than it was supposed to. Liam could jump to the right, evading most of the attack.

Unfortunately, it was impossible to avoid any damage. He was still scratched, though just with the tip of the Lesser Demon's claws.

The tip was more than enough to cut deep along his upper arm and chest, nearly ripping his chest open. If the claw had only cut a centimeter deeper inside him, his rib cage would have been pulled alongwith the hook of the claw's tip.

He didn't even want to imagine what would have happened afterward. The thought of being dragged through the air, while a hook dug into his rib cage though he was still alive made him give an involuntary shudder. He had to win the battle, but that was only obvious.

Blood gushed out from the cut he sustained, but Liam didn't even notice that anymore. He couldn't feel pain either as the adrenaline pumping through his veins seemed to block off every other sensation.

His focus was on the Shedim's left arm. It was the closest to him and he could scratch and dig in it several times with his right hand that had transformed into claws.

Liam's left arm was rendered useless, and the Arcane Kunai was drained of its last bits of Arcane Power that had been used to petrify the Shedim's left eye.

The Arcane Kunai was still stuck in the Shedim Champion's left eye, but Liam didn't see a way to get to it without facing the danger of getting squashed.

But that was exactly the risk he had to take. Liam realized that the Petrification Poison Rune was the only way for him to properly kill the Shedim Champion.

Taking that into consideration, his body began to move instinctively, hanging on the arm of the Shedim, jumping onto its back as the Lesser Demon was trying to regain balance.

It didn't want to fall to the ground, knowing that it would be at a disadvantage.

However, that was exactly what it did when it noticed that Liam was once again near his neck.

He was trying to reach the Arcane Kunai while digging his right claw into the flesh of the Lesser Demon to hook onto its back.

The Shedim Champion instinctively threw its body onto the ground, back first, feeling that Liam would be squashed this time for sure.

However, just like the last time, Liam escaped the same fate as Ludwig yet again.

In fact, his last traces of Arcane Power had been released and they had reached the Arcane Kunai that dug deeper into the petrified eye of the Shedim Champion before it was retracted, landing on Liam's hand. He jumped on the chest of the Boss Monster, staring down at the blood gushing out of the monster's chest.

His eyes glowed coldly, the corners of his lips curling upward.

"Accept your fate, cockroach!"