Chapter 167: The Superior Clone
It seems like the goal of the [Mad Rush] attack just now was simply to retrieve its weapon, so killing Stark was just a bonus to it.
Its silver armor was unscathed, and Stark could see that a giant hole had formed on the wall the guard hit, meaning that he could see another hallway from there.
'Need to do this quickly... if someone sees or hear the noises they could steal the key...'
But wait... wouldn't that mean a chance to kill and retrieve his map, as well as two rewards...?
'Hm...' Stark actually hesitated, but in the end it didn't matter as long as nobody showed up.
~THUMP~
The guard took another massive step, making Stark's body jump slightly because of the sheer force.
And then... it turned its pupils toward the spot the clones were supposed to be at.
"Krakr...?" for the first time it sounded confused, and its pupils widened, the aura around them faltering slightly.
"AURA SMASH... MERGE!" taking advantage of that small opportunity and time frame, Stark focused his aura on his right hand and began to summon the giant crimson fist.
The [Elite Guard] kept looking at 'THAT' thing for a few more seconds, almost if shocked. your chapter source MVL EMPYR
"Krakkark?," which roughly translated to, "What that is?" was what it said at that moment.
And then, if sensing something was wrong, it immediately began rushing toward it, knowing that it couldn't allow such a thing to transform.
"Not today, asshole, only five more seconds after all...!" Stark wouldn't let all his efforts go to waste, so he quickly finished charging up the [Aura Smash] and sent it toward the guard when it was only a few meters from reaching the clones.
~BOOOOM~
It could obviously dodge or at least deflect it under normal circumstances using its massive weapons or the [Chrono Dodge] skill, which Stark hadn't seen yet.
But... it's panicked state and rush in stopping the clones made it ignore its surroundings, resulting in the giant fist, much bigger than its head, hitting it straight on the chest sideways.
~FWISH, CRASH~
It was sent flying toward the wall right beside it, crashing into it and almost destroying it because of the sheer impact of the crimson aura.
"-58171!" the damage was still relatively low as to how much it would have dealt normally, but it was fine as it had stopped the guard from interrupting the clones' transformation.
And then, at that moment...
~FWISHHHHH, BWING!~
A giant light emerged from the corner of the hall from Stark's perspective, while the guard was just watching it with widened eyes.
And...
['The Superior Clone' was successfully summoned!]
[Description: You can choose to summon your three clones and merge them all together (much like with Aura Smash), thus creating a superior crimson copy that is ALMOST as good as the original]
This was the perk he had been wanting to use, although it took around thirty seconds for them to merge, which wouldn't seem like a lot normally, but just in this battle, it almost felt like minutes because of the speed of the attacks.
'Come...' Stark called out for his clone, and with speed to fast it was invisible to the naked eye, it placed itself in front of the boy so that he can observe it.
Even the [Elite Guard] was confused because of the speed, taking a few seconds to turn its head to the spot it was on and immediately getting up, knowing it needed to get rid of them both fast.
'...'
The [Superior Clone] resembled the usual clones, except the aura that made its body was much darker in color, and it flowed faster and stronger than before.
Just by viewing it, Stark knew that thing was the real deal as its entire body was surrounded by powerful crimson aura.
'...' it just stood there, a big smile on its face as it awaited Stark's orders.
"Can I control you?" this was Stark's first question.
He had usually been able to control a clone by concentrating his aura in his eyes and sending it to the clones, but maybe that was because they are pretty much.
But what about the [Superior Clone]? Would he be able to control it? If so, how well?
This could definitely be big, as taking control of such a thing while staying back would be overpowered.
'...' the clone put its crimson hand against its chin and acted as if it was thinking, then... it just shrugged.
[Maybe yes, maybe no]
This was its answer, meaning Stark would need to try it himself.
But for now...
"KRAAKKAKRKAKAK~" the elite guard roared so hard that the ceiling was shaking, and small debris kept falling all over.
Then... it dashed toward Stark and his clone, carrying both it's bloodied sword and the morning star.
"MORNING STAR'S DARKNESS!" it used one of its [Advanced] skills while rushing at them both, and suddenly...
~FWISH~
As if it was sucking up the darkness of the elite's eyes, the morning star grew in size, at least thrice as big as originally, now it was even bigger than the arm of the elite and five times as big as Stark' body.
Its silver spikes were also replaced by completely dark ones, emitting a very dark aura.
"K...KRKAKRA~!" even the guard seemed to struggle carrying it, so it just launched its sword at the two Stark.
~BOOOM~
The impact of the weapon exploded the floor, but the two easily avoided it as this attack was mostly just to get rid of the weapon.
"KRAAKKRKS~" the guard tried to carry the morning star, but actually grazed its own arm in the process.
"27291!" that weapon's damage was way too high, and now that it was bigger, faster and stronger, it would be more difficult to avoid it.
"Aura Smash... MERGE!"
"...?" Stark was confused as he wasn't the one that used this skill but... his clone?
He hadn't ordered it to, it was doing it on its own for some reason, and the smile on its face showed that it was confident in its abilities.
Frankly, Stark would expect that thing to explode in its face, but who knows, maybe it got strong to be able to master it...?
After managing to put the giant handle of the dark morning star between both its hands, the elite guard smirked behind its helmet.
It was carrying it like a baseball bat, but oh well...
And then...
"CRITICAL HIT SPIN!" it used another one of its [Advanced Skills], this one not stronger than [Morning Star's Darkness], yet when paired together... they became deadly.
And so, Stark and his [Superior Clone] got ready to deal with that guard.