My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 135: Possessed

Kace was panting heavily, Dao had struck him several times. The only reason that Kace was not a mess on the floor just now was his armour. He had to admit that it was a splendid piece of work. He had not imagined that it would be capable of standing up to those kinds of attacks.

Dao, on the other hand, was rather annoyed. He knew that the queen had spent a fortune on that armour but did she really have to go this far? Every time that one of his attacks landed it felt like he was striking at an immovable mountain. The shock that would run up his arms was enough to leave him open for a split-second.

Kace never missed these opportunities and always lashed out at the right time. Fortunately, his own blood armour was able to prevent any injuries as well. The problem was, he had now been hit several times in retaliation and was now cursed. His stats had decreased by a significant margin.

Although Sonja had given him permission to push Kace further, he still was not allowed to use any advanced techniques beyond what he was currently employing. This put him in a bind. To end the fight, he would have to hit hard and fast enough to end it in one blow. But at the level, he was restricted to that was impossible with the armour Kace was wearing.

At the same time, Kace was incapable of bringing the fight to a close as well. The more he thought about it, the more certain he became. 'This is his limit. We can call this to an end now.' Dao thought as he shot a look at Sonja.

Reading his intentions from his eyes, Sonja could only agree. She shifted her weight off the wall she was leaning on and was about to step forward to stop the match. However, before she could, a surge of power began to emanate from Kace's weapon. 'Oh? He still has some fuel in the tank? Fine, let's see where this goes.' She immediately went back to leaning on the wall and shook her head at Dao.

Having sensed the power surge and seeing that Sonja had no intentions of acting, Dao could only smile helplessly. Depending on what Kace did next, it was not impossible for him to lose this match with his current restrictions. 'Fine! Bring it already!' Dao attempted to get himself pumped up to receive whatever Kace was about to throw at him.

[Possession Stage One: Activated]

This notification swam in front of Kace's eyes as Sylvan's weapon form began to disappear inside his body. A sudden burst of pain echoed throughout his body as Sylvan went to work. Soon enough, purple vines began to grow from and wrap around Kace's right arm. A black horn emerged from his shoulder as silvery wooden claws grew from his hand.

Kace could suddenly feel that he had access to new abilities even though they did not appear on his stats screen. 'Are these Sylvan's skills?' He wondered as he flexed his new arm to see how it felt. Guess what? It felt pretty good! He could tell that his strength in that arm had almost doubled from what it usually was. 'With this, we might actually be able to do some damage!'

Sonja's eyes were currently bulging from their sockets. 'That's a controlled Possession! When did he learn to do that!' She was both panicking and amazed at the same time. It was certainly an encouraging thing that he could control such a state and not be taken over. However, it was also worrying for her since the last time someone had bonded with one of these weapons they had done something similar.

Her mind cast back to old memories of when they had first found a parasitic weapon. She had gifted it to a talented commander of hers having no need of such a thing herself. Over time the weapon had consumed the man's psyche and achieved a full possession state. In a fit rage, it used his body to annihilate a whole squad of elite soldiers as though they were paper before a shredder.

In the end, she had been forced to take action. The possessed state he had entered had allowed him to go toe to toe with her for seven days before finally tiring out. She had shown no mercy and severed his head at the first opportunity. In hindsight, she regretted her rash decision to gift an unknown weapon to her trusted commander.

'Hopefully, another tragedy such as that does not repeat itself here.' She fixed her eyes on Kace's form and resolved herself to do what needed to be done if the need arises. 

Dao rushed forward, aware that this had to be settled soon before Kace could get used to his new appearance. His bloody longsword shone in the magical light that lit the training hall. Right before the impact, he witnessed Kace move his arm into its trajectory to intercept it. Before the two collided a pair of vines slithered out like snakes and took hold of the blade.

It stopped barely an inch before Kace's arm, and no matter how much effort Dao used, he could not free it from the vine's grip. As he tugged on his weapon again, a third vine lashed out and whipped across his exposed face. The gash it left behind was quite nasty to look at. Part of it had even severed through his entire cheek and gave a detailed look at the inside of Dao's mouth.

Realising it was a hopeless endeavour, Dao relinquished control of his weapon and went for a strong blow to Kace's kidney region. Using the hand that was covered in the silvery wood, he caught the punch in his open palm. Quickly, he twisted the arm into an unnatural pose, causing the sound of bones breaking to reach everyone's ears.

'I could get used to this...' Kace thought as he glared at Dao with malicious intentions.