The Shedim Champion worsened its injuries by smashing itself into the ground. It intended to bury Liam beneath it, squashing him to death but that plan failed miserably.
Its' wings were broken and its back felt numb. Several spots of the Boss Monster's upper back were petrified, precisely everywhere around the cuts, which Liam had inflicted with the Arcane Kunai.
The Petrification Poison Rune would stay active for more than 25 minutes which it could be used as long as Liam provided enough Arcane Power to keep up the effect.
His lack of Arcane Power was the biggest problem but that could be temporarily substituted with potions. He had still enough Arcanium to buy three potions, if necessary.
But while the Shedim Champion was already injured and bleeding severely due to the various small cuts, turning those spots to stone, Liam was not exactly unscathed either.
Liam was also injured, though not severely. His high Vitality stat at [S] allowed him to heal faster and replenish his stamina and energy quickly. It was not omnipotent but it also strengthened his body, which was also why his jump from the Boss Monster's back didn't break his ankles upon landing on the ground.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtBlood gushed out of the Shedim's chest from the deep gash he had inflicted with the Black Steel Halbert. The wound was getting worse as the Boss Monster moved around too vigorously. To heal the wound and stop it from bleeding, the Shedim would have to rest a bit, not move around like he had been bitten by a rabid dog.
The Shedim, however, couldn't control itself anymore. It had been consumed by rage and the desire to obliterate Liam and the other infiltrators. They had even destroyed the Skullthrone of which it had been so proud.
At the same time, the Shedim didn't realize that its overall constitution was worsening by the second. Even if the Shedim Champion didn't feel anything right now, the golden lightning bolt and the explosions from earlier had inflicted considerable damage to the Boss Monster's defenses. The aftereffect of the golden lightning bolt and explosions caused many of its black scales to crack and crumble.
This made it much easier for Liam to pierce through the cracked scales that cut into the Shedim Champion's flesh with his injured claw and the Arcane Kunai.
Liam used a dirty tactic now that the Shedim was forced to fight on the ground. his Soultrait fully unleashed, he could narrowly evade the harpoon that was thrust in his direction every few seconds.
He might not be as fast as the Shedim Champion, but his eyes made up for his lacking agility. It was already pretty easy to make out when the Shedim Champion was about to attack. It was not as if a five-meter-tall and muscular Demon could act stealthily and hide when it was about to smash its huge and heavy harpoon upon the ground.
If the harpoon were to hit him, Liam would certainly die. His chances of survival would be nill. But that was obvious and something Liam could accept rather easily. After all, he would never allow the Lesser Demon to hit him with the harpoon, in the first place.
The Lesser Demon's attack pattern was pretty simple as well. No matter how enraged it was, it had to aim, throw and retract the spear. Each of these three steps required a series of small sub-steps that had to be taken into consideration which wasted more time.
Liam made use of the vast number of opportunities he was granted by the rage and stubbornness of the Boss Monster. It didn't want to let go of its weapon because it was too proud of it. The Shedim didn't feel like giving up on its great tactic and the mighty combat technique it had learned just because no attack hit the designated target so far.
Fighting without a weapon and only using its bare body including its claws, legs, feet, and tail would have been much better against an opponent like Liam.
After all, even though Liam was not fast, he could evade the Lesser Demon's attack and inflict more than ten cuts upon its right leg before he would back off again. Liam didn't have to be much of a thinker to rinse and repeat the process for a few minutes until the Lesser Demon's right leg was filled with deep gashes that bled severely while the area around it had turned to stone.
The Lesser Demon was not even able to properly move its right leg anymore.
Only then did it give up on the harpoon, filled with even more rage than before.
After all, it hadn't been able to hit Liam even once!
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThe tide of the battle changed in a single instance. The Shedim Champion allowed its wild instincts to take over the moment it let go of the heavy harpoon. Its' movements accelerated now that it had less weight to carry and it kicked out with its injured leg. Liam intended to evade the attack but he quickly noticed that bracing himself for the impact of the Lesser Demon's leg was better than being forced to scramble away from the reach of the Boss Monster's huge claws as well.
After all, the upper body of the beast lunged forward as well. The Lesser Demon's claws reached out to the left and right of the stretched-out leg, ready to squash Liam the moment he was to evade the attack by moving in either of those directions.
Thinking quickly, he turned his left claw into a hand while throwing the Arcane Kunai toward the head of the Lesser Demon.
Consumed by rage and already full in motion, the Shedim Champion was not able to block the thrown Kunai. It pierced into the left eye of the Lesser Demon, petrifying it in the seconds that followed.
However, Liam was not granted the opportunity to see this as he crossed his arms to brace himself for the incoming impact.
The moment the leg impacted upon him, he heard a loud crunch in his left forearm. But even that was not something he could pay much attention to as he was knocked out of his breath.
Liam was flung across the length of the room until he was forcefully halted by the basalt wall that he smacked against.
He coughed up blood, his sight blurred and he could clearly feel that his left arm was broken.
Meanwhile, the Lesser Demon seemed to have found the perfect tactic to fight and overwhelm him.