Chapter 69: An Exchange Of Descent Skills
"Let your last agony begin!" The malevolent cackle echoed through the etheric space as Nolan's grip tightened on the dagger.
He rose to his feet, but quickly wobbled as something flashed by his legs, ripping off a chunk of flesh. Agony spread forth through his entire being.
In the next instant, he slashed to the side with speed, but felt nothing but air. Then, another pain slammed into his head as he felt a piece of his ribs' flesh cleaved from his body.
"You're nothing but a piece of trash, and you will forever be a piece of trash!"
RIIIIIIP.
"All your existence, you're nothing but a tool for me to achieve my true greatness. And as for my goons that you killed, they saw you as nothing but a little something to pass as entertainment."
RIIIIIIIIIP.
"Everyone else you know thinks the same about you! None care for you, Nolan, and the reason is simple..."
RIIIIIP.
"You simply don't belong. You never do, and you never will, no matter what deceptions you try to use or come up with. You will always live under the shadows of people like me, and you will be seen as nothing but a pawn, a tool, a temporary source of amusement."
RIIIIIIIP.
RIIIIIIP.
BAAANG.
The sound of knees collapsing onto the ground rang out as Nolan's legs finally gave in.
Right now, there was not a single part of his body that wasn't dripping with blood, and there were more than enough places on his body missing their skin.
He was completely exhausted, drained of every vestige of energy, and rapidly losing blood.
"Pathetic you are, Nolan. Pathetic!" The voice whispered past his ears, followed by the sound of claws ripping the flesh from his shoulder, causing his left hand to fall limply onto the ground.
What followed was a moment of silence as Nolan's eyes shut tightly on his knees. Right now, he seemed no different from a person with one foot in the grave, yet his right hand holding the dagger was still raised in a defensive motion.
[You're dying...] the system warned Nolan gravely, yet he remained unmoving, his remaining functional arm pointing forward into the darkness.
In the next instant, Nolan's ears perked up as he felt a faint wheezing. Then, suddenly, he threw his dagger upwards, rolling away from where he kneeled.
In the next moment, a blast of air flashed past with speed, and Quinn's fingers narrowly missed his shoulder.
But Quinn's face changed when he turned behind him, due to the strange rustling air, and he saw Nolan's leg slam onto the dagger that was speeding downwards, causing it to speed towards him and then—
PUCCCHHIIII.
The sound of the dagger digging into something soft resounded as Quinn's right eye widened in shock.
The dagger dug into his left eye, blocking his vision, and a groan of pain escaped his lips as he faded away into shadows.
He was even more shocked when he felt Nolan speeding towards him within the shadowy darkness, even though his eyes were tightly shut.
"How... How can you see..." Quinn began to call out when Nolan suddenly appeared in front of him.
Reflexively, Quinn slashed towards Nolan's neck, but his claws met with nothing.
BLEEEEERGGHHH
Instantly, he coughed out blood as an elbow slammed into his stomach, causing his body to jerk backward.
Before Quinn could move too far, Nolan appeared before him again, and his remaining right arm punched out three times with incredible speed.
BAAANG.
BAAANG.
BAAANG.
The speed of the punches was so fast that it seemed like he only punched once, yet Quinn felt the dagger dig deeper into his eye, threatening to tear through his skull.
Hurriedly, he retreated, while trying to remove the dagger, but Nolan kept at his heels, chasing him relentlessly.
Still, Quinn was able to remove the dagger, throwing it to the side, but was shocked when Nolan jumped at him, his broken left shoulder slamming into hiss chest, sending him toppling to the ground.
In the next instant, a punch slammed into Quinn's face, sending his rising body slamming onto the ground once more.
Nolan sat down on him before...
BAAANG.
BAAANG.
BAAANG.
BAAANG.
A rain of punch, with each one so powerful that its reverberation shook the entire ground.
Nolan punch down repeatedly on his face like a deranged beast, blood splattering through the air with every punch.
"DIE!"
"DIE!"
"DIE!"
The roars of death were unending as he smashed out with all his energy.
Right now, Nolan was once more blind and could no longer see. His dagger, once connected with Quinn, had been flung to the side.
This was perhaps his last chance to finish this battle, and Nolan intended to end it all right there.
Soon, Quinn's body remained motionless as the shadows surrounding him dissipated completely. Nolan finally regained his eyesight.
Right now, below him was none other than the roughly bashed-in face of Quinn and a deep crater that had formed behind his head.
Quinn was unconscious, his heart barely beating within his ribcage.
Immediately, Nolan rose up from him and slowly walked forward, grabbing the dagger that was slackened on the ground.
Immediately after grabbing it, he walked back to Quinn, his dagger driving straight toward Quinn's heart in the next instant, but he was once more surprised when his dagger tore through nothingness.
Suddenly, Quinn's unconscious body began turning pitch black until it became nothing but ashes and faded away like dust.
[Behind you!] The system roared as Nolan immediately tried to dodge but failed miserably.
A cold claw dug through the back of his head, and he inhaled from the shock.
A strange aura quickly infiltrated his entire system, rendering him unable to move a single muscle.
Slowly, Nolan was lifted off the floor by the claws, before instantly being flung outward, rotating twice mid-air before roughly smashing into the wall, coughing out blood as he slid to the ground.
"Strong! He is too strong!!!" Nolan screamed in his head through the pain as he felt his surroundings slowly darkening.