Age of Asura [Progression, LitRPG, Apocalypse]

Arya kept the explanation short and simple, while Uruvi tried to keep her focus on the enemy before her while she processed her assistant’s plan. The pause in their fight had gone on for far too long, and she knew her opponent wasn’t exactly the patient type.

Her eyes caught sight of his hand squeezing the handle of his axe.

‘He is preparing to strike… Arya, how much time to midnight?’

“27 minutes to midnight,” said Arya.

Sashwat leapt at her, shooting at a blinding speed. “Done with your upgrading yet?”

She felt very unsure of the plan. But she knew it was the only plan they had right now. ‘Do it!’

“Your points have been allocated. Your Naval chakra is now level 4,” said Arya.

A warm sensation flooded her abdomen, which rejuvenated her body and mind. Her eyes widened as she gritted her teeth and swung her axe towards him. The blades clashed, sending sparks flying as the two opponents danced beneath the full moon in a duet of death.

The smile on his face widened as he charged at her. “Come on now. Show me your new toys!”

She leapt back, dodging his attacks, but his relentless pace kept pushing her onto her back foot. She wore a grim expression on her face as she tried hard to match his speed and prowess. ‘He is fast and strong. He is barely using any spells. And he has the power of wind on his side. Gods… please help me beat him.’

She ducked beneath the swing of his attack, with her blade ready to strike. Its blade began to glow bright orange, which grabbed the attention of her opponent. She smashed the axe into his left abdomen, making him squeal in pain. The kickback skill took effect, sending another hit into his left side. He quickly fell to the ground and rolled away.

“You ain’t getting away that easy!” She said as she chased after him. She noticed him glance at his wound and back at her, with eyes looking confused. ‘Burning Fury is tied to the navel chakra. He must not have put any points into it…’ She noticed that about five percent of his health had been greyed out. ‘Even with a boost from my increased chakra level, it is tiny! Tch!’

“Don’t fret. He will need a day or more to recover the greyed-out health,” said Arya.

She struggled to adjust to its new style of speech. It was almost like it had gained a personality. “Right…” She leapt over a small pile of rubble, gaining high ground as she brought her axe down onto him.

He shot a sneaky grin as a green shield appeared before him. She slammed into the shield and bounced back. ‘An air shield?’ The shield vanished as he charged at her.

She countered by slamming her foot into the ground. A column of water shot out from her foot in the direction of her opponent, before a rush of water threw him back.

Her eyes shifted towards the wall that stood beside him. She rushed forward, hiding in the shadow cast by the burning barstand. She snuck behind the wall, losing her opponent for a moment, before leaping over the wall and bringing her burning axe onto him.

He cast his shield in a vain effort to block the attack. But the kickback set a red-hot slash through his left bicep, which forced him to leap back towards the barstand. Despite the dire situation, he appeared unfazed.

She stepped forward and pushed him further back, until they reached the raging fire. She waited patiently for him to come to her, and it didn’t take long. He ran his blade through the fire, driving up a gust of fiery wind.

“Let’s see how you like it,” he said as he swung his axe at her.

‘Hope this works…’ She stepped closer and parried his flaming axe, whose blade appeared to crack from the clash. She felt her body become lighter, giving her a small boost in speed, which allowed her to dodge the column of hot air.

She cast a shield and followed it up with, “sea breeze…”

A spray of water shot past her and through the burning alcohol, causing a plume of steam to suddenly expand. The two of them were blasted by the hot steam. While Uruvi was protected by her shield, Sashwat faced the full force of the heat.

She heard him let out a blood-curdling scream for the first time since they began their fight. ‘Perhaps... I can…'

As steam cleared, his silhouette took shape, before his scorched arms and neck became visible. Uruvi was not happy, but neither was Sashwat, who stared at her with an ice-cold gaze. Her heart shuddered at the sight of his killer eyes.

In the blink of an eye, he vanished from his sight. Before she could even comprehend what happened, she found her head in the firm grasp of her opponent. She was pushed into the burning barstand by an incredible force.

The shield shattered under the immense heat, but it gave her enough time to lean down and drag him into the fire as well.

He countered by using brute force to drag her back out of the fire before tossing her across the ruined bar and into the adjacent wall.

There was a dull crack as her back slammed into the brick wall. ‘What the hell? Where did that come from?’ She caught sight of an axe coming straight for her. She quickly got out of the way as the blade dug into the wall. The crack in his blade was now wide enough for her to see through.

He grabbed her by her hair and slammed her into the wall.

Her chest grew hot and fury overwhelmed her. A mix of gold and red enveloped her. The blade of her axe turned red as she flipped it and swung it behind her, blindly. She heard him grunt, while his grip on her loosened. She kicked the wall and slammed her back into him, throwing them onto the ground.

She rolled back onto her feet, turning to face him, but he was already charging at her. She saw burning rage within his eyes with a devilish smile on his face that made her heart shudder.

He sent a flurry of wind blades towards her, which she parried effortlessly. He followed it up with a chain of heavy swings that threw her onto the back foot.

She managed to land another burning fury slash, increasing his greyed-out health to about 18 percent of his health. However, it only made him angrier. As their fight continued, she found herself lagging behind once again. ‘Is he getting faster? Or am I getting slower?’

He struck her axe, nearly ripping it off her hands, before using the opening to strike her in the chest. The blade sliced through her right breast, throwing her to the ground.

She wanted to scream, but instead clenched her teeth to endure the blinding pain. As she pushed herself off the ground, she felt his axe slam down onto her back. This time she did not hold her scream back.

‘Did he cut my spine?’

“Negative. Your spine is intact. But your left shoulder blade is severely damaged. Expect a reduction in mobility,” said Arya.

She felt him grab her by her foot before being flung across the ruined landscape and straight into the burning barstand. She immediately cast a shield to protect herself from the fire as she tried to crawl away.

“Warning. Health below 50 percent,” said Arya.

She looked up and saw his blade raised above his head while a nasty smile painted his face. The blade of the axe shot up, extending skyward as a green line that appeared to bisect the moon above them. As it came down on her, she scampered to right, barely missing the air blade as it slammed into the fiery pile. The result was an explosion that shattered her shield and threw her into the air and back onto the hard and rocky rubble. Sharp rocks and broken steel bars pierced into her body as she rolled over them.

“Uruvi. Your health is below 20 percent,” said Arya.

Pain erupted all over her body, overwhelming her. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she fought through the pain. A soft scoff escaped her lips. “So… This is what a real battle is like huh?”

She heard the crunching of rocks under a heavy boot approach her. Looking up, she saw him look down at her with a blank expression.

“Thanks for your service. It was a good time.” He raised the axe, high into the air, before bringing it down onto her.

Uruvi did not understand what had happened. Everything went blank and the only thought running in her head was, ‘is this how death feels like?’

“Uruvi. The skill, Last man standing, has been activated,” said Arya.

Faint light rushed through her blurry vision as she slowly opened her eyes. The shadow of her opponent took shape as he turned around to face her once again.

“You are not dead yet?” he said.

She pushed herself off the ground, swaying gently as she found her footing once again.

“Uruvi, your health is at 1HP. Your attack has been raised by 10 percent for 30 seconds. Your Naval Chakra skills have also received a boost. You must finish him in this window,” said Arya.

She recalled the plan narrated to her by her assistant when it asked her to level up her skill “Last man standing”. It called the plan a last-ditch effort. To use the enhanced burning fury skill to cut down his health bar as much as possible and finish him off.

Her vision was a blur, barely able to see his health bar. ‘I… think he is at 50 percent?’

“Affirmative. His health is at 52 percent and recovering.”

‘Wonderful…’

“Let’s get this done,” he said raising his axe.

“Yeah… let’s…” She gritted her teeth and her eyes widened. She slammed her foot into the ground, sending a wave of crashing through the ruins.

Her opponent, who was mid-motion, was caught off guard. He took the brunt of the attack and was pushed back into the remains of the bar.

“Rejuvinate…” She whispered as she rushed towards him.

“Seems like you still have some fight left in you!” he shouted.

Her body felt like a wreck with cuts and bruises all over. She could feel herself getting light-headed from all the bleeding. “Suturing.” The pain somewhat subsided, but it was still enough to keep her awake.

Two arcs of wind shot towards her, but she evaded them by leaping high up into the air. She followed it up by bringing her axe down on to him but instead slammed into the ground. Unfazed, she chased after him, throwing a flurry of swings.

“What is this? A second wind? Or your dying breath?” he snarled. He chose to step back and dodge her attacks rather than taking them head on.

‘His axe… It was tearing apart…’ She remembered the split being wide enough for her to see through it. ‘I must take advantage of this!’ Red aura enveloped her as her health began to plummet.

“Uruvi, you health is below 10 percent. One hit will kill you,” said Arya.

She knew the odds, but she also knew this was her only chance. Her speed shot up, giving him less time to dodge.

A green shield suddenly appeared before him, but this time, she was ready. “Thunderclap!” she said, and the resulting explosion knocked him and his shield into the air. She reached before he recovered and continued her assault.

Forced to use his blade, he tried to parry her attacks but only saw his blade and his health bar getting chipped away.

She mixed in several charge attacks and burning fury, which were doing significantly more damage than before. She brought his health down to 20 percent and greying out about 50 percent.

She saw his face contort in fear, which only boosted her confidence.

He brought his axe up, trying to swing into her face, but instead met her burning blade which shattered his axe. Left with only the handle to fend for himself, she expected him to retreat. But he refused to relent.

“Uruvi. You must end the battle now,” said Arya.

‘Don’t worry. This battle is over.’

She lunged at him, coming face to face and said, “Tidal rupture…” She watched as his eyes widened and his face turned pale. A wall of water formed between them as he made a desperate last attempt to counter her spell. He leaned back, casting his two shields, one before the other.

The bubble ruptured, exploding in a spectacular display of tidal power. The force was strong enough to shatter both his shields and send him flying into the air, before falling through the cement roof of an adjacent building.

She slammed the axe head into the ground, using it as a lever to hold herself up. Her body was screaming in pain, asking for a break. But the job was not done yet.

“Uruvi. You have only two minutes left,” said Arya.

“That… close… huh?” she asked as she dragged her feet forward. “He is not out yet, is he? Else I… would have levelled up.”

“Affirmative.”

One step at a time, she pushed herself forward, climbing over the pile of rocks before looking down at the hole left behind by his fall. She saw him lying on a pile of rocks. His eyes were closed, but his chest rose and fell with each breath.

“God save me…” she said as she jumped down the hole and landed before him.

The dull thud of her landing woke her opponent up. He raised his head and looked at her with a wide grin; his body was drowning in the silver light of the moon. “Time… is running out…” he said, with great effort as he struggled to breathe.

She gripped the axe with both her hands and said, “A bastard till the end.”

“Till the end of my fucking life…” he replied.

She swung her axe with all the might left in her, slicing through his chest. Blood sprayed out of the open wound as his breath slowly seized.

“New rank obtained. Current points, 75296. Local rank, 1,” said Arya, a moment later. “47 seconds to midnight.”

She felt her body refreshed, healed from the scars of the battle. But the fatigue from the battle had not disappeared. She shook her head violently and said, “Arya. Add a new rule. Five seconds before midnight, the last rank gains 1 extra life.”

“Suggestion. Make it 2 seconds,” said Arya.

“You sure?”

“Affirmative. The new rule will get executed before the deadline.”

“Do it!”

There was a pause for a few seconds, as she waited in bated breath.

“The new rule has been successfully added,” said Arya.

“Pull up the leaderboard,” said Uruvi.

The screen appeared before her, filled with a table full of names. She saw her name on the top, but didn’t pay any heed to it. She began to scroll to the bottom, where she saw the name Arjit sitting at the bottom. “It’s the same fellow! Arya, have his points changed since yesterday?”

“Negative. His points have not increased.”

‘He gave up…’

Her eyes shifted to the clock on the top right of the screen. Nine seconds to midnight. With each second, she felt her heart beat a little faster, while her throat felt like it was closing up.

The numbers turned to zero, and Arjit’s name stayed. Her eyes were glued to his name, anxiously waiting for something to change. But nothing happened. His name didn’t disappear.

“Arya, did… it work?” she asked.

“Affirmative. The last rank survived. In all areas,” said Arya.

Her heart swelled as her chest grew hot. She bit her lower lip, trying to contain the overflow of emotions. Her vision became blurry as tears rolled down her cheeks. She looked up at the moon in the sky and let out a roar of laughter. A voracious display of joy, even if it was only for the moment.