Reincarnated Hero System

Chapter 1282: The Tiny Berserker I

The warhammer wrapped in red demonic energy smashed violently through the air at supersonic speed, aiming to blast Evan’s head clean from his neck in a single blow, but Evan activated Elemental Shield in the last possible instant, generating an Earthen Sphere of condensed magic power around himself just before impact.

However, the defensive construct was obliterated the moment Kranul’s hammer collided with it, the collision erupting with such monstrous force that the resulting shockwaves blasted Evan backwards across the ruined battlefield, his feet skidding violently through shattered earth while debris exploded all around him.

"It broke in one hit?!" Evan shouted with feigned surprise, before activating Space Warp to teleport away from Kranul’s immediate follow-up, leaving behind a burst of spatial law energy that detonated directly into the dwarf’s body as he charged through the space Evan had occupied a fraction of a second earlier.

In that same instant, Leoniel flashed in from Kranul’s flank and unleashed a full-powered kick into the dwarf’s side, sending Kranul hurtling through the air and straight into the surrounding mountains.

His compact body tore through the rocks like a missile, smashing deep into one of the peaks with enough force to blast a massive hole through it and trigger the collapse of an entire mountainside.

Evan reappeared beside Leoniel with Blink, wiping sweat off his forehead as he spoke.

"Leoniel, you’re the main damage dealer for this fight since I can’t let the Demonic Hand figure out how strong I really am right now.

Kranul can’t stay here long because that burst of power earlier will definitely draw the attention of nearby Barbarian Chiefs. He’ll have to leave before they arrive, so he doesn’t expose himself as a Demonic Hand Executive.

We just have to stall until then."

"He’s an Executive?" Leoniel asked in surprise, but only for a moment before his expression darkened with realisation. "The Third Finger?"

Evan nodded, but before another word could be exchanged, an explosive blast erupted from the collapsed mountain, and both men instantly leapt in opposite directions, narrowly avoiding Kranul’s warhammer as it came crashing down upon the ground they had occupied, the impact obliterating the area beneath it and blasting the earth apart into a violent crater.

Evan teleported beside Eliza, stabbed the Vanquisher into the ground, and grabbed her shoulder before speaking quickly. "Liz, coat me in your magic power and make it look like you’re buffing me, but actually buff Leon-!"

His words were cut off as Danger Sense screamed alarms in his head, and he immediately shoved Eliza away with his left hand while simultaneously thrusting his right fist, engulfed in a vortex of orange flames, forward to intercept Kranul’s incoming punch that had been aimed directly at Eliza’s skull.

The collision between their fists cracked the earth beneath them, and as fragments of shattered ground blasted outward in every direction, Evan’s eyes met Kranul’s glowing red glare.

"You fucking bastard! You actually dared...!"

Destructive energy exploded from Evan’s body as he activated BoD, the violent eruption blasting Kranul backwards, and Evan immediately gave chase.

His sword flew into his grip as he spun through the air, and Evan unhesitatingly unleashed Hell from his blade.

The wide slash of prismatic flames that erupted from the Vanquisher swallowed Kranul whole, but the dwarf simply tanked the blast head-on and burst straight through the eruption with a furious roar, the ominous red aura around his body intensifying even further.

Kranul instantly threw another punch at Evan, but Evan leapt backwards to avoid the direct hit, causing the dwarf’s fist to crash into empty earth. However, the attack hardly ended there, as demonic energy exploded from Kranul’s body and flooded into the ground, causing colossal pillars of red lightning to erupt across the battlefield in every direction.

The attack didn’t last long, though, because mere seconds later, the earth itself began rapidly climbing Kranul’s limbs and torso, encasing his body in thick stone and locking him down long enough for Leoniel to descend from above like a falling meteor, his dropkick slamming directly into Kranul’s back with all his might.

The impact smacked Kranul straight into the ground and blasted open a crater so deep and wide that the surrounding land began collapsing inward, and before Kranul could even recover from that first blow, Leoniel delivered another devastating kick to the side of the dwarf’s head, the force launching Kranul skyward like a rocket fired into space.

Leoniel then stomped the crumbling earth below, and in response, dozens of colossal stone pillars erupted upwards, shooting up towards Kranul’s airborne body and slamming into his stomach, knocking him further up into the air.

Dashing upward along one of those rising pillars with monstrous speed was Leoniel himself, his hands coated in dense law energy as he closed in for another strike, but just before he could reach Kranul, the dwarf roared and detonated a storm of red lightning around his body, the violent explosion obliterating every stone pillar around him.

His warhammer shot back into his hand, and with another roar, Kranul raised the weapon high and swung downward, and in response to that motion, the skies above the Kudatha Mountains darkened, and a colossal warhammer construct of demonic energy manifested overhead and descended upon the battlefield.

Evan immediately deactivated Mesarthim and activated Harbinger of Ice along with Tempest Avatar and Stout Guardian, creating his Frost Thunder Guardian and commanding the construct to swing its massive sword coated in crackling lightning upwards.

The frozen blade collided against the descending warhammer in a clash that split the skies open with thunderous force, red lightning, and gold frost exploding outward with shockwaves that ripped apart the clouds above, before both constructs mutually shattered into a storm of frozen shards crackling with lightning.

Leoniel dropped beside Evan, his expression grim as he muttered, "He’s tough. And I mean that literally. My attacks felt like they were barely doing damage."

Evan nodded immediately. "Yeah. That’s expected."

The moment he said those words, Leoniel’s body became engulfed in a radiant green glow as Eliza’s buffs stacked over him one after another, amplifying his strength, speed, elemental resistance, resistance breach, and elemental damage to entirely new heights.

Feeling his rising power, Leoniel’s eyes widened slightly, and he clenched his fists as he said,

"Your fiancée’s abilities are impressive."

"Of course. She’s my fiancée, after all," Evan replied proudly.

Evan immediately swung his sword after speaking, while Leoniel threw his fist upward simultaneously to meet Kranul’s descending warhammer in a three-way clash so powerful that the fabric of space itself distorted slightly from the force.

’Ah, shit. BoD is still active. My destruction law energy is messing with space.’

Evan quickly reduced his power output before using Shockwave to blast Kranul backwards and create distance.

"Kranul Loghad Garbak," Evan said suddenly, his voice loud enough for Leoniel to hear despite the surrounding chaos.

The man glanced toward Evan in confusion, but Evan simply kept speaking. "Barbarian Chief of the Garbak Tribe of Tharvoria. Age 250. Existence Level: Superior Sovereign. Level: 895."

A look of realisation flashed through Leoniel’s eyes as he understood Evan was reading out the contents of Kranul’s Status Board, but before he could question it, Kranul roared and charged at them again, swinging his warhammer wildly while calling down bolts of lightning across the land.

Evan and Leoniel immediately scattered to avoid the lightning, and as they moved, Evan continued shouting.

"His Combat Class, ’Tiny Berserker’, is his Class, Title, and Unique Skill all in one!!"

Kranul closed the distance to Evan with an explosive burst of speed and swung his hammer downward, but Evan blocked with the Vanquisher engulfed in prismatic flames, the collision blasting fiery shockwaves outward.

In the very next instant, those prismatic flames became crimson gold ice, freezing everything from Kranul’s warhammer up to the shoulder of the arm holding it.

Leoniel instantly took advantage of Kranul’s immobility and charged in from his flank, slamming a devastating punch directly into the side of the dwarf’s head, but Kranul barely reacted beyond his head turning slightly.

He roared, and through brute force alone, shattered the ice imprisoning his arm before swinging his warhammer into Leoniel’s side with his left hand while simultaneously burying his right fist into Evan’s chest, blasting both men away with terrifying force.

Evan rolled violently across the ruined battlefield before forcing himself back to his feet, only to immediately leap away again as Kranul descended after him like a demonic meteor, his warhammer smashing into the earth hard enough to blast open another enormous crater.

Kranul growled like an enraged beast, the ominous red haze around his body growing denser as more violent demonic energy exploded outward from him in every direction, creating a vortex of red lightning that began rapidly expanding to annihilate everything nearby.

Leoniel, quickly regaining his balance, rose to his feet and spat out a bit of blood before stomping his foot into the ground, the laws of earth bending to his will and causing the ruined land to rise into colossal walls of stone that encircled the expanding vortex and forcefully contained it.

He then slammed his palms together and poured even more power into the structure, his eyes glowing intensely as he declared, "Pillars of the Earth: Sealing Pillar!"

Seeing this, Evan coated the Vanquisher in roaring flames before launching himself high into the air. He landed atop Leoniel’s colossal sealing pillar, raised the Vanquisher high, and stabbed it downward while activating his innate Unique Skill.

"Prismatic Vortex."

The spiralling inferno around his blade rotated with terrifying force, drilling through Leoniel’s pillar and plunging directly into Kranul’s contained lightning vortex, and the resulting collision obliterated both powers simultaneously as the entire structure exploded apart in catastrophic fashion, sending molten debris, flaming rock, and red lightning across the battlefield.

Evan’s blade continued downward toward Kranul himself, but the dwarf effortlessly avoided the descending strike and instantly circled around Evan, swinging his warhammer toward Evan’s skull.

Leoniel dashed beside Evan in that instant, his hands coated in hardened grey stone scales as he crossed them before his body to block the warhammer blow.

His scales shattered instantly, and the flesh beneath split open from the force, but his body didn’t budge from its position, his feet rooted to the ground through the power of his ’Unshakeable Pillar’ technique.

Evan immediately grabbed Leoniel and used Blink to teleport them both away from Kranul’s follow-up attack, and as they reappeared at the opposite end of the space stretching across the mountain range, Evan continued his explanation from earlier.

"Tiny Berserker’s First Level puts Kranul in a ’Super Armoured’ state, which makes him nearly immune to negative status effects, reduces all physical damage by 50%, and boosts his own attack power by 50%."

"That’s ridiculous," Leoniel muttered, his flesh silently regenerating.

"That’s just the First Level of this Berserker," Evan shot back.

In other words, the Kranul before them wasn’t anywhere near full power.