Even with armor on, that sudden hit still made Victor feel his life slipping away.
If not for the armor, he would already be a dead man.
But now, the Azure Tide Armor was badly damaged and needed a lot of water to repair.
But this was a dungeon. Where would he find water?
Jackson also noticed the armor on Victor and sneered, "Chris, that old dog's Azure Tide Armor. He actually gave it to you?"
He paused, a bit amused. "Looks like Chris values you. If I catch you, I can probably squeeze a lot of good stuff out of him!"
"Keep dreaming!" Victor shot back without mercy.
"Try it and you'll know!" Jackson snorted, then swung his short blade.
In an instant, dozens of blade arcs burst from the blade and slashed toward Victor.
"Frostshatter Sky-Cleaving Slash!" Victor refused to back down and cast his skill to resist.
A frost-laden sword aura crashed into the dozens of blade arcs. In the end, all of them vanished.
"Oh?" Jackson looked at Victor with mild surprise, then said in a low voice, "Didn't expect that. Your level is low, but your skill grade is high. Interesting."
Victor took a deep breath and steadied his breathing.
He had just used Phantom Trail back to back, then took a Slash from Jackson, and then pushed Frostshatter Sky-Cleaving Slash.
That kind of drain in a row was getting to him.
Jackson seemed to see through Victor's hollow bravado. Hands behind his back, he sneered, "Your Knights' Order's Kane is really foolish. He sent a Primary awakener like you to kill me!"
He paused, scornful. "I even prepared for a long time. Turns out it was for nothing."
"Prepared ahead of time?" Victor was shocked when he heard Jackson.
There was a lot hidden in Jackson's words.
Most of all: how did he know someone would come to assassinate him?
Kane took this mission very seriously. The secrecy was top level.
"Could it be... there's a mole in the Holy Knights' Order?" The thought chilled Victor.
The Holy Knights' Order was the most important guard force in the dungeon city. It also held the duty of keeping the whole city safe.
If the Red Rebels had a spy inside, it would be a disaster for the whole dungeon city.
Jackson seemed to read Victor's thoughts and mocked him. "Know why I dare to say all this? Because I know you're dead for sure. I don't need to fear a corpse leaking secrets!"
"Who lives and who dies... that's not decided yet!" Victor growled, forcing himself to stand.
In the past, Victor was not afraid of death.
But now it was different; he had to carry this secret out and tell the Federation.
He had to save the lives of hundreds of millions in the dungeon city!
At that thought, power surged through Victor.
"Frostshatter Sky-Cleaving Slash!" Victor roared, ignored the pain, and pushed the skill again.
"Know your limits!" Jackson sneered, waved his hand, and a shield wrapped in withered wood appeared in his grip.
The sword aura Victor sent out was mostly blocked by the shield.
"This is a gold-grade Evergreen Shield. You think you can break it so easily?" Jackson shook the shield and spoke with disdain.
"But..." He paused, looked over the still-standing Victor, and said, "Your talent and nature are not bad. Sign a slave contract with me, and I might spare your life!"
"Keep dreaming!" Victor roared.
"You don't know your limits!" Jackson sneered and mocked Victor.
Victor took a deep breath, calmed himself, and started to think of a plan.
He still had a "Surekill Scroll" that Kane gave him.
That scroll stored a full-power strike from a High-tier awakener; it might not kill Jackson for sure, but it would at least leave him badly hurt.
But Victor worried that they were in a dungeon; if the power was too great and caused a collapse, he really did not want to die together with Jackson.
But wasn't that also a way to threaten him?
A smile touched Victor's lips. He took out a scroll and said sharply to Jackson, "Jackson, you won't fail to recognize this scroll, will you?"
Jackson froze, looked close, and his face showed fear as he quivered and said, "Where did you get a Surekill Scroll? Are you crazy?"
"I'm not crazy. Either way it's death; I can just take you with me!" Victor's face was firm.
"What do you want, for me to let you go?" Jackson shook his head and said, "You carry secrets. I can't let you leave, or the organization will kill me too."
"No, I don't need that." Victor shook his head and offered a deal: "Give me a skill scroll of a set type, and I'll destroy this Surekill Scroll right in front of you."
"Fine, deal!" Jackson looked pleased and quickly pulled out a scroll, and in his heart he mocked Victor as a fool.
Did he really think a new Level 1 skill could turn the tide?
The two moved at the same time: Jackson handed Victor the chosen-type skill scroll, and Victor destroyed the Surekill Scroll right before his eyes.
"Haha, you really are a fool!" Jackson watched Victor destroy the scroll and let out a long breath of relief.
Victor sneered and ignored him, then quietly activated the scroll.
His only hope to turn the fight was this refreshed skill.
The type he chose was—a burst skill!
This was a special kind of skill. It could explode with huge potential for a short time. The higher the grade, the bigger the burst and the smaller the harm to the body.
Soon, Victor saw the skill he rolled—Crimson Shock.
[Skill: Crimson Shock (Level 1)]
[Type: Active skill]
[Trait: Costs no mana.]
[Upgrade requirement: Spend 100 skill points.]
[Effect: Burn blood and qi, gain a 2× boost to your own ability for ten minutes, then enter a 24-hour weak state.]
"Not enough!" Victor shook his head and chose to keep upgrading.
[Spend 100 skill points. Skill upgrades to Bloodburn Sublimation.]
"Again!" Victor upgraded the skill once more.
[Spend 1,000 skill points. Skill upgrades to Crimson Rebirth.]
[Spend 10,000 skill points. Skill upgrades to Crimson Transcendence.]
[Spend 100,000 skill points. Skill upgrades to Crimson Apotheosis.]
"That should do." Victor took a deep breath and stopped. He couldn't pull out a million skill points right now anyway.
[Skill: Crimson Apotheosis (Level 5)]
[Type: Active skill.]
[Trait: Costs no mana.]
[Upgrade requirement: 1,000,000 skill points.]
[Effect: Burn blood and qi, draw in the world's energy, unleash a tenfold boost to your own ability; the effect fades over time.]
Victor read the skill and felt pure joy.
A tenfold boost was enough to deal with Jackson.
Seeing Victor still smiling at a time like this, Jackson couldn't help mocking him. "You can still smile on death's door? You must be crazy!"
Victor sneered, then cast the skill "Crimson Apotheosis"!
In an instant, Victor felt like his whole body was on fire, and all his stats surged.
Jackson noticed the change and shouted in fear, "Impossible! What skill did you use?"
A smile tugged at Victor's lips as he mocked, "The skill book you just gave me."
"Impossible!" Jackson gritted his teeth. "Even if it's a burst skill, how could a Level 1 skill give that much of a boost?"
Victor gave Jackson a look like he was staring at an idiot. "Who told you this is a Level 1 skill?"
As soon as he finished, Victor activated "Phantom Trail."
With his power upgraded, when he used Phantom Trail again, he seemed to vanish from the world.
Before Jackson could react, Victor appeared behind him.
"Phantom Light Godfist!" This time Victor used another Level 5 skill, and his fists fell like rain.
With the tenfold boost, his punches slammed into Jackson. Jackson spat blood, and his health crashed.
"You're insane! Do you want to die with me?" Jackson screamed, staring at Victor, whose blood was still burning.