Tsukuru let out a growl of frustration.
Just as the axe's blade was about to reach him, he activated his Video Glitch Skill.
His body momentarily turned glowing light-blue, and his body broke down into pixels.
He glitched out of existence.
With the opposing force holding the greataxe at bay now gone, it immediately crashed down into the ground.
The impact cut heavily into the concrete, sending dust and debris into the air.
The Minotaur grit her teeth in annoyance as she saw the now empty space in front of her.
Suddenly, the sound of electronic interference could be heard behind her, causing her eyes to dart back.
She raised her right arm up, and stabbed the bottom end of the greataxe's handle into the concrete platform.
She buried it a few feet deep in the platform, causing cracks to appear all around it, the greataxe sticking out of the ground like a flag.
Around ten feet behind her, Tsukuru glitched back into existence.
Tsukuru took in a few deep breaths, and held out his hands in front of him, looking down at the gauntlets.
They had cracks running up and down the entirety of the front of the gauntlets, from the fingertips down to the very bottom.
As Tsukuru looked down at them, his System's "Scanner" automatically activated, scanning the gauntlets.
[Knight Gauntlets [Battle-Damaged]
Intermediate-Tier
A pair of Beast Gear gauntlets worn by a Haunted Knight.
Heavy damaged.
Durability: 2/5
+4 Strength ]
Tsukuru grit his teeth in annoyance.
He imagined placing the damaged gauntlets back into his Weapons Tab.
Instantly, the expected System message popped up in front of him.
[Would you like to place the Intermediate-Tier Knight Gauntlets [Battle-Damaged] into your Weapons Tab?
[Yes] [No] ]
Tsukuru thought 'yes', and the damaged gauntlets instantly broke down into pixels.
Once they were gone, Tsukuru activated his Ability.
The sound of electronic interference could be heard, and pixels began to appear, covering his hands and forearms.
The pixels clustered together into the shape of the Intermediate-Tier Knight Gauntlets.
There was a bright flash of light.
When it faded, Tsukuru was wearing a new, undamaged pair of the Gauntlets.
A new System message appeared.
[Intermediate-Tier Knight Gauntlets equipped.
+7 Strength. Strength: 18]
Tsukuru smirked in satisfaction.
He then held his hand out in front of him, palm open.
He activated his Ability once again.
The sound of electronic interference was heard, and pixels began to appear in his hand.
The pixels clustered together into the shape of his Intermediate-Tier Knight Sword.
There was a bright flash of light, and the sword fully manifested.
When Tsukuru felt the cold metal against his bare palm, he clenched his hand around the sword, grabbing it.
Another System message appeared.
[Intermediate-Tier Knight Sword equipped.
+7 Strength. Strength: 25]
Tsukuru steeled his expression, and gripped the sword with both hands.
Instantly, he started running towards the Minotaur.
Once he was within close range of her, he leaped high into the air.
While in the air, he raised both arms above his head, now holding the sword in a reverse-grip so it was pointed downwards to stab the Minotaur in the back.
However, as he came closer and closer to the Minotaur, a slight smirk could be seen on the corner of her lips.
Her right arm shot out like a striking snake, moving at speeds that Tsukuru couldn't respond to.
Her hand gripped around his right leg, gripping it so tight that his ankle was instantly crushed and broken from the Minotaur's immense strength.
"Gah!" Tsukuru screamed out in pain, and his grip around the sword loosened.
The sword clattered to the ground.
A wide manic smirk appeared on the Minotaur's face.
She swung her arm holding Tsukuru back in the air before violently swinging it back down, smashing Tsukuru into the concrete ground.
Tsukuru felt a deep, intense pain flood his body, as his nose broke on impact, with multiple teeth flying out.
In his vision, he saw his Health Bar go down by 30%.
The Minotaur's smirk widened.
Once again, she raised her right arm up high in the ground, only to smash it right back down in front of her.
Tsukuru felt the pain intensify, and his Health Bar went down by another 30%.
The Minotaur lifted her arm back up, and slammed it back down in front of her again, smashing Tsukuru back into the concrete.
Once again, his health bar decreased.
The Minotaur brought her arm up in front of her, holding Tsukuru upside-down in front of her face.
Tsukuru's whole body was wracked with pain.
His face was completely smashed, his nose and mouth both bloody.
However, just as pixels had appeared to repair the Minotaur's clothes when Tsukuru had burned them, pixels covered Tsukuru's face, healing him.
Within seconds, his face was fully healed, him looking as though the damage had never happened in the first place.
However, the intense pain racking Tsukuru's body, and the tiny, "10%" sliver on his health bar said otherwise.
Seeing him, the Minotaur let out an amused snort, and flung him.
Tsukuru went flying across the Battle Arena, his body rolling.
Eventually, Tsukuru came to a stop halfway across the platform.
Tsukuru laid on his back, groaning in pain.
'Ow…' He thought.
As Tsukuru laid there in pain, he heard the thundering footsteps of the Minotaur approaching.
As the sounds got louder and louder, Tsukuru felt a cold dread fill his chest.
Eventually, he saw the massive shadow of the Minotaur overcast him.
He looked up into the eyes of the Minotaur, who smirked down at him.
She reached her left hand down towards him, her large hand wrapping his face in the same way a professional player would hold a basketball.
She brought Tsukuru up to her face, making him look at her eye-level.
"Aw, is somebody tucked out already?" She asked in an amused tone, as if she was an adult talking to a sleepy child. "And I was just getting warmed up."
The Minotaur's smirk widened, turning into a manic grin.
"Let's play again sometime, my liege." She replied. "Preferably after you…toughen up a bit."
The Minotaur then slammed Tsukuru back into the ground at full force.
A loud "bang" was heard, followed by a large shockwave that filled the area.
Tsukuru laid down on the platform in a small crater, spiderweb cracks all around him.
Tsukuru's eyes widened to the point that they became pinpricks.
He felt like a cracked egg on the sidewalk.
A moment later, he exploded into pixels, an electronic "beep" being heard.
The last thing he saw before his vision went black was a System message.
[Challenge Run Failed.]
***
When Tsukuru opened his eyes, he found himself in a strange, dark room.
The room was deathly quiet.
As Tsukuru looked from side to side, it looked as if the darkness went on forever.
A moment later, Tsukuru heard an electronic "beep" and he saw a bright light illuminating his front, as well as the darkness around him.
The bright light was green on his left, and red on his right.
Instantly, he snapped his head back to his front.
There, he saw two somewhat large, rectangular System screens floating in front of him at chest level.
Each of them were large enough that his open palm could fit comfortably in the middle.
The one on his left had a light-green border and text and had a single word in a large-size, taking up most of the screen.
[RESTART]
It also had a four-pointed star on either side of the word.
The second screen had a red border and text, and also contained a single word that filled the screen.
Although this one lacked the four-pointed stars.
[RETIRE]