Korke, who was laughing maniacally, while lunging at the same time, sent shivers down my spine. Alexis was too stunned to move while Furry was still recovering from the shock of falling down from my head.

When Korke strayed in the range of my [Degen Aura], his speed visibly slowed, but is still fast enough for me to not be able to react. I was lodged in deeper inside the wall as Korke was rapidly punching my body. Wounds opened on my body, blood dyed the walls and ground red. My consciousness was fading in and out from the intense pain each and everytime he strikes me with his fists.

“NII-SAN!!”

“PUPUU~!!!”

Damn… At this rate, I will die. I still need to guide Alexis to the surface and reunite with my sister. I can’t give up here! Mustering my fading strength just enough to form a voice, I chanter my skills.

“[Purification]!”

Bright light descended on my body as it healed my wounds and dealt damaged to Korke.

“Keh!”

Noticing that it wasn’t an ordinary light, Korke backed off and fixed his stance to prepare for a counter-attack. Even if he is a Demon General, he is still cautious of me.

I got out of the hole and my injured body came into view.

“Nii-san!!”

Alexis came running at me, worried about my wellbeing.

“Stupid! Don’t move carelessly!”

But I was too late to warn her. Korke moved immediately and grabbed her neck.

“Gahh!?”

“Let go of her!”

I screamed my lungs out as I lunged towards Korke, who was holding Alexis hostage.

“Futile!”

Korke jumped out of the way of my charge and swung at me with his claws. Too bad, I predicted your movement.

“[Guardian Angel]!”

A dazzling light descended upon me, Alexis and Furry. The hand which was supposed to harm me, rebounded back and made no damage to my body. With this, I can fight back!

“Furry! Assist me!”

“Pupuu~!”

Furry let out a cry as if to say, “Roger!” and came running towards Korke while firing off water blades at his legs in order to not his Alexis.

“Kekeke!!! You truly are a hero!”

Korke tossed Alexis to the side and defended against our attacks. He seems to have noticed that his attacks have no use during [Guardian Angel].

At this rate, the duration will run out before we can kill him. His shell is even hard enough to reflect our attacks.

This is bad. I need someone stronger. One where I can slowly steal the enemy’s stats, as he is freaking hard! That’s why, [Slark]! Give me your power!

Hero skill set changed from [Omniknight] to [Slark]

[Slark]

[Dark Pact] - After a short delay, sacrifice some of your life blood, purging most negative debuffs and dealing damage to enemy units around you and to yourself. You only take 50% of the damage. [Pounce] – You leap forward, grabbing the first enemy you connect with. That unit takes damage and is leashed to yourself, and can only move a limited distance away from your landing position. [Essence Shift] – Your attacks steal the life essence of enemies you hit, draining each of their status attribute and converting them to bonus Agility. [Shadow Dance] - When used, hides yourself in a cloud of shadows, becoming immune to detection. Attacking, casting spells, and using items will not reveal you. Passively, when not visible to an enemy, you gain bonus movement speed and health regeneration.

Also, for those of you wondering how my status is now, here it is.

Name: Endou Kouta

Level: 56

HP: 389 / 1680

MP: 89 / 856

Str: 68

Agi: 77

Int: 56

Dex: 67

End: 45

Luc: 10

Skills:

[Dota 2 Skill Set 1]

[Slark] [Dark Pact] [Pounce] [Essence Shift] [Shadow Dance]

[Language Comprehension 10]

Titles:

[Summoned Hero]

[God’s Target of Apology]

[Saint]

[Golem Crusher]

There were new titles when I healed the adventurers in the settlement before, and when I destroyed the horde of golems chasing after me. Well, as for the explanation.

[Saint] – Title given to a person who has used healing magic to restore a person’s vitality and was recognized by the masses. Skill’s effects:

Increases healing power of skills by 10% Reduces mana used by 10% when using healing-related skills.

[Golem Crusher] – Title given to a person who has destroyed numerous golems in a single battle. Skill’s effects:

Increases damage dealt to golems by 30%

The [Saint] title was a godsend to increase the healing power of my skills when I use a healing type hero skill set. [Golem Crusher] is also good in this dungeon as it helps shorten the battles against golems. Anyway, back to the present.

Now that I have succesfully changed my hero skill set to [Slark] who specializes in drawn out battles due to his skills, I might have a chance. Also note that when I changed my skill set, the skill duration of the skills used in the previous hero skill set had no change. Meaning, the skill is still on.

The light from [Guardian Angel] still hasn’t disappeared as I changed skill sets. During the duration, I mercilessly attacked Korke with my dagger that changed from a hammer because of the skill set change without regards to even landing a lethal hit. My only objective now is to steal his stats and use it to my advantage.

While attacking, I noticed that Korke’s speed visibly dropped, and I took my chance to land a huge strike.

“Kuh!!!”

“!? Keehh!!!”

My strike slashed Korke’s body from his right shoulder, down to his waist, looks like my strategy is working. Since he has a tough defense, why not steal it? Every attack I make takes away one point of each his status attribute and converts it into my agility stat. And in this world, there are six status attribute so each attack gives me bonus 6 agility. This skill is broken in this world.

“What did you do to me?”

Korke, who realized that his condition was worsening with every hit I gave him, hissed at me.

“Like I would tell you!”

I lunged at Korke, who was readying himself to receive my attack. Right now, I am faster than him by a hair’s breadth. I still need to attack him many more times.

“!?”

But just as I was going to attack him, I was sent flying to the opposite direction. What happened?

Name: Endou Kouta

Level: 56

HP: 15 / 1680

MP: 89 / 856

Str: 68

Agi: 77 + 60

Int: 56

Dex: 67

End: 45

Luc: 10

Skills:

[Dota 2 Skill Set 1]

[Slark] [Dark Pact] [Pounce] [Essence Shift] [Shadow Dance]

[Language Comprehension 10]

Titles:

[Summoned Hero]

[God’s Target of Apology]

[Saint]

[Golem Crusher]

!? This is bad… Really bad… One more hit and I’m dead… I need to move!

….

…

..

.

My body… Won’t respond… What is happening… It’s dark… Very dark… Move… Move… Move!!!

I willed myself to stand up, even if it hurts so badly. My body aches with every little move I make. My bones are screaming in pain because of the fractures, and my head is disordered because of the pain.

I can’t die here!!! I need to reunite… With Kayaka… And bring Alexis… TO thE SuRfAcE!!!

“AHHHHH!!!!!”

I screamed loudly, knowing that I may bring the enemy’s attention to myself, but so what? I promised both of them, that I’ll protect them, even at the cost of my life. Well, I didn’t promise Alexis that, but I swore in my heart that I will protect those precious to me, and Alexis is now one of them.

“AHH!!! [SHADOW DANCE]!!!”

Black fog surrounded my body as it began to rapidly regenerate. My sight returned and my wounds also healed, albeit slowly. When I laid my eyes on Korke, he was looking at me with a twisted smiling face. His body changed from that of a disgusting humanoid creature to that of a giant beetle.

“Kekeke!!! HERO!! Let me hear your cries of despair!!!”

Korke was grabbing Alexis’ neck with his right hand and Furry on his left from who knows where those hands come from. Both of them were struggling for air as they wriggled about to get free.

“LEAVE THEM ALONE!!!”

I dashed at Korke with the [Pounce] skill in hopes of closing the gap between us and striked at him with my dagger.

“Useless! Useless!!!”

The shell of Korke was hard as steel as my dagger bounced off. Alexis already had her whites of her eyes exposed while Furry was trying to get free from sending water blades to Korke’s arms.

Damn it!! At this rate, things won’t end well! Is there anything, anything I can use!?

“!?”

Just as I was trying to find a solution to this horrible situation, a bright light enveloped the room and blinded my sight.