Too Stubborn to Die

Grabbing hold of the rampaging mammoth by the tusk, Aaron pulled himself out of harm's way and punched her square in her massive face.

“Fuck,” he muttered, looking down at his mangled hand as it healed.

Aaron realized that his attack hadn’t just failed because the mammoth’s face was seemingly made of steel, though. It was her aura. Somehow, the mammoth had weaponized her own aura, and he could feel it densely wrapped around her like a shield.

And a second later, that same aura pulsed and sent him flying.

“What the hell was that?” Aaron said, stopping himself mid-air with a pulse of mana from his anchors.

It was hard enough to hurt the mammoth through her thick hide without Skills as it was. Aaron’s normal punches were more than enough to ruin most people’s days. But Mala was no normal person. And if she had some additional power on top of her insane Stats, that was bad news.

“Think you’re tough? Come, show me your strength!” Mo’han shouted, planting his feet down and readying himself for the best.

Mala didn’t seem to care, stampeding across the field toward him as he readied his six powerful fists to strike out at her. The two ultimate talents collided, slamming into each other with enough force to send out a shockwave that knocked everyone else over.

However, true to the System’s word, even the grass remained completely intact. Mo’han was standing there, two hands holding each of Mala’s tusks, and his remaining two hands bundled into fists that were raining down punishment into her sides.

“BAHAHA! You are a worthy foe indeed! But how do you like this?!” Mo’han smiled like a madman as he punished the mammoth’s sides, ignoring the wounds she had opened across his body when they collided.

“ENOUGH!” Mala roared, and suddenly, her aura pulsed.

The same power as before!

The aura wrapped around her tusks like blades, ripping through Mo’han’s hands, causing him to release her with a fountain of blood. Immediately, she swiped her tusks against him, and they cut deep, gaping wounds into his chest, sending Mo’han staggering backward.

Mandor had just finished scoring a few undefended goals when the two humans on Mala’s side respawned.

“Time. To. Die.”

He was moments away from cutting the two humans down again and returning to scoring easy, undefended goals, when he saw Mo’han staggering backward with gaping wounds.

“Not. Good.”

Mandor turned and joined the fray against the mammoth. Talia’s respawn timer would soon elapse anyway, and she was enough to deal with Mala’s allies.

Attacking her flank, Mandor’s bladed arms cut into the mammoth, drawing blood. But less than a second later, he too was introduced to her aura.

Mala swung around, and Mandor tried to flee the massive tusks, but seemed unable to move. Then, empowered by her strange aura, she cut the insectoid in half.

Aaron had already returned to the fight, throwing punches at her. He paused for a moment when he saw how effortlessly Mandor had been cut down. He could hardly believe it.

He felt the suffocating aura against himself, but kept striking with his usual defiance. Mala might be strong, but she couldn’t be unbeatable.

Meanwhile, the two humans from Mala’s had spent the last couple of seconds standing there. Apparently, being off to the side and weak, no one was paying attention to them.

A moment later, though, they got to work scoring goals without anybody to stand in their way.

“We need to get them!” Aaron roared.

It wouldn’t matter if they beat Mala if they lost the game. And Mo’han didn’t seem to care. His boredom had made him impatient, and he was finally fighting a worthy foe, and lost in bloodlust.

But when Aaron tried to disengage from the fight and charge over to the two uncontested men, he found himself unable to move.

“What the fuck?”

That distraction was all it took for Mala’s tusks to rip through him, killing him instantly.

When Aaron pulled himself back together, Mala had stormed off, thrusting and swinging her tusks and hooves against Mo’han, who happily took the challenge head-on.

What was that? I couldn’t move at all…

Aaron didn’t have time to worry about it, though. In the short amount of time that had passed, the two men had scored six uncontested goals, and Aaron shot straight toward them, blasting through them in seconds with well-placed punches.

“Is that the best you've got?” Mo’han roared, charging back toward Mala after being thrown across the arena. “See if you like th—”

Again, they collided, but this time, with a burst of Mala’s aura, and the result was Mo’han being tossed away like a child, with a new massive wound across his chest.

Mo’han was supremely powerful and healed at a stupendous rate, but even he wasn’t completely recovered between their clashes.

Aaron scored two goals before Mala intercepted him.

“DIE HUMAN!”

He honestly wasn’t even sure she cared about the game, pummeling down at him with her feet.

“Oh, screw this!” Aaron huffed and entered his flow state as he dodged her attacks.

Pure skill against pure skill, the difference between them was stark. Aaron dodged her effortlessly and threw his own punches back. But the moment her aura pulsed again, it was like he was fighting against gravity, and as he dodged several stomping hooves, aura blasts came bursting out of them, shredding his skin and leaving him a bloodied mess.

That aura! What is she doing?

“Running away from me?!” Mo’han roared as he flung himself back into the melee, ignoring her aura and attacking at full power.

It was then that Talia respawned. She was already well aware that she didn’t want a piece of the Mala brawl and went straight to scoring goals.

Within seconds, she had almost leveled the score, bringing them up to 6 — 5, favoring Team Frostborn Sector. But the sight of the human running around infuriated Mala, and she stampeded her way to Talia. And as before, the moment she engaged Talia, she was locked in place and unable to flee.

Talia obviously hadn’t figured out whatever Mala was doing and hadn’t been prepared for it. Within seconds, she was trampled and dead again.

However, Aaron could dodge her with ease, he realized. It wasn’t until he had attempted to disengage and attack the other humans that he had lost the ability to move.

That’s it! We can’t escape her!

“If Mala attacks you, don’t run!” He shouted. “She has some kind of ability or Trait that stops her opponents from fleeing!”

“Ha! As if I’m going to retreat, A-ran!” Mo’han roared as he clashed with Mala again, fists and tusks flying all over the place.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

It was a useful revolution. But it didn’t help the fact that only he and Mo’han were on the field, and both of them were already engaged against Mala. Meaning they had nobody spare to score points.

We gotta finish this, and get rid of Mala.

As long as Mala kept rampaging around the field and engaging everybody in combat, they wouldn’t be able to level the score, let alone win. Even if they could easily wipe out her human allies. Worst of all, the quirk was especially troublesome for Talia, who could have been a good goal scorer for them. While she wasn’t necessarily squishy like a mage, without her Shield Skill, she could barely stand toe-to-toe with an elite like Mala for seconds.

“Damn you, you stubborn beast!” Aaron roared as he flung fists into her.

He needed a better plan. His attacks barely hurt the mammoth. Punching straight into her aura shielded hide, just wasn’t going to kill her. Not soon, at least. And every second wasted, they got closer to losing the match.

Searching for openings, Aaron circled and punched. He needed to find weaknesses.

A moment later, Mala’s allies respawned, and Aaron’s chest sank. But instead of going back to scoring goals, they fell over onto their knees, throwing up their breakfast.

It was a moment of reprieve. It seemed that just like the Shadow Trials, being respawned by the System took a toll. Especially if done repeatedly in a short time.

Mo’han didn’t seem to care, though. He laughed erratically as the fight with Mala dragged on, the two of them throwing each other around the field as Aaron poked and prodded, looking for weaknesses across the mammoth’s impenetrable hide.

Mandor respawned as the fight was still going. The two humans hadn’t recovered, and he didn’t let them, beheading them as he ran past them, scoring multiple goals in seconds, and bringing the score up to 7 — 6, favoring the Obsidian Sector for the first time.

There was a problem, though. As Mala and Mo’han knocked each other back and forth, the mammoth was thrown back, landing on her ass. Her massive ass landed on the ball.

“Err…” Aaron blinked. “No fucking way.”

He could see it when she got up—the red, shiny surface of the ball protruding from her behind.

“This is… less than ideal.”

But he didn’t have time to mourn what had happened. He was still pressed against Mala in melee and forced to fight and dodge.

Of course, Mandor also soon realized what had happened. The insectoid seemed far less concerned by the part of Mala’s body involved and attacked her rear with little care.

Mala, on the other hand, did not take kindly to the insectoid stabbing her ass and turned on him with fury.

Also, Mandor had neither heard Aaron’s warning nor had he figured Mala’s ability out for himself, and so when she turned on him with all her fury, he did the sensible thing and tried a tactical retreat, which obviously failed spectacularly.

Once more, Mandor was dead, and his respawn timer was ticking.

This was a big problem. She was nigh on invincible, or at least it seemed that way without Skills, and now that she had the ball, Aaron had no idea how to stop the giant mammoth.

Worst still, a second later, Mo’han slammed into her with the power of a freight train, sending Mala hurtling across the field and into their goals, tying the score once more.

“Dammit, Mo’han! We’re trying to win here!”

“HAHA WHAT A GLORIOUS BATTLE, A-RAN! I AM WINNING!”

“Oh, fuck!”

Aaron didn’t know if Mala truly was stronger or at par with the three greatest talents of the Obsidian Sector, but he knew this was not how he wanted things to play out.

Nonetheless, he kept dodging and looking for openings. He had the pure combat skill advantage; he just needed to land something useful.

Aaron could already hear Yendal yelling at him. He was the disciple of the Martial God, and no matter how strong Mala was, or how difficult the challenge was, in a battle of pure skill, there should be no comparison between the two.

Under these circumstances, he was supposed to have the advantage, but it didn’t feel like it.

Aaron narrowed his focus on the unstoppable mammoth. This was his fight to win. For all he knew, Mala might be the strongest creature in their universe. But this was his arena, and he had fought against tougher odds in the Shadow Trials.

Aaron didn’t need to retreat. He didn’t need tricks to hold people in place. His core pulsed, and he poured more mana into his anchors, and stamina through his veins, and pulsed with power, as he threw himself against the mammoth harder and faster.

But he wasn’t trying to break her, not yet, at least. Instead, he was looking for something. His fists flew blindingly fast, pummeling every inch of her body as she exchanged with Mo’han. He was testing her, looking for weak spots, and the moment he found one, he slammed into it with all his strength.

And just like that, Mala crashed into the ground, her hooves failing beneath her. He wasn’t hitting her as hard as Mo’han had been, but he hadn’t needed to.

“HA! Brilliant, A-ran! You’re as impressive as ever, I see!” Mo’han roared and threw himself at Mala before she rose.

But as powerful as his strikes were, he wasn’t picking his targets. Mo’han was just slamming into her like the brute he was. He didn’t need to find weak points. Everything was a weak spot compared to Mo’han. Except for now.

Mala released a deafening roar, and her tusks pulsed with the thickest, most incredible aura Aaron had ever felt when she bounced back to her feet, and when she slashed them against Mo’han, he was almost cut in half.

“Ohoh!” Mo’han huffed as he staggered backward, barely believing the damage himself. Gasping, he held his chest together as he healed.

Mala could have finished Mo’han then and there, but she didn’t seem to care. She just wanted to get the asura off her back so she could kill Aaron.

“DIE HUMAN!”

Mala swung her bladed tusks around and stamped her hooves, but Aaron dodged everything, seeing it all coming. His footwork was perfect, and between her attacks, his strikes slipped her defenses, and hitting hard when they opened weak spots.

The exchange lasted a few seconds, which was long for how fast they were moving, but eventually, Aaron honed in on his target, found his mark again, and once again, Mala toppled over.

“INSOLENT HUMAN!”

She practically exploded with rage, and her hooves blasted out an aura so powerful that Aaron was knocked away.

But Mo’han was already mostly healed and charged back into the melee himself.

Talia had respawned seconds ago, but she fell forward, expelling her guts. While the two humans on Mala’s team could almost walk again.

Unfortunately, Talia barely managed to stand upright before Mala spotted her again. It seemed she truly hated humans, and she immediately raced over and swatted Talia like a fly.

Mandor too repawned moments later, equally as sick. At least he got a moment to try and recover. Still, it didn’t matter all that much as long as Mala had the ball.

Aaron and Mo’han clashed against Mala again, and once more her anger seemed to rage even harder.

He tried to remain focused, though, even with her aura going completely crazy, and pulsed a massive burst of energy out through his anchors, hurtling through her powerful aura, and landing another perfect hit that brought her to her knees.

The act truly enraged Mala to all knew heights, and her tusks were bursting with aura as she struck out at Mo’han, and Aaron’s eyes went wide as the unstoppable asura was torn in half.

He could hardly believe it. Mala had killed Mo’han. Even under the circumstances, it was an amazing feat.

It was obviously due to her aura. Without Skills to empower their attacks, it provided a notable edge in her favor, and Aaron knew he needed to figure out how to do it for himself.

Also, Mo’han hadn’t been cautious in the least. The asura had grown stronger since they had last met in the trials, impressively so. But his technique was probably worse. He had just steamed head-on against Mala, with little care for the consequences. And perhaps this fight would help him remember the basics.

Aaron, on the other hand, his style was completely different to the asura who had essentially been born to win. He had died a million times, and he had more than perfected the basics.

Even with the deadly aura that could split him in two, Aaron was holding his own. Also, there had been a silver lining to losing his travel Skill, as his mana anchors and core were unaffected by the dungeon restrictions. And he had gotten pretty good at flying around with them.

But more so than anything else, he could die.

The mammoth stopped and blasted her wicked aura, growing increasingly frustrated every second that the fight against Aaron dragged on. But he was just too good, dodging everything that came his way and taking every opportunity to strike back, wounding her several times in quick succession.

“ENOUGH!”

Somehow, Mala had even more to give. Her aura erupted around her, causing the wind around her to burst and whip against her surroundings. And it kept growing, thickening, suffocating. Aaron could barely breathe in her presence, and was lucky he could go quite a while without doing so.

Suddenly, her aura burst down upon Aaron, all its weight focused on him, pushing him down, anchoring him to the ground.

“So… powerful!” Aaron muttered, struggling to even raise his arms against the incredible force.

It only lasted half a second, drawing in Mala’s aura in the process, but that was all it needed. Aaron was completely unable to move, and she brought her terrifying tusks down upon him, shredding him to pieces.

“Ha…ha,” Mala panted. “Die humans…”

She just stood there, her eyes were red with rage, and showing no sign of caring about the match itself. In fact, it was hard to tell whether or not she even realized that the humans were being resurrected by the System.

Not that it mattered. Barely a second later, a burst of aether shot out from Aaron’s mutilated corpse, and flesh reconstructed itself in an instant.

“Wow. That was impressive,” Aaron said. “I really need to learn how to use my aura like that.”

“You’re alive? How?! YOU DIED! I SAW IT! What is this, you human ant!”

“Ant? I hope not. Anyway, like I always say. I think it’s time for round two,” Aaron said, stretching out his arms.

“Around two?” Mala’s eyes positively glowed with rage. “DIE HUMAN!”

The mammoth charged toward, appearing in an instant, but Aaron wasn’t there to be hit, a burst of mana from his anchors took him out of harm’s reach, and he grinned as he prepared his counter.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!