Wind swirled around them. Gannicus tried to claw at Rue mid-air, but they crashed onto a paved road first, sending pieces of stone cratering beneath them as they rolled straight toward a house, crashing through its white ivory wall.

  Rue just raised his head and immediately received a kick to his chin, sending him flying up a stairwell.

  He groggily shook the pebbles around his icy body and sat up straight to see wingless Gannicus already standing and brandishing both his talons ready.

  “Not only a coward, but you prevented a man from finding comfort in his wife?” it roared.

  There was a lot he wanted to say to this monster, but maybe it was lucky that he couldn’t speak. It would be a waste of time anyway.

  Light spilled in from the huge wall fracture they had created. Gannicus’ green-scaled body glimmered under the soft illumination. Around him was what should be a cosy living room, built in a cabin style, now all destroyed. Three figures hugged each other, with the father shielding both his wife and little son.

  Humans.

  “Look what you have done!” Gannicus screamed, “You scared them.” The Gargoyle brought his hands together.

  Rue probably needed to escape. But behind him was a wall. The only paths left were upstairs or downstairs, which would spiral toward Gannicus. And if he went up, then there was a chance this building would collapse anyway.

  So, Rue summoned his Frost Sword and charged ahead. He bounded down and slashed toward the Gargoyle.

  The dark rim of his sword met one of Gannicus’ talons, preventing that ridiculous invisible slash from being cast again.

  Gannicus roared at this and brought his other talon down on Rue, who shouldered the monster’s chest and pushed it back, but its talon scratched across his shoulder down to his right arm. Skittering across, the claw raked in a grating, shrill sound but did not manage to crack anything.

  Rue rushed forward, not intending to give it a chance to recover.

  He swung his sword down. But Gannicus found its footing and speared its talon forward. Their weapons met, and the Gargoyle overpowered Rue. This time, the Gargoyle’s other arm found Rue’s chest. And ice broke off in a bursting crack.

  The recoil pushed Rue backward.

  Rue swung wildly, hoping Gannicus would give him some space.

  The Gargoyle looked like it tried to jump—tried to fly, forgetting it no longer had wings. This resulted in one of Rue’s random slashes cutting straight at Gannicus’ hip.

  As his blade met resistance, Rue inwardly grinned and sailed his sword forward, drawing Gannicus’s blood and driving frost deeper into Gannicus's body. He withdrew his sword and advanced, delivering weak cuts. Rue kept slashing as Gannicus clumsily tried to defend and parry; each slice Rue delivered sent more frost into Gannicus’s body, acting like a poison.

  Frost Sword [95] [Fragile-Piece] [Common]—Summon a Sword of Frost. Coated with the frost property, each strike shall deliver frost as a cold poison.

  The creature’s breath grew ragged, movement started to slow, and shaking limbs were a tell-tale sign that frost had done its work.

  “Begone!” Gannicus screamed. This time, the monster got a bit creative.

  Rue scythed his sword downward, intending to split its head. In response, Gannicus raised one talon to parry and twisted, forcing Rue's sword to almost snap out of his hand. In a couple of seconds, Gannicus brought his other talon to attempt that invisible cut spell again. Seeing this coming, Rue did not intend to let it happen.

  He lunged forward, and his left hand caught Gannicus's talon.

  Gannicus growled at their locked position. Its talon tried to pry open Rue’s left hand, and managed to do so by scratching deep into his wrist. Rue ignored the pain; what was more concerning was that he was losing his grip on his sword.

  He decided to let go of the obsidian sword, and Gannicus did not waste any time. It sent Rue’s sword skittering down. But, Rue formed a fist with his right hand and slugged Gannicus straight in the face.

  The Gargoyle's nose exploded, its head lolled.

  Not over yet.

  Rue slammed his legs onto Gannicus’s chest, slamming the creature down. He resummoned his frost sword and was about to finish the Gargoyle. But then something was crushed against his back.

  A piece of wood splintered.

  “Gannicus!” The man, the father, slammed another chair onto Rue. Scraps of wood shattered. And Rue stumbled forward, missing his sword jab just by Gannicus’ neck.

  The Gargoyle grinned and brought his talons together.

  Rue acted quickly; he rolled forward as an invisible slice began to form.

  The air turned.

  He managed to turn and bring his sword up in defence, only to watch the foolish father get shredded apart. His flesh was scoured with a thousand cuts, and screams disappeared as his body became a thousand pieces before a sound could escape. The only sound that existed now was that of the mother and son, crying.

  What a fool.

  But, well, this was not a bad outcome. He could have just waited…

  Gannicus brought his talons together like a prayer, and the air stilled for a second.

  It was a mere instinct. Lire’s advice to watch out for Gannicus’ magic replayed in his mind, something about Apex—core.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Rue brought his hand up and slammed his whole body out of a window.

  He crashed into another wall, not far from the house where Gannicus was—a heartbeat passed, the next instant—the house was shredded apart in pure cruelty of rupturing air.

  The son and mother turned into a mist of blood. The family’s house was sundered. Bisected apart by the Gargoyle’s magic into mere rubble and debris.

  Amid the mess, the Gargoyle stood alone, the air around it still convulsing.

  Rue would laugh if he could. Still, perhaps foolishly and bizarrely, excitement drummed inside of him.

  How in the hell was he supposed to kill something like this?

  But, if it could do this… then why not do it earlier? Did it try to spare them for Sruka?

  Onlookers began to gather, pointing at the silent, praying Gargoyle. A few eyes spotted Rue among the mess.

  He should run… but where? An open plaza stretched right in front of the brothel, filled with sand and various wooden kiosks. The plaza was surrounded by a white marble house that paled in size compared to Sruka’s brothel.

  For now, maybe he should go inside the house behind, just as he was about to—a laugh boomed from the gargoyle.

  “How was that?” The creature cackled. “You burst into nothing! Mere air! Less than an Ogre’s fart! This is what an Integrator of the Last World amounts to? She does not need you! She has me! Me!”

  The spell stopped, and the reason Gannicus did not use that spell earlier was now apparent. Its claw shredded apart and trailed up like smoke. Now the Gargoyle was defenceless with no means of attack.

  “Behold, everyone! The power of the house of Sruka!” The Gargoyle declared proudly. “With Sruka’s power, I can heal and do this every time! This is why we shall be the strongest, and we will have the Last World even without—”

  The Gargoyle turned after someone pointed behind him. Its eyes widened, and fear started to creep in.

  Rue stood tall with his obsidian armor still intact. His armor had been broken along his right arm and across his chest as some of Gannicus’s attack had connected. But his pure instinct had saved him.

  So, Rue stepped into the mess of rubble. Trail of vapors climbed up his obsidian body in a hazy, cold smoke with a slight hiss humming. The house material cracked underneath his feet with a loud crunch.

  Ah, what is this? This pleasure? The Stasis of Obsidian ice tried to calm it down, but…

  “No, no! Attack him! Everyone! You will be rewarded well!”

  Who would…

  A dozen people stepped forward with grins etched on their faces, a collection of humans, Imps, and even some beast men. Rue summoned his Frost Sword and bounded forward to kill Gannicus, who began to run away.

  At once, the dozen rushed in. Rue was prepared to fight all of them.

  Gannicus stumbled over the mess he created, his heavy body rolling through the dirt and ashes, coloring his jade body.

  “Come on, Gannicus,” a lion-man knelt and raised the Gargoyle’s body. “You owe me a discount for a lifetime.” He even offered a red vial to Gannicus and fed it to the Gargoyle’s mouth.

  Anger bristled under Rue’s skin. After everything… He needed to rush in, through these lines of—

  “I’m afraid I can’t let this stand.”

  A voice rang across the sky.

  Rue, who was surrounded, had almost let go of his sword. The voice continued, as the action paused.

  “This is a temporal Tutorial zone, as such, those outside of Sruka’s faction shall not be allowed to interfere.”

  A golden hue spun into a huge halo of light that spiralled across the dusky cloud-tinted sky. In the middle was a black hole that looked like a complete void reminiscent of the dark world where Rue’s obsidian armor rested.

  A figure of golden armor descended.

  Wings of brilliant white flapped. Ornate armor, plated with a thick layer of gold and silver, covered his entire being. His helmet was a triangle with a square eyehole, showing yellow glowing eyes. The figure touched the ground with a silver leaf spear in his hand.

  [Watcher—level ???]

  The Watcher stood among the eleven who tried to jump Rue.

  He raised his spear, and a golden light permeated from it.

  “What are you?” one asked. But the Watcher did not answer.

  Instead, the Watcher swept his spear, and a wave of gold rushed forward, shearing the eleven around him in half.

  Blood splurged, and their bodies tumbled into two parts.

  “A Watcher!” A woman's voice cried out.

  Her cries were echoed by hundreds of others.

  The crowd began to take a hesitant step back. However, none tried to leave. No, instead, they watched. Curiosity rising under their eyes.

  Among all of them, Rue caught a whisper that kept repeating.

  “The world is truly ending. The last world about to be born.”

  “You,” the Watcher pointed to the lion-man who held Gannicus' body.

  “I—I don’t know about a Tutorial taking place. I will leave—er—sir. Gannicus, damn you! Let me go!” The lion tried to pull off Gannicus, who now had both hands working, but without any claws. “Let me go!” The lion punched Gannicus in the face, and the Gargoyle's figure tumbled down. The lion-man quickly ran off with potions falling out of his pockets.

  “Integrator,” the Watcher addressed Rue.

  Rue just watched him. And Gannicus, who rose and bent down to pick another potion.

  “I believe outside forces have been taken care of, and now—”

  Rue ignored the Watcher.

  He charged forward with his sword, trailing cold vapor at Gannicus.

  The Gargoyle snapped up and screamed. In both hands, claws appeared. But they were no longer the long talon hands. Those were just normal standard claws. And those hardly struck fear into Rue’s heart.

  Gannicus streaked the air with his claw. Rue bounded forward, bringing his hand up and shearing apart the monster's hand all over again. The Gargoyle’s separated hand flew across the sky, and blood spurted like a waterfall.

  “No, no!” The Gargoyle slashed down with its other hand, and this time, Rue chose to keep rushing forward instead of countering.

  Its claw bit deep into his shoulder, and intense agony shot through Rue’s shoulder. But he kept going.

  He smashed Gannicus’s chin with his fist as payback, sending the creature crashing back. He leaped up and slammed both legs onto its chest, crouching.

  Gannicus cried out, and tears started to well.

  He angled his sword down, and before Gannicus could begin to beg, Rue pierced his throat and twisted.

  The Gargoyle’s eyes shot up, and an intense cold vapor burned its retinas, coloring them with a molten darkish-blue glow. Rue’s sense flared again, telling him to run away. But he resisted it; he ground his sword deeper and kept twisting.

  The air around him shimmered with a strange wind.

  Gannicus’s eyes were brimming with a sudden red glow. In a bristling change of wind, thousands of cuts descended upon Rue. His Obsidian armor cleaved apart, and as cuts stacked upon one another, Rue began to feel the cracks and pain rush into his body. Blood bled out of his obsidian skin cracks, and cold mist escaped Rue’s armor.

  He screamed inside his mind, a ragged breath followed.

  Tanking the thousands of cuts, Rue kept clutching his sword and gouged it further. He impaled his sword down again and carved both of Gannicus’s eyes.

  [You Have Slain Gargoyle—Level 25]

  [Level up]

  [Level Up]

  [Level Up]

  [Level Up]

  Gannicus’s face was ruined, with both of its eyes now just a brutal trail of dark frost. But Rue's armor was done. The cold vapor around his body was about to take it away, but in his haze, he saw Imps marching on him.

  “I will not help you with this,” the Watcher said.

  Thirty of them, maybe? This could be doable with his armor, but without it? He had to maintain it…

  [Frost Knight Skill option impending…] [Due to Limit 3/3 reached, Knight Skill option will be siphoned to enhanced Frost mage Skill option]

  [Frost Mage Skill Option Impending…]

  [Ice Embrace] [Fragile Pieces] [Rare]—Ice stops time and heals. Encase a body in crystal ice that prevents any wound from festering and heals the encased one. Enhance frost effect. Ice Embrace will only heal one at a time.

  [Frost Ghastly Trail] [Fragile Piece] [Rare]—A soldier of ice will follow the Bearer of Frost. Create and slither through a ground of ice, and a ghost of ice will follow into battle.

  Rue did not need to read anymore. What he should pick was clear.

  Before a spear could sail through the air at him, he chose Ice Embrace and dark obsidian ice encased him, stopping the cold vapor from escaping his armor.