Chương 171: Chapter 159-Chosen Prideborn

Hopping down from the rooftop, I follow the tracks. It took forever to find her, but all of a sudden her tracks show up. This is too easy. Which, when it comes to Demons, is a bad thing. A trap? Probably. Prideborn wants us to find her, or rather wants CJ to find her. My hands shake as I look up at the clocktower. Fifteen minutes to midnight. Time to put my game face on. I'm about to put my life on the line for a guess. Entering the newly rebuilt clocktower, I head down to where the mana pools are.

It's been a while since I was down here. The beautiful blue pools light the large room with a dim glow. [Track] says her trail ends here. Which means-"Would you look at that? If it isn't the Bunny. What are you doing here? ~" the Prideborn asks as she steps out of the darkness.

"I'm here to stop you," I say as I grip my bow hard enough for my knuckles to go white.

"You?! He sent you? ~" she asks with indignation as she looks around.

"Yup."

"You must be pulling my horn. Where is he? Where is The Chosen One? ~" Pulling back my bow, I aim it at her head.

"He had more important problems to deal with." Her eye twitches in frustration.

"More important problems?! I am the most important problem he should be worried about. Once I'm done killing you, I'll remind him of that. ~" With a cocky grin, I [Shoot]. The arrow flies right past her as she gingerly dodges out of the way.

"What? My attacks too powerful for you to take? I thought you were invulnerable; What happened?" I ask as I nock another arrow.

"Don't kid yourself, Bunny. I would rather not have my beautiful skin tarnished by your dirty arrows, but I respect the gall to challenge me. Leave now, and I will spare you. ~" Shaking my head, I slowly take off my glasses and pocket them.

"You really are desperate to get rid of me. I guess my hunch was right." Anger flares in her purple eyes as she produces a silver dagger.

"My mercy grows thin, Bunny. ~""You know. When we were strategizing on what exactly the conditions were for your invulnerability, we were thinking it had something to do with our Pride or your subordinates, but then this thing showed up on my forearm," I explain as I show off the symbol.

"My symbol. So what? ~""It's the Giloen rune for Humility. The exact opposite of what you embody. You would never have your invulnerability dependent on the pride of somebody else or even your subordinates. That would be beneath you. Your invulnerability is dependent on you and your pride," I explain as I [Shoot] another. She dodges it.

"You know nothing, Bunny. ~""Fighting The Chosen One must be a high unlike any other, am I right? The feeling of validation that someone so powerful would fight you. That's the condition, isn't it? Your opponent needs to sate your Pride. They need to be worthy of fighting you. That's why you want to get rid of me. Because I'm not The Chosen One or even a Princess," I explain as I [Shoot] another arrow. With an angry glare, she catches the arrow and snaps it in half.

"You're spoken-" Another arrow made of ice flies out from behind her. The arrow slashes right past her cheek before being shattered by her claws. A single drop of black blood falls to the ground.

"Well, would you look at that? I wonder how many years it's been since you've seen your own blood? Don't worry. I'll make sure to draw enough for a lifetime," I say as Froppy steps out of the darkness.

"One drop of blood and you think you have me figured out?! I may not have access to all of my power, but what I have left is more than enough to kill you," she says, dropping her playful tone for but a second.

"I'd like to see you try," I say as I [Shoot] five arrows at her, which she promptly snatches out of the air. Froppy, without missing a beat, moves in tandem with me. When you're hunting something, you must start from the basics. How does the prey behave? Will it lash out when attacked, will it run, or will it hide? Prideborn takes seven of her silver daggers and throws them behind her in a cone. The blades hover in the air as they vibrate. Froppy fires an arrow that I use to bounce my arrow off of.

It stabs straight through her hand. Anger burns through her as she rips it out and goes to throw it back at me. The sound of her muscles tightening screams through my bunny ears. Ducking out of the way, I feel the pressure of the arrow as it sinks into the wall behind me.

"That's some strength you got there. Shame you're stuck using it against me," I say as I subtly slash my forearm with an arrow head. Once you know how your prey acts, then you can figure out how to kill it. Does it run? Tire it out. Does it hide? Smoke it out. Does it fight back? Fight smarter. The vibrating knives suddenly encircle the Prideborn's head, forming a multicolored crown.

"Die already." The red dagger suddenly turns towards me and lets out a wave of fire. Putting my hand out, I form a barrier of ice that is instantly melted. Froppy grabs me and shields me as the attack envelopes us.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was that too much?"

"Barely felt a thing," I say as Froppy falls to the side half-melted.

"You know. Maybe you do meet my criteria. You're on the same team as The Chosen One. You defeated that Wolf Beastkin. You fought Wrathie. Not to mention you even survived an encounter with Tyranus. Not many can say that. Hells, you even figured out the conditions of my oath, ~" she says as I fire an arrow straight into her head. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. The arrow harmlessly bounces off her.

"That's some high praise, but you're wrong." The red dagger dims back to its original silver color.

"You think too poorly of yourself. You may not be a Princess or The Chosen One, but you're strong. ~" Pulling myself off the ground, a throbbing pain shoots out from my burnt leg.

"Anybody else could have filled in for me on the team. I'm surprised they haven't ditched me yet, considering how much I drag them down. And the only reason I won against Lu was that he wasn't in his right mind."

"Stop it! You're strong, Bunny!" With my shaking hands, I nock an arrow.

"The fight against the Wrathborn? I barely did a thing. That was Penelope and CJ. They fought him toe to toe, while I annoyed him with my arrows. I didn't even fight against Tyranus. A flap of her wings was all it took to knock me out cold. I almost died. Oh, and your oath. It was thanks to Penelope knowing what the rune is. Otherwise I wouldn't have figured out a thing," I say with a cocky smile.

"Enough! I will hear no more, Bunny!" Prideborn says as her yellow dagger points towards me.

"My name is not Bunny! I'm Hopper Lightfoot, son of Holland Lightfoot, and you are my prey. May Zeita bless my hunt!" With a crackle, a bolt of lightning flies straight towards me. Ice slowly creeps up my arrow as I watch the attack slowly arc straight for me. I won't be able to dodge, and I know I can't survive a direct hit. Then I just need to survive an indirect one. A pale blue light erupts from my hands, forming gauntlets of ice.

The lightning strikes my frozen arrow and works its way up my gauntlets, shattering them and sending a thick blanket of steam out into the room. Prideborn looks around in confusion.

"How did you survive that?" Without answering, I [Shoot] from the darkness of the room. The arrow grazes the edge of her thigh. Good, she's vulnerable again. Wanting to live, I rush to another part of the room. Right as I move, a torrent of acid melts my previous hiding spot. That's three.

"Hiding? You do understand that you're running out of time, right?" she asks as I [Shoot] another arrow. This time it lands squarely in her shoulder. Annoyance graces her face as she sends a barrage of icicles my way, but I'm already gone. That's four. Sliding behind a pillar, I rapidly [Shoot] three arrows her way. The first one lands in her knee, while the other two are blocked by a barrage of stone. That's five.

"All that to get stuck behind a pillar. How pathetic," she says as a torrent of wind cuts through the pillar. That's six. Hopping off the wall, I go high into the air. The rhythmic thump of my heart crashes against my ears. Pain pulses through my body as I push my muscles to their extreme. Fear fills my mind, threatening to shut me down. I'm weak. I know that, but that doesn't mean I'm okay with losing. Even against this monster. Against Lupin. Against CJ and Penelope. I want to be stronger.

Strong enough to be by their side. It all starts here. In this moment. Where I win and leave behind who I used to be. I'm not the coward who ran. I'm not the weakness of who I used to be. I'm me.

"You left yourself wide open!" she yells as the green dagger points towards me. Pushing my body past its limits, I fire an arrow straight at her head, another at her heart, and the last at her throat. She's not getting out of this unscathed. Vines erupt from the dagger, piercing through my shoulder, thigh, and stomach. At the same time, Prideborn catches the arrow aimed at her heart, while dodging out of the way of the last two, although one does clip her ear off.

"Would you look at that? Where did that pride go?" she asks as the vines coil around me. Silence is my only answer as the hourly chime begins.

"How scary you are. Poor little Bunny. You really should have left this to someone else. Yet here you are at death's door. Knowing that your failure is the reason that The Chosen One and that little Princess die today. I suppose you couldn't help yourself. You know what they say. Pride comes before the fall, ~" she says with a prideful smile.

"That was seven. You used up all your daggers. Now you're defenseless."

"And what are you-" Froppy slams his foot straight into the side of the Prideborn's head. With a nasty crack, she flies all the way to the other side of the room and into the wall. The vines dissipate, dropping me to the floor. The half-melted Froppy catches me as the bells ring out twelve times. A cackle rings out from the wall as the Prideborn's blood-soaked body steps out from the darkness.

"You fool. It's midnight. You've lost the game. Now the second requirement of my oath can be activated. I win!"

"Are you sure about that?" I ask as I point to her forearm. The Prideborn looks down at her hand to see her own symbol etched into it.

"That's impossible. How?!"

"You forgot something very important. I wasn't the only one in this room," I say as I pat Froppy on the shoulder.

"When he blocked the flames! You-" A game of Tag has ended. The last one, 'It' is Prideborn.

"Now. A message from CJ. Die," I say with a cold tone.

"You can't do this to me. I demand a rematch! Bunny! Bunny!! Hopper Lightfoot!!!" she yells as Froppy and I walk out of the room, shutting the door behind us. +1 CON +2 INT +2 DEX Skill <Clone> has Leveled Up Skill <Shoot> has Leveled Up Skill <Freeze> has Leveled Up Skill <Mana Channels> has Leveled Up You have accomplished a great feat. You have pushed past your natural limits. Title <Limit Breaker> Gained