Jack reappeared at Duorda's side. The black-bladed katana was already in motion, arcing toward Duorda's elbow. Blood-red energy coated the blade as Jack struggled to cleave through the crypt lord's arm, leaving a wave of powerful sword energy fading against the ceiling.
"CRACK!"
After much effort, Jack used the skill again to back away. He still felt uncomfortable as Duorda only laughed harder after tanking the attack.
"Good… It's been too long since I've received true damage," Duorda commented, casually picking up his forearm from the ground. Then, the crypt lord reattached it with a wash of black energy. After that energy faded, the arm was restored to its perfect, undead form while some of Duorda's health had vanished.
Startled, Jack asked, "You can fix your broken body at the cost of some health?"
"A perfect ability since I can just steal health at will, don't you think?" asked Duorda, unfazed by the last attack. "You're much better than the past heroes I've faced. Few could face me as you have. On one hand, I can count the people who have bested me one-on-one. But with my true strength unleashed, none have bested me in a duel."
"No one? Well, there's always a first for everything!" laughed Jack, getting a chuckle out of Duorda. "Are you going to fight me seriously or not? I know you've got more skills than that. Where are your summons?"
"I guess it's time to take it up a notch…" Duorda shrugged while shaking his newly attached arm.
Another pulse of dark energy spread throughout the vast room. It did nothing to Jack but the hero was familiar with what came next.
The ground below shook. As patches of earth split apart, draconic skulls emerged from the ground, still roaring despite not having any lungs or a throat.
"Undead Dragons?! What happened to the goliaths?!" Jack complained.
Duorda laughed, "Zombie Goliaths would only be fodder for your katana. I want to know just how strong you are, so why use such weak summons? Good luck!"
Three twenty-meter Undead Dragons took flight with their skinless wings. They charged Jack mercilessly with reckless abandon, proving that they were still as unfeeling toward pain as any other undead.
Jack backed away but kept his katana at the ready. The dragons were already on top of him so he didn't want to use the long-range bow in close combat, even if it offered more versatility than the katana. Instead, red energy coated the blade again as Jack swung his sword. However, the attacks did little to no damage as Jack failed to hit a joint directly.
With such a result, Jack determined that the low-level sword skills he had gotten from Maynard weren't enough. With twelve thousand five hundred and sixteen skill points at his disposal, Jack opened the skill menu at the side of his view. While evading the claws and jaws of the Undead Dragons, Jack skipped the mid-level skills and found the high-level skills that Argyle, Kims, and Jin used. The hero selected Argyle's sword wave skill, wanting the five-hit combo that could be used at almost any range. Also, Jin's high-level skills were far more expensive and Jack was in a saving mindset at the moment.
Seven hundred and fifty skill points were spent to unlock the skill, but Jack felt it was a worthy expense.
Immediately, Jack felt a surge of pure white energy cover his sword. Similar to Jin, Argyle had no natural affinity for magic and was a pure warrior until his pact with Dradich. Hence, Jack felt the pure technique that was Argyle's skill paired with Jack's magical prowess could flip the stakes of the battle.
The pure white energy of the unadulterated mana was tainted red as fire energy was added to the attack. With his new skill ready, Jack rushed to the nearest Undead Dragon without any hesitation.
Roaring, the beast attempted to tank the attack while covering its claw in dark energy to counter.
Both attacks clashed as the beast whined, its claw broken apart by the impact of the flaming sword. But a second attack followed. Then a third. A fourth came next. And finally, a fifth strike was made against the Undead Dragon. All five of those attacks were made against the crumbling claw but their residual sword waves also hit the Undead Dragon's torso.
Broken ribs fell to the ground as the right foreleg of the dragon fell apart. But Jack's follow up combo left the other foreleg in pieces as well. Also, the shoulder of that arm was completely broken as half the dragon's chest fell to the ground.
It roared and whined but Jack showed no signs of backing off. Even as the dragon took to the air in evasion, Jack's sword waves reached the fleeing beast and shattered one of its wings.
The second and third Undead Dragons rushed Jack but were met with similar results. One lost a leg while the other had its chest cut apart. Neither took much damage though as Jack kept his focus on the broken dragon. His next two combo attacks destroyed that dragon's neck and head, letting Jack break the remaining bones with ease.
It was then that Jack heard Duorda laughing again. Jack glanced at the crypt lord, ready to defend or evade if necessary. But nothing came at him. The hero only saw the crypt lord staring at him as if Duorda was enjoying the show.
"What? No attacks?" Jack shouted his questions. "What's the point of having these here if you won't attack me while I'm distracted?"
"We've only just begun. Why rush? I haven't had a good fight in a millennium, so let me savor this while I can," answered Duorda, still not acting against Jack.
Without Duorda interfering, Jack faced the remaining two Undead Dragons with relative ease. He had to be cautious and on his toes but Jack managed to deal with them without taking any extra damage. But even though Duorda made no attempts of attack, Jack remained on guard and kept an eye on the crypt lord while finishing the Undead Dragons.