Reincarnated Hero System

“Great, just great…”

As Beatrix muttered this to herself, Evan and Artemisia were tuning up the intensity of their attacks. Evan began to tweak the Tempest Avatar skill he just copied, giving it extra effects it originally didn’t have.

Evan already had something like this Tempest Avatar. So, to be frank, he really didn’t need Artemisia’s skill since he could just create something similar—like he just did with the Frostborne Colossus that he summoned behind the goddess.

The gigantic towering ice knight swung its blade down and Artemisia spun on her heel, her Tempest Avatar’s hand rising to block the strike.

The clash was explosive, but the ice blade cleaved cleanly through her avatar’s arm. Artemisia’s eyes widened and she reflexively used her avatar’s remaining arm to punch the blade, sending it veering off course.

But in doing so, she left her back open and Evan wasn’t one to waste such an opportunity.

Crimson Destruction energy seeped into the avatar, imbuing the golden lightning with a red hue. He charged forward, his avatar’s arm tearing through the back of hers effortlessly as he grabbed her body.

Without hesitation, he hurled her through the air, sending her smashing through a series of dilapidated buildings.

Artemisia crashed to the ground, a cloud of dust and debris exploding around her. Dazed but not defeated, she started to rise—only to see Evan already upon her, his avatar’s fist shooting forward.

Without a second to spare, Artemisia rolled out of the way as a shockwave tore through the spot she had just vacated. The ground fractured beneath her, and she extended her hand, using magic to control the debris from the shattered buildings.

The broken stone and rubble floated upwards before launching at Evan with the speed of sound.

Evan summoned his sword, his avatar mirroring his actions. He activated Time Difference, and the world around him slowed to a crawl.

His vision sharpened, locking onto each shard of debris and then he slashed at the incoming rocks, sending Blade Cannons and Aura Slashes tearing through the air vaporizing every piece of rubble.

It was like a flash.

One moment the rocks were flying towards him and the next moment they had all shattered into pieces and Evan was already behind Artemisia with his blade bearing down on her.

Artemisia summoned her dual blades and spun around just in time to block his attack, with the collision releasing a shockwave that pulverized what remained of the buildings around them.

The sheer force of their clash left the earth trembling, sending cracks radiating out for miles.

Evan teleported again, reappearing behind Artemisia, his leg swinging towards her. But Artemisia was quick, spinning around and meeting his kick with her own, the force of their legs colliding sending them both skidding backwards.

She immediately resummoned her Tempest Avatar, golden lightning crackling around her as she used her Benevolent Lightning skill in tandem.

Lightning bolts dropped from above, crashing down onto the ground where Evan stood, but he backflipped repeatedly, avoiding each one with ease.

Then, as the last bolt struck, Evan landed with a soft thud. But before he could catch his breath, Artemisia vanished.

His eyes widened in surprise as his special eyes allowed him to see what had happened. Her body had dematerialized and fused with the lightning bolt, allowing her to directly appear in front of him.

“Wait… did she just…?”

He didn’t need to ask to know. Artemisia had just used an ability he’d thought only spirits had.

“You just used a Spiritual body, didn’t you? Isn’t that a Spirit trait?”

Artemisia did not respond. She only threw a punch forward silently and when Evan dodged that, she followed up with a slash of her sword.

Her actions made Evan notice something else.

“You’ve got ridiculous coordination. Is this some kind of… 3D manoeuvring ability?”

He asked, dodging another perfectly timed strike despite her seemingly off-balance position.

Just like before, Artemisia didn’t respond and continued attacking. After dodging her flurry of strikes, Evan pulled back his both fists and spoke.

“Alright, then, Let’s take things up a notch.”

Without warning, flames exploded from his body, engulfing him in Mesarthim’s Red inferno. The heat radiated off him in waves, scorching the air, and Artemisia’s gaze sharpened.

Artemisia saw this and immediately understood that Evan had gotten serious—after all, he was now using his main element.

Evan activated his Fracture skill and sent a punch aimed directly at Artemisia’s stomach, but she blocked it with her sword.

However, the force behind the impact caused cracks to spiderweb across the blade and her eyes widened in shock. She immediately used her leg to kick Evan back before her swords could shatter entirely.

Then, she dismissed her avatar and retreated, trying to put distance between them. But Evan wasn’t about to let her escape so easily.

He dashed forward, closing the gap almost instantly and Artemisia quickly used Earth magic. The ground beneath Evan’s feet shifted and a stone platform erupted from beneath him, knocking him into the sky.

Artemisia wasn’t finished. She roused her magic power and switched elements to water, the moisture in the air condensing into glowing rings before her palms.

‘He won’t be able to use his ice now since his flame skill is active. Fire and ice are conflicting elements, after all.’

Such thoughts crossed her mind as she activated her magic.

“Water Magic: Water Dragon.”

The serpentine beast of liquid magic roared to life, charging toward Evan at breakneck speed. The torrent of water surged, crashing like a tidal wave, aimed directly at dousing his flames.

But Evan’s laughter echoed through the abandoned town as the water dragon ascended towards him.

The symbol in his eyes seemed to glow brighter as he called out.

“Harbinger of Ice.”

Crimson frost exploded from his body, a shockwave of icy energy that instantly froze the entire water dragon mid-air, transforming it into a massive shard of blood-red ice. Without missing a beat, Evan gripped the frozen dragon by its tail and hurled it toward Artemisia like a massive spear.

The goddess’ eyes widened at the sight, shock rippling through her.

‘Fire and ice… at the same time? How…?’

Frozen Inferno, that’s how.

But of course, Evan didn’t reply so Artemisia quickly used her second sword to slash the incoming projectile in two, shattering the frozen shards around her in a burst of crystalline fragments.

Without a second’s delay, she sensed a presence behind her and twisted her body just in time to enable her to block the blow with her sword. Then she retaliated with a lightning-fast kick, using her left leg to strike, a movement that defied logic given her position.

Evan blocked the kick but frowned in confusion.

‘How is she even moving like that?’

Even as he thought this, he didn’t stop moving, teleporting behind her and grabbing her arm with a sudden burst of speed.

Artemisia didn’t have time to react before she felt the force of his grip, and with one powerful motion, he flung her through the air.

She crashed into the side of a building, the structure crumbling around her on impact. As Artemisia’s body burst through the crumbling remnants of the building, Evan wasted no time, activating Gravilife Convergence.

A gravity well materialized behind her, pulling at her with an invisible force and the goddess spun mid-air, her sword glowing with lightning as she swung to slice the gravitational wave in two.

But instead of severing it, the ground beneath her splintered, sinking under the immense pressure.

“What?!”

She instantly realised a crucial fact about this skill.

‘It’s a two-stage attack!’

A giant fist of earth erupted from the shattered ground, reaching towards her. In the seconds before impact, Artemisia summoned her earth magic, forming a protective sphere around herself just in time to protect her body from the giant fist that grabbed her, attempting to crush her within its grasp.

The rocky hand clamped down hard, sending cracks spiderwebbing across her earthen barrier.

‘This won’t hold for long.’

With that thought, she unleashed a burst of divinity, shattering the rock fist to pieces. Without hesitation, she blasted away from the collapsing mass, already anticipating Evan’s next move.

‘He’ll follow up. He always does.’

Her instincts were right. Evan’s Blink skill let him teleport to areas within his line of sight, and the area behind her was naturally within that range.

In a flash, Evan appeared behind her, his punch already primed and Artemisia barely had time to react, hastily conjuring a barrier to block the incoming attack.

But his fist, wreathed in both flame and lightning, tore through the barrier with ease, the crimson glow of Mesarthim’s ‘Red’ fuelling its destructive power.

On instinct, Artemisia crossed her arms in front of her chest, bracing for the hit, an action that made Evan’s eyes widen in surprise.

“Wait—”

The sound did not reach her for his fist moved faster than it. He tried to pull back but his momentum was too great since his fist was moving faster than sound.

Everything happened in an instant.

His flaming, lightning-coated fist struck Artemisia’s forearms, the lightning flaring wildly on impact.

The impact was similar to the combo he usually did with Kayla. As such, after his fist hit, then the lightning struck a beat later, it reacted with the flames and flashed back, tripling the impact.

A massive shockwave exploded outward, amplifying the damage and Artemisia’s body was launched like a projectile, flying through the air at supersonic speed.

She crashed through buildings, obliterating stone pillars and statues as they collapsed under the force of her passage. Dust and debris clouded the air as she smashed into the far wall of the cavern, her impact shaking the entire structure.

With a dull thud, she dropped to the ground, dust settling around her.

Evan blinked, stunned by what just happened and he yelled with a voice that echoed across the stone walls.

“Why the hell would you try to block that with your bare hands?!”

Evan knew the kind of power packed into his punch, and he expected Artemisia to know this too, which was why he couldn’t fathom why she tried to block it with her bare hands.

But then again, it seemed more like a reflex on her part—one he’d soon understand as to why she had little to no trouble doing it.

He rushed over to where she was, panic surging through him as he saw the state of her arms. Her bones weren’t just fractured—they were completely out of place, broken to the point where it was clear just how much force his strike had carried.

Beatrix teleported in beside him, her eyes widening in disbelief at the sight.

‘He broke through Arty’s durability so easily?!’

Beatrix had witnessed first-hand how Artemisia had used her Queen of Evolution skill to bolster her natural durability to the level where she could block blades with her bare body.

The durability stat on her Status was just the base. There were extra percentage buffs to it and Beatrix knew that well.

And yet, here Artemisia was, with both arms shattered by a single blow.

Evan, on the other hand, was dumbfounded for a different reason. As he reached her, he watched in surprise as a golden light enveloped Artemisia’s broken arms.

Right before his eyes, the bones snapped back into place, muscle and tendons knitting together in mere seconds. The mangled flesh smoothed out as though time had reversed, but Evan knew it wasn’t the work of time magic.

The only person capable of time manipulation here—Beatrix—was standing right next to him, equally stunned.

Just like magic, which it technically was, Artemisia’s arms regenerated. The healing was quick and flawless, as if nothing had happened in the first place.

“You… can regenerate?”

Evan finally blurted out, still trying to understand what he had just witnessed.

Artemisia stood up, flexing her newly healed arms. She glanced at him and then smirked.

“You can’t?”

She asked with an air of nonchalance, before scoffing.

“Sounds like a skill issue.”

Both Evan and Beatrix felt that jab deep. Beatrix even let out a soft, “Oof,” while Evan just stood there, completely caught off guard.

It was perhaps the most devastating blow of the entire fight—not a physical one, but an emotional one.

Emotional Damage.