Chapter Seventy Two: Clad In Armor

I made my way to the dungeon the very next day. I’ve taken it upon myself to become stronger. Just because I got defeated a few times doesn’t mean I’ll stop going in there. Well, I would have stopped if I were just normal after dying once but I’m not. This gives me all the opportunity to fight to my heart’s content.
Still, dying is excruciatingly painful. I have to avoid getting killed if I want my morale to increase. I have to make ‘not dying’ my priority from now on. To do that, I have to be vigilant at all times. I mustn’t let my guard down just because I don’t see monsters anywhere. 
“Hmm………. I say that, but I don’t really see or sense any monsters anywhere.”
This is my second time on this floor. Some floors I cleared in one day while some I cleared at the same time. I also died once or twice before clearing some floors. But this is the first time I died twice without even encountering any monsters.
Are they invisible or something………………?….………………….!!??
Huh? What’s going on? Could it be? Have I been killed again?
Ah! It really is happening. I’ve been killed again haven’t I? how long has it been since I promised to not let my guard down? Like two minutes? I’m pathetic.
Just like before, the pain came from my chest. An invisible lance was embedded in me and the blade pieced my rib cage open. I couldn’t see the size or shape, all I could see was the blood dripping from the shaft and the pointy edge.
{Huhu~} she giggled. Hope, that is…………
Tell me, hope? How am I being killed? And why do you smile when I die? Are you a sadist or do you just hate me?
I got pulled out of the darkness before she got the chance to answer my question.
This is the third time I died on this floor. The painful thing is that I still haven’t seen my enemy.
“I swear I wont die again!”
The lance was no longer in my body. The pool of blood where I laid was not yet dry. It seems I was only out for about five minutes.
I quickly got on my feet while unsheathing my sword.
Come…….. I’ll kill you before the lance gets to me.
This is one of the most dangerous, if not the most dangerous fights of my life. I die from a single attack where as I cant see my enemy.
I mustn’t stay in one place if I want to survive!
I jumped up to the blue sky and flew around. The sky was endless and so was the transparent plains made of nothing but air.
All of this is happening because I cant use magic. Otherwise I would be able to sense the presence of my enemy. 
Normally, my barrier becomes dark when an attack is about to hit. That is mostly the case in terms of magical attacks. The lance is just a physical object.
Just because my barrier doesn’t tell me about an incoming attack doesn’t mean I should wait for it to hit me.
I remained in constant movement for a very long time. No attacks reached me in the meantime but I couldn’t continue like that. What is the point of running if I cant clear the level like that.
I thought up some way to fight back while I flew. I just have to strengthen my barrier to detect incoming attacks.
And that I did. 
I stopped moving and in just less than a second, the area around me blurred. I used all my strength to move away from that spot.
“It worked!!” I excitedly shouted.
It seems my assumption is on the dead on. I’m really being attacked by an invisible monster. 
The transparent ground makes it impossible to see footprints. I don’t hear or see any signs of movements.
It’s able to follow me everywhere I go, but the good thing is that it doesn’t attack unless I stop moving. I can keep up moving around but to what extent? It will only become a drawn out battle in the monster’s favor. I’m bound to get frustrated and tired of running with time.
I tried out a few things to know the type of opponent I was up against. I randomly aimed various attacks at random spots. The surprising thing is that, when I shot out a clear light, the same attack returned to me. But when I shot out the eagle wave; it didn’t return.
I was made to believe from that experiment that my opponent had something to do with the Freezer. At the 49th floor, I’m way above the Freezers level. Since it doesn’t attack me by itself, and with the lance that is thrown at me, it is logical to assume that there is someone else riding it.
An invisible Freezer rider.
Freezer attacks don’t hurt me anymore since I can use them as well. I was able to deduce the opponents location after that but they disappeared right after. I couldn’t tell whether they went left or right.
Thinking so much about it is tiring. Dodging the attacks that have now become successive is tiring as well. The lances are thrown at small intervals. By concentrating my energy to my barrier, I’m able to faintly see the blur from when the blade makes contact with the barrier. I use that little window to dodge the attack.
But they change positions the moment I dodge. As such, I cannot return the attack.
It remained like that for a really long time. The fight which started in the morning has probably reached dusk in the world outside the dungeon.
I did find out a lot of things though. The lances thrown are not reused. The rider is somehow able to make new lances each time he throws another. Their movement pattern is random and they can fly just like I do thanks to the Freezer’s ability.
It was time to end the fight and I knew just the trick to do it with.
“Smoke bomb!!” is an attack I got from a monster on the earlier floors. Wooden statues release a white smoke which renders all invisible. The floor boss then takes over by sending countless sword tentacles at me. I died once before clearing that floor. I got the ability after I destroyed all the statues while fighting blindly.All I had to do was wait patiently after that. The smoke I released was bound to serve its purpose.
Not long after I released it, I found the exact location of my opponent. The whole area around me was covered in smoke, even the slightest movements will cause the smoke to move as well.
“Found you!!”
What I didn’t know was that my opponent had the same idea I did. The smoke around them moved clockwise in a spiral manner where as I moved anticlockwise in a spiral manner.
To clear away the smoke, the freezer attempted to use the spinning drill attack which causes a strong wind. And in order to damage my opponent, I attempted to land the spinning drill on them.
I was meters above them in the sky. The energy aura we emitted was everywhere. The sky darkened and a strong fierce wind blew from both sides.
The freezer’s attack no longer works on me. But what about the lancer? What type of attack is he planning?
As the danger level of our attacks increased, the strong wind blew away all the clouds in the vicinity.
My energy wave was black. Theirs was gray. We both spun at incredible speed gathering all the energy and momentum needed.
“Spinning………. drill!!!!!” I aimed down at them like a meteorite.
Their attack pushed upwards while mine pushed downwards. Using my sword as the drilling weapon, I aimed right at the freezer’s horn. It became visible after they began spinning. It’s as though the strong wind blew away some of their transparency.
“SHHOOOOOOOOO!!” the air split as we drew closer to each other.
My opponents became more visible the closer we got. Just before impact, I was able to see what the lancer looked like. It was a humanoid shaped monster clad in armor. He had no head or neck on his shoulders. His hand was elevated upwards as if grasping onto something. It was no doubt the lance he was making.
From the beginning, I had no intention of exchanging attacks with the freezer. My goal was the lancer in the first place.
My barrier glowed darker. It was getting ready to shield me from the attack. It happened at the worst possible moment. I was not able to see my opponent because of how dark it was.
Luckily for me, I practiced on controlling my barrier. Just like I concentrated to make it appear when a physical attack was about to hit, all I had to do was concentrate and it would disappear. But I had no time to do that, only a few centimeters remained between the impact.
“KAAAA!!” I shot out the eagle wave below me.
The shot changed my momentum pushing me a little above the freezer’s horn. I quickly sent a lot of energy to my left hand. I then used it to deflect the freezer’s horn from my body. In that instance, my sword was thrusting with speed towards the lancer’s chest. 
His lance was also thrusting at me. Both the lancer and the lance were transparent. I was only able to see them just like ice. I could see the light reflection on their bodies.
The lance would have hit me if I hadn’t changed my momentum by pushing away the spinning horn. And the horn would have pierced me if I hadn’t sent the same type of energy to it. 
Due to the change in momentum, my body shifted a little to the left side. The lance which was supposed to hit me on the chest was now just inches from my right ribs close to my armpit.
Just a simple upthrust with the lance will hit me. I was in no mood to let that happen.
My sword was aiming at him and his lance was between my right arm and my body. It was the perfect chance to land an attack.
Just like before, I concentrated a whole lot of energy onto my sword. The sword became heavier as it reached for his shoulder.
“SLASH!” a slashing sound echoed as my sword met with his armor. 
The friction caused a spark. The armor was tough. It wouldn’t be shattered by normal means.
It happened so fast. I lost my chance to cut off his arm when we passed each other.
“Swift return!” but that didn’t stop me. I stepped on the air and jumped back towards him in a split second. I had to be fast enough before they disappeared.
“Slash!” his back was to me this time around. Just as he pulled his arm back from the throwing position he was at earlier. I swiftly cut it off with my sword. This time around, I sent all my energy to the sword before the impact.
The hand flew off leaving his body. I passed by them in an instant.
“Swift return!” I did the same thing as before and turned back at them again.
My barrier glowed faintly the second I turned. It was the lance. I cut off his right hand but the lance still came at me.
I was able to see the reflection of light on it. It had already left his hand and was aiming perfectly at my head. If I can dodge it then this fight will be mine.
No! I cant dodge!
Instead of dodging, an even better idea came to mind. I used the difference in speed and distance to slap away the lance with my sword. That saved me from instant death but another threat was already underway. The lancer had already created another lance and it was whipping down at me.
My arm was wide open. There was no way for me to block it. The speed at which he created new lances was incredibly. But there existed a small difference between the two of us. I’ve defeated a lot of fast opponents and have absorbed all their abilities. As such……….
“I’m faster!!”
“Slash!!” the arm came off.