Solo Cultivation in The Apocalypse

When Hitori looked up at the idiotic Duergar who had pulled its hammer behind its head, Hitori frowned and swung his katana at the Duergar.

His katana clashed with the hammer before the hammer took over and crushed Hitori's ribs. He did not feel the pain this time but he could imagine it.

His katana's blade was close to his neck, Hitori grunted and tried to push the hammer back but failed because the Duergar had the strength and height advantage.

His katana rivaled the hammer's neck till Hitori managed to push the hammer slightly away from his chest.

Hitori grunted harder and bit his lip. Hitori felt the rock behind him piercing his back.

Hitori had no choice. His left hand made its way to the blunt side of the blade and pushed harder.

"Ah!" Hitori pulled the blade down.

A few stones fell on his head before the Duergar lost its balance when Hitori pulled him forward and slammed it on the ground in front of him.

The Duergar almost lost its grip on its hammer when it fell on its back. Saliva came out from the dwarf on impact.

Hitori took that chance to get up from the rock. He quickly grabbed his katana from near the Duergar and rushed behind the rock.

It did not take the dwarf much time to get up from the ground and get ready for a counterattack.

Hitori wanted to take the Duergar's hammer too. He thought it would lose its grip when he will tug its hammer to pull it down from the rock.

But when Hitori got close to picking his katana he saw how tight the Duergar's grip on its hammer was. He decided to back down.

In all this process, Hitori did not recognize that the Duergar was back to its original form – it was visible to him.

"Running is not an option," Hitori held his ribs as he took a few steps back.

Hitori had lost some of his health so he decided to pull a healing potion down his throat.

He rubbed his mouth and threw the flask on the other side. It fell to the ground and shattered.

The Duergar was so small that it was not visible from where Hitori stood as if it was hidden behind the rock without bending down.

Hitori took deep breaths to calm himself down. The Duergar was not scary at all but one fact about it was.

Even after Hitori slammed it, it did not lose even a single health point and that was worrying.

Hitori stared at the rock, he knew the Duergar would erupt anytime.

"Tch, nothing is… clear." Hitori lifted his hand. A small flame danced in his right palm, "Fireball."

Hitori threw fireballs all around the ground. The dust and dried twigs caught the fire. It was not enough but fine for Hitori to see beyond the rock clearly.

p He saw Grey hair and a bald head. He saw a wrinkled forehead come into view, and then Duergar's red eyes glowed like two red pinpricks.

"A-are my eyes playing a game on me or… has the head and eyes of the Duergar increased for real?" Kamiya waited patiently.

There was no space for him to attack the Duergar. Its head was covered under a silver helmet and it wore some kind of metallic mask that revealed its eyes only.

The Duergar did not move but came into view eventually. No doubt, the Duergar had increased in size. Hitori thought.

Hitori took a step back, he kept staring at the Duergar as it doubled- tripled in size right in front of Hitori. I

It was the same height as– no, it was bigger than the Half-giant minotaur.

Its fat tummy popped out from the little gap between its armor stomach armor and hips armor.

It grew more than twice as big as Hitori. Earlier, it reached Hitori's chest barely but now, Hitori barely reached the Duergar's chest.

Not only the Duergar had grown twelve feet in height, but its war hammer had also increased in size too.

The arm plates grew in size too but they barely held its thick muscular arms under them.

Bang!

The whole ground shook when the Duergar kept its hammer on the ground.

Ripples of dust particles swirled around its hammer. A few pebbles cracked under the hammer. While a few pebbles bounced around Hitori.

Hitori looked down at his katana. The blade was crippled from the sharp edge. Hitori knew he could not cut through the Duergar's armor with ease.

The Duergar did not move for four seconds which was enough for Hitori to change his weapon.

Hitori first saw the war hammer acquired from the half-giant minotaur. But with the armor on, the hammer would not inflict much damage.

Hitori needed to find an opening first, a slight gap through which he would be able to cut the Duergar.

It was not the right time to use the hammer, simply. The Duergar had increased in size, the war hammer would not inflict much damage but a blade surely will.

Hitori equipped the ghost killer parang. Four seconds over, the Duergar moved and so did Hitori.

The Duergar grumbled something– yes, it can speak– but Hitori ignored it and pulled the parang out.

The Duergar shouted and gave its increased-in-size hammer a strong swing towards Hitori.

"Leaf saber," Hitori activated his skill on the way.

Hitori ducked, his hood fell back and his hair followed the direction of the hammer swing.

Hitori raised from behind the hammer. His parang clashed with the hammer's head, Hitori pushed hard, and he could not get his parang through.

The Duergar noticed Hitroi's strength, it pulled its hammer back and threw Hitori on the other side of the gravel ground.

Hitori spread his palm and grabbed the ground to stop himself before he went into one of the lightened fires.

He quickly got up on his knees. Hitori felt a stinging pain in his chin. When he touched his chin, he saw blood on his fingers. His chin was grazed due to the pebbles.

"Why?" Hitori stared at the Duergar that was a few meters away. Hitori clenched the parang.

Full of frustration, he opened the skillset tab.

[Leaf saber level twelve]

And the Duergar was level twenty-five while the Duergar's armor set was above level twenty.

'Thirteen?' Hitori frowned, 'no wonder.' This was not the first time that he was not able to cut through with the help of his skill.