Much to Marchosias' surprise, his opponent wasn't dead. He already knew that this one was different but even he was surprised to see how this one managed to suffer rather minimal wounds even from his Reflected Blows. [b][i]"Damn, he must be a dodge tank. That's the only reason he could have possibly avoided my reflected blows if he has some sort of auto dodge ability."[/i][/b] Marchosias knew there were other dangers nearby as well, but this one seemed the most intent to battle him directly, so the executioner would have to focus on him. His Full Cover was still on cooldown but he could still parry with his cleaver, though doing so would prevent Marchosias from launching his own attack. And he knew that between a tank-vs-tank battle, the one who can do the most damage is the one who'll come out on top. Trying to outlast someone who plays that same gambit as yourself will just put you at a disadvantage.

There was another advantage that Marchosias had over this guy. He appeared to be a martial artist, while Marchosias had his cleaver. Yggdrasil realistic combat took account for such things, including reach; if Marchosias could land a blow before this guy could land his punch, that would be as good as stopping the attack dead. Though he could avoid the strike, it would likely also mean evading and canceling his own attack, also leaving Marchosias safe. In theory at least. Frankly Marchosias didn't know enough about this guy to determine what his abilities could be so he might easily be able to counter the executioner's counter, but Marchosias was fairly confident he would survive regardless.

Marchosias focused himself and swung towards the pugilist. First he targeted him with his Challenge ability, which would increase Marchosias's damage and accuracy, hopefully to offset any dodge chance this guy had. Next he activated his Furious Focus, increase the damage of his strike exponentially. And because it was his first attack, Marchosias won't have any accuracy penalties for it. He swung downwards towards the fighter, aiming to cleave him from head-to-toe, and hopefully kill him before his punch would land. Otherwise all Marchosias could do would be taking the blow head on and hope his armor and defensive buffs would allow him to survive the attack and retaliate.

[@Tim][@Zelosse]