“Maki…” I hear Glia’s voice. I can’t spare much attention for her. If I lose focus even slightly, I could lose my life.
“I know, he’s more dangerous than I thought. Stay hidden for now.” It’s better if she remains concealed. I can’t afford to worry about her and survive at the same time.
The gravity surrounding my body hums violently as I push it to its limit. I must focus intensely to avoid losing control. My brain and body are ready to react to any movement. My senses are more alert than ever before.
My body reacts as quickly as my mind allows. Several small constructs of pure death mana in the shape of lightning bolts come from every direction. I feel the muscles in my leg tear slightly as I slide to one side. The amount of gravity is so immense that my body is bound to suffer some damage.
Within the radius of my Personal World, I see one of the lightning bolts strike one of his companions. He is nearly cut in half, and the horrifying mana destroys almost his entire body. He falls dead before he can even understand what happened.
I send dozens of overloaded Joyeuse forward. I feel them tremble from the amount of gravity surrounding them as I accelerate them beyond their normal speed. A thin trail of blood runs from my nose due to the strain of creating them as quickly as possible, and the swords fly forward at maximum speed.
Every attack collides with several completely black constructs resembling walls. I can feel his Jurisdiction and death mana trying to consume every one of my constructs. I have to keep them together for as long as possible using my willpower and Dominion.
I manage to break through the first black walls, only for the second layer to stop them. The surprise in the completely black eyes of the man wearing a dark robe, with grotesque gray skin, is obvious.
I have to duck slightly to avoid a pitch-black spear that would have shattered my head. I shift my body slightly to the left because another is coming at tremendous speed. The second one grazes my shoulder, and I feel it trying to consume everything it touches—my body, my Imra, my mana, and everything around me.
I destroy the death mana with my own and reinforce it with my Imra. This situation brings back certain memories, and this death mana is highly unusual. It reminds me a little of the last dungeon.
Is this person involved? The thought crosses my mind for a moment before I dodge several smaller spears and one enormous one descending from above. Even though I’m moving like a fly from side to side, he hasn’t remained still. My constructs continue chasing him everywhere.
His spells are stronger than mine. That much is certain. But if even one of my attacks connects, he won’t come out unscathed. Of that, I’m sure.
I find an opening between the spells and continue advancing. I can’t stay at long range forever. I’ll lose sooner or later if I do. I need to get closer if I want even the slightest chance. Swordsmanship is still my greatest weapon.
The moment I get close enough to reach him with my blade, I don’t hesitate. My body moves like lightning. My muscles and bones suffer some collateral damage, but the force behind the strike is tremendous.
He has created some kind of cloak of death energy around himself, and it’s even denser around his hands. It looks as though he’s wearing two boxing gloves made of death mana. My strike is stopped at the last moment by his quick reflexes.
I fail to break through those gloves, and he fails to block my attack perfectly. The collision between our combinations of multiple abilities generates waves of death mana around us, affecting all of his allies.
Maelli was smart enough to tell our allies to retreat when she left. Everyone obeyed instantly for two reasons. She’s the strongest after me, and a diamond rank is on the hunt.
Meanwhile, the allies of this sickly-looking man can’t retreat very far, and I’ve deliberately positioned myself as close to them as possible. That way they can be injured during our battle. It also helps that this man doesn’t care about his companions in the slightest.
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I’m genuinely surprised by this person’s close-combat abilities. He’s clearly at a disadvantage in skill, but he’s experienced enough to avoid taking damage as long as he focuses entirely on defense.
I spot an opening in his defense, but I can’t take advantage of it. Instead of attacking, I have to duck because an obsidian-black spear nearly pierces my skull from the side.
I continue forcing him backward, driving him toward his companions. Five of them have already died. All of them were already injured beforehand.
After nearly a minute spent dancing between life and death, I find another opening. My right sword changes direction at the last instant.
A deep slash opens across his stomach. I force my way through his defenses and feel the blade cut into his flesh.
My instincts scream danger. I don’t know where it’s coming from.
I don’t have time to retreat, and my teleportation ability is interrupted by his Jurisdiction. A pitch-black spike erupts from his body and pierces my left thigh.
My mind ignores the pain as much as possible. It feels as though the death mana wants to destroy everything in its path. I react immediately, cutting through the base of the spike before retreating several steps.
My body heals as quickly as possible. He must possess some kind of healing ability as well. I can tell with certainty that it’s much slower and weaker than mine. His wound remains open while mine has already healed.
His gaze has changed, he no longer looks at me like a toy. Now he sees me as an enemy. The amusement has vanished from his eyes. They are serious now, fixed on every one of my movements.
Should I keep trying to fight in close combat? For a moment, I consider my options. The only way I’ve managed to injure him so far has been through close combat, but it’s also where I’ve suffered the most damage. Can I endure it? Diamond ranks are far more durable.
I let out a sigh and harden my resolve. I have to continue fighting at close range. It’s the only option I can think of.
I vanish from my position in an instant and a tenth of a second later, my sword is aimed at his neck. He blocks the strike. Then the next one. And the next. He’s being far more cautious after being wounded.
A slash passes near my neck. I feel blood flowing from the wound as it is consumed by death mana. I’m not the only one who’s been injured. One of my swords buries itself into his forearm. I pull with all my strength, trying to inflict as much damage as possible.
Huh?
I feel something restraining me. I can’t pull my sword free because his Jurisdiction is trying to trap me. The man smiles. The sight sends chills down my spine because his teeth are broken and yellow, and my instincts scream at me to run.
An incredibly powerful blast erupts toward me at point-blank range. I have to use every bit of my lightning and gravity mana to move my body as far as possible. The blast is aimed directly at my chest. I’m certain it would kill me if I failed to dodge.
I evade it at the final instant. It only pierces through my shoulder and part of my abdomen. I survive by a fraction of a second and have no intention of remaining passive, attacking at the same time.
An enormously enhanced Joyeuse forms instantly in front of my chest. Blood begins pouring from my mouth and nose from the effort of keeping such an immense amount of mana, Imra, and Laws compressed within a single construct. I use gravity mana to keep everything compressed.
Or maybe I’m bleeding because of the massive wound in my body? I don’t have time to think about it.
It doesn’t even take a second to compress all of my power into a single construct. If I continue adding more energy, it will probably explode in my face.
I release it anyway at point-blank range against the diamond rank standing before me. I can feel him creating dozens of small layers of mana around his abdomen, all of them intended to resist my attack. His Jurisdiction also tries to weaken my construct.
The layers around him shatter one after another like fragile glass. The sword pierces his abdomen and emerges through the other side. The entirety of my accumulated power attempts to wreak havoc inside his body.
Both of us are blasted dozens of meters backward. The force of our attacks is powerful enough to send a diamond rank and a ruby rank strengthened to the level of a diamond rank flying through the air.
My body begins healing slowly while airborne because I first have to deal with the aftermath of his spell. The moment I land, I try to stand up as quickly as possible. I can’t remain still for even a second. If I do, I’ll die.
My organs have already recovered, but I’m still missing an arm. I stagger from side to side, and my vision is blurred. I’m more injured than I thought.
I feel a hand on the shoulder where my arm should be. I hadn’t noticed it because of how badly injured I am. My body reacts automatically. I swing my remaining arm.
My sword is stopped by a massive axe, and a metallic sound echoes through the battlefield.
“Easy there, boy. Leave the rest to me.” I see a bald man, and my body feels a slight sense of relief upon recognizing him. “But I think I’m going to need your help... things are about to become a little complicated.”
I turn toward the source of a dark and sinister mana gathering in the distance… the man is summoning something dreadful. I can feel the presence of a grade 5 monster.