"Golden Magic: Multiple Great Swords!"
Elowyn raised one of her hands, and several golden swords appeared around her. For a brief moment, they remained suspended in the air, pointed at Enrico. Then, all of them were fired at once.
Enrico observed the trajectory of the weapons and began to move. One sword passed close to his face, while another struck the ground where he had been a moment earlier. He continued advancing between the attacks, dodging the blades coming from different directions.
'This is going to be troublesome.'
As he moved, Enrico looked at Danyana. The tiger girl was trembling with anticipation, clearly eager to fight, but, for some reason, remained still.
That was strange.
From what he remembered of the story, Danyana was not the type of person who stood still and waited for her prey to be hunted by someone else. She liked to fight and would hardly miss an opportunity to face someone strong.
'Elowyn must have told her to interfere only if I'm close to being defeated.'
\[So she realized that someone was already hunting you and decided to wait?\]
"That's right."
Enrico dodged another golden sword and disappeared in a burst of speed.
"Charged Impulse."
His body advanced at an absurd speed.
Elowyn was still focused on controlling her swords when Enrico appeared behind her. He spun his body and landed a kick directly against her back.
"Ugh!"
The blow sent Elowyn forward. She crossed part of the field and crashed into a wall, destroying a large portion of it.
Enrico landed on the ground and immediately noticed a presence above him.
Deymon.
The boy watched everything with a demented smile. To him, this was the perfect moment. If Enrico was distracted by Elowyn, he could finally eliminate him.
"He's all yours, Kai."
Deymon did not even speak when he received a kick that violently pushed him away. His body flew through the air and entered one of the holes in the cliff.
He recovered before falling and looked toward the entrance.
Kai was there.
The sword in his hands was pointed directly at Deymon.
"You..."
Several black spheres appeared around Deymon.
"So it's you."
The spheres were fired one after another.
Kai assumed a defensive stance and began moving his sword. Every sphere that approached was deflected or cut before reaching him. Some exploded against the walls, spreading dark smoke throughout the area.
Deymon watched every movement with growing irritation.
"You've improved."
"Of course I have. If I didn't improve, how could I have my rematch?"
Kai advanced, and Deymon moved as well, trying to maintain his distance while launching more spheres.
"Red Corruption Sphere!"
One of the black spheres began to change color. Its surface turned red while a strange energy accumulated inside it. Deymon launched the attack directly at Kai.
"Crescent Slash!"
Kai swung his sword from bottom to top.
The slash cut through the corruption sphere, splitting it into two parts before it could explode. The blade continued advancing toward Deymon, forcing him to throw himself to the side.
He rolled across the ground and immediately stood up.
'If I want to go after Enrico, I need to finish this boy quickly.'
Deymon placed one hand on the ground, causing his Corruption Magic to rapidly spread throughout the area. The ground around Kai began to darken and lose its stability, cracking and collapsing at different points.
Kai had to jump onto a piece that was still intact before the earth beneath his feet disappeared, but Deymon continued corrupting the terrain, forcing him to move constantly.
A second piece of ground collapsed as soon as Kai landed, making him jump again, while Deymon took advantage of every moment to maintain his distance and control the battlefield.
'He's trying to stop me from getting close.'
Instead of continuing to simply retreat, Kai began observing the rhythm of the attacks. Deymon always waited for him to find a safe place before corrupting that area as well.
When another piece of ground began to crack, Kai decided to use it to his advantage. Taking advantage of his own momentum from the jump, he concentrated magic in his legs and advanced directly toward Deymon. His speed suddenly increased, catching his opponent off guard.
"Too fast!"
Kai appeared in front of him before Deymon could react and swung his sword.
"Crescent Slash!"
Deymon tried to block the blow, but the blade passed through his defense and opened a cut on his body. He staggered backward, trying to create distance again, but before Kai could continue the attack, Deymon reached out and touched his arm. A dark mark immediately appeared on his skin.
"What is this?"
Kai tried to pull his arm away, but the mark remained in the same place. Deymon stepped back several times, maintaining a safe distance while observing his opponent's expression.
"You'd better be careful, because this magic is already inside your body."
"And what does it do?"
"Like I'd tell you."
Kai looked at his own arm again. The area around the mark was slowly beginning to turn black, and a strange sensation traveled through his body. When he tried to close his hand, he realized that his movements were slightly heavier than before.
Deymon opened a contemptuous smile and continued retreating. That was a magic that drained the vitality and deteriorated the body of whoever was hit. He did not need to defeat Kai immediately; he only needed to maintain his distance and wait for the Corruption to advance. Even if the boy survived, he could still become incapable of fighting for the rest of his life.
'As long as he doesn't die, it's fine. Even if he can never lift a sword again.'
Several black spheres began to appear around Deymon. He launched them all at Kai, but this time, the boy did not run. He lowered his body, placed his sword behind him, and took a deep breath while watching the spheres approach.
"I'm going to try..."
It was the first time Kai would use his new magic in a battle. He concentrated his Ocean Magic into the sword, causing a large amount of water to accumulate around the blade. The pressure increased little by little until the water began moving like a current attached to the sword.
When the spheres came close, Kai advanced.
"Ocean Magic: Rising Tide!"
His slash released an enormous wave of water that advanced like a wall. The corruption spheres struck the wave, but were completely swallowed by the attack. The mass of water continued advancing and struck Deymon before he could escape.
"YOU BASTARD!"
Deymon was thrown backward, and several wounds appeared on his body. He managed to regain his balance a few meters later, but could not hide his surprise.
'How did this boy evolve so much?'
The strength Kai demonstrated immediately made him think of Enrico.
'And if this is his level now... then what level is Enrico at?'
The thought only increased his anger. Deymon created two new dark spheres and began concentrating even more Corruption into them, causing both to take on a red color.
"Red Corruption Sphere!"
The two spheres were launched at Kai at different speeds, trying to prevent him from escaping easily. Kai waited until they were close and swung his sword.
"Crescent Slash!"
The blade cut through the first sphere and dispersed it. Kai spun his body right afterward, using the same movement to strike the second one and cancel its magic as well. Without taking his eyes off Deymon, he continued advancing, taking advantage of the opening to prepare another technique.
"Dragging Current!"
A flow of water appeared on the ground and rapidly advanced toward Deymon. When it reached his feet, the current began pulling him toward Kai with a force similar to that of a current dragging someone toward the bottom of the sea.
Deymon tried to resist and immediately spread his Corruption through the water.
"Corruption!"
The water began to darken, and the force restraining his foot weakened. He managed to free one of his legs, but Kai was already too close.
"Crescent Slash!"
The sword struck his shoulder and opened a deep wound.
"Damn you!"
The pain and anger caused Deymon to completely lose his patience. He raised both hands and began gathering an enormous amount of magic. A black sphere appeared in front of him and continued growing until it reached the size of a small house.
This time, Deymon was no longer concerned about the consequences.
"Die!"
The enormous sphere advanced toward Kai.
"That attack is too slow."
Kai immediately realized that he could dodge. The problem was his right arm. The Corruption had already spread across his skin, and his fingers were becoming numb, making it difficult to use the sword.
Even so, he did not retreat.
He waited.
The sphere approached closer and closer until it was only a few meters away.
At the last instant, Kai concentrated magic in his legs and disappeared from the front of the attack. The sphere struck the ground and exploded, raising an enormous amount of dust.
Deymon looked around, trying to find his opponent.
"Where...?"
"To create this technique, I was inspired by Enrico."
Kai's voice came from behind.
He had appeared in Deymon's blind spot and, even with only one hand holding the sword, did not hesitate.
"Ocean Magic: Rising Tide!"
A new wave emerged from his sword and struck Deymon directly. The boy's body was dragged by the force of the water as he began to disappear.
"How...? I lost to a... simple subordinate?"
Deymon disappeared completely.
Kai remained still for a few seconds, breathing deeply. Then he looked at his own arm. The skin was still black, but the Corruption had stopped advancing. Apparently, Deymon had failed to make that effect permanent, although Kai had the impression that this could change in the future if he developed that magic even further.
He remembered the look of pure hatred Deymon had directed toward Enrico.
'This could be dangerous.'
"Should I eliminate him when I get the chance?"
Kai fell silent after hearing his own voice.
He immediately placed a hand on his head.
'Since when do I think like this?'
He had never thought about killing another human. At most, he wanted to defeat those he hated, like Enrico at the beginning. After a few seconds, he shook his head.
"I'd better talk to Enrico and let him know about this technique."
That was when he noticed something strange.
A small light began to appear on his arm. The dark skin left by the Corruption slowly began to recover.
"What is this?"
After a few seconds, it disappeared before Kai had the chance to fully understand it.