"Let's see... At this level, are you still stronger than me? I'll have to try a little harder. But I'm only one percent away, so it's fine."
Enrico brought his hand to his chest, positioning it directly over his heart. His fingers slowly closed, as if he were grasping something inside his own body. Then, he twisted his hand. An explosion of mana erupted from his chest, and the Third Circle finally manifested.
The pressure released was enough to make Tilios retreat. However, before he could be sent flying away, Enrico grabbed him with absurd strength, preventing him from escaping the range of his next attack.
Tilios's eyes widened.
"You..."
A fist wreathed in flames struck his ribs.
The impact sent Tilios flying to the right. He managed to remain standing after sliding across the ground, but his expression showed that he still couldn't understand what was happening. Even if Enrico had just reached the Third Circle, that shouldn't have been enough to overcome the power difference between them.
After all, Tilios had also just evolved and reached the Fourth Circle.
Enrico noticed the confusion written across his opponent's face and broke into an even wider smile.
"You must be wondering how this is possible, right? Let's just say I'm not using only human strength."
"What do you mean by that?"
"That's the only answer I'm going to give you. Now, let's continue, because I'm running out of time."
Without waiting for another question, Enrico grabbed Tilios by the hood and hurled him toward the river. The hooded man's body slammed violently into a rock before falling into the water.
At that moment, something different was happening inside Enrico's body.
Where his heart should have been, a core resembling that of a Nartheis had taken its place, temporarily modifying the structure of his essence. Because of this transformation, Enrico had partially become a Nartheis, reaching the level of a Level 2 Faizes at most during those brief moments.
This explained the absurd change in his strength.
Although he had just reached the Third Circle as a mage, his temporary transformation allowed him to fight with power equivalent to that of a Fourth Circle mage. In practice, he was now at the same level as Tilios, who had also just evolved.
Enrico had no intention of wasting that opportunity.
"Come on! Entertain me!"
He charged forward and kicked Tilios, sending him into a deeper part of the river. The hooded man reacted by summoning several shadowy blades that appeared around him and pierced his opponent's body at various points.
Even so, Enrico showed no concern. Now that he had partially become a Nartheis, his body could better withstand that kind of attack.
"Double Flaming Shot!"
A more solid bow appeared in his hands, and two flaming arrows were fired almost simultaneously. The projectiles pierced Tilios's shoulders, opening two holes and destroying the shadowy arm that had emerged from his body.
The hooded man screamed in pain but had no time to recover.
"Giant Shadow Claws!"
A gigantic claw of darkness emerged from the water, raising a large amount of water around it. With its palm open, it attempted to crush Enrico against the surface of the river.
The boy stepped onto a nearby rock and used Charged Impulse to change direction rapidly. He then charged at Tilios and landed a direct blow to his stomach. The hooded man's body bent forward from the impact.
Enrico took advantage of the opening to check the countdown that remained in his field of vision.
[31]
'It seems I've already reached the halfway point. The others must have woken up too, so I'd better continue with the plan.'
He brought his hand to his face and tore off the cross-shaped mark that had appeared over his left eye. Then, he let his hair cover that area, hiding the changes caused by the unknown presence.
Upon noticing Tilios trying to get out of the river, Enrico prepared the next stage of his strategy.
Kael appeared behind the hooded man, wearing the hood again to continue concealing his identity. The clone grabbed Tilios from behind, restraining his arms and preventing him from escaping immediately.
'You bastard...'
Tilios tried to break free but noticed something unsettling: Kael's strength seemed greater than before.
That made no sense. This boy had already demonstrated an irritating ability, but he shouldn't have enough strength to hold him back like that.
Unless he had evolved too. The possibility sent Tilios into despair. He gathered mana and released a burst of dark energy, violently pushing Kael away.
'I need to get out of here!'
The hooded man managed to reach the riverbank and climb out of the water, breathing deeply as he tried to catch his breath. For a brief moment, he believed he had managed to create enough distance to gather his thoughts.
Then, Enrico appeared in front of him.
A kick struck his body, sending him flying backward again. Before he could regain his balance, Kael appeared beside him and drove a water spear into his face, inflicting a deep cut.
"Aaahh! You bastard!"
Tilios staggered, bringing his hand to the wound.
Now that Enrico had reached the Third Circle, the clone had also received improvements. Its duration had increased, and its appearance had become more solid, although its body was still composed of water.
However, the transformation hadn't benefited only the clone.
'It wasn't just my clone that improved.'
Enrico's ring had also evolved, as had the water necklace Kael carried. These changes had provided the clone with an additional amount of mana, further increasing its combat capabilities.
Enrico checked the countdown again.
[23]
'Let's act like a perfect team.'
The two advanced in perfect sync. While Kael distracted Tilios from the front, Enrico moved to find an opening. Within moments, a water spear struck the hooded man's back, followed by a kick that hit his face.
Tilios was sent flying to the side, but instead of continuing to attack, he began murmuring incomprehensible words. Dark energy enveloped his body, and his wounds slowly began to close.
Enrico narrowed his eyes as he noticed the change.
The hooded man finished the incantation and, without giving the two time to react, grabbed their legs and hurled them into the trees behind them.
The trunks shook from the impacts. Enrico stood up with difficulty, feeling the weight of his own injuries.
'This guy is getting stronger. He must be receiving help from his evil god... If I can't defeat him, Saul will have to do that.'
He didn't like the idea. He had prepared that plan to avoid resorting to that alternative, but if Tilios continued evolving like that, there might be no other choice.
Kael, meanwhile, was already moving again.
The clone charged directly at Tilios, giving the impression that he intended to face him head-on. The hooded man reacted by creating a shadowy sphere in his hand, preparing to crush him with a single blow.
However, just as he was about to attack, Kael created a water spear beneath his own feet and used it as a foothold to leap over his opponent.
The clone passed over Tilios's head and kicked him in the back. The impact pushed the hooded man forward. Unable to stop his own momentum, he slammed violently into the ground.
A massive explosion destroyed that part of the riverbank, scattering rocks and water throughout the area. Smoke rose, completely concealing both combatants.
Tilios tried to locate his opponents but couldn't see anything. When the cloud began to dissipate, an unexpected blow struck his chin, launching him into the air and out of the dust-covered area before he fell into the river.
[16]
"Water Vortex!"
The water around Tilios began to spin violently, forming a whirlpool that pulled him downward. For a moment, he lost control of his own body, dragged along by the magical current. Then, the vortex launched him into the air, where a rain of flaming arrows appeared above him, striking his body repeatedly and hurling him back to the ground.
Tilios crashed down violently, causing another wave of destruction.
'How can these two work so well as a team?'
The coordination between Enrico and Kael was terrifying. One attacked the moment the other created an opening, wasting no movements or allowing Tilios to regain his balance completely. However, the hooded man still hadn't been defeated.
"Stone Skin!"
A layer of rock covered his body, protecting him from the following attacks. From that moment onward, he was hurled from side to side by a sequence of blows while Enrico and Kael tried to find a way to pierce his defenses.
The seconds kept passing. With only seven seconds left, Enrico gathered what remained of his mana and prepared another Flaming Shot.
The arrow cut through the air at high speed and struck Tilios directly, triggering an explosion of fire that consumed part of the river's water and made the ground tremble from the force of the impact. When the flames finally dissipated, a vast area of the surface had been destroyed, leaving behind a trail of steam, debris, and boiling water.
Enrico observed the result of the attack while trying to catch his breath, feeling the weight of the effort that had accumulated in his body.
'What a hard guy to kill...'
But before he could think of another attack, he heard Tilios scream.
"PLEASE, MY GOD! GIVE ME MORE POWER SO I CAN KILL THEM! I BEG YOU WITH ALL MY HEART!"
A shadow began spreading across the hooded man's body. The dark energy grew increasingly dense, enveloping his limbs and distorting his silhouette. His body turned completely black as spikes began emerging across its entire surface. The transformation continued until his appearance became monstrous.
When he raised his head, his eyes were wide open, and his gaze seemed consumed by madness.
"Thank you, my God!"
Tilios let out a deafening scream.
All the spikes that had emerged from his body were fired simultaneously, turning into a rain of shadowy projectiles. The attacks spread throughout the area, piercing trees and passing through everything in their path.
Kael was struck by several spikes, but because he was a water clone, he managed to withstand the damage without suffering any injuries.
Enrico, on the other hand, concentrated as much mana as possible within his body and tried to resist the onslaught. Even with the protection provided by his transformation, he felt the force of the attacks pierce through his defense.
'This idiot thinks he has received more power, but this only confirms that he's going to be used as a sacrifice. He hasn't even realized that he's become weaker.'
The evil god's intervention hadn't made Tilios invincible. On the contrary, something about that transformation seemed to be consuming part of his original strength, as if his body were being prepared for another purpose.
Despite this, the attack remained extremely powerful.
The force of the explosion and the spikes sent Enrico flying away, making his body travel through the air until he reached the waterfall.
He tried to stabilize himself but couldn't prevent his fall. His body disappeared into the rushing water, dragged downward by the current.
[3]
'It seems my time is up... What a shame. At least now things have become easier for him to do what he was planning. It's bad to lose this opportunity, but we need to survive...'
Enrico closed his eyes. For a moment, everything fell silent. Then, he opened them again.
The unknown presence had disappeared, and his body returned to normal.
"...What happened? I don't remember anything."
The system appeared in front of him, looking quite desperate.
[Enrico, I'm back! I don't know what happened, but an unknown Constellation interfered. We couldn't see anything for a while. Do you really not remember?]
'No. I only remember being on the ground. After that, everything went dark.'
Enrico tried to understand what had happened, but his memory ended at the moment he had granted that voice control over his body.
Above the waterfall, dark attacks continued to be launched, causing explosions that could be seen even from that distance.
The sight reminded him of the situation he was in, and he also realized something important.
He had evolved to the Third Circle.
'Damn it... It looks like he's about to be sacrificed. That means the evil god intends to use him as a bomb to obtain even more sacrifices.'
Enrico needed to act immediately. He couldn't allow Tilios to complete the ritual and cause even greater destruction.
As he regained his balance, he began gathering mana in his fire bow. He still had one card up his sleeve. He hadn't used it before because, while he was in the Second Circle, the attack wouldn't have been powerful enough to produce the desired result.
Now, with the evolution he had just achieved, the circumstances were different.
Even so, Enrico didn't want to resort to that technique. There were risks involved, and he preferred to find another solution before making such an extreme decision.
Therefore, while concentrating mana on the bowstring, he began preparing one last attempt.