The air itself thickened. Evans aura flared violently as he leaped.
The nerker steadied itself, a dark purplish aura coiled around its body—not just its arms, it enveloped every part.
Evans struck with a lightning-fast stardust aura-embedded blade. It seemed to burn the atmosphere itself.
The Nerker struck its fist with terrifying speed.
Stardust blade struck with the purplish aura. Stardust prevailed.
Evans was faster. Too fast.
Stardust aura flared with chaotic hue as it pierced the Nerker, sending it hurled far away. The strike overwhelmed it. Evans had displayed something strange beyond anything else. Was Evans truly a mage? His mastery of the sword was beyond anything but ordinary.
The nerker lay. It didn't move, still stardust burning inside him. It was dead.
The battle between Evans and the Nerker concludes. Compared to Jin and Arivel's battle, Evans may appear small, but it was not true. Evans burned far more Spirit Energy, combining both Jin and Arivel.
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At the front of the battlefield. Ed engaged with Veneol, but Ed didn't fare any better. Veneol overwhelmed him while Ed's body piled wound after wound.
The battlefield was a disaster. Massive crater at random as a result of the clash between a youth and a nightmare lord. They spewed disaster with every clash. They exchanged blows at the speed of light.
"It's…too strong!" Ed spoke as he steadied himself, as he was out of breath. Veneol didn't have any noticeable injuries besides him burning a massive amount of demonic energy.
[Opponent is beyond the user's level]
The familiar voice echoed beside Ed's ears. Ed barely stood a chance against an entity like Veneol—Who was at the peak of the SS+ rank
Ed raised his sword.
Dark purple aura coiled around the blade. Then another energy enveloped a blue energy—the soul energy. Combined with these two, the impact would be catastrophic, but Veneol had a tough guard; breaking wasn't an easy feat.
Ed took the initiative and charged toward Veneol.
"It seems you haven't learned your lesson yet," Veneol spoke with a sarcastic smile as black tendrils formed around his feet. "How many tricks you pull; if you can't reach me, it's useless."
It was true Ed hadn't inflicted any sabotaging strike while he was constantly pilled up with severe wounds.
Ed didn't speak.
Slash!!
Ed simply spoke with his action. But this time he was faster—faster than Veneol.
Filthy blood splattered on the ground.
"Oh, so you can now keep up with my speed!" Veneol spoke in his tone laced with amusement. He was enjoying the battle, and so Veneol didn't want to end it. That was the sole reason Ed was still standing right now—otherwise, Veneol could do so.
"But…" Veneol's voice turned cold. His amused tone completely vanished, replaced with malevolence as if it was always there. Also, it was as if Veneol intended to step up his game.
'Veneol is beyond my level and yet…I'm alive as if I'm just his plaything. Realization struck Ed.
Veneol opened his mouth to speak, and so did he.
"Melevolent Blacks!" From the ground, hundreds... no thousands of black tendrils shot toward Ed.
Ed's eyes widened. The whole sky was covered with those tendrils—tendrils reached heaven itself. They had thorns that threatened to engulf the earth itself.
"If you can't handle these," Veneol spoke. The tendrils now descend from the sky, each threatening to end Ed's life. They surrounded him.
"There is no way you can reach me, mortal," Veneol smeared as he waved his hand downward as if directing the tendrils.
The tendrils engulfed Ed. The black tendrils of filth and disgust.
For a moment, there was no movement. Total stillness.
"I really thought he was the prophesied one the king informed us. What a pity," Veneol said as white flames coiled around unsteadily.
Then the atmosphere started to shift. The air thickened. Mist formed, and a cold breeze bit Veneol's skin.
"Mist?" Veneol's eyes narrowed. It was natural that there shouldn't be mist; it was summer, not winter. Then a particular place caught his attention.
"Yeah, of course. This isn't the end, huh?" Veneol said as a wide smile spread across his face.
Where Ed lay buried under thousands of tendrils, something strange was forming on those black tendrils. White cold hue spread on the blacks. Cracks started to appear.
First one, then two, and like that it spread across all tendrils. The black now became ghostly white—as if dry ice.
"Soul Decay." From the mountains of ghostly white tendrils, a voice spoke. Much colder mixed with malice.
Then, without warning.
Crashhhh!!
An ear-piercing sound fell on the battlefield. It was like thousands of glass shards shattered at once. Every eye on the battlefield turned to the exact place. Arivel, who had exhausted most of his spirit energy bewildered at the scene unfolding before him. Jin, with his battered body stunned. Evans, on the other side, was unconscious—the result of depleting all his spirit energy reserve.
When Jin and Arivel saw the tendrils engulf Ed, horror was visible on their face. They were the first to rush to Ed, hoping to save him, but the situation was out of hand. The thousand glass-shattering noises had caught them off guard. It was a sound never in life anyone heard. Even Arivel, who was one year older than they, didn't encounter such horror; he heard the noise of such magnitude.
Followed by the sound, the ghostly white tendrils broke down like glass. How was it possible? Weren't they strong enough to shatter the ground earlier? Then how. It was simple. Too simple, and the man behind it soon revealed himself. It was Ed. Somehow, he had survived and even destroyed the tendrils' power beyond anyone's comprehension. Anyone but—Ed alone and Veneol.
"It's the second time," Veneol spoke. Then he paused as if recalling a particular memory. Memory where a man with a plague doctor mask with green eyes had survived Veneol's strikes—No, he had overwhelmed him using strange abilities he never saw, and Veneol barely made it back to nightmarelands with his life. No, that's not it. That man let him escape, nothing else. But now appeared another man who not only survived but also shattered his ability itself. It uneased Veneol.
Veneol's expression hardened. He no longer played around.
He exerted his full strength without holding back!