Veneol's instincts screamed at him. He knew at this point that underestimating Ed would cost him more than an arm—his life.
Malevolent aura surged. A crushing pressure descended on the battlefield. The ground trembles with each step Veneol takes. The ground breaks and trembles.
But Ed simply stood in the same place. Top of the shattered tendrils. Ed's appearance was different. Too different.
His snow white hair appeared longer, and it was dark—now not quite white, something between dim and light. Dark gray while maintaining the white. His eyes were now black—obsidian black. It was hollow. Total hollow like a void itself.
Those eyes were just terrifying and something ancient.
"Hey," Ed spoke with his cold voice. His voice was ruthless, devouring the silence like a huge maw of a feral beast.
Ed lifted his gaze and met the eye of Veneol.
"Veneol, what do you think defines one's worth?" Ed asked with the same voice—unwavering and steady.
"I think it's—"
"Its power," Ed interjected Veneol, who couldn't finish his sentence.
"You really are a rude human," Veneol said, annoyed. The interruption got to his nerves. Who could blame him? No one disrespected him like that, not even that masked fellow.
Ed took a step forward.
Suddenly, the air around Ed thickened, and a strange gray glow shrouded him. The ground started to rot.
"Soul Corruption: Distortion style," Ed said coldly.
His gray glow began to spread widely and stopped after it crossed a large area within that range. Only Ed and Veneol stood.
Veneol backstepped, hoping to go outside of the range, but in an instant, the radius increased. It was no use, Ed's strange ability would follow Veneol no matter how far he went. The ground started to melt, and the air dissolved the demonic energy.
Ed raised his sword, and the gray energy flowed into it.
Ed leaped toward Veneol.
Veneol charged without restraint, exerting the full strength of SS+ rank nightmare lord Callibar.
"Purpul Vortex Distortion!" Veneol shouted as the ground once again shuddered.
It was the same attack, but the numbers of the tendrils were on another level. The whole battlefield acted as Veneol's domain.
They shot toward Ed.
Ed merely raised his left arm, gripping the sword hilt.
Ed swung
Arcs of gray slash shot toward the tendrils. It was odd that Ed tried to cut the tendrils; they were everywhere.
But—
Instead of the strike vanishing, it cut through those thick tendrils; not only that, like before on contact with the strike, they took the form of ghostly white.
Then they all froze like frost.
Shatter!!!
The tendrils once again shattered like glass. The noise reverberated in the whole battlefield.
"This soul is vile…" Ed muttered under his breath as he examined the absorbed tendrill soul. His expression twisted.
He took a step forward and paused.
Ed leaped toward Veneol.
Pitch-black shadows coiled around Veneol. The shadows pressed against Veneol's ashen gray arms, and a black gauntleted-like thing rested on his arms. Veneol had manipulated those shadows. The black, shadowy gauntlets coiled with black demonic filth energy.
Veneol charged. Now he had abandoned his defense. All this time, he was fighting like a mag,e but now he had switched his fighting style to brute strength. But could he exert greater strength as a physical fighter? Normally, it would be impossible if Veneol weren't a battle mage.
Battle mage; a very rare class having the potential to be both swordsman, brawler, mage, and summoner. A class many dreamed of, but only a few get out of a thousand; only five people get a battle mage class.
"Battle…mage, that's tricky," Ed muttered as a gray aura dense around his sword. The soil burned ashen gray smokes rose. The soils became damp and soft.
"Soul corruption," Ed spoke.
Ed swung his sword.
Veneol ducked.
Behind Veneol, mountains erased—no, they started to rot and vanished.
The ground shattered. Blacks formed. Then black spikes erupted.
They charged toward Ed.
Ed doudged and lunged at Veneol.
Slash!!!
A huge, massive gush of wound appeared on Veneol's torso.
It was first that Ed had wounded Veneol of that scale—yet it wasn't enough, soon the wound closed. Not regeneration only closed meaning the damage was still there.
Without taking a break, Ed lunged again, not giving Veneol any chance to counterattack.
Corrupted Soul Blade clashed against Black shadowy gautlets.
Swishhh!!
They exchanged blows.
They were now equal. But Ed was more wounded. Compared to his strikes, his wounds were severe, but despite that, Ed fought. No matter what was fueling him, it was willpower. No, something primal.
They exchanged blows again.
Black blood splattered on the ground.
Corrupted Soul Blade prevailed. Shadowy gauntlets lost attrition of strength.
The air, atmosphere started to return to normal.
'It's too early,' Ed's mind raced. Strength leaving his body. It was as if he was constantly drained. It was obvious Ed didn't have full control over his new power, which he recently awakened, on the verge of death. Once mastered, Ed would be unstoppable, but now isn't the time yet.
The gray light enveloping Ed starts to fade away slowly. His aura returns to normal as before. Now Ed could rely on Soul and Spirit Energy, nothing else. But can he win with these two against an SS+ nightmare lord? The answer was simple—no, he could not, no matter what; Ed was only a human. Mere an A-rank. But his true rank was B. The leverage of soul energy ascended his rank to A. But his body was of B-ranked.
"You have run out of fuel, haven't you?" Veneol smiled as he asked.
Ed didn't reply.
Veneol's smile widened. It confirmed all his doubts.
"Here and now you will die!" Veneol snorted.
BOOM!
A deafening noise tore through the silence as if engulfing its vocal cords.
A huge black spike rushed toward Ed, threatening to end Ed's life.
It was fast.
Too fast.
"So this is how I die, huh?" Ed let out a self-mocking laugh. That was what Ed could all do. There wasn't any time, and his brain couldn't keep up and think up a strategy. But instead of fear, Ed laughed, which is what shocked Veneol.
The spike struck Ed, going for his chest.
But—
It stopped before Ed's chest.
"We can't have the pure soul die on us this early, can we?" An unknown voice spoke. The spike had stopped before Ed's chest.
Nothing moved. Everything simply stopped. Veneol, Arrival, Jin, no exception, but only Ed. He alone could move.
"Pure vessel…Or I should call you Ed Orves." A man entered the battlefield in the hood.
The man revealed his face, unveiling the hood covering his face.