"No chanting?!"
"Haha! Looks like you really are a powerful mage!"
"But your magic... Iâve never seen anything like it!"
BOOM!
His body trembled violently.
The water ring surrounding him shattered open with a ruptured gap.
Oh?
This was the first time someone of the same level had managed to break through one of his spells.
"No need to hold back!"
"Show me everything youâve got!"
"Make this fight enjoyable!"
The instant the water ring shattered, he was already charging straight toward Rei.
That burst of speedâwhile not quite as fast as the King of Aberrant Insects Rei had fought beforeâstill carried a similar feeling to the nation-destroying Bloodsting Needle Bee.
A Level 2 warrior moving this fast?
As expected... the one who ranked first always had some real skill.
Heart-Draw Sword.
A faint sense of danger flashed through Reiâs mind.
A barrier formed instantly before him.
Shing!
Yet the opponentâs hand merely rested on the sword hiltâhe hadnât even drawn the blade.
And stillâ
Reiâs barrier was sliced apart.
It could cut through his barrier?
The attack power had already surpassed the explosive output of a Tier-3 Monarch-class monster...
Unfortunately...
It had only cut through one layer.
Just as Rei reached that conclusionâ
Crackâ
Boom! Boom!
The next two barriers suddenly revealed thin sword marks as well. Both shattered immediately after.
Whooshâ
In almost the blink of an eye, the man closed the distance and arrived directly in front of Rei.
His hand still pressed against the hilt.
His body leaned forward slightly, poised as though he were about to draw and strike.
Then, in that same instantâ
He pivoted sharply.
A ring of sword light erupted around him and shot outward in the opposite direction from Rei.
BOOM!
Along the path of the slash, massive stone walls rose up.
The strike cleaved straight through two heavy walls and the barrier behind them.
Meanwhile, the Rei standing beside him dissolved into drifting water mist.
Far awayâalong the path where the sword light had flownâstood the real Rei.
[Water Magic: Mist Phantom (Tier-2) (LV:201)]
At the moment the phantom vanished, the entire battlefield filled with thick fog.
[Water Magic: Deep Hazy Mist (Tier-2) (LV:201)]
BOOM!
At the exact moment the fog eruptedâ
[Earthfire Ascension][Flame Vine Whiplash][Dense Thorn Field]...
The warriorâAtlandoâfelt a surge of alarm.
A deadly sense of danger descended instantly.
BANG!
He dodged the ground turning red as molten earthfire burst upward, landing among the tangled thorns.
He tried to cut them apartâonly to discover the thorns were as hard as steel.
His hurried strike couldnât sever them all.
When he landed, several steel-hard thorns pierced straight through his legs.
Immediately afterâ
Dozens of flaming vines rose into the air, writhing wildly as they lashed down toward him like blazing whips.
Not once had he heard the boy chant a spell.
And yet these terrifying magics kept appearing out of thin air.
All of them... instant cast?
"Haha!"
"Now this is exciting!"
"Youâre exactly the kind of opponent Iâve been looking for!"
"Only someone like you can make this battle truly enjoyable!"
"Come! Letâs make it even better!"
Battle intent surged within him.
A scorching wave of heat rushed forward.
He looked up.
The flaming vines descended like a blazing dragon crashing down upon him.
Heart-Draw Sword: Rapid Chaos Slash!
Slash!
In a single instant, dozens of flaming vines were cut apart.
A second slash burst forth, sweeping violently through the mistâ
Carving a clear path through the fog.
At the end of that path stood Rei, staff in hand.
"Judging by your age, you must be one of those geniuses who awakened early!"
"Iâve heard that the Kumironi only choose the most promising youths to awaken!"
"You must be one of them!"
BANG!
He lunged straight at Rei.
Blood sprayed through the air as his injured legs moved mid-leap.
Before he even reached Reiâ
His battle skill had already activated.
[Heart-Draw Sword: Rapid Chaos Slash]
Rei didnât move.
Yet around himâ
Layer upon layer of shields appeared instantly.
SHING!
DUDUDUDU!
[Resilient Water Ring Shield][Encasing Stone Dome][Repulsion Wind Guard][Dark Erosion Ring Shield][Thick Molten Lava Shield]...
The slash struck the Resilient Water Ring Shield, compressing it inward like a dull blade striking a rubber ball. Most of the force was instantly absorbed.
The remaining power struck the Repulsion Wind Guard.
CLANGâ
The slash was immediately deflected away.
It didnât even touch the inner layersâDark Erosion Ring Shield or Encasing Stone Dome.
What terrifying defensive magic...
By now, Atlando had nearly reached Reiâs position.
Rei casually waved his hand.
Countless invisible wind blades slashed outward.
"Draw Sword: Rising Dragon!"
SHING!
A rising slash surged upward.
Sword energy exploded outward on both sides, scattering every wind blade aside as it cleaved toward Reiâs body.
Oh?
So he finally drew his sword.
BOOM!
Yet when that sword energy collided with Reiâs shieldsâit still failed to break through.
The attack pierced through the Resilient Water Ring Shield, cut into the Repulsion Wind Guard, and slammed into the Encasing Stone Domeâ
But even then, it failed to shatter the stone.
"Interesting!"
"Youâre the first opponent of the same level whoâs made me draw my sword since him!"
His movements suddenly accelerated.
After drawing the blade, he didnât stop attacking.
Instead, his strikes poured down like a raging storm.
Compared to his earlier attacks while the sword remained sheathedâ
Now that the blade was drawn, his speed had clearly increased.
The power of each strike had also grown far more ferocious.
BOOM!
One slash alone cut through three layers of Reiâs defensive barriers.
[Heart-Sword Unity: Frenzied Armor-Breaking Dance]
Slash!
Nine strikes in a single instant!
The piercing sword energy swept through, instantly shattering the shields surrounding Reiâeven reaching the Dark Erosion Ring Shield layer.
Yet almost the moment the shields shatteredâ
They instantly regenerated.
Sword wind lifted Reiâs hair slightly.
This uncle really was strong.
Despite being only Level 2, his combat ability probably rivaled a Tier-3 Monarch-class monster.
His strength and speed both rivaled the Bloodsource Monarch Rei had faced before.
No...
Perhaps they even exceeded it.
This man probably had the ability to solo kill a Tier-3 Monarch.
For a brief moment during his burst of power, he even resembled the Bloodsting Needle Bee.
Though his sustained speed wasnât quite as fast afterward.
Rei raised his hand again.
Forty-two ice lances appeared.
These were thinner than before, spinning far faster.
They darted through the air like needles, circling inward toward Atlando.
Yet the sword wind swept outwardâ
BANG!
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Every ice lance exploded in succession.
But frost spread across his blade, creeping up along his arm.
Atlando shook his sword, dispersing the ice.
Cold vapor escaped his mouth as he grinned wildly.
"You really are a powerful enemy!"
His gaze shifted to Reiâs feet.
Up until nowâ
Rei had stood in the same place without taking a single step.
Click.
Atlando sheathed his sword again.
"AAAHHH!"
With a roar, his skin suddenly turned crimson.
White steam erupted from his entire body.
The next instantâ
BOOM!
A sweeping slash blasted forwardâ
Reiâs four layers of shields shattered instantly.
[Water Shield][Stone Dome][Wind Guard][Dark Shield]
The attack was finally stopped by the Thick Molten Lava Shield.
"You... must be a mage who has comprehended Origin Magic, right?"
"Let me see... your origin!"
"AAAHHHâ!!"
[Rage Burst]
"HA!"
BOOM!
A shockwave exploded outward from Atlandoâs body.
The dense fog covering the battlefield was instantly blasted away.
Rei watched as he charged forwardâ
One slash.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six...
A total of seventeen strikes launched almost simultaneously.
Such incredible speed.
At that rate, he should be able to break through Reiâs defenses.
BOOM!
In the blink of an eye, sword light flashed.
At lastâ
The attack completely shattered the nine layers of shields surrounding Rei.
And struck his body.
But the moment the blade touched himâ
Splashâ
Mist spread outward.
Reiâs entire body dissolved into drifting water vapor.
Fake...?
Atlando froze for a moment, then snapped his head around.
Across the battlefieldâ
Different versions of Rei stood in various corners.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five...
Seventeen Rei.
Each wore identical clothing.
Each was surrounded by those same nearly unbreakable shields.
Wait...
When had he moved?
Why hadnât he noticed that the Rei he attacked was fake?
The first phantom earlierâ
Atlondo had recognized it almost immediately upon approaching.
But this oneâ
He only realized it was fake after the strike landed.
Rei chuckled quietly in the shadows.
Of course you couldnât tell.
The Dark Erosion Ring Shield blurred detection and perception.
Anyone looking through it from outside would see nothing but a hazy shadow.
You couldnât even clearly see what was insideâ
Let alone distinguish the real body from a phantom.
As for the first illusionâ
Back then Rei hadnât activated the shields yet.
Atlondo had only noticed once he got close.
BOOM!
Atlondo burst forward again.
Oh... so he increased his burst power.
PFFT!
A phantom shattered.
Seventeen Reis were scattered randomly around the battlefield.
Earthfire.
Thorns.
Vines.
Seas of flame.
Waves of fire.
They all surged from every direction, relentlessly hunting Atlondo.
He smashed through stone walls.
Dodged eruptions of earthfire.
Severed vines.
Split apart fire waves.
Even ran across the sea of flamesâscattering the fire beneath his feet.
Yet cold sweat formed on Atlondoâs forehead.
The pressure... was enormous.
Destroy a few spellsâand more appeared.
How could he control so many spells at once?
And why were all of them instant-cast?
He had fought Monsheel before.
But the feeling Rei gave him... was completely different.
"Letâs increase the intensity a little."
Hidden within the mist, Rei lightly pressed his hand downward.
BOOM!
Every spell doubled instantly.
Hundreds of flaming vines and poison vines rose skyward, forming a dense jungle overhead.
Thorns completely covered the ground.
Every inch was filled with razor-hard spikes.
The sea of flames surged forward, igniting the thorn field.
Atlondo felt the pressure explode upward.
[Heart-Draw Sword: Extreme Rapid Chaos Slash]
Sword light flashed wildly.
He cut down vines attacking from every direction.
But even after severing a large portionâ
More remained behind them.
And the ice lances and wind blades were already closing in.
Before one wave endedâ
Another had already arrived.
BOOM!
A sweep of sword wind shattered a wave of spells near himâ
But lightning flashes, falling boulders, and stone arms crashed down immediately afterward.
Heyâ
Was this really the pressure a Level 2 mage should be capable of?
It was endless.
He shattered stone arms.
Dodged lightning.
Avoided falling rocks.
And thenâ
The sky filled with countless ice lances again.
The sea of flames had already reached his feet.
There wasnât even a moment to breathe.
Yet the more intense the battle becameâ
The faster his heart pounded.
This was the fight he had always longed for.
This was the opponent he had been searching for.
Reiâ
You truly are a powerful enemy who can make me fight with everything I have!
BOOM!
He smashed through two more incoming spells.
His body was now covered in blood.
His legs were torn apart by thorns.
Even his feet had caught fire, flames burning against his skin.
Was he about to lose?
About to be defeated?
Was he already cornered?
That feeling surged up inside him.
That stepâ
It felt like he could finally take it.
Spell after spell continued attacking him relentlessly.
They didnât slow even as his condition deteriorated.
And among the seventeen Reis, he still couldnât tell which one was real.
Or perhapsâ
The real one wasnât even among them.
"Good! Very good!"
"Come at me!"
"Let me break all your magic!"
He closed his eyes.
His hand rested on the sword hilt.
His heart pounded like war drums.
His blood roared through his veins.
Wasnât this exactly the powerful enemy he had been seeking?
I can become stronger.
I will defeat this enemy.
I will prove that I am the strongest.
Battle intent condensed within his heart.
All the accumulation of his lifeâ
All the preparationâ
In this momentâ
It erupted.
His state of mind suddenly reached perfect clarity.
He opened his eyes again.
Everything... seemed to slow down.
Sight.
Hearing.
Smell.
Touch.
Taste.
Even instinctâ
All of it became unbelievably sharp.
Ah...
So this was Total Clarity of the Five Senses.
More than twenty years...
And at last, he had grasped it.
He glanced once at the incoming spells.
Then looked toward a distant corner of the battlefield.
In that instantâ
Rei felt their gazes meet.
The real body had been found.
BANG!
Before Rei even saw anything clearlyâ
A white trail of compressed air appeared behind Atlondo as he arrived directly in front of him.
An unbelievably fast burst of speed.
He completely ignored the spells attacking him from behind.
Oh...
Not bad.
Rei heard his lips move slightly.
A quiet whisper followed.
"Itâs over."
"Interesting opponent."
[Draw Sword: Soaring Piercing Dragon Flash]
BOOM!
The attack exploded forward, piercing toward Reiâs body.
CLANG!
But the expected instant kill never came.
The blade struck a barrierâ
And failed to penetrate even a fraction.
Rei spoke calmly.
"Impressive."
It had actually pierced through twelve layers of shields...
Three water shields.
Three wind shields.
Three dark shields.
Three stone shields.
And finallyâ
It had been stopped by a barrier embedded within the stone shields.
Inside that...
There were still fifteen additional layers of other shields remaining.