To his credit, however, the Black Swordsman fended each and every spell or attack, his sword flas.h.i.+ng out. An obsidian gleam in the maelstrom of fury, he perfectly deflected each elemental spell and strike with precise movements. His defense was flawless and impenetrable.

At least that was the impression I received, until I saw blood drip onto the ground. Despite his best efforts, even the Black Swordsman couldn't intercept every spell or attack. Several had rammed home, scorching his armor and somehow penetrating his protection. Probably a spell found a c.h.i.n.k in his armor and burrowed within, cutting deeply into the fragile flesh underneath.

Even so, the Black Swordsman didn't falter. He swung his sword and unleashed a black wave of mana that knocked us back. I was somehow able to guard against it, ice forming a thick barrier between me and the Black Swordsman. Even so, I was flung back while buffeted by the shockwaves.

My Celestial Guardians flipped back and landed agilely, while Vermillion Phoenix ascended to the skies above in an effort to avoid getting tossed about. Hydra struck from behind, its many heads biting and snapping at the Black Swordsman.

Aware that he couldn't simply cut off his heads, the strongest Grimaldus warrior-mage leaped back and instead used the flat edge of his sword to fend them off. Black mana erupted from the obsidian blade and enveloped Hydra, causing my t.i.tanic Constellation spirit to fall back, screeching.

Then White Tiger slashed the Black Swordsman from behind, his claws somehow penetrating the armor and drawing geysers of blood. Lethal lightning crackled across the scorched black armor, and the swordsman yelled out in pain and fury.

"!!��

White Tiger was barely able to leap away when a pillar of destructive black mana burst from the swordsman's body, engulfing the field and carving a molten crater in the earth. All of us kept our distance, cautiously watching the Black Swordsman. The moment his spell stopped, Vermillion Phoenix immediately unleashes his flames upon the heavily breathing Black Swordsman, engulfing him in a ferocious inferno that supposedly reached the temperatures of the sun itself.

That should have done it…yet why did I still have this ominous feeling that it wasn't over yet? The atmosphere – rendered suffocating by the presence of the Black Swordsman – remained unchanged. That meant that the source was still alive.

The flames vanished, extinguished by a single swing of the enemy's sword. The Black Swordsman stood, unbowed, his armor glowing red-hot from the heat. Fumes continued to billow upward, but he gathered his dark, purplish mana around him to cool himself off and return his heavily damaged armor to its original color. Not restoration or repairing his armor – his magic wasn't that omnipotent – but he could move again without being hindered by the press of molten metal damaging his body rather than protecting it.

Hydra was the first to move, lunging forward as if to devour him. The Black Swordsman swung about, his sword sweeping in a wide arc. It wasn't the blade that cut into Hydra, but rather a shadowy shockwave that was unleashed from his movement that blasted Hydra back.

While he was distracted, Green Dragon seized the chance to swoop in, flower petals swarming about him before spiraling downward in a deadly dance to slice the Black Swordsman apart. For a moment, it appeared that the Black Swordsman had resigned himself to his demise, his hands lowered but still gripping his sword. He didn't move an inch, waiting for the attack to hit.

"!!!"

And then black mana erupted from his sword. The Black Swordsman held his sword up high, and I watched, momentarily transfixed by the enormous vortex that now swirled around his exquisite, obsidian blade.

With a single swing, he sent a collosal tide of destruction across the field. Before anyone could move, he was blasting the entire area apart, obliterating it with astronomical quant.i.ties of black mana. My whole world seemingly disappeared in inky darkness.

Boom!

The black mana turned into a gigantic sphere, a shadowy conflagration that ate away and left a crater almost a kilometer in radius. Gra.s.s instantly disintegrated, and molten rock glowed red-hot, the remnants of the scorched earth. Everything that had been caught in the blast was instantly annihilated by the devastating energies, be it Celestial Guardian or Constellation spirit.

"Ugh…!"

My body fuming furiously, I staggered out of the smokes and collapsed. Bloodied and broken all over, I almost couldn't stand. Taking a deep breath, I did my best to stem my wounds, to alleviate some of my pain by directing mana toward the most damaged parts.

"Incredible. You're still alive."

The Black Swordsman strode toward me, sounding impressed. I glared at him defiantly and coughed, blood leaking from my mouth.

d.a.m.n it…was that an Anti-Fortess n.o.ble Phantasm…I mean, an apocalyptic spell? My Hydra and three Celestial Guardians were wiped out in one blast. One b.l.o.o.d.y blast!

The good news was that it didn't seem like he could spam such a destructive spell and the casting time required to pull it off was obviously long. Otherwise he would have obliterated me and my Constellation spirits right from the start.

The Black Swordsman thrust his sword at me, but I managed to roll to my knees and parry his blade with both of my swords. The forceful blow sent me tumbling back, my body hitting the ground and bouncing a few meters away. Even so, I made use of the momentum to put a good distance between myself and my a.s.sailant, and flipped my body upward to land on my feet.

"Huff…"

Wiping the blood from my mouth, I glared at my foe. He regarded me behind that visor of his, glowing red eyes blazing in the darkness, and then advanced forward.

"Scary," I murmured. Straightening up, I cast another spell and felt its divine aura wrap around my battered body, coalescing into one of my strongest armaments. "Hercules!"

Golden armor materialized around me, encasing my body in divine protection. Strength filled my limbs, power coursed through my body and I felt rejuvenated once more. Holding my ground, I met the Black Swordsman's charge. My foe had noticed something was up, and he had dashed forward with his sword in an attempt to stop me.

But he was too late.

Emboldened by Hercules, I withstood his first blow. The ground beneath my feet cracked and shattered, the crater becoming deeper, but I held firm. Gritting my teeth, I retaliated with both of my swords, a ferocious counterattack that actually drove the Black Swordsman back. Surprised, he parried my strikes and answered with a riposte, but I smacked it away with the side of my gauntlet and slashed down upon him.

The Black Swordsman whirled away avoiding my strike completely, but the moment Hei Yue hit the ground, my black blade split open a fissure.

"!!"

The Black Swordsman stared at me, astonished for a millisecond. But he was a consummate professional on the battlefield and didn't waste time on idle chatter. With a roar, he swung his sword, but I blocked it with Bai Ri. The ground beneath us shook from the collosal impact that resulted from the collision of blades, but neither of us yielded.

Instead, our strikes became faster, more precise, stronger. We exchanged over hundreds of blows, our swords smas.h.i.+ng mercilessly against each other, sending tremors across the ground. To another person, we must have appeared like blurs, golden and black flashes clas.h.i.+ng against each other with movements too fast for their eyes to follow. Each exchange was like thunder, metal screeching against metal. Our auras and mana crashed against each other with the fury of lightning and tsunamis, threatening to engulf and devour the other.

Black versus gold. Black and white against black. Even as we continued to trade ferocious blows, our duel leaving more scars in the earth and reshaping the already devastated terrain further. My arms were growing numb, even when imbued with demiG.o.d strength, but I grimly soldiered on, enduring the onslaught and giving as much as I received.

For now, we were locked in a stalemate, neither of us able to gain the upper hand in our clash. I wasn't sure if this would be a good idea, considering that I would run out of mana soon. Hercules was a very energy-consuming technique and I had no idea just how deep the Black Swordsman's reserves ran.

I had no choice but to take a gamble, to break the current stalemate.

Taking a deep breath, I took a step forward, slicing at him. The Black Swordsman – being the superlative warrior that he was – couldn't fail to see the tiny gap in my defenses. He twirled his sword around and locked my arms, managing to pry Bai Ri from the grip of my left hand. The white sword spun wildly in the air, and I desperately tried to strike with Hei Yue before he could pull his sword back. However, he managed to deflect my black blade before reversing his grip on his sword and thrusting it at me.

Instead of avoiding it, I went straight and allowed him to stab me with his sword. At first, the obsidian blade met rsistance, its sharp, lethal tip slamming into my golden armor and stopping for just a moment.

However, it would not be denied. My Herculean armor buckled and the blade pierced through the divine metal to puncture my shoulder. I felt a surge of burning pain, and blood trickling down my chest and arm, but continued onward. After all, I had already antic.i.p.ated for this. That was why I s.h.i.+fted just subtly to ensure that his blade wouldn't go through a vital organ or something.

"!!"

The Black Swordsman realized that something was amiss, but it was too late. Before he could pull his sword out from my shoulder, I swung my left arm about and clobbered his face with the heavy gauntlet that wreathed my fist. I felt metal crack and give way beneath my armored fist before the Black Swordsman was hurled back with immense force. Even his sword somehow slipped from my shoulder, and I staggered back amidst a spray of blood.

d.a.m.n it, that hurt! But my gamble had paid off. I had suffered a severe injury in order to deliver one to my opponent. Yeah, my shoulder was stinging, but I had finally broken the deadlock and hopefully s.h.i.+fted the balance a little.

The Black Swordsman slowly rose to his feet, clutching at his face. My punch had shattered his visor and dented his helm, which fell apart to reveal his features. Short dark hair that was closely-cropped to his scalp complemented the black stubble that covered an angular jaw. Furious red eyes stared out from a handsome face, his tanned features marked by a trickle of blood where the shattered helm had broken skin. Oh, he was also bleeding from his nose as well. I had socked him real good.

"Heh." I grinned, even as I stemmed the bleeding in my shoulder by freezing the wound. Reaching up, I grabbed Bai Ri as it finally descended from the air, and tested her with a swing of my left hand. Turning back to my opponent, I smirked. "So I finally get to see your face."

Wiping the blood from his nose, the Black Swordsman spat vengefully as he raised his sword and pointed it at me.

"It'll be the last thing you'll ever see," he promised.

I narrowed my eyes. Despite taking quite the severe injury, I wasn't able to leave any lasting damage in return. The worst wound that my opponent appeared to be his bruised ego.

With a snarl, he charged forward, and I barely parried his obsidian sword with my crossed Hei Yue and Bai Ri. The wound in my right shoulder turned out to be debilitating and I felt my defense slipping. Spinning around, the Black Swordsman kicked me under my guard before I could respond in time, and this time I was the one sent hurtling several meters backward.

I hit the ground and bounced off, but I flipped myself about to land in a crouching position. Straightening up, I saw the Black Swordsman preparing another big attack. Black mana pulsed from his word and he launched it at me.

"!!!"

Summoning Scutum Sobiescianum, I muttered a quick incantation under my breath.

"I am the soul of my sword."

A few seconds later, my Constellation s.h.i.+eld disintegrated, and the overwhelming wave of black mana swept toward me. Opening my eyes, I finished my intonation and brought my greatest defense to being.

"Snow Aegis!"

The devastating tsunami crashed against my snowflake-shaped s.h.i.+eld, and for a moment its rampage was halted. The black mana devoured the surrounding soil, deforming the already hideous crater further, and turning rock into molten magma.

But it wasn't enough. The shockwaves blasted me off my feet and I was sent tumbling a few feet away from my gradually crumbling s.h.i.+eld. Even as the Black Swordsman's attack slowly dispersed, my Snow Aegis disappeared completely.

And then the Black Swordsman dashed through the still fading s.h.i.+eld and swung his obsidian sword to finish me off. I barely brought Hei Yue and Bai Ri up to fend off his strike, and the ground once again ruptured from the impact.

"Guh!"

I could see cracks appearing over my Herculean armor, and with a last spurt of strength, I swatted him away. My opponent spun about to kick me again, but I was ready this time, able to block his foot with an armored forearm.

Once again, the armor cracked and the strength behind his kick was so great that I was sent skidding a couple of meters away. Huffing, I lashed out with my swords, but the Black Swordsman managed to deflect them before hammering the pommel of his sword against my chest and causing me to cough out blood. Staggering backward, I somehow blocked his next attack, but another black burst of destructive energy erupted, throwing me several meters away.

"You've been a formidable opponent, but it's over."

The Black Swordsman looked almost gleeful as he jumped over to finish me off. Before his sword could reach me, however, a crimson lance streaked through the air. Twisting in midair, the Black Swordsman parried the blow, but found himself thrown back. Landing on his feet, he continued to skid backward from the momentum of the attack he had just blocked.

"Who?!" he snarled. The answer landed beside me, twirling that familiar demonic red spear of his. My eyes widened when I recognized his figure.

"Craig? What are you doing here?"

Craig Carlson grinned at me as he lowered his spear in an attacking stance and got ready for the fight ahead.

"I'm here as reinforcements, of course."

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