The Black Swordsman then lowered his obsidian blade. Dark mana continued to swirl around his smoldering for, and while he wasn't heaving from exhaustion, it was clear that the battle had taken somewhat of a toll on him.

"!!!"

He almost didn't react in time when I suddenly appeared, speeding toward him like a bullet. My black and white swords sliced through the air and nicked his armor, but he responded swiftly, his riposte almost smacking into me. Despite parrying his onyx sword with my crossed blades, I was sent hurtling several meters away.

Flipping myself about in midair to land on the molten rock, I skidded backward across the soft, uneven ground. Even before I could steady myself, the Black Swordsman launched himself like a rocket and slashed at me.

His blade never reached me.

"?!"

Craig's demonic spear pierced through the area where his neck had been and he twisted in mid-flight to parry the crimson point. Craig relentlessly attacked, refusing to give him any chance to recover, and they traded several blows. To me, it seemed as if black and crimson blurs were ripping through the air, the speed of the combatants so fast that my eyes couldn't follow their movements.

Sparks flew as their weapons collided, and molten soil was sent flying into the air, almost as if they were fighting amidst a hail of rock. Even so, Craig's ferocious attacks and tremendous speed were gradually yielding to the Black Swordsman's vast experience and superior skill, and I could see blood dripping from his arms.

He couldn't hold out for long. Not that he had to.

Theodore and I flanked the Black Swordsman from behind, his hammer and my two swords arcing toward our formidable foe in a pincer attack. Spinning about, the Black Swordsman kicked Craig away, and despite the spearman managing to block his foot with the shaft of his spear, he was still sent skidding several meters backward. Craig wasn't hurt, but he was no longer within range, and that was more than enough.

With one threat temporarily repelled, the Black Swordsman turned to face both Theodore and me, his obsidian sword sweeping up to smack our weapons away. Even though we currently engaged him two against one, he blocked and parried all of our desperate attacks, weaving an impenetrable defense that kept us at bay.

But if it was an impenetrable defense that we were talking about, then it was useless against Craig.

Our comrade had lunged forward again, his cursed spear thrusting forward to pierce the Black Swordsman from behind. Realizing that he couldn't evade or block, the swordsman s.h.i.+fted slightly and allowed Craig to stab him.

"What?!"

Craig was shocked at first when his spear went through his target's armor so easily, punching a b.l.o.o.d.y hole through the swordsman's shoulder and exiting from the front. Undeterred, the Black Swordsman fought on, ignoring Craig, and kicking at me while fending off Theodore's hammer with his sword. Theodore growled as he unleashed lightning upon the Black Swordsman, but the latter merely dispersed the lethal electricity with a swing of his sword.

He then spun about, forcing Craig to follow his movements or relinquish his hold on his demonic spear. Craig narrowed his eyes, realizing his opponent's intentions, and let go. Just as well he did, for, the obsidian blade swept through the s.p.a.ce that he would have occupied if he had allowed the Black Swordsman to lead him into this dance of death.

The Black Swordsman smirked, thinking that he had deprived Craig of his weapon. However, he couldn't be more mistaken.

Craig raised a hand, and his demonic spear automatically ripped itself free of the Black Swordsman, causing more blood to spurt out of the wound. It seemed excruciating, and I recalled that Craig's weapon actually had barbs on them, which would cause the injury to worsen when it was yanked out. It was a cruel design, one to inflict maximum amount of damage on its victim, but credit to our enemy, he didn't even so much as grunt in pain, never mind howl. For a moment, he somehow maintained his façade of stoicism, but a slight grimace gave him away. Not only that, his features turned a lot paler than before and there was a slight tremor throughout his armored body.

Whatever G.o.dlike skills with the sword that he possessed, he was still only human, and he could feel pain.

He charged up his sword again, that virulent black mana gathering around his obsidian blade like a maelstrom, but Dong Fang Yue Chu unleashed another torrent of purifying flames to interrupt his casting. Nonetheless, the Black Swordsman was still able to get off another tremendous blast of black mana that forced us to scatter.

I watched, horrifized, as one of the camp buildings that had been built to house the middle school students for this trip was razed, the entire structure disintegrating insantly from the spell.

Even so, my friends and I had somehow avoided annihilation and were regrouping some distance away. The Black Swordsman watched us, his eyes narrowed in curiosity. His blade continued to glow with that ethereal, devastating black fire of his, causing whatever plants that survived in the crater to wither away.

"How did you survive my Excalibur?" he asked, his voice dripping in disbelief. "I've been meaning to ask you earlier, but I was somewhat distracted by the duel."

Did he really think we would tell him?

At least that was what I thought, but my friends subconsciously looked at me after he asked his question. Even though they said nothing, that slight reflex was more than enough to impart to him some idea.

"You…" he growled, turning his eyes onto me. "So that was your doing, huh? I guess I shouldn't be surprised, given how you survive my first Excalbur spells. Just what trick are you hiding up your sleeve?"

Did he honestly think I would tell him? I bit my lip, but remained silent. The guy could guess that it had something to do with my ice spells.

It did, plus I had to sacrifice Black Tortoise to do it. Earlier, right before his spell struck me and my friends, I had summoned Black Tortoise, and combined his water sphere barrier spell with my Snow Aegis. Unfortunately, the Excalibur spell had smashed through my Snow Agis and the water sphere, which forced Black Tortoise to lumber forward and take most of the blast for us.

His sacrifice would not be in vain. My friends and I were still in fight, and we were doing consistent damage. Craig's spear might not have pierced through a vital position, but the blood loss and increasing number of injuries were finally taking its toll.

And I wasn't going to let the dude know that we wouldn't be able to block another one of his Excalibur spells. Not that he was going to give up. He had already come to the conclusion that he would keep spamming that d.a.m.ned spell of ma.s.s destruction until he broke through our defenses and obliterate all of us.

"It doesn't matter," he snered, confirming my suspicions. "Whatever defensive spell you have, I doubt you'll be able to cast it repet.i.tively."

"Everyone, back!" I yelled. The black mana that had coalesced around the Black Swordsman's sword had reached its peak and he blasted all of us again. Craig dove to the side, while Theodore stumbled. Dong Fang Yue Chu had scattered to the opposite side, and so he was currently safely out of range of the d.a.m.ned spell – as powerful as it was, even the Black Swordsman couldn't fire it off in a 360 degree arc.

He could, however, sweep the spell across the landscape, boiling the water in the lake before demolis.h.i.+ng another camp building to the side. Seeing that Theodore wouldn't be able to evade in time, I rushed forward and blocked the hit.

"Snow Aegis!"

Throwing out my right hand, I conjured my most powerful s.h.i.+eld once more. This time, I didn't have Black Tortoise to support me, and the Excalibur spell simply obliterated my Snow Aegis in just ten seconds. With a yell, I rushed forward and punched the onrus.h.i.+ng blast with all the strength that I could deliver through my Herculean Armor.

Boom!

I was blown back, even as the black, destructive mana finally dispersed. My Herculean Armor was gone, shattered and destroyed. The shards and pieces of my Constellation armor were disappearing, dissipating into golden wisps of mana. Lying sprawled on the ground, I coughed, blood spilling from numerous wounds.

"Richard!" Theodore rushed forward. "You…!"

"Hey." I smiled weakly. "Are you all right?"

"You idiot! You shouldn't have…!"

"Don't worry. I'll live. More importantly…"

Theodore nodded and got back to his feet. Already Dong Fang Yue Chu and Craig had resumed the attack, a crimson blur streaking around a stationary black figure while divine flames roared down from above. The Black Swordsman didn't seem like he could move any longer, having slowly but surely exhausted himself. Not only that, the wounds we had inflicted were wearing him down.

Theodore sent another hammer spark surging toward the Black Swordsman, and despite slicing the thunderbolt with his blade, traces of lethal electricity danced about him, causing his armor to smolder. His movements were dulled by the sudden paralysis, making him an easy target for Dong Fang Yue Chu, who proceeded to bath him in flames. Craig then cut right in and stabbed at the Black Swordsman, who parried his spear.

Then the burly third year student swung his hammer and caught the Black Swordsman in the back, sending him sprawling. Black mana erupted from his sword, blasting both Craig and Theodore back before they could close in and finish him off, but much of the spell was nullified by Dong Fang Yue Chu's follow-up flames, reducing the damage they would have otherwise sustained.

"Thanks!" Theodore called out. Dong Fang Yue Chu shook his head and sent another torrent of flames that snaked around the Black Swordsman, immolating him. Our enemy continued to stand strong, refusing to yield to the divine fire, and conjured more of his black mana. Yue Chu clicked his tongue.

"Wait until we defeat this b.a.s.t.a.r.d before you thank me!"

"This guy is really tenacious!" Craig cursed as his spear rammed against the Black Swordsman's breastplate. The armor buckled and gave way, but the Grimaldus warrior had s.h.i.+fted to avoid a fatal blow. He smirked as he backhanded Craig, but the spearman evaded him somewhat effortlessly. He wasn't able to escape corruptive burns on his face, though, and hissed in pain as smoke rose from his cheek. "A professional is really on a different level…even with the four of us fighting him, we are still unable to take him down!"

"You're not match for me," the Black Swordsman sneered. "There's an overwhelming disparity between our strengths. No matter how many of you brats throw yourselves at me, you won't be able to overcome my skills."

"Says the dude who looks like he's about to fall over any moment now," Dong Fang Yue Chu muttered under his breath.

"Not to mention most of the damage was already done by Richard," Craig added with a chuckle. "And now he wants to show off the difference between our strengths?"

"We're almost there." Theodore heaved as he swung his hammer again. While his sword was locked against Craig's spear, the Black Swordsman had to raise a hand to block the thunder hammer. The impact shattered his gauntlet and left his bruised, almost broken arm bare, but he remained alive.

Then the Black Swordsman flung the both of them back with a forceful swing of his sword. Yue Chu tried to close in with his flames, but he was too late. Black mana was erupting out of the dude's sword once again.

"Golden Kirin!" I shouted. Right before the black burst of destructive mana could swallow us all, earth appendages emerged from the ground and seized my stunned friends, pulling them underground.

Then the whole world vanished.

Panting, the Black Swordsman looked up and glanced around the crater that he had just created. Most of the camp buildings were gone now, completely razed. The lake was half vanished, whatever fish or living organisms within it vaporized along with a substantial amount of water.

"Escaped, huh? He growled.

"Jeez…" Some distance away, Craig cursed under his breath as the earth appendage dropped him back out. Theodore and Dong Fang Yue Chu joined him, and they stared at me, who was barely clinging into Golden Kirin. "This can't go on. We need to defeat him before he deforests the entire area."

"Don't worry." I grinned, despite the dull throbbing that ran through my battered and bruised body. Despite the somber scene of devastation, I still felt a bright flare of hope in my chest. "He's not the only guy with a nuke spell."

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