### Chapter 21:
"Took you long enough, demon," Enzo snarled, a smug expression plastered on his face.
"You're annoying, you third-grade syndrome-plagued old man," I replied calmly.
"You probably shouldn't call him that—he's 15, just like you!" shouted someone from the crowd as the audience erupted into cheers for Enzo.
*This fight is going to be tough*, I thought, slowly unsheathing one of my blades. "May your blade not strike true," I muttered as I raised the sword above my head and shifted into a fighting stance.
At the other end of the arena, Enzo positioned himself into his combat stance, holding his lance firmly in front of him. Pulling back his hands, clenching his teeth, and planting his feet, he hurled the lance forward, augmenting its speed with a blast of wind.
As the lance tore through the air, I released a vibrational pulse into the ground around me, allowing me to "see" the arena clearly. The pulse revealed Enzo's position, the lance's trajectory, and any potential openings. The lance accelerated toward me, and I immediately unsheathed my other blade, pressing it against the speeding weapon. However, it didn't slow down.
*Directed wave push,* I voiced in my mind as I released two crescent-shaped displacements into the air. The displacements slid across the lance, disrupting its flight path and causing it to spin erratically.
Enzo leaped to retrieve his weapon, using wind manipulation to augment his speed. Grabbing the lance mid-air, he landed in another fighting stance and rushed toward me. He slashed at me while maintaining his distance, but I blocked the attack with one of my swords, quickly sheathing the other.
I shifted the lance to throw Enzo off balance and leaned in, aiming to incapacitate him with a strike from my sword's hilt. But before I could land the blow, he released a torrent of wind from his hand, twisting his body to avoid the hit. He immediately recovered, grabbed his lance, and thrust forward while shouting, **"Cleave!"**
The weapon's skill activated, splitting the air apart with precision and force. Enzo's speed nearly doubled, and his lance techniques became sharper and more refined.
With time, my fatigue began to accumulate, and my movements started to slow. I took two cleaves to my ribs, and the pain was far worse than any kitchen knife wound. *I need to end this soon,* I thought, dodging a few more cleaves and thrusts.
*This fight is dragging on too long, and I'm losing. I need to do something.*
Pushing him back, I slowly unsheathed the katana on my left side. Its blade glowed red and black, pulsing with ominous energy.
"No, Lucien! Please don't use that!" a voice shouted from the crowd. I knew that voice all too well, but I ignored it.
Fully unsheathing the blade, the world seemed to stop for a split second. My perception shifted as everything transitioned from black and white to blood red. It had begun.
The Blood Sword had taken control.
I watched as my body, now possessed, let out a laugh—a laugh that was both sultry and ghastly. It echoed through the arena as I took a cleave to the chest, only to watch the wound heal almost instantly. My body no longer recognized pain or exhaustion, only the thrill of battle.
Looking up from the now-healed wound, my eyes locked onto Enzo, who was frozen in shock and subtle terror.
In an instant, my body disappeared from its former position, reappearing behind Enzo. The Blood Sword sliced into the gap between the shoulder piece of his right-side armor. The blade released shockwaves into his flesh, parting it with brutal precision and leaving a deep, bloody wound.
Enzo turned and retaliated, thrusting his lance toward me. But before the tip could reach its mark, my body moved with near-teleportation speed, appearing above him. I unsheathed the katana on my right side, which now emitted an aura of impossibly dark yet blindingly bright black light.
The moment I drew the second katana, my wounds reopened violently. Blood poured from my body as I fell to the ground, my consciousness returning to me. The Blood Sword's control had vanished, leaving me weak and broken.
Chapter name: Effect of the Blood Sword