BOOM!
We clashed again, our fists meeting each other for the second time.
The shockwave caused the trees nearby to shake.
We had moved quite a bit from the orphanage, toward areas with more trees.
Not too far from the south.
The man grinned at me as our fists were locked in a tie as he spoke. "You know... when I first felt your mana, I was shook. The sheer amount scared me honestly. And the strength behind said mana... Hmm."
I skidded back as he did, but he continued talking. "I had thought you to be some veteran hunter passing through when we attacked but to think you were just a kid–"
I interrupted him as I vanished, only reappearing behind him, feeling annoyed as I raised my arm in the air.
"Shut up already." Then I swung it at him.
Boom!
He barely blocked it as the sleeve of his dress tore from the force of the blow, pushing him back.
"Tch." I clicked my tongue. I had meant to break his arm with that punch.
I then moved after him launching a kick at his face.
Boom!
But, he was just able to steady himself in time to catch my follow-up kick.
But even then, he was blasted several meters, his feet dragging through the dirt, carving twin trenches through the cracked pavement.
Roland grinned wider now, his eyes gleaming with something unhinged.
"You're fast. Strong too. But... not as strong as I thought. You holding back on me?" He asked his head tilted.
I remained silent, neither affirming nor denying his statement.
He then raised his right hand as shadows coiled around his arm like smoke.
"Umbrae, paret voluntarily meae."
Dark tendrils whipped out toward me at his command.
I ducked under the first and dashed forward, slamming my knee into his gut before grabbing his cloak and flinging him over my shoulder.
Crash!
His body slammed into a nearby shop wall, bricks and dust collapsing around him.
I moved in instantly, chasing after the momentum, but he emerged through the rubble, slashing at me with a longsword now in hand.
It's blade was stained dark with dried blood. No elegance whatsoever, just a cleaver meant to bring death.
I drew my sword as I moved towards him and–
Clang!
My sword met his mid-swing. Sparks erupted like fireflies as metal scraped metal. His grin deepened.
"Finally," he hissed. "Swords it is."
We clashed again. And again. Steel met steel in a rain of sparks. Each strike echoed across the deserted street like church bells at midnight.
I pivoted low, swinging for his legs. He hopped over it, twisting his body in mid-air to bring his blade down toward my exposed neck.
Clang!
I blocked just in time, the force jarring my arm.
We were moving fast. Faster than I've moved since awakening my mana core. Our blades were a blur of slashes, parries, and counters.
His style was erratic. Almost untrained, wild, like a man who learned swordplay from ripping throats instead of a master.
And yet, it was that very unpredictability that made him really dangerous.
We tore through the southern district, weaving through wreckage and broken lamp posts, abandoned shops, torn signs, pavement cracking beneath our feet.
I aimed a precise thrust at his heart.
He spun left, using his scabbard to parry the strike, then aimed a diagonal slash at my side.
I parried, reposted, then slammed my elbow into his jaw. He staggered, spat blood–and laughed.
"You're fun to play with aren't you."
And then–
"Umbrae, sagittent inimicum."
Dozens of black spikes shot from his back.
I dodged left but, one grazed my cheek. Another my shoulder.
Ice began coating my arm. I clenched my hand, raising it.
Then with a thought, I thrust it forward.
"Gelidus Vertex!"
A pillar of jagged ice erupted beneath him, catching Roland mid-dodge and launching him skyward.
I didn't stop there.
The earth cracked as I raised my other hand, mana surging through my veins. The ground behind me shifted.
Then a row of stone javelins shot up to meet him in the air.
He twisted, kicking off the side of the pillar, avoiding them narrowly.
But he wasn't prepared for the next part.
Lightning crackled at my fingertips. My sword was burning hot, flames licking the edge of the steel.
But this time, I focused... deeper recalling what I did the last time.
The lightning surged down my arm, wrapping around the flames, and they began merging.
It was unstable at first, until I stabilized the core of the spell with precise mana control.
The air shimmered at the completion of the spell.
The steel glowed white-blue.
The heat warped the air around it.
Plasma.
I took a step forward.
"Let's end this."
He landed, readying his bloodstained blade with a maniac smile, only, I was already there.
Zzzzzkkktttt!
One slash.
And his sword split in half.
He staggered.
Another swing.
And his left arm fell to the ground this time, severed clean.
He screamed. Or laughed maybe. Hard to tell.
His grin was still there, only stretched wider now–like his face didn't know whether to react in pain or joy.
Blood poured poured from the stump, yet he didn't fall.
He raised his head, eyes now glowing red, teeth bared in a lunatic snarl.
"Aha... AHAHAHA!! YES!! That's more like it!" His voice cracked with delight.
"I hoped I wouldn't have to use this but here we are Richard! HERE! WE! ARE!"
An oppressive mana began flooding the streets.
The wind died. The crickets stopped chirping. The shadows themselves recoiled.
Then–
Boom!
Darkness burst out from his body like a tidal wave.
His bones cracked. His flesh warped. A scream–not of pain, but rather ecstasy– ripped from his throat as the black mana surrounded his stump, forming a new arm–this one longer, with jagged claws instead of fingers.
Wings–black, leathery, malformed–sprouted from his back, tearing through flesh and cloak alike.
His skin turned grey. Veins pulsed black.
As the transformation was completing, everything clicked.
The serpents. Their partial demonification. Only someone already demonified could trigger partial demonification in others.
This guy wasn't just a priest of the Cult. He was a demonic human as well.
And then the transformation was complete.
"Now..." he said, his voice a distorted growl, "Let's continue where we left off, shall we?"
He lunged at me.
But I was already moving.
Playtime is over.
I braced myself, mana flooding my legs as my muscles hardened.
Then...
I kicked.
BOOOOM!
The impact created a sonic boom as Roland was flung back like a ragdoll, crashing through three buildings in a row.
Dust and rubble exploded out from each one.
Crack!
Hmm? I looked down at my sword, which had cracks on its surface now.
Huh. Looks like applying plasma to my sword wasn't the brightest idea.
Mehn. And I liked this sword too. 'Oh well', I thought as I sheathed the sword.
Haa.
I exhaled turning toward where I kicked Roland, then–
He stepped out of the rubble.
Unscathed.
He was still grinning and laughing. Then he charged at me again.
Oh shit.