As they traded blows, Misery's mind moved several times faster than her body.
"His claws regenerate. Flames regenerate. He prefers close range. He's reactive—not predictive. Aggressive types fall into rhythm…"
She reshaped the battlefield.
The space around Karlos suddenly twisted—the flat ground now forming a slanted, cracked slope. Gravity shifted, pulling him sideways. His footing slipped—but only slightly.
"Trying to trip me up?" he grunted, steadying himself. "Not bad."
Karlos vanished—his movement blurring with flame teleportation.
He reappeared above her, both hands blazing, and smashed them down.
"Abyss Fall."
A massive explosion of black flame detonated upon impact, collapsing part of Misery's barrier field and sending her crashing into the earth.
Dust and shadow filled the air.
Karlos hovered in place, breathing slowly.
"C'mon, Misery. Don't tell me that's it."
From the smoke, her voice rang out—calm and dry.
"…You're fun."
Then—BOOM—a pulse of emerald light burst upward. Misery emerged, unharmed, her eyes gleaming sharply.
Karlos raised an eyebrow. "You adjusted to my attack pattern already?"
"I learn fast."
Her next barrage was cleaner and faster. She warped behind him again—this time with three spatial mirrors around her. As Karlos struck back, his claws were redirected—deflected by multi-angle space folds, as if his arms passed through water and came out elsewhere.
She struck him hard in the ribs—a rare, clean hit.
Karlos staggered back slightly, then let out a dry laugh.
"Okay. You've got bite."
Karlos's flames intensified, his shadow spreading beneath him like liquid void.
Misery's eyes narrowed. Her spatial field shimmered—six floating runes orbiting her now like satellites.
The warm-up was over.
Now, it was Daemon Emperor vs. Tactical Primordial.
The battlefield had become fragmented—grassland twisted into floating chunks, scorched craters, and hovering folds of warped space.
Karlos moved like a beast, claws glowing with demonic fire, breathing heavily. Across from him, Misery floated calmly, her green hair glowing faintly as spatial rings orbited her in perfect rhythm.
She vanished and reappeared mid-strike again—this time phasing in from multiple angles, her blades of compressed magic slicing through his defenses.
"Tch—!"
Karlos staggered back as three shallow cuts opened across his chest. Black smoke hissed from the wounds, but they closed slowly.
"Still standing?" she asked, voice dry. "Your regeneration's slowing. I can keep this up."
He wiped blood from his mouth, chuckling. "You're really something, Misery. Tactical. Ruthless. Pretty annoying too."
She raised an eyebrow. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"
Before Karlos could answer, she snapped her fingers, and a spatial vortex formed beneath him.
"Spatial Lock."
For an instant, Karlos's legs felt like they were encased in stone—his entire lower half frozen in warped space. Misery appeared in front of him again, her palm glowing with layered spatial constructs.
"Checkmate."
Karlos stared into her calm eyes, gritting his teeth. And then—he closed his own eyes.
"…You know," he muttered, "I've been holding back."
Misery's hand twitched slightly. She sensed it—the shift in the air. Darkness thickened. The world… dimmed.
Karlos opened his eyes. They no longer burned with a red flame but instead shimmered pure black, like the void itself.
He exhaled, and whispered—
"Ultimate Skill: Abyss King—Nox."
[Abyss King: Nox – Activation]
The ground shattered.
Black tendrils of void erupted in all directions, swallowing light, sound, and color. The sky above darkened unnaturally. Misery's spatial field warped—no longer clean, no longer stable.
"...What—" she muttered.
A pressure unlike anything she'd felt before filled the battlefield.
Karlos floated upward, surrounded by pulsing rings of pure darkness, like black suns. His presence distorted space itself—nullifying Misery's barriers passively just by existing.
Abyss King: Nox—Ultimate Dominion over Darkness and the Void.
Nullifies light-based energy.
Absorbs magicules into an endless void.
Grants control over nothingness itself, allowing erasure of spells, structures, and even abilities.
Misery stepped back. "You were hiding this the whole time?"
Karlos grinned. "Nah. I just didn't want to go overboard on a first date."
The earth trembled subtly.
Guy Crimson paused mid-step as he sensed a pulse of void energy rippling across the battlefield. His crimson eyes narrowed slightly.
"...That magicule signature. That idiot Karlos finally got serious."
He chuckled. Not out of mockery—but mild amusement. "Didn't think he had the brains to make something that oppressive. Looks like his evolution into Daemon Emperor wasn't just for show."
Beside him, far away in her own isolated battlefield, Rain also stopped.
A faint shiver ran up her spine. The temperature dropped not because of her but because of the weight of Karlos's abyssal power spreading through space.
Her lips curved in a grin.
"Can a daemon who is not a primordial truly reach that level of power?."
(Back to Rain vs. Reinhart)
In a field of shattered earth and freezing winds, Reinhart stood panting, his blade glowing faintly, cuts across his arms and sides.
Across from him, Rain twirled a small icy dagger between her fingers. Her form was calm, barely showing signs of exertion. Her mist clones hovered around him—each one perfect, indistinguishable from the real Rain.
"Aww, come on, human," Rain said, mock-pouting. "You're tougher than those other high humans we crushed. But still…"
She vanished. Then reappeared directly in front of him, landing a knee into his stomach before he could react.
"You're too slow."
Reinhart grunted and slid back, blade scraping the ground.
He focused. Where is she now? Left? Right? Above—?
Suddenly—
SLICE.
A clean gash ran along his shoulder, though Rain had never touched him.
"Frozen Trace."
She had phased past him, her movement so fast it left behind afterimages that attacked independently, like illusions cutting through space.
He was being toyed with.
Rain didn't waste energy. She used only 60% of her power, enough to overwhelm most opponents.
She teleported unpredictably.
Her mirror clones attacked in perfect sync.
Her freeze fields slowed Reinhart's reactions at just the right time.
Reinhart blocked another strike—barely.
"Still standing?" she teased. "You're sturdy. For a human."
He said nothing, holding his blade tighter. Every breath burned. Every wound stung.
And yet—he stood tall.
Rain looked genuinely curious. "You're not like the rest. You have a weird aura. Are you… blessed?"
Reinhart exhaled, steam rising from his body.
"You know…" he began, voice calm.
"I didn't want to use this. Wasn't sure I'd need to."
His sword began to glow—bright, brilliant silver—beyond magic, beyond logic. The mist around him evaporated, torn apart by sheer energy.
Rain blinked, now slightly serious.
"...Huh?"
Reinhart raised his blade.
"But you're worth it."
"Ultimate Skill: Astral Breaker."
[Astral Breaker—The End of All Defense]
A crack tore through the space between them—not physical, not magical—a rift in causality itself.
Rain's freeze barriers shattered.
Her clones dissolved.
The world held its breath as Reinhart charged, blade trailing silver light that hummed with cosmic force.
"You're fast, Rain. But this cuts through everything."
"Even fate."
He swung—
And space itself screamed.
The first swing of Astral Breaker tore through Rain's mirrored clones like paper. The residual arc of the slash rippled through space, leaving behind a trail of fractured light that didn't just cut the air—it sliced through the very logic of the world.
Rain skidded backward, eyes wide.
"That's… not just magic."
She looked down at her shoulder. A cut ran clean across it—not deep, but enough to show a cut.
Her barrier hadn't even slowed it.
"No defense, no resistance… Not even spatial folding blocked it. What kind of joke skill is that?"
Reinhart stood, his blade humming with cosmic light, eyes calm.
"Astral Breaker. It ignores defense, evasion, fate… anything meant to stop it. It will hit, no matter what."
"Cool story," Rain replied dryly, shaking her arm loose. "But you still have to land it."
Rain vanished instantly.
Reinhart swung toward her presence—only to find air.
She reappeared behind him, her ice dagger thrusting toward his spine. Reinhart twisted and brought Astral Breaker up just in time—the blade clashed, and Rain leapt away again, unfazed.
"Hah. You're slower than me," she muttered, her voice echoing from multiple directions. "Even with that hack weapon, it's not going to matter if you can't tag me."
Freeze mist began pouring from her body again—finer now, layered. The battlefield dimmed with shifting illusions, and her movements became harder to track and more erratic.
"Let's call this Round Two, hero."
Reinhart swung again, cutting a mist double. Another clone. Another decoy.
Each miss drained energy. Astral Breaker, while powerful, required precise aim. It wasn't omnidirectional—it needed intent, position, and momentum.
Rain struck again—this time landing a slash across his thigh. It was shallow, but it was a clean hit.
She moved too fast.
Damn… She's adjusting.
Astral Breaker is working—but I can't keep up physically.
He narrowed his eyes. One hit from Astral Breaker could turn the battle—but only if he landed it.
Rain stood several meters away now, hands on her hips.
"You surprised me. That blade of yours? Super busted. But you're still a rookie with it."
She stepped forward—mist swirling, feet gliding over ice.
"Now let's see if you can keep up when I try."
A pressure shift hit the air. Rain began using closer to 80% of her true speed.
She flashed behind him—Reinhart barely blocked.
She flashed above—he twisted, raising Astral Breaker, and nearly clipped her—just missed.
His breathing grew heavier. Cuts now lined his arms and side. Shallow, controlled, precise—Rain wasn't trying to kill.
"I'm still not impressed," she whispered in his ear mid-dash, vanishing again.
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