The fierce wind howled violently, the blizzard beneath the sky dancing almost crazily, like raging ice spirits.
Viktor held a wooden sword, facing off against the heavy-armored knight before him.
This was Angus's second stage.
At this moment, Angus was like a snowfield dire wolf that had lost all reason, his body radiating a powerful surge of blood and qi. His murderous intent filled the entire space instantly.
Dozens of weapons surrounded his body, floating in the air, each connected to his armor with thin, silver threads.
Because Angus was proficient in all sorts of weapons, he had countless disciples under his name.
This was also why he was respectfully called "Teacher" by many knights.
However, today, this title of Weapon Master was probably going to change hands.
Angus rushed forward in an instant. Compared to earlier, the power beneath his feet was several times more terrifying.
The earth buried under deep snow shattered under the massive impact, his entire body shooting through the air like an enormous cannonball.
This time, Viktor could not clash head-on with Angus like before.
The armor on Angus's body was forged from frost iron blessed by ice-element spirits, infused with his blood as the catalyst, magical armor.
With Angus inside the armor, his defense was multiplied countless times. Ordinary attacks were like hot toothpicks scraping across fur before this armor.
Not only did it increase his defense, even his attacks were elevated to an entirely new level.
This moment was Angus unleashing his full-force strike.
Viktor used the wooden sword in his hand to flick up Angus's knight's spear.
With his boosted strength, Viktor still couldn't match Angus in sheer power, but interfering with the weapon's trajectory was enough.
The spear's attack was disrupted, its path shifting slightly. Viktor seized that gap, extended his other hand, and slammed it fiercely into Angus's chest.
BOOM!
Scorching heat instantly spread across the armor's chest. The immense ice-element force and fire-element magic collided at once, exploding into a massive shockwave. The meters-thick snow around them blasted outward, and even the falling blizzard was thrown into chaos by that strike.
Warmth and cold mixed together, smoke billowed, and several silver projectiles shot toward Viktor through the snow's concealment.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
In an instant, Viktor lifted the wooden sword along his arm and swiftly deflected the arrows.
The moment the three projectiles were blocked, a massive battle-axe came cleaving down from the sky.
Its speed was extremely fast. The dry, freezing air was sliced in half by the enormous blade, sending up waves of snow a thousand feet high.
A normal person would never react in time to this attack.
But Viktor had already sensed it.
Before Angus even touched the ground, Viktor leaped several meters to the side, dodging to one edge of the axe's swing.
The long sword in his right hand ignited instantly, transforming into a massive, overwhelming hammer of flame.
The hammer of fire smashed toward Angus head-on, and the terrifying force sent him flying the moment it struck his solid armor.
A bit of flame clung to his body, and he fell like a blue meteor into the snow.
The surrounding ice and snow instantly turned to white steam from the sudden spike in heat.
While still in midair, Angus suddenly pulled out two chain-hooks, stabbing them straight into the ground as he hurtled toward the earth.
When the waves of snow finally settled, Angus stood firmly on the ground.
Up to this point in the clash, Viktor had the advantage.
Angus couldn't understand.
Every one of his movements felt as if Viktor could completely see through them.
As if… They had fought hundreds, no, even thousands of times…
Angus could feel that Viktor's close-combat skill was indeed impressive, but this level of ability couldn't be called refined.
In other words, every one of Viktor's movements felt like… counterattacks made specifically to deal with him.
He narrowed his eyes.
A cold gleam flashed.
His voice echoed heavily from within the armor, "If my brother were still alive, he would surely be proud that he had such an exceptional child."
"But I feel sorry for him."
The dozens of weapons around him suddenly fused into a massive, irregular chunk of metal, surging like flowing mercury.
In an instant, the metal chunk stretched toward both ends, forming a hilt and a blade.
There wasn't even a crossguard on either side, an enormous blade that pierced heaven and earth materialized above Angus's head.
"I'm familiar with that child. He truly was a genius. And of course, you are too."
"But a genius knows restraint. And you don't."
The moment he gripped the hilt, time seemed to slow. Snowflakes falling through the air became visible, slower and slower.
"Whether you are him or not doesn't matter to me."
"Eliminating who you are now..."
"Is crucial to me."
In Viktor's eyes, Angus turned into an almost imperceptible phantom, several afterimages shifting around him.
As time seemed to stretch endlessly, Angus's speed gradually increased, the afterimages merging into black streaks of light.
In the blink of an eye, he could appear before Viktor.
A whisper-like voice sounded beside Viktor's ear, "Die."
But the moment the words fell, suddenly, countless metal cards began spinning around Viktor, the terrifying cyclone of cards surrounding him completely.
The airflow stirred by the card-storm sent the entire blizzard spiraling.
Angus's attack was blocked harshly by those strange, flying iron cards.
Viktor slowly raised his hand, holding two metal cards between his fingers.
On them were two Joker illustrations, with faintly shifting text and markings.
"Joker."
The pair of mismatched metallic cards shot outward, carrying terrifying magical power that devoured everything around them. Sharp, eerie laughter like that of jesters echoed around them.
Two clowns appeared abruptly within the blizzard, vaguely visible.
One red, one green, appearing behind Angus, disturbingly strange.
Like some kind of "surprise," freezing Angus in place.
"Yihihihihihihihihi!"
Dual, crazed laughter echoed, like soul-snatching ghosts, like puppets pulled by strings, slowly closing in.
Everything around became hollow, as if an evil presence invaded consciousness. Angus could no longer sense the domain that had been just a short distance away.
The two clowns toyed with a black sphere in their hands, spinning it repeatedly.
The sphere absorbed and compressed the surrounding space.
Darkness gradually collapsed, and in the void, only red and green remained, splitting half the sky into two unnatural colors.
The icy landscape collapsed and disintegrated instantly. Even the blizzard falling from the sky turned into red-and-green streamers.
Everything twisted continuously, being pulled toward the sphere in the clowns' hands.
Swish!
In an instant, the earth and sky vanished. The two were plunged into a surreal, multicolored void, utterly disorienting.
Angus stood within the void, unable to feel anything. Not a trace of life existed here.
And he himself seemed to be completely trapped.
Angus froze slightly. Suddenly, one red and one green Joker card floated before him.
The word "joker" on them was strikingly clear.
Finally, an unparalleled sense of danger flooded his entire being.
A powerful white light burst from the two metal cards.
As though the energy of the domain itself was exploding toward him, the blinding light swallowed the red-green sky entirely, engulfing everything.
[Ace]
When the void restored itself, the icy landscape reformed like pieces of a puzzle.
And the knight was kneeling on the ground.
The eyes beneath the helmet were empty.
From a swirl of snow mist, a black crow feather drifted down. The moment it touched the snow, Viktor's figure slowly appeared.
The two Joker cards on the ground sensed the call and returned to Viktor's waist.
He patted Angus on the shoulder and spoke calmly.
"I told you."
"You can't beat me."
Angus didn't move. He knelt where he was, his voice slightly hoarse.
"Viktor, do you still remember the promise you made with me?"
His empty eyes searched Viktor's expression.
But saw only blank indifference.
So Angus laughed.
"As expected, you're not Viktor."
He lifted his head and exhaled. The white breath spilling from his helmet was stark against the snow.
"Tell me."
"Who are you."
Viktor bent down, performing a bow.
His head leaned close to Angus's ear, and he chuckled.
A wicked raven-light flashed with arrogant brilliance, black feathers swirling into a storm around Viktor's body. A faint, ghostly dark glow made him appear indescribably mysterious.
"Uncle Angus, what made you risk everything just to protect Gwen so tightly?"
"Is it because of the divine power inside her?"
Angus's eyes widened instantly, disbelief shining within them.
"Don't be surprised."
He rose and adjusted the inside of his coat.
"I know your god-making plan inside and out."
"However…"
A glint identical to Viego's flashed in Viktor's eyes, and even his voice became sly and sinister.
It was no longer Viktor's voice, Angus knew that clearly.
"Trying to become a god? Hihihihihihihi!"
The raven perched on Viktor's shoulder writhed unnaturally, as though it no longer obeyed biological limits.
In that moment, the fierce winds gradually weakened.
A chilling, lifeless aura instantly swallowed everything.
As if a colossal dead eye turned upside-down in the heavens had pierced sky and clouds, staring straight at Angus in the snow.
On the snowy ground, for some unknown reason, fierce flames flared, and even the earth became a sacrifice to a god.
Angus felt the heavy, sticky tightness in his throat, and his sputtering breath seemed like the final straw holding his sanity together.
A strange, blended voice rose from every corner of the world.
"Kid, it seems like you're ignoring a true god."
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