Chapter 171: End Of The Battle | Magic Castle Bonus

[Ding!]

[Talent: Unbreakable Will (A) and the host’s Aura are influencing one another.]

Elias’s eyes snapped open.

He stared at the orange system screen in confusion, and several more screens immediately appeared before him.

[Talent: Unbreakable Will (A)’s true potential has been realized!]

[The host’s talent has advanced to S-Grade!]

[Talent: Indomitable Will (S)]

[Weapon Aura: Sword — Tier I → Sword — Tier IV]

[Weapon Aura: Sword cannot advance further due to the host’s lack of Weapon Mastery: Sword!]

"Tier four...?" Elias gulped.

He had finally fulfilled his dream of awakening Aura, and it had instantly advanced to Tier Four, the same level Berman possessed.

For a moment, Elias could hardly believe what he was seeing. After years of struggling just to reach the threshold that ordinary swordsmen crossed far more easily, he had not merely awakened Aura. His newly formed Aura Core had pushed his Weapon Aura all the way to the fourth tier.

The realization barely had time to settle before the memory of Berman returned to him, dragging his attention back to the battle.

Elias immediately closed his Mind’s Eye.

A few minutes earlier.

Berman’s Aura-coated sword slammed into the thick barrier of earth mana, and his arms shook violently from the impact. The translucent dome groaned beneath the pressure, its surface rippling as countless cracks began forming around the point where the blade had struck.

Berman stared at the barrier in disbelief before pulling his sword back and spitting the words through clenched teeth.

"What the fuck is this?! What kind of pathetic trick are you using, you bastard?"

Elias gave him no answer.

His body remained hidden behind the barrier. His eyes closed, and his expression was strangely calm.

The earth mana continued flowing around him while he descended into the depths of his spiritual self to find the will that had appeared after reaching Advanced VII.

Berman narrowed his eyes and looked through the translucent barrier, and what he saw made his expression twist as though he had witnessed something utterly disrespectful.

"Y-You..." he growled, his voice breaking beneath his anger. "YOU DARE TRY AWAKENING YOUR AURA?!"

The realization infuriated him.

Berman was the Hound of Red Water, an Exalted Elite who had spent years tempering his Aura and swordsmanship, yet this bastard was attempting to awaken his own Aura directly in front of him while barely clinging to life.

"You dare look down on me?" Berman muttered, his grip tightening around his sword until his knuckles whitened. "After everything I have done to you, you still think you can advance in front of me?"

His teeth ground together as thick crimson Aura gathered around his sword. The energy flowed over the blade like water, but unlike before, Berman forced even more of his remaining power into it, causing the crimson layer to thicken and churn violently.

Most of the stone floor had already been reduced to dust by Tyrannical Giant’s Immovable Stance, which meant Elias could no longer draw enough earth mana from the ground to maintain the barrier indefinitely. If the dome broke before he awakened, Elias would die without question.

Berman stepped back and drew his sword behind him. Crimson Aura streamed along the weapon, spilling into the air and making it tremble around the blade.

"I will crush it," Berman growled. "And I will crush you with it."

He lunged.

Dust clouds rose beneath his feet as his body accelerated, and his sword tore through the air with enough force to leave a crimson trail behind it.

The attack was aimed directly at the center of the dome, where Elias’s body was hidden.

However, just before the blade crashed into the barrier, Berman suddenly felt something.

A flame was taking birth within Elias.

’How?’

Berman’s eyes widened, his heart shook, and his mind froze at the sheer impossibility of someone awakening Aura so quickly.

He could feel it clearly now, a faint but undeniable presence emerging from Elias, and for the first time since the battle began, Berman’s certainty faltered.

His sword lost much of its momentum.

Yet he had already committed to the attack, and the destructive force behind the strike remained terrifying.

BOOM!

The sword crashed into the barrier.

CRACK!

A web of fractures raced across the translucent dome, spreading outward from the point of impact. The earth-mana structure trembled violently, and several sections collapsed into fragments before the entire barrier finally shattered.

The remaining force of the attack blasted Elias backward.

He flew through the air before slamming into the cracked ground, and the impact sent a violent jolt through his already wounded body.

Fwoosh!

Dust erupted across the training ground, swallowing the surroundings in a thick cloud as shattered stone rained down around him.

Berman remained standing several steps away, his sword lowered, his chest rising and falling heavily as he stared into the dust.

For several seconds, there was nothing but silence.

Then a familiar voice came from within the dust.

"Ugh! Fuck, it hurts."

Berman’s eyes trembled.

He gritted his teeth and raised his sword.

Right then, he saw a faint silhouette in the thick cloud of dust.

"Heh." A demonic grin split the knight’s face, and he stomped his foot into the ground as he accelerated with everything he had.

The dust cloud twisted around him, and a crimson trail followed behind his sword as he swung it in a wide arc, intending to end everything.

His sword met something and tore through it.

His grin widened even more. He knew this feeling very well; it was the sensation he felt whenever he cut down his opponent.

To prove his thoughts correct, a loud thud resounded throughout the area.

He had done it. He had killed the bastard that his master hated more than anything.

The west and the Crimsonland were no longer stained by that bastard’s presence.

Berman glanced down at his sword.

Its blade was unmistakably painted in blood.

He had stopped using his Aura at the last moment to see this blood on his sword.

With his heart now satisfied, he turned around to look at Elias’s severed body.