Chapter 172: A Simple Thrust | Magic Castle Bonus

Berman turned around and swept his arm through the thick cloud of dust, trying to clear his vision. However, before the dust could fully disperse, a pitch-black blade descended toward his head.

His instincts screamed.

Berman hurriedly raised his sword above himself, and the instant Hellcaller crashed against it, a deafening clang echoed through the training ground. The impact scattered the surrounding dust in every direction, revealing both men.

Berman’s eyes trembled as he stared at the man standing before him.

"How...?" he asked, his voice carrying genuine disbelief.

Elias was still standing.

More importantly, he looked far less injured than he had moments ago, and while blood still stained his clothes and armor, the wounds covering his body were already beginning to close.

He was even chewing something.

Berman’s gaze suddenly shifted toward the figure lying behind Elias.

The corpse he had just cut apart wasn’t Elias.

It was the tall body of the Rusted Reaper, its twisted form severed cleanly into two pieces.

Just before Berman’s sword had reached him, Elias had summoned the Rusted Reaper’s corpse from his Inventory and rolled away, allowing the monster’s body to take the attack in his place.

Berman had mistaken the corpse for Elias, and Elias had intended to use that moment to finish him.

Unfortunately, Berman’s instincts were too sharp.

Elias continued chewing the Extraordinary Sugar Fruit as he watched him carefully, while Berman slowly lowered his sword.

His expression hardened.

"I always wondered why My Lord hated you so much," Berman said, his eyes narrowing, "but I understand it now. If we do not get rid of you now, then you will return as someone unstoppable."

He tightened his grip around his sword, and the crimson Aura surrounding his body began flowing more violently.

"I am glad I was sent here to end this forever," he added.

"You are too confident," Elias said.

A faint grin appeared on Berman’s face before he suddenly swept his sword forward.

The water-like crimson Aura surged along the blade, and the attack struck Elias’s Hellcaller with tremendous force, pushing him several steps backward.

Berman followed immediately, but Elias twisted his body and avoided the next slash before sweeping Hellcaller toward his opponent’s ribs.

Berman blocked with his sword, and the collision sent crimson sparks scattering across the ground.

"You think awakening Aura is enough to fight me?" Berman asked as he pushed Elias away.

Elias shrugged.

At the same moment, a crimson glow began spreading across his armor.

His newly awakened Aura flowed over his body like liquid, coating his armor and limbs with a water-like crimson radiance.

Berman’s eyes widened.

However, the moment Elias’s Aura reached Hellcaller, something strange happened.

Instead of coating the pitch-black blade, the crimson Aura violently twisted around it.

Thin arcs of crimson lightning erupted from the weapon, crawling across the black blade and snapping through the air with sharp crackling sounds.

Berman stared in disbelief.

"How is this possible?" he asked. "How can you already have Aura like me?!"

Elias didn’t answer.

Instead, he opened his mouth and swallowed another Extraordinary Sugar Fruit.

The marvelous fruit immediately began restoring his body, and although his mana was still too depleted to cast Heal, the fruit’s effects gradually erased the crushing fatigue weighing down his muscles. His breathing steadied, and his body became noticeably lighter.

Berman’s expression twisted with anger.

"Stop with these tricks of yours!" he shouted and charged.

His sword came down from above, wrapped in thick crimson Aura that flowed like violently disturbed water.

Elias raised Hellcaller to meet it.

BOOM!

The two swords collided, and crimson lightning exploded across the point of impact.

Berman’s water-like Aura flowed around Hellcaller, attempting to suppress its strange energy, but instead the crimson lightning traveled along his blade.

The lightning crawled across his sword like living veins before eating through the crimson Aura surrounding it.

Several sections of Berman’s Aura immediately dissipated.

Yet Berman did not retreat.

He twisted his wrist and redirected his sword toward Elias’s shoulder.

Elias stepped aside, letting the blade pass beside him, then swung Hellcaller toward Berman’s waist.

Berman lowered his body and allowed the blade to pass above him before thrusting toward Elias’s abdomen.

Elias turned his waist and narrowly avoided the thrust, then struck toward Berman’s wrist.

Berman withdrew his hand just in time.

Their weapons collided again and again, filling the ruined training ground with metallic clangs and bursts of crimson lightning.

Berman’s Aura moved like water around his body, flowing from his armor to his sword and constantly changing its shape, while Elias’s Aura crackled violently across Hellcaller, producing flashes of crimson light every time their weapons met.

Neither man gave the other an opening.

Berman feinted toward Elias’s throat before abruptly changing direction and slashing toward his knee.

Elias saw through the deception and jumped backward, but Berman immediately pursued him with another sweeping strike.

Elias ducked beneath it and drove Hellcaller upward.

Berman twisted his body, and the black blade barely missed his ribs.

He responded with a kick that struck Elias’s chest and forced him backward.

Elias stumbled, but he recovered and rushed forward again.

The battle continued with increasingly precise exchanges, each man blocking, dodging, feinting, and countering within fractions of a second.

Then, suddenly, an orange system screen appeared before Elias.

[Stella Crimson has fulfilled a requirement for –Unknown–]

Elias’s brows furrowed.

’Huh?’

However, there was no time to think about it, so he dismissed the notification and immediately raised Hellcaller.

Berman was already attacking.

Their swords collided again.

Elias blocked a downward strike, slipped around a horizontal slash, and countered toward Berman’s neck.

Berman leaned backward, allowing the blade to pass over his face before sweeping his sword toward Elias’s ribs.

Elias twisted away, but Berman’s next strike landed against his armor.

CRACK!

The impact shattered part of the armor across Elias’s side.

Berman pressed his advantage.

Another blow struck Elias’s shoulder.

Then another.

The armor began falling apart under the repeated impacts, each strike forcing Elias farther backward.

Elias tried to counter, but Berman suddenly stepped inside his attack and struck Hellcaller with overwhelming force.

The pitch-black sword flew from Elias’s hand and crashed several meters away.

Berman’s eyes flashed with triumph.

He raised his sword above his head, crimson Aura surging around the blade like a violently churning wave.

"This time, you die!"

He brought the sword down.

However, suddenly Elias thrust his empty hand forward, and a slender ceremonial rapier materialized in his grip.

Berman’s eyes widened.

With his arms raised, he didn’t have enough time to block it, and the rapier pierced through his neck in a simple thrust.

For a moment, Berman remained completely still.

His eyes trembled as he felt his throat go hot and his body cold.

Elias pulled the rapier free and stumbled backward.

"Ugh..." Berman gagged.

Blood spilled from his mouth as his sword slipped from his trembling hand and crashed onto the stone.

His knees buckled, and then Berman collapsed heavily onto them, his head hanging forward as blood continued pouring from his punctured neck.