n

n

n

n”YOU’RE DEAD!”

n*WHAM*

n*CRACK*

nA single lightning-fast punch was enough to break the ice-clad unique shadow in half, while basically flying right through the pieces…

n”No. You, but you are.”

n*STAB*

n”GHRAAAAH…!”

nThe bisected unique shadow of the dead ice magician laughed, as both of his halves turned into razor-sharp spears and stabbed right through the chest and abdomen of the white-haired man, making him spit out a copious amount of blood as both his stomach and lung were pierced simultaneously.

n”It looks like duplicating yourself made you half your strength and resistance.”

nLudier scoffed, looking down on the skewered William as they both were falling down into the chasm created by the ice explosion.

n”…I… can’t blame you for assuming that… You have no idea… how the cleansing power of Aquarius will on a blob of poisonous mana like yourself… do you…?”

n”HUH…?!”

nBut the unique shadow was in for a nasty surprise if he thought that the fight was over, as the seemingly defeated white-haired man snickered with the blood pouting ceaselessly through his mouth and nose…

n”LAW OF AQUARIUS!”

n*CRUSH*

nWilliam’s face lighted up with a bloodthirsty smile and he twisted around, letting the ice spears tear his body to gory pieces before he was in a position to spread his arms open and punch at Ludier’s halves digging into him – unleashing punches that shattered the ice into shining particles while also tearing apart the shadowy figure donning the ice armor.

n”…annoying… pest…”

nAlthough the unique shadow disappeared, the wounds that the white-haired man suffered from the suicidal attack were too severe and…

n*haaaaaaa*

nHis body disappeared into nothingness without leaving a single trace with the sound of a person breathing out with relief…!’

n”…I hate being proven wrong…”

nThe William who ended up staying behind saw all of that and scoffed, gritting his teeth while his wounds were recovering at a rapid speed as he was floating cross-legged in the air above the enormous chasm.

n*RUMBLE*

n”…huh…?”

nThen the earth down below cried out and trembled, making the white-haired man glance down with a frown.

n*WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH*

n”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

nNot even a moment too late to witness the arena-sized chasm fill up, but also straight-up shoot up forming an enormous spire – which tip as pointy and sharp as that of a spear was piercing through the air aiming right at him!

n”ARE YOU KIDDI-HUOUP…!”

nWilliam only managed to shake his head and shout in shock – he did try to escape but that resulted only in him being impaled by the spire through his stomach while it grew and grew until it reached the cloud level.

n”…little… fuc…ker…”

n*STAB* x10

nWilliam groaned before his body got riddled with stone spears that grew out of the spire, ending him without a moment of hesitation…

n*haaaaaaaa*

nBut just as it was with what looked to be a copy, the second body f the white-haired man also turned into nothingness with the sound of a person breathing out in relief.

n—–

n”…”

nThe spire retracted back into the depth of earth while Zoemi made sure to restore the arena to its normal state with a spell in complete silence, as terrible nausea assaulted him because of mana depletion.

n”….**…”

nThe black-haired boy cursed, spatting to the side.

nNeither the spells that Ludier used while Zoemi was unconscious, nor the ones that Zoemi used later on – including the creation of the gargantuan spire – depleted anywhere near one-quarter of his mana…

nBut that wasn’t the problem.

nThe corpse puppet necromancy spell that the black-haired boy was using on Ludier’s unique shadow got broken, and the half of the boy’s mana that he shared with the dead ice magician disappeared just like that – not released into the air but straight up ERASED from existence, leaving a huge void in the boy’s mana reservoir.

nLudier…

nLudier’s unique shadow was gone.

nAfter getting hit with William’s law of Aquarius attack, Ludier’s consciousness vanished just like the ice that formed his armor and never returned.

nZoemi was reaching his shadow everywhere, but there was no longer even a trace of the dead magician’s unique shadow anywhere.

nThe black-haired boy tried using the time spell despite being extremely low on mana – low enough to barely be able to keep himself up straight – but just as he already knew, the spell did not activate, no matter how hard he tried.

nJust to make everything even more worrisome, the time around the arena did not resume.

nIf it was Williams doing, it either did not require him to be alive or…

n…it meant that the white-haired man wasn’t dead yet…

n”…”

nThis was a loss – no matter how one would look at it. Not even in his wildest dreams, Zoemi would assume that an opponent like William would show up just like that. Nothing like that ever happened in the game, and after gaining knowledge about sages, Zoemi thought that they were the peak of strength, just below the existence that brought him to that world in the first place…

n”Hold on… Wasn’t presence supposed to be using the time attribute…?”

nThe black-haired boy shook his head trying to fight back the overwhelming weakness and nausea assaulting him because of the severe mana depletion and furrowed his brows in confusion.

n——

n”Ah…! He realized…! Alright, that’s enough…!”

nThe being of light watching over the world gasped and fidgetted.

n——

n”…?”

nThe world returned to life after being frozen – but no one seemed to realize it.

nThe people in the audience did notice the change – after all the black-haired boy who was just launched in the air with a single punch, was now standing back in the arena, pale as a ghost and having slightly more disheveled clothes, but otherwise unharmed, and his white-haired opponent was nowhere to be seen…

nOr was he…?”

n*clap* *clap* *clap*

n”!!!!!”

nAs if some sort of curtain fell down, William appeared perfectly fine in the corner of the arena, applauding the swaying black-haired boy.

n”Although your offensive capabilities are nothing special, I see now that the magic worth lies in its utility – especially that time-stopping spell. Zoemi Benevi Banemor – be proud of yourself, you have proven to me that the Heavenly Star Nation should make more preparation before we begin the conquest of this continent!”

nThe white-haired man declared, reaching out his hand to point at the black-haired boy who could barely focus his eyes on him.

n”Wh…? what…? But the time stop was your…”

n”Law of Pisces!”

nZoemi shook his head and gasped in utter confusion – but instead of responding, William straightened his back and called out loudly…

n*haaaaaa*

n…and his body disappeared into thin air with the sound of a person breathing out in relief…

n”…huh…?”

nZoemi blinked repeatedly, staring at the empty spot – same as everyone present in the arena…

n”…umm… because of mister William leaving the arena, the victory goes to lord Zoemi Benevi Banemor…”

nAfter a full minute when it was clear that William’s disappearance wasn’t a part of the tactic and there will be no stealth attack on the black-haired boy, the red-haired judge stood up and announced in a concerned voice.

n”…ugh…”

nZoemi gasped and held back the bile rising to his throat, as he stumbled towards the edge of the arena and went straight for the sickbay.

n