A sky-shattering, earth-rending explosion rang out, shaking the ground as if the great earth itself were being torn asunder.
In less than a second, a gigantic column of smoke erupted in the center of the battlefield, swirling like a mountain of dust blasted by thunder.
From within the sea of dense smoke, two figures shot out.
Magnus was flung out, but he landed with a movement of terrifying perfection:
one leg bending to absorb the impact, the other leg lifting slightly forward for balance, his entire body's force channeled into the scythe that was still vibrating from the shock.
Facing him, that burly man was also thrown back and landed in a similar posture, his heel slamming into the ground to form a deep crater.
In his hand, the sacred staff gleamed brightly—its golden light not from fire or metal, but a vivid, living light, as if drawn from the very core of the sun.
His physique seemed carved from an ancient mountain of stone.
Shoulders wide like city gates, bulging biceps, every muscle standing out like living ridges.
Enclosing him was a suit of heavy armor, thick metal plates clanging against each other with a heavy *clank clank*, like a living fortress standing defiantly before Magnus.
The sunlight shone directly down, blocked by his immense frame, casting a long, imposing, and terrifying shadow that seemed to silence the very space for an instant.
Magnus licked his lips, his smirk returning.
The other man tightened his grip on the staff, his eyes blazing like lightning.
Alwen was astonished.
He never imagined a person with such a god-like aura could exist in this world.
He had never seen this strange figure before, yet inexplicably, in that moment, a horrifying sense of familiarity surged from the depths of his heart.
As if… he had known him from a very long time ago.
Alwen's voice was hoarse and thick, trembling with pain and confusion.
"Who… are you?"
The man turned.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in his armor, illuminating features as firm as if carved from mountain rock, his face bathed in a dazzling radiance.
His voice rang out, deep as a war drum!
"I am but a commoner… your highness."
"A common—?"
Before he could finish.
*BOOM!*
A giant spear plunged straight into the ground between the two, erecting an iron wall separating Alwen and the mysterious warrior, exploding dirt obscuring their vision.
The owner of that weapon was none other than Magnus.
He stepped forward, each heavy footfall as if treading upon the soul of the earth.
From the gaps in his armor, writhing black smoke escaped, like countless souls trying to scream their way free from Hell.
In his right hand, he dragged a twisted greatsword, its jagged, serrated edge looking as if it had been forged through nightmares.
The sound of metal scraping against the ground reverberated, heralding destruction.
The mysterious warrior remained unfazed.
He gently lifted the gleaming staff onto his shoulder, then stepped directly towards Magnus, calm as if walking into his own home.
Two storms moved towards each other.
Neither yielding.
Both launched from the ground simultaneously!
Magnus's body hovered in mid-air, he clenched the colossal sword with both hands.
From that twisted blade, black smoke billowed forth like ribbons of shadowy light, clinging to every vein on his arms.
He roared, his entire body coiling, then swung a horizontal slash tearing through the space before him.
On the other side, the warrior was no less formidable.
He pulled the staff behind his back, where lightning bolts shot straight into the sky, coiling around the staff like a pack of silver dragons writhing.
His whole body blazed, the metal armor vibrating as if in sync with the sky's pulse.
Then his entire arm moved at high speed, swinging down powerfully from above.
The two attacks met mid-air.
At the moment of contact, the world seemed swallowed by intersecting light and shadow:
*BOOOOOOM!!!!!*
A shockwave ring exploded, the ground cracked into a spiderweb, trees were blasted away, the air twisted into a storm.
The darkness from the sword wrestled with the silver light of the lightning.
Two torrents of power tore madly at each other in the sky, like two ancient entities roaring for the right to exist.
Magnus hissed, pushing harder.
The warrior gritted his teeth, his eyes erupting like the midday sun.
They remained locked in a fierce stalemate!
A small *crack* sounded from the warrior's body, as if his muscles all simultaneously tensed, the air around him shaking violently. The lightning on the staff flared into a blinding white pillar of electricity.
The power surged to a level that even Magnus was startled by, the warrior's arms channeling a terrifying force.
Magnus could no longer hold on, he was instantly flung back like a bullet fired into the ground.
The collision created a giant column of earth and rock erupting upwards, shrouding the entire area in a dense cloud of dust.
The spectators were stunned silent.
Even Alwen, though gasping on the ground, widened eyes still numb with shock.
That power even surpassed the dark monster they thought no one could confront.
Without hesitation, the warrior descended like a thunderclap.
He landed right beside the impact crater, putting all his strength into a second staff slam.
*CRASSSHHHH!!!*
The ground split open, space shook violently.
A giant shockwave halo swept out, forcing surrounding soldiers to shield their faces.
But–?
As the dust cleared…
Under his staff was only an empty, deep hole.
"As I thought."
A cold voice rang out right beside him.
The warrior instantly turned, but before he could raise his staff, Magnus was already upon him.
He swung the pitch-black sword with unimaginable speed, so fast the air was torn into curved streaks of darkness.
*Swish!*
The warrior was forced to raise his staff to block, but could hardly withstand Magnus's terrifying slash.
*BOOM*
He was blasted backwards, skidding across the ground for tens of meters, leaving a deep trench plowing through earth and rock.
Everyone was astonished again; they hadn't expected the warrior who just moments ago seemed to overpower Magnus could now be so easily struck down.
Even the King and Alwen showed surprise. Alwen tried to push himself up using a broken sword as a crutch, but his body seemed to protest against its owner, preventing him from standing.
Magnus stepped out from the smoke, casually brushing dirt off his shoulder.
A twisted, smug smile was clear on his fiendish face.
"As I thought…"
He curled his lip—
"You are strong. Very strong."
He lifted his sword, shadows pouring out like living breath.
"But strength isn't everything."
His gaze was ice-cold.
"Your speed and reflexes are a disaster."
The warrior paid no heed. He propped himself up with his staff, calmly and steadily rising as if the impacts meant nothing.
Magnus said no more.
From his body, streams of malevolent energy erupted more fiercely, coiling around like living ribbons. They hissed in the air, twisting around the twisted sword, making it heavier… and more deadly.
He gave a slight smirk, then…
Vanished?
In the blink of an eye, darkness seemed to swallow him whole.
The warrior immediately tensed, eyes scanning, hand tightening on his staff. The air suddenly turned bitterly cold, to the point breath turned to mist.
A deadly premonition ran down his spine.
*Swish!*
Magnus appeared right behind him, silent as a ghost.
The black blade swept horizontally… not strong… not explosively fast… but a slash as light as the wind, perfect to the point of terror.
*!!!*
The warrior felt the ground beneath his feet tremble slightly from that seemingly harmless slash.
He froze and looked down at his back…
His armor, thicker than dragon steel, now bore a thin, smooth, almost polished-looking cut.
A cut so deep that one more millimeter would have pierced through both armor and flesh.
The surrounding air seemed to freeze.
Magnus stood behind him, slightly crouched..
"I don't need to be stronger than you."
He lifted the sword, revealing the halo of black smoke swirling around it like a miniature black hole.
"I only need…"
His crimson eyes narrowed.
"To be faster!"
The warrior lunged, the lightning staff swung into a blazing arc.
Each bolt of electricity tore through the wind, hissing like predators lunging at the target before them.
But Magnus simply vanished silently.
Not a sound.
Not a stir of air.
Only the lightning striking the ground instead of his body.
Less than two seconds later, another streak of black light flashed by.
*Swish*
A new slash appeared deep on the warrior's left shoulder armor.
Magnus's voice echoed from the empty space.
"How does that feel…?"
The warrior clenched his staff tighter, eyes straining to observe every direction.
He hadn't even turned!
*Swish!*
Another slash. This time sharp enough to tear through the armor and cut into flesh.
A trickle of bright red blood dripped to the ground, vaporizing in the lightning smoke swirling around his body.
Magnus whispered, voice trembling with pleasure!
"…Wonderful, isn't it?"
The warrior still didn't speak.
He only held his staff, took a deep breath, and lowered his center of gravity.
Magnus appeared again, this time a dark shadow shooting straight forward like a death arrow.
He swung his sword, so fast no one could see the movement.
Only a few centimeters from the blade touching the warrior's neck…
*BOOM!!!*
The warrior slammed his staff down, an immensely powerful blow but not aimed at Magnus.
Magnus dodged aside, almost laughing at the missed swing.
But the moment his foot touched the ground.
He wasn't aiming for me?!
*RRRUMMMBBBLLLE!!!!*
The warrior's staff smashed straight into the ground, and the ground… exploded.
A giant web of lightning shot out from the point of impact, spreading across the area like hundreds of silver snakes shooting into the sky.
In one beat…
A rain of lightning cascaded down from all directions like a torrent.
A gigantic pillar of light erupted, blasting away both earth and air.
Magnus was caught in it, his body flung far, spinning in the chaotic electrical current.
The blast sounded like a divine storm descending.
The smoke faded.
The warrior flicked his staff back onto his shoulder, standing tall amidst the white haze like a statue carved from thunder.
Magnus was briefly astonished.
The commoners and soldiers erupted, cheers resounding across the battlefield.
But King Regalus did not cheer.
His face showed an indescribable worry.
And Alwen, after many attempts to stand, finally pushed off the ground with his sword's tip to get up.
Just as he noticed a detail, his face paled slightly, as if realizing something.
Suddenly Magnus stepped out from the smoke.
He looked at the warrior with a flicker of astonishment… but the mad smile quickly returned to his lips.
"Not bad… but not enough."
He silently vanished..
This time, so fast that even the warrior couldn't react.
He appeared behind the warrior like a dark shadow lunging straight forward.
A slash descended...
*CLANGG!!!*
The sound wasn't from the warrior's staff.
Not from his armor, but from…?
Alwen's sword?
No one understood what happened in time.
They only saw the young prince, body trembling, arm almost numb, using all his strength to block Magnus's death blow.
Magnus narrowed his eyes, genuinely surprised.
"…You?"
He prepared to add more force to crush Alwen when!
*THUMMP!*
The warrior had already turned, swinging his staff with the force of a horizontal lightning strike.
Magnus was forced to disengage, retreating backwards, lest he be smashed under the scattered electrical rain.
The warrior looked at Alwen.
For the first time in the battle, his voice rang out, deep and heavy.
"Your highness…"
"You have seen it, haven't you?"
Alwen panted heavily, sweat mixing with blood flowing down his face.
He nodded, eyes red from the newly realized truth.
"I-I…"
"I saw the smoke…"
"He moves using the smoke… every time he disappears… a layer of black smoke spreads out."
The warrior suddenly fell silent.
"Correct. Not complete instantaneous teleportation…
Smoke-guidance."
"He needs smoke to move."
Alwen continued, voice trembling…
"And… and when the wind changes direction… he's slower… just for a beat…"
The warrior gave a faint smile for the first time.
"You observe well, your highness."
Magnus stood at a distance, his smirk stretching as if to split his face in two.
"Oh… you figured it out?"
He lifted the black sword, black smoke beginning to swirl around his body like a pack of snakes:
"But figuring it out…"
"Doesn't mean you can survive keeping up with it."
Suddenly Alwen cut him off
"Don't get so cocky, Magnus!!!"
Alwen's expression hadn't changed much, but his tone now carried a certain conviction.
Magnus looked at Alwen, slightly taken aback.
"Huh?"
"Every time you disappear and reappear, the black smoke you create gets less and less,"
"At some point you won't be able to move like this anymore!"
The people roared in joyous celebration, as if they had just grasped a lifeline from the abyss of despair.
The entire square erupted. But amidst the cheers, King Regalus only sighed lightly… his eyes held no relief.
He turned towards the dark corner of a collapsed house.
"Is everything in place?"
A low, calm, chillingly composed female voice sounded..
"It is done, your Majesty."
Regalus nodded slightly.
"Good."
Regalus nodded, then turned back towards the people.
He stepped forward, his face showing a rare determination, as if he was about to say something very important.
On the other side, Magnus stood still.
He was no longer screaming, no longer laughing madly.
He simply raised a hand to lightly stroke his chin… then sighed, a sigh more terrifying than his laughter a hundredfold.
"Since you've already discovered it,"
His voice lowered, not angry, but chillingly calm,
"…then I suppose I must end this early."
Just that one sentence…
The warrior and Alwen both shuddered simultaneously.
Not because of the words—but because of the instinctive feeling of those who have stood before death.
Magnus leisurely raised the monstrous sword.
Immediately, the streams of black smoke on his body hissed, twisted, and poured into the blade like a storm being sucked into its center.
A fierce wind rose.
The ground groaned and cracked.
Just the displaced air was enough to make Alwen slide back a step, struggling against the pressure.
The warrior saw the opportunity, instantly slamming his staff down!!!
*BOOOOM!!!!!*
A torrential rain of lightning poured down on Magnus, so bright the entire sky turned white.
But–?
"DODGE!!!!!!!"
Alwen screamed until his voice was hoarse, face deathly pale.
Before his scream ended, from the center of the blinding lightning pillar, a gigantic purple slash tore through space and shot out!
Its speed was so fast human eyes couldn't follow, leaving only a deathly streak in the air.
*BOOMMMMMM!!!!!*
The warrior was flung away like a stone, crashing straight into the mountainside, causing the entire mountain to shake and rock debris to fall like rain.
Before Alwen could comprehend, a dark shadow appeared before him.
A light flick—so light it seemed playful,
but enough to send him flying, slamming into the ground and rolling several times.
In pain, he gritted his teeth, gripped his sword tightly, and recklessly counterattacked, swinging a diagonal slash!
*CLANG!!*
With just a flick of his hand, Magnus swatted Alwen away again like shooing a fly.
The black smoke dispersed. Magnus stepped out gently. Revealing a completely new appearance.
A new set of dragon armor clad him, sleek and sharp, each layer of black-purple metal as if forged in hell.
Black smoke coiled around his body, interspersed with aberrant purple lightning running along the armor like a devil's veins.
In his hand was a malformed greatsword, twisted as if bent by its owner's own hatred,
but its edge was so sharp that looking at it made one shudder, as if it could slice the world in two if Magnus wished.
He walked up to Alwen.
Without a word, he slowly raised the malformed greatsword, and when he lifted his head, his crimson eyes emerged from the black smoke, sharp and piercing as if they could puncture the soul of the one facing him.
Alwen jolted. Instincts screamed at their peak, he immediately rolled to the side.
*BOOOOOMMM!!!!!!!*
The sword descended on the ground with unimaginable speed, the ground shattered and exploded upwards like a bomb.
The shockwave was so strong it hurled Alwen far, tumbling across the ground.
He clenched his teeth, Magnus's speed had increased horrifically.
But what frightened Alwen more… was that he showed no emotion at all.
"Still trying to resist?"
Magnus's voice was flat and cold as dead ashes.
"You can no longer fight. What's the point of resistance?"
Alwen pushed himself up with his hands, legs trembling.
He helplessly reached for a piece of metal lying on the ground..
*CLANG!!*
Magnus didn't even look, just kicked lightly. The metal scrap flew away like trash.
He approached with vacant eyes, the massive sword tip pointed straight at Alwen's face.
No smile.
No pleasure.
No rage.
Only emptiness?
Magnus raised the sword, but suddenly–
*Clink!*
A small object struck his armor. Not strong. Not dangerous. Just… a hoe?
Magnus frowned, looking down.
In the distance, someone shouted!
"EVERYONE!!"
"CHARGE!!!!"
And then…
A scene Alwen couldn't believe!
Dozens, then hundreds of commoners holding hoes, shovels, sickles, clubs…
ran with all their might towards Magnus.
"WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING!!!"
Alwen roared as if tearing his throat.
"RUN AWAY!! YOU CAN'T FIGHT HIM!!"
Magnus was even… surprised, somewhat puzzled.
"Have these people gone mad?"
He lifted the sword tip, preparing to sweep an arc… But right then?
*Thud thud thud!*
Dozens of people in the back rows suddenly collapsed, as if an invisible pressure had choked them.
Terror rose.
But the people in front still advanced, trembling, faces pale, drenched in sweat… yet they didn't stop.
Magnus suddenly felt suspicious.
That expression… wasn't the look of someone wanting to fight.
He turned his head in doubt, but suddenly a faint sound came from behind.
*WHOOOOSH!!!!!*
A sense of danger from behind chilled his spine.
Magnus instantly turned back!!
But it was too late.
An arrow shining like a meteor shot down from above, so fast it only left a white rainbow streak tearing through the sky.
*THWIPP!!!*
Magnus tried to raise his arm to block. The arrow pierced through the armor layer…
then pierced into his arm, stopping just millimeters from the bone.
Before he could react…
At the same moment, hundreds of other lights shot towards him like a meteor shower!!
*CRACK! THWIP! SWISH! THUMP!*
Over a dozen arrows embedded deep into Magnus's armor and body, forcing him back half a step..
then he roared, turning his body to evade the rest of the arrow rain.
Alwen wasn't hit by a single arrow—
a fact so absurd it made even Magnus freeze for half a beat.
Magnus gnashed his teeth, preparing to swing the greatsword straight towards the direction the arrows came from.
But–?
HE. COULD. NOT. MOVE.
His muscles twitched violently, but his arm was completely numb.
The arrows embedded deep into his flesh, their glowing tips seeming to lock the malevolent energy flow, freezing Magnus's arm as if shackled by thunder.
"GRRRRRHHHH!!!!!!!"
"HATEFUL!!!"
Magnus roared, his other hand hurriedly grabbing the arrows to yank them out.
But suddenly Alwen, who he thought was almost incapacitated, was standing upright, blood mixing with sweat flowing down his face, panting heavily.
And the moment Magnus hesitated…
Alwen bent down, gripping his own sword tightly.
Fingers trembling. Body exhausted. Yet his eyes blazed with fire once more!
He lunged forward.
"GET LOST!!!!!!"
Magnus screamed, trying to muster strength in his other arm.
But he was stuck.
For the first time, his own body betrayed him.
The pain from dozens of arrows piercing his muscles made him grimace, his arm trembling rhythmically.
Alwen screamed as if tearing his lungs!!!
"NEVER!!!!"
*BOOM!!!*
Alwen's sword stabbed straight into the armor joint on the left chest, where black smoke was swirling like a small tornado, the hidden weakness he had observed from Magnus's smoke-based movements.
The blade pierced the armor.
Then pierced something soft and hot, making Magnus widen his eyes full of rage and shock.
"YOU!!!"
Black smoke spurted from the wound like blood from a wounded beast.
The ground shook beneath their feet.
The deathly purple aura around Magnus began to shrivel, as if something deep inside him had been… drained.
Both froze in a brief moment.
Magnus roared insanely, black smoke exploding out around him!
He swung the sword in his hand fiercely towards Alwen.
*BOOOOOMMM!!!!!*