A/N:
My views and collections have rapidly decreased since last month and I'm beginning to think: 'Is my book dying?', lol.
Anyway, just a chapter for today, kinda busy here.
=====
A gentle breeze swept across the area, causing the dry leaves on the ground to fly together between the two figures standing in the clearing.
The moonlight shone down on them, casting eerie shadows across the floor.
The rustling of leaves and the cries of owls filled the surrounding area as the two stared intently at each other.
Platinum blonde hair combined with a pair of reddish eyes and tanned skin.
The man wore a tight turtle-neck sleeveless shirt, tactical pants, shoes, and gloves in black colors.
Breaking the silence, Nathaniel spat his mind.
"What are you doing here?"
Nevertheless, the man just scoffed and responded.
"Ha. What's with the friendly tone, do we know each other?"
There was no way Nathaniel would ever forget him.
Back in the previous timeline, he needed a whole army just to defeat this bastard in front of him.
The boy's golden eyes surveyed his surroundings and after noticing that there were no monsters around, Nathaniel concluded that the man had not fused with the power, which was good.
Then that meant he was weaker and it was better to kill him now, rather than killing him after he received the power—because that would doubtlessly be a pain in the ass.
"You're from that shitty organization, right?"
"..."
The man's expression turned dark and Nathaniel immediately jumped backward.
—Boom!
The ground beneath him shattered, dispersing dirt and debris into the space.
Nathaniel did a backflip and landed on the ground a few meters away from him.
Amidst the mist of dust, a silhouette of him straightening his back was seen, followed by a throaty voice.
"Thanks to you, I now have a reason to kill you."
Nathaniel stood on guard stance and chanted inwardly.
The man shot forward and Nathaniel hastily bounced to the rear.
—Boom!
The floor under him blew up, causing dust to rise high.
As Nathaniel was hovering, he swiftly unleashed a barrage of a dozen crescent-shaped lights toward the man, who was obscured by the dirt and debris.
—Boom! —Boom! —Boom!
The soil below erupted in clouds of dust and just right Nathaniel's feet touched the tree branch, his eyes stretched wide.
The man suddenly appeared before him with his fist ready to strike.
—Boom!
The tree burst and broke into two pieces, causing it to topple over with a thunderous thud.
—Tap!
"Haa… haa…"
Nathaniel landed on the ground with his lungs gasping from the sudden rush of adrenaline.
If he was even a second late, he would definitely be turned into mush!
Despite his big stature, the man's speed was no joke.
"Haa… haa…"
As the dust began to settle, the man could be seen pulling his stuck fist from the remnant tree trunk.
Subsequently, he turned his head at the boy and smirked.
"Gifted with strong physicality? Ha. What a load of bullshit!"
Ah, I see…
So, in other words, that bastard knew who he was, huh?
Nonetheless, ignoring him, Nathaniel regulated his breath and exhaled deeply.
"Haa…"
After calming his body, he readied his weapon and wasted no more time, both of them dashed toward each other.
Nathaniel recited a spell and soon, a magic circle formed behind him, shooting numerous earth spears.
The man's ruby eyes watched how the earth palisade hurtled at him indifferently and swung his right fist.
—Boom!
The earth's spear crumbled into dust.
As another one came in, he shot his left fist.
—Boom! —Boom! —Boom!
One by one the earth's palisades vanished, leaving only dirt in the air.
"Tsk."
Nathaniel clucked his tongue in annoyance, and the moment their gap ceased, he waved his sword.
—Bang!
Sparks of metal burst between the collided weapons and Nathaniel could feel a tingling sensation in his hand.
The man sneered and shoved his blade away.
"Urg!"
Nathaniel stumbled a few steps backward and he realized that going against him in terms of strength was not a wise choice.
Hastily stabilizing his feet, he slashed his sword diagonally, aiming at the man's head.
—Bang!
The man blocked it with his left hand and Nathaniel gritted his teeth upon seeing his attack being shut off effortlessly.
"!"
With a gasp, he immediately withdrew his sword right after the corner of his eyes caught the man's right fist flying toward him.
—Bang!
Just a moment after Nathaniel narrowly deflected it, another fist came.
—Bang!
Undeterred, the man continued his attack, launching strikes from both sides.
—Bang! —Bang! —Bang!
However, amidst Nathaniel frantically fending off, unexpectedly the man grabbed his hand that held the sword and kicked him in the stomach.
"Urk!"
Crimson liquid jumped out of his mouth and he was sent rolling several times on the ground before coming to an abrupt stop as his back slammed into a tree trunk.
"Urg!"
Nathaniel used both hands to propel himself, but his stomach suddenly churned and a fistful of blood spurted out of his mouth.
"Cough, cough!"
Nevertheless, Nathaniel forced his body to roll sideways and leaped away.
—Boom!
A hole was created in the tree trunk and the boy quickly hopped onto a nearby branch to create some distance.
"Cough, cough!"
Blood continued to pour out of his mouth and his abdomen throbbed with pain
"Tchu."
Spitting out the remaining blood, wasting no time, Nathaniel took out an Elixir from the Magical Sphere and drank it.
Sensing something lunged in his direction, Nathaniel bounced to the side.
—Boom!
His previous foothold shattered into pieces of splinters.
Throwing away the bottle and landing smoothly on the ground, Nathaniel took another bottle and poured its contents onto his sword.
—Thud!
The man hopped down the floor not too far away from him and he spoke sarcastically.
"Stop hopping like a bug and fight me!"
Deafening his ears from the bear man's ridicule, Nathaniel began to chant inwardly.
—Thump! —Thump! —Thump!
Somehow, he could vividly hear how his heart was pumping in ecstasy as a surge of power spread through his body.
Nathaniel activated his Enigma.
—Drip —Drip —Drip
Nathaniel's golden eyes followed the flow of translucent liquid as it coated his weapon.
With his sword now ready, he turned his attention to the bear-man, who stood a short distance away.
Initially, Nathaniel was hesitant to rely too heavily on his gift.
However, after engaging in combat with his opponent, he realized that winning the fight with his 'original' power alone was impossible.
Both in terms of strength and speed, Nathaniel found himself at a disadvantage.
To make matters worse, his opponent possessed an insane regenerative power that allowed him to continuously heal himself.
That was why Nathaniel chose to activate his gift.
"Shall we begin, then?"
The man spoke with his wry smirk planted on his face and Nathaniel shrugged insouciantly.
"Sure."
Since each of his physical stats had risen by three ranks, he shouldn't have any problem facing him right now. **
"Heh."
Not long after, the two suddenly disappeared, leaving their previous footing with swaying dust.
—Bang!
Soon, both of them materialized in the center of the clearing with their collided weapons.
The rasping sound of metal was heard along with some metallic sparks that burst out their blades clashed.
Retrieving both of their weapons, they continued to exchange blows.
—Bang! —Bang! —Bang!
Due to the incredible speed of their movement, the only thing visible in the darkness was their weapons which spat out flickering fire dust and the sound of scraping metal.
The man flung his fist, but Nathaniel swiftly hopped backward, causing the punch to land in empty air.
Once the distance was created, Nathaniel summoned five earth-spiked walls rowing beside him and let one of them glide toward the man.
—Drrtt.
The man dashed forward and, upon encountering the wall, smashed through it without breaking his stride.
—Boom!
The barrier crumbled down, spreading ashes to dance around.
Nathaniel sent another wall and the man immediately lifted his arm once more, smashing it without hesitation.
—Boom!
Pushing through the thick fog of dirt, the man bulldozed his way forward, unstoppable.
However, Nathaniel couldn't help but smirk whilst delivering the rest of the barriers.
—Boom! —Boom!
His earthen wall continued to shatter, and once Nathaniel heard footsteps approaching, he readied his sword and took off running.
—Boom!
As if the world was slowing down, the man could see how a tip of a blade shot forward and grazed his arms.
Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the boy's body and flung it aside.
Just before Nathaniel's body hit the ground, he stretched out his arm to touch the floor and used it to propel himself into the air.
Hovering momentarily, he executed a graceful backflip before landing firmly on the ground.
The man looked at his bleeding wound indifferently and the moment he saw it billowing smoke, he smirked.
"Ha. It's useless—"
However, the man shut his mouth and tightly gripped his wrist, unable to bear the excruciating pain in his hand.
"Aaarrghh!!"
A wailing echoed throughout the forest and he glared at him with his bloodshot eyes.
"What the fuck have you done?!"
Visit freewe𝑏(n)ovel.co(m) for the b𝘦st novel reading experience