Chapter 215: Another Surge
Myles steadied himself as he faced the man. His face was still calm. His grip tightened slightly around both of his blades while his eyes remained fixed on every movement his opponent made.
The pressure coming from him was not just raw strength but also experience and intent, something that immediately told Myles this man was different from the others he had been killing so easily.
He adjusted his stance without rushing, lowering his center of gravity while observing the man’s posture. The way he held that oversized weapon and the faint crackle of lightning that never fully disappeared from its surface.
He knows that this man must be one of the elites in Red’s troops just like Michael had explained before. The thought formed quietly in his mind as he prepared himself for what was clearly not going to be a simple exchange.
The man did not give him the luxury of time. With another loud roar he stepped forward and swung his massive blade in a wide horizontal arc. The motion carried both brute force and unnatural speed as lightning surged violently along the edge.
The air seemed to split under the attack, forcing Myles to move back instead of meeting it directly. His body moved with controlled precision as he avoided the strike by a narrow margin.
Even then, the residual lightning brushed past him and bit against his skin. It was enough to make him understand that even grazing hits from this opponent would not be something he could ignore.
The assault did not stop there. The man pressed forward relentlessly, chaining his movements into another swing then another. Each of his attacks flows into the next with a surprising level of coordination despite the sheer size of his weapon and his body.
Myles raised his blades to intercept when needed, deflecting the strikes rather than blocking them fully, yet each clash still sent a jolt through his arms as the lightning flared violently on contact.
The difference in weight between their weapons became clear immediately and it was forcing him to give ground step by step as he maintained his balance and avoided being overwhelmed.
He shifted to the side, circling slightly to test the man’s reactions, then moved in with a calculated strike.
His short sword cut toward the man’s ribs while his curved dagger followed from the other sides. Both attacks timed to land at the same moment and aimed at angles that would normally be difficult to defend.
The man reacted faster than he expected. He twisted his body while dragging his massive blade upward to intercept.
The clash rang out sharply. Sparks and lightning burst between them.
Myles saw it clearly in that instant that his strikes had landed but they had not gone deep enough. The man’s body endured the damage without breaking. His stance remained stable as the lightning surged again to force Myles back.
The next attack came faster and heavier, forcing Myles to retreat again as the blade slammed into the ground with explosive force, sending cracks and arcs of lightning across the surface.
Myles sighed slowly as he slid back, his eyes narrowing as he reassessed the situation.
"At this rate... I’m wasting time," he thought, the realization settling firmly in his mind as he understood that continuing this exchange would only delay him while the true threat still stood untouched at the center of the battlefield. He could not afford to be held here.
The decision came quickly.
As the man stepped forward again and raised his blade for another powerful strike, Myles changed his approach completely.
Instead of preparing to meet the attack, he uses Shadow Bind. It stretched unnaturally beneath him, spreading across the ground in a silent and almost fluid motion before surging forward.
The man did not notice it in time, his focus locked on his own attack as the shadow reached him and suddenly snapped upward.
It wrapped around his legs first, then coiled tightly around his torso, binding him in place with a force that stopped his movement instantly.
The lightning around his blade flared violently as he tried to move, but his body refused to respond. It was locked by the unnatural restraint that held him where he stood.
That single moment was all Myles needed. He stepped in without hesitation and closed the distance in an instant as his short sword drove straight into the man’s chest.
His curved dagger followed immediately after, cutting into the man’s throat in one clean motion that ended any resistance before it could even form.
The lightning flickered, unstable and weakening, before collapsing completely as the strength left the man’s body.
Myles pulled his blades free smoothly. His expression did not change as the man’s body went limp and dropped to the ground. He did not spare him another glance.
His eyes were already moving again to scan the battlefield, measuring the remaining threats, and identifying his next targets.
Without wasting even a second, he surged forward once more into Red’s remaining troops as his blades resumed their relentless motion to kill through anyone who stood in his path.
—
On the other side of the battlefield, Michael forced his body upright with a slow and strained motion. His teeth clenched so tightly that a faint grinding sound escaped between them.
Pain still lingered in his muscles and bones, but it no longer held the same weight it had moments ago, as if something inside him had dulled it or simply pushed it aside.
His eyes lifted and locked onto Red once more and found him still standing at the center of the battlefield with that same wide and unhinged grin. Like he was completely absorbed in the chaos around him as if everything unfolding existed purely for his amusement.
A surge of anger rose violently within Michael’s chest, far stronger than before. It swallows everything else without leaving space for doubt or hesitation.
His fingers tightened around the shaft of his spear until his knuckles turned pale and in response, the weapon reacted.
The flames that once burned bright along its length began to change. It turned denser and darker, changing from a vivid blaze into heavier and deeper color, as if the fire had been compressed into a more violent state.
The heat surrounding it intensified and warped the air in a sharper and more unstable way.
Michael didn’t notice it because his thoughts had already drowned beneath the overwhelming surge of rage that consumed him from the inside out. The pain from the earlier attack also no longer registered in his mind, replaced entirely by the need to attack and bring down the figure standing ahead of him no matter the cost.
His breathing grew heavier and uneven, but it only fed into the fire building within him.
"I WILL KILL HIM..."
The thought burns through everything else.
Without another moment of hesitation Michael roared as he pushed forward. His feet drove into the ground with force as his body launched ahead.
He closes the distance toward Red in a direct and reckless charge. The darkened flames around his spear flared violently as he moved, leaving a trail of distorted heat in his wake.
And deep within him, unnoticed and unchecked, another power surged quietly beneath the rage.
—
