Chapter 166: Fall of the Ashway Stage (1)
Before another demon could unleash its searing blue flames, Irene was already in motion. She shot forward, closing the distance in a blur, and drove a crushing kick straight into its abdomen.
The impact blasted the demon off its feet, sending it hurtling down onto the wide stage platform below.
Only then did she turn her gaze toward Ruvian.
"You’re still alive?" she said, genuine surprise slipping into her voice.
’Of course, I am!’
Ruvian drew in a sharp breath, his chest rising and falling as he steadied himself. "Let’s talk later," he muttered. "I’ve got seven minutes before this enhancement wears off."
His eyes sharpened.
"I’ll take the one with gravity magic. You and Silvena handle the other."
Silvena arrived a moment later, stepping in beside Irene, her expression tense. "You can handle him alone?"
A faint, almost teasing smirk tugged at Ruvian’s lips. "If seven minutes pass and I still haven’t put that wretched bastard down..."
He exhaled lightly.
"Then come help me."
With that, he kicked off the ground and surged forward, closing in on Raglak, the gravity magic demon, who had just recovered from being slammed into the amphitheater wall.
*****
Gripping [The Endseeker], Ruvian clenched his teeth and stepped in to meet the demon’s claws. But since Ruvian was stronger and faster, the demon’s balance was broken.
In that fleeting opening, Ruvian twisted his wrist, the blade angling sharply, and carved across the demon’s exposed flank.
Slash!
The demon reacted in a burst of fury and tried to claw Ruvian apart, but Ruvian had already vanished from its reach, slipping away like a phantom.
’Amazing... every intention that I set to attack and defend against him — every ability of mine surges to an overwhelming degree. I can do whatever I believe that I can.’
Ruvian thought, a thrill of exhilaration creeping into his veins.
It was as though the relic’s enchantment had ignited something boundless within him — his very imagination turning into raw, overwhelming power, forcing reality itself to bend to his belief that he was superior to his opponent.
"I can do this."
The words left Ruvian’s lips in a low breath.
His grip tightened around [The Endseeker], and in the very next moment, he moved, stepping in first, not waiting for Raglak to act.
The demon’s claws came sweeping down, heavy with crushing force as gravity gathered around them, but Ruvian easily dodged them.
The claws scraped past his shoulder, dragging a ripple through the air, and Ruvian answered right away with a swift cut aimed at the demon’s side.
Slash!
Raglak snarled, dark energy swelling around his body as the pull of Dark Mana and gravity magic deepened.
The ground beneath his feet cracked slightly, his form growing heavier, denser, stronger. His next strike came faster, sharper, as if the weight itself had turned into power.
Ruvian felt the pressure increase.
The speed behind the attack rose.
And yet, his body moved even smoother than before.
He leaned back just enough to let the claws pass him again, then he followed through, carving another arc toward the demon’s arm.
Raglak twisted to block, but Ruvian had already shifted again, the strike turning midway and cutting toward the demon’s ribs instead.
Slash!
’What? I already cut it deep, but it’s still not enough?’
Ruvian grumbled.
Raglak roared again, and forced more power into his magic.
But no matter how many times the demon lightened his own body with gravity magic, trying to sharpen his movements and slip into Ruvian’s blind spots, it never worked the way he intended.
All because [The Mirror of Red Night]’s enchantment weaved through Ruvian’s senses, and fed on every surge of power the demon forced upon himself.
Each time the demon grew lighter, faster, more aggressive, Ruvian felt his own abilities rise in tandem, as though the gap between them refused to exist.
The demon lunged again, claws tearing through the air with a speed that should have been impossible to follow, yet Ruvian stepped aside with a smooth turn of his body.
’Five minutes left... I’ve already carved plenty of wounds into him, but the Dark Mana is thickening his flesh, dulling the damage.’
Ruvian clicked his tongue.
’No, wait a second.... What the hell am I doing? I should have gone for his neck!’
Although his abilities had risen, it did not mean he had to meet the demon with equal brute force. No, he could still strike with precision and deal damage effectively.
’Haa... but if it’s easy to aim for his neck, I would’ve done so.’ he lightly complained.
Just as he prepared to aim for the demon’s neck, the demon suddenly pulled away.
This time, it did not stand its ground and endure the attack like before. It moved back, avoiding the strike entirely, its body no longer recklessly pushing forward.
Ruvian’s eyes narrowed, catching the subtle difference.
The glow in the demon’s eyes had faded. They were no longer burning red.
’Did the fruit’s effect already wear off?’ he thought, a trace of doubt slipping into his mind as he tried to make sense of the change.
Soon, the floor beneath him began to tremble.
Ruvian turned his head, his gaze dropping toward the ground below as the tremor spread outward.
The demon was casting another gravity spell.
Even so, it should have been pointless.
Within this limited time, such magic would not hold any real effect on Ruvian. The enchantment of the necklace around his neck shielded him, dulling and negating the pressure before it could take hold.
Yet something felt wrong.
He did not feel any weight at all. No strain, no resistance, nothing pressing against his body despite the ground cracking and rumbling under the spell’s force.
That was when it clicked for him.
The spell was never meant for him.
It was cast on everything around him.
Ruvian frowned.
"You—"
Just as the curse was about to leave his mouth, the ground beneath him gave way.
Crack!
The floor shattered without warning, splitting apart in a violent collapse, fragments tearing loose and plunging into the hollow below. And in that same instant, the demon switched the target of his spell.
Instead of the floor, it locked onto Ruvian now.
With his footing already gone, there was nothing to anchor him. The force pressed down on him mid-fall, forcing his body straight into the collapsing void beneath the amphitheater stage.
The air roared in his ears as he fell through dust and debris. With that, the once grand structure of the Ashway Bazaar became a collapsing cascade of stone and ruin.
And somehow, despite all of that, Ruvian still managed to finish what he started, his voice echoing in pure frustration all the way down.
"—bastard!!!"
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[Chapter 166: Fall of the Ashway Stage (1)]
A/N: Read Author’s Notes below
