As soon as I stood up, I cast a cursory glance at everything around us.
A familiar but unfamiliar space. An enemy whose appearance I already forgot. And the two girls whose faces I long missed. I felt a rush of emotions after seeing Ember and Ingi's worried faces. However, now isn't the time for our emotional reunion.
"[Karma Value]!"
Using the technique taught to me by Primo, I manifested a small yin-yang image on top of my palm. Back in my mental space, I couldn't check it, but now I could. The yin-yang moved rapidly, with the black area taking up about 90% of the entire circle. Seeing the small white part made me feel a bit conflicted.
Furthermore, since I was using the Flame of Evolution, the black part was slowly but surely spreading around, increasing the space under its control. When the whole yin-yang gets covered by the black part, then it means I'll be facing a life-and-death trial.
"... About a minute at most."
By then, I must conclude our battle. Otherwise, I fear what'll happen next.
"How did you survive...? You shouldn't have the halo anymore!"
Noir, seeing how I was now completely recovered, shouted in a mix of confusion and disgust. I didn't bother answering, however, and just took a long step forward.
"...!"
Noir, probably out of instinct, blocked the space between the two of us with his tentacles made of darkness. As soon as he did, all of it immediately got cut into pieces, and even his chest earned a long horizontal cut.
"Kuh! Don't get full of yourself, brat!"
The wound he had rapidly closed. His healing speed was definitely something else, probably on par with the Broken Phoenix's power.
At the same time, he sent hundreds of tentacles toward me from all sorts of angles. If it was someone else, then it may have been inevitable to get skewered.
"But I already practiced against these millions of times!"
Compared to Primo's control and speed, this much is nothing! I didn't even need to move much, as a simple twist of my body and a swing of my sword were more than enough to evade the rushing tentacles completely.
After all of the tentacles missed their target, Noir got visibly shaken. It must be hard for him to believe someone like me, who should've been at the 5th stage or 6th at most, was able to neutralize his attacks effortlessly.
However, that wasn't the end of my display.
As all of the tentacles were dodged completely, I focused the Flame of Evolution on my legs and disappeared in an instant. A moment later, I appeared behind Noir, aiming my sword straight at his neck, attempting a clean swipe to behead him.
As if he had eyes on his back, however, he managed to pull out a sword and block the strike.
"Finally using your sword? Took you long enough!"
Noir's usual pattern was to use the tentacles for most cases. However, when he's fighting seriously, he would use his sword. It was a flat blade, about a meter long, straight, double-edged, and plain. It was as if the sword was something you could grab at any stall on a sidewalk.
However, this sword of his has a special property. It's that, whenever it was wielded, the power behind each strike increases by a thousandfold. As proof of it, his arm, at an awkward angle, didn't even budge an inch as he received my full-power blow.
"But I got tired of that too!"
Death, the one who mastered the sword, drilled all of Noir's habits into me. He was thorough to the point that the moment I saw his grip, I already knew the path the sword would take a moment later.
Noir's swift counterattack missed, as I ducked down and sent a thrust to his defenseless body. As soon as the tip of my sword touched his skin, however, I felt a powerful repelling force sending me flying back a few meters.
"..."
Around Noir, everything started turning a murky black. It was spreading around at a speed of several meters per second, reaching where I was almost instantly.
"Using a Domain against a 5th stage? Aren't you ashamed?"
I frowned deeply. Although I predicted this to happen, to be exact the five regressors predicted it to go like this, fighting against a domain without one yourself is almost impossible.
Instead of despairing, however, I used Brother Mountain's Sigil and covered myself in golden light. The black, sticky stuff that composed his domain couldn't come close to the light coming out of the sigil and my body. This is the true power of the Turtle of Longevity, Complete Immunity to Outside Interference!
Right now, my body is like an inviolable shrine, denying any negative things from approaching it. With this protection, I unhesitatingly rushed to Noir and swung my sword. The Flame of Evolution envelops the blade of the sword, turning it a fiery red color.
Noir didn't expect me to move unhindered within his domain, so his reaction was delayed for a split second. Of course, I didn't miss the chance and plunged the sword straight into his heart. With a fleshy sound, the sword pierced through, and blood started flowing down the wound in a powerful spray.
"Ugh! I-Impossible..."
Noir's voice was so soft that I couldn't hear it without focusing. However, I knew that this was my chance to completely kill him off. I twisted the sword, aggravating the chest wound, and pulled it out roughly.
He coughed out buckets of blood as he started falling to the ground. Without missing a beat, I swung the sword again and, with one swift slash, sent his head flying off of his shoulders.
"...! Sh*t! I messed up!"
At that moment, I belatedly recalled the warning the five regressors gave me: "Never kill Noir with one hit."
As if to add insult to injury, Noir's lifeless body stopped falling and got covered in a violent purple and red energy. His head, a little distance away, moved to his body and reattached itself automatically.
"Oh no, you don't!"
Without waiting for his revival to be completed, I rushed forward once again. However, I couldn't even get close to him as a powerful blast of energy sent me flying away.
In the short instant that I was tumbling in the air, Noir's body completely recovered. He opened his eyes, now the color of blood, and stared at me with a hateful gaze.
"To think you'd force me to use one life stack... I really underestimated you."
As he said so, a black portal appeared behind him. He took one step back and entered without hesitation.
"Don't you dare run away, coward! Fight me!"
Although I tried to provoke him, his gaze didn't even flinch. As the portal closed almost instantly, leaving only his voice echoing.
"I'll definitely make you pay for this disgrace."
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