No one can ever feel death, before the time comes. One can only feel death when one's time is nearing. Death can only be felt when it's right in front of one's eyes.
The audiences had their eyes glued to the scene before them. Even though they weren't the one having it, they felt like they were watching the chains coming for their lives. Surely, it was what the inexperienced audiences were feeling.
The one who was having it, Basil, was nonchalant. He merely sent his Qi into his Spatial Ring and took out a Sword Relic out of it. As the closest chain was already a half step in front of him, he swung the sword swiftly.
Clank!
Boom!
Surely, it wasn't a mere swing. He had infused his Qi into the strike. Therefore, the chain was thrown sideways. However, it didn't stop the other chains from coming at him. To fend the other chains, Basil spun the sword in his hand.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
Sparks of fire could be seen each time the chains were fended. Everything had happened in the count of seconds. However, it had happened very slow for Basil. His improved brain, and his experience played a big role in that.
"Ahaha! Nice move! I don't know why are you bringing some Knight stuffs here, but I appreciate your skills," Jackson commented with his sickeningly eerie grin. He was genuinely impressed by Basil's defence.
"Hmm... An attentive one, isn't he?" Basil muttered to himself. Just as he had figured his opponent were using a Black Magic, his opponent had figured out his capability too. "Interesting. He seems to know more than he shows."
Jackson managed to pick his interest. Although both Principals used different things and terms, no one could really tell the difference by eyes. For example, Magic Sword and Sword Relic. No one would know the difference between them, until one wielded it.
Magic Sword belonged to Mage, and it required Mana to be properly utilized. In the other hand, Sword Relic belonged to Knight and, it required Qi to be properly utilized.
With that being said, unless a Mage showed their Magic Circles, or a Knight used their Aura, no one could tell the difference between the two either. Knight couldn't sense Mana, and Mage couldn't sense Qi.
Therefore, even though a Sword Relic was utilized in front of a Mage, the Mage normally shouldn't be able to notice it was a Sword Relic. However, Jackson had perfectly deduced Basil was using a Sword Relic.
It was surprising as Jackson's age suggested he didn't have that much time to spend in the battlefield. In other words, he shouldn't have the experience to do so.
"Surprised that I could guess it? Ku-ku-ku, you will be more surprised.. by this!"
Without any warning, the chains which had been thrown to the sides earlier, dug into the ground and reemerged from the ground near Basil. The chains pointed their pointy ends at Basil, clearly aiming to pierce him.
This time, Basil didn't fend them. Tapping his foot once. His body flashed, before disappearing from the attack range.
[Slip]!
Boom!
The chains vainly hit the ground as Basil had reappeared not far away from the chains.
"Tsk! Tricky Step Art. This is why I hate you Battle Mages!"
Waving his hand, Jackson retracted the chains back to his side. The chains returned and they assembled themselves behind his back. The chains were waving wildly behind his back, acting as if they were his tails.
"Hmph! Just like they said, you Battle Mages can only run. Still, it doesn't matter. [Sins Of The Cursed]!"
Jackson's whole entity was instantly radiating maliciousness. Mana condensed around him before the creation of ten black spheres ensued. The ten black spheres rotated themselves behind his back, actively sending dreadful aura to the onlookers.
"Go for him!"
One of the black spheres charged with an insane speed toward Basil. Due to the speed, it flew like a cannon ball. As if that was not enough, the sphere spun itself, creating a suction force in Basil's vicinity.
Basil's Sword Relic trembled faintly. It wasn't because he was scared. It was because the suction force produced by the spinning sphere was pulling his sword toward it.
"How shameful. I have mistaken it as a Black Magic." Basil muttered to himself. There was a hint of embarrassment in his tone.
He wasn't disappointed about Jackson not using Black Magic. He was disappointed in himself. He had experience, but still mistaken a Spell with a Dark Spell. That was an embarrassment for someone like him.
Bringing his sword forward, Basil gathered his Qi on the tip of his sword. Pointing it at the black sphere firmly, his feet didn't even budge despite the suction which was getting stronger the closer it got.
Ding!
A sound of metal clashing against metal resounded through the whole arena. Surprisingly, the black sphere wasn't merely a condensed Mana. It was a heavy metal sphere. By saying heavy, it was really heavy to the point of dragging Basil's sword down.
"You have made one mistake, Basil! Let me tell you what my Spell is. Do you know what is the heaviest thing in this world? Correct! It is sin. It will drag you down to hell, no matter where you hide!"
Basil raised one of his eyebrows. He was mildly amused at the ecstatic Jackson. What a philosophical way to name a Spell. No wonder it was called [Sins Of The Cursed]. Still, Basil could only give an appreciation to the name.
Boom!
Crush!
"Huh, what?!"
Jackson's seemingly endless laughter ended when he saw the scene in front of him. To say that he was dumbfounded should be an understatement. He was bewildered! How could he not? Basil had just destroyed his precious metal sphere!
"What in the bloody hell have you done?!"
"Ever heard of a Mage revealing their secret?"
"Of course, I have!"
"I'm sorry to burst your bubble, however those people are retarded."
"What did you say?! I often do that!"
Enraged by Basil's taunt, Jackson threw six of his metal spheres toward Basil. Just like before, it flew like a cannon ball powered with an insane amount of thruster. Basil's body winded slightly.
The suction force produced by the incoming six spheres was strong enough to pull him off the ground if he were to stay idle. Surely he didn't mean to do that. [Reinforcement] was swiftly applied to his whole body.
Digging his feet to the ground, a thin barrier of Mana encapsulated his entire body. He didn't plan to utilize his Step Art to move away from the range attack of the black spheres. He didn't have enough power to withstand the suction force while airborne.
Doing so would be a suicide as he would be sucked by the black spheres.
"[One Swing Two Cuts]!"
Basil muttered under his breath. His sword glowed before he swung it toward the closing six spheres. His hand moved swiftly in the air. Each swing produced two light trajectories.
Clink! Clank! Clink!
All of the spheres were pushed to the side. However, due to their speed, all of them were buried to the ground around Basil. Surely, it wasn't the end. The black spheres were still spinning even while in the ground. Thus, the suction force remained exist.
Basil had predicted this outcome. It was the reason he had reaffirmed his stance. He was pulled from every direction. The black spheres had conveniently surrounded him in every direction. He was perfectly pressured.
"Kuhaha! Now, let me spill your blood!"
Three chains attached themselves to the remaining spheres behind Jackson's back. Then, the three chains shot forward to Basil. Holding his sword vertically with his two hands, Basil raised it until the handle was above his head.
"[Synchronization]!"
Basil poured Vagus' soul into his sword. The sword shone in a blue light, and a crushing power was exuded out of Basil's entire body. Tightening his grip on his sword, his focus was entirely on the incoming chains.
Swing!
Boom!
The air split. Everyone could feel the aftereffect of the clash. The split air swept the surrounding fiercely. The chains dispersed due to the attack, and a deep trench was carved on the ground.
In the midst of all this, Basil didn't stay idle. As Jackson was winded, his Mana fluctuated. The suction force lessened, and it gave Basil a gap to move forward.
[Slip]!
[Feather Step]!
Basil executed two movement enhancement on his self. The result wasn't disappointing as Basil dashed through the ground like a jet powered bullet. Instantly reappearing in front of Jackson, Basil swung his sword down.
Jackson's widened eyes were clearly seen by Basil. However, Jackson didn't stay idle. He gathered the chains behind his back and wrapped himself with them.
Clank!
Basil's sword clashed against the chains, producing a magnificent spark of fire.
Boom!
Surely, Jackson was thrown backward due to the impact. Luckily, he was quick in his action as two of his chains embedded itself to the ground to stop his skid. He managed to stop, however it wasn't without any drawbacks.
"Kuhuk! Ugh.. crap! I think I broke my ribs."
As his body was tightly wrapped by the chains. His move to stop his skid tightened the knot even further. Thus, some of his ribs were crushed in the process, puncturing his lungs.
Blood was constantly pouring down from his mouth due to his punctured lungs. Looking at Basil with eyes full of resentment, he gritted his teeth.
"Bastard! Are you looking down on me?! You haven't even showed your Magic Circles yet! Show me!"
"Do not say something stupid. You are doing the exact same thing."
"That's because I'm better than you!"
"Is that so?"
The sheer nonchalance and the barely concealed disdain Basil showed him made Jackson's blood boiled, quite literally.
"Ku-ku-ku.. you talk well. Fine, I will show you why these chains are called [Hands Of The Cursed]!"
Boom!
Three Magic Circles revealed themselves for the world to see. Two of them were Major Circles, except the third one which was merely a Minor Circle. Jackson's Mana surged and his eyes turned entirely black.
"Oii.. this feeling. It's uncomfortable."
"What is this maliciousness? Just feeling it makes me shudder."
"Brother, will you be okay?"
"My son... I believe you will be as unfazed as ever."
Murmurs of worry could be heard from the audiences. The sheer maliciousness they felt from Jackson sent terror to their souls. Their hearts were beating like crazy. It was exceptionally absurd, considering the Magic Barrier set between them.
"Hmm... Is this Black Magic?"
The referee of the match was actually hesitating. The feeling he got from Jackson was as familiar as it was foreign. If it was proven to be Black Magic, he would move himself to remove Jackson. However, he couldn't bring himself to consider that as Black Magic.
Thus, he opted to keep observing.
"Basil! May these cursed hands bring you down to hell!"
One might be wondering about what Jackson meant by cursed hands. However, it was just Jackson referring to the same Spell he had used. He was referring to the chains which had assembled themselves to resemble the two hands behind his back.
The three chains Basil had destroyed earlier had also regenerated themselves. Thus, the hads had perfectly ten fingers.
One hand swept forward at Basil, and he couldn't pull back. The hand produced a suction force that was even stronger than the black spheres had produced.
"Welcome to the hell!"
The other hand went toward Basil as his feet were still planted on the ground. Jackson's sickeningly eerie grin returned. His black eyes were opened even wider, he couldn't wait for the time where he spilled Basil's blood.
"Huuh... I guess I have no choice?"
In other other hand, Basil merely sighed to himself. Storing his Sword Relic in his Spatial Ring, his Spatial Bracelet flashed before Kusanagi appeared in his hand.
"To think that I am forced to be serious fighting against a brat... This generation is better than I have thought."
Kusanagi shone in blue light. [Synchronization] was activated. The hand was already a couple of inches before Basil. What Basil did would be forever etched into Jackson's mind. Basil merely planted Kusanagi to the ground, and —
Boom!
— the hand was slapped away!
"Another trickery?!"
Basil smirked before picking up Kusanagi. Two Ultimate Circles floated behind his back. Sadly, none of the people knew they were Ultimates Circles as the highest quality of Magic Circle they knew was Grand Circle. Still, it couldn't stop them from gasping among themselves.
"I will tell you the real reason why it is called [Hands Of The Cursed]."
Basil said softly but audible enough for Jackson to hear.
"Are you mocking me?!"
Jackson lost his grin. His face was decorated with a savage look instead. He had lost his reasoning as everything he had done had failed miserably. Still, Basil didn't care about that.
[Slip]!
[Frictionless]!
Basil encapsulated his body with wind to eliminate the friction his body would cause with the air. In result, Basil's reappearance in front of Jackson was almost instantaneous.
Clank!
Basil's attack was blocked by the two big hands.
Crack!
Surely, the ground couldn't handle the force behind Basil's attack. Jackson who was under the pressure of Basil's attack gritted his teeth.
"Why doesn't my enforced gravity affect you?!"
"Gravity?" Basil asked in sincere puzzlement. "You thought it was gravity for all this time?" A humorless chuckle was unconsciously let out of Basil's mouth. Jackson was more of an idiot than he had thought!
"What are you laughing?!"
"It is called suction force. The reason why you can pull pretty much everything is because the vacuum state you caused."
"What.. do you mean?"
"To negate the suction force, you just have to fill the vacuum."
"Huh?"
Surely, Jackson couldn't understand Basil. He had to degrade his explanation to the same level of monkey for Jackson to understand it.
Boom!
What is better than explanation? Demonstration! Basil had just demonstrated what he had meant by overfilling the vacuum with the wind that Kusanagi controlled. In result, Jackson was thrown backward.
Crack!
This time, his body was planted on the stone wall that separated them with the audiences. His eyes widened in disbelief, however there was nothing he could do. Basil had once again reappeared in front of him.
"I know who created this horribly incomplete Spell," Basil whispered to Jackson. Infusing Mana to Kusanagi, he destroyed the assembled chains to pieces. "It was a man called Charles Blois who has killed his entire family."
Jackson's eyes widened to an absurd proportion. Basil knew the name of his mentor! He was filled with bafflement and horror.
"How could you— Ahh!!!" Jackson had no choice but to scream. Basil had just cut his hands like he was cutting butter. "The Spell was created as tribute to his family who he had killed for his own satisfaction," Basil resumed calmly.
Aiming Kusanagi at Jackson's heart, he stabbed it forward.
Squelch.
The sound of Jackson's heart being pierced was audible to the two people. Jackson glared at Basil in terror. He felt immeasurable pain! The pain was so unbearable that he wanted to cry. Black tears flowed out of his eyes.
His black eyes gradually turned normal as Mana started to leave his body die to his destroyed Magic Circles.
"Kuhuk! Spare.. me..." Jackson coughed a mouthful of blood. Sadly, Basil didn't even bat an eyelash. He merely resumed his speech, "Charles said the name was inspired by the feeling he gets whenever he sees his hands. He feels cursed."
Twisting Kusanagi in Jackson's chest, Basil exploded the Mana on its tip.
"No!!!"
"Out of his entire body, Charles believes his hands have the most sins."
Boom!
Jackson's chest exploded. The wall behind him was painted gruesomely in red. His head flew away and some of his body parts were sticking on the wall. The entire scene was witnessed by the audience, and nobody could cheer.
"I cannot agree more with him. My hands too have the most sins."
The whole arena was silent, and the match ended in Basil's victory.