Rexerd looked back at me with shock, disbelief, and subdued rage — along with a myriad of other emotions — clearly written all over his battered face.
His one eye stared at me before lowering and settling on my sword. Recognition washed over him as he rasped to pose a single question:
“That… how did you get that? That is the Divine Sword Aurieth! How do you have that in your possession?!”
I joined both my longswords together, snapping them into place like pieces of a puzzle to form a single greatsword.
“Oh, this ol’ thing?” I shrugged. “I think you already know exactly how I got it.”
Rexerd’s eye widened. So did my smile.
I continued, “During my mission in Ishtara, I killed the High Priest, used his dead body to bypass his security system, and looted his treasure vault.”
A long moment of stunned silence stretched between us before Rexerd wheezed, “I-It was you! You’re the one the Syndicate is looking for? You’re the one who ruined their plans?!”
My smile curled into a full grin.
But before I could respond, Rexerd bit his lip and turned sharply to his summoned creature. “Go deal with the brat! Take him alive! Break his limbs, but don’t kill him! He’ll make a good present for the Nameless Lords! I’ll deal with the bitch myself!”
My, such uncouth words.
The moment he gave that command, he willed Essence into his legs and launched himself at Juliana.
This was why I had waited to kill him.
Yes, I could’ve killed him the moment I stepped into this Dimensional Chamber.
All I needed to do was use the BloodWorm on Juliana to keep her away while I moved in and slit Rexerd’s throat myself.
But there was a problem.
You see, by the time I arrived here, Rexerd had already shifted and isolated enough toxins in his body to regain focus.
He could’ve summoned that Essent at any moment.
The only reason he hadn’t done that was because he still needed time — to purge the remaining toxins so he could move efficiently.
If I had attacked him too soon, he would have summoned that Essent in retaliation.
In that scenario, Juliana would’ve found an opening to backstab me.
And even if she didn’t — even if I had knocked her out — his summon would’ve bought him enough time to recover and join the fight against me.
Either way, I’d have ended up fighting two opponents alone.
But now, by keeping Juliana on the board, I had forced Rexerd to deal with her first.
That meant I had time to take down his summon before finishing him off.
I had forced his hands.
Of course, I couldn’t afford to take too long.
Even in his weakened state, Rexerd was a B-ranker. Injured and a non-combatant, yes, but he was still dangerous.
Juliana, while also wounded, should be able to hold her own against him.
At least for a while.
And surely enough, I was proven right the very next second when Rexerd pulled a dagger from his Soul Arsenal and swung for Juliana’s throat.
She managed to block the strike with her katana and retaliated by landing a shallow cut on his shoulder with her wakizashi.
Yeah, she could handle herself.
Unfortunately, that was all I had time to see before the translucent humanoid creature rushed at me.
The Essent blurred forward, closing the distance between us in an instant.
I barely managed to bring the shimmering golden blade of my greatsword up in time to parry its first strike – an open-handed blow aimed straight at my chest.
A dull shockwave rippled from the impact, sending a sharp tremor up my arms. The force alone nearly staggered me.
Fast! That creature was too fast!
But worse than that — physical attacks wouldn’t work on it.
The only way to damage this Essent was with light- or shadow-based attacks. You couldn’t even grab its body, yet it could easily touch you.
It was almost unfair.
Because that meant all my Cards were useless against it.
In the game, Michael only survived this fight because he had the Divine Sword Aurieth for light attacks and the Demonic Sword of Xaldreth for shadow attacks.
And even then, it was a close call.
Purely because Rexerd’s summoned creature was too fast.
And, well… also because Michael had no idea how to deal with it for most of the fight.
But I knew.
I knew a way to kill it.
The tome that was strapped on his chest. That was its weakness.
But before I could fully recover, the Essent twisted its body unnaturally — its arm elongating in a fluid motion as it lashed at my ribs.
I jerked back, avoiding a direct hit, but the sheer speed of the strike left a shallow gouge across my shirt.
In retaliation, I thrust my sword forward.
But the Essent moved just enough to let my blade pass harmlessly by its side.
My greatsword met nothing but the resistance of air — before the Essent stepped in and kicked me square in the chest.
“Khuaa!” I coughed, stumbling back a few steps as the wind was knocked out of my lungs.
Damn it. That was the third time my sword failed to connect.
It was reading my movements.
It knew only my sword could hurt it, so it was using its speed to evade my strikes.
Another blow came — this time a downward strike aimed at my knee. I tried to pivot, but it clipped me just before I could fully evade.
A sharp sting flared through my leg as I staggered. The Essent pressed the attack, capitalizing on my momentary imbalance.
I didn’t even see its leg whipping toward my face before it was too late.
—Thwaaam!
Its knee connected with the side of my chin and I physically felt my jaw dislocate.
My vision blackened. When it returned, the world was spinning in a dizzy blur.
Wait, no—
It wasn’t the world.
I was the one spinning after being flung back by the impact of its strike.
My body crashed and tumbled across the floor, skidding to a halt after several ragged rolls.
Gritting my teeth — though it sent another sharp jolt of pain through my fractured jaw — I sprang up to my knees and summoned my Origin Card.
Sure, my matter control wouldn’t help in a direct fight against this thing, but that didn’t mean it was useless.
I slammed an open palm against the ground.
And at my command, the stone floor shuddered, then burst upward, shifting and molding itself into a slanted log-like structure that raised toward the ceiling with me on top of it.
After gaining the high ground in an instant, I steadied myself atop the formation and glared down at the Essent below.
It was already moving — climbing the makeshift log with inhuman agility, its translucent form rippling as it ascended toward me.
Without wasting a breath, I tightened my grip on Aurieth and supplied it with Essence.
One of Aurieth’s enchantments was that it could fuel the user’s Essence into light energy, which in turn could be used to deliver devastating attacks.
So, devouring my Essence, the golden blade of Aurieth started glowing like a bright star illuminating the night sky.
Then, I swung my sword in a horizontal slash and sent an arc of golden light energy hurtling toward my incoming ethereal enemy.
The Essent reacted instantly.
With a sudden backflip, it evaded the arc of golden light, letting the radiant slash slice through the air just below its feet.
Landing with unnatural grace, it straightened and looked up — only to find the spot where I had stood now empty.
Its faceless head cocked slightly, sensing something amiss. Then, as if realizing too late, it snapped its gaze upward… even though it had no eyes.
I was already descending.
In a blur of motion, I plummeted toward it like a comet, my sword ablaze with golden radiance.
I twisted my body midair, spinning like a cartwheel, the momentum adding weight to my strike as I aimed for the ethereal tome strapped to its chest.
But the Essent twisted its body at the last second.
Instead of the tome, my glowing blade tore into its shoulder. A deep wound carved through its translucent form, deep blue light spilling from the gash like ethereal blood.
I pressed forward, trying to capitalize on the opening.
The moment my feet touched the ground, I pivoted sharply, swinging my greatsword in a quick follow-up strike toward its chest — toward the tome, once again.
Yet, the Essent moved faster than me.
Its form blurred as it ducked low, letting my sword whistle over its head. Then, from its crouched position, it sprang up and slammed its elbow into my sternum with bone-shattering force.
—Whump!
For a split second, my breath locked in my throat.
Pain burst through my ribs, the impact nearly folding me in half.
I staggered, gasping, struggling to steady myself—
But the Essent wasn’t finished yet.
It surged forward, pressing its advantage, aiming to end the fight before I could recover.
I gritted my teeth, ignoring the pain, and tightened my grip on Aurieth. As soon as the Essent came too close, I swung my blade once again.
And once again, I was able to slash through nothing but air.
The Essent moved like a ghost.
I couldn’t even react as it dropped low and swept its leg beneath mine, throwing me off my footing.
—Whump!
My feet were yanked from the ground. My body tilted sideways as I began falling.
Then—
—Thud!
A heavy fist slammed into my gut before I could even hit the floor.
The world spun again as I was sent flying back until my body smashed into the stone chamber wall with a boom, cracks webbing out from the force.
My vision blurred for a split second. Pain flared through my ribs as I fell back on the floor with a dull thud.
But I endured.
I was still alive.
I had already circulated Essence to reinforce my core. If I hadn’t, that blow would’ve shattered my ribs — maybe even blasted a hole through my body, killing me.
Ignoring the ache, I forced myself up to my knees, gripping Aurieth tight. Then, I split the greatsword apart into twin longswords, holding one in each hand.
Both twin blades glowed brightly as I poured most of my remaining Essence into them.
The Essent was already sprinting toward me.
I didn’t hesitate.
I hurled one of the swords straight at it.
—Whoosh!
The blade cut through the air. The Essent tried to dodge, but it was late.
—Schlick!
The sword cleaved clean through its shoulder and thrust into the ground several feet away. Its severed limb dropped to the floor — then faded into light particles.
But the Essent didn’t even flinch.
It didn’t even slow down.
As if it felt no pain at all.
Before I could even blink once, it was already upon me.
I swung my remaining sword—
But its hand lashed out, fingers locking around my wrist like a steel clamp.
Then—
A foot slammed into my chest.
—Thud!
I crashed against the wall again. A sharp grunt escaped me.
Then the pain worsened.
Because the Essent started pulling.
Its grip tightened like a vice around my sword hand.
Its foot pressed harder against my chest, leveraging its weight as it tried to tear my arm from its socket.
A strained cry escaped my lips.
My muscles stretched past their limits. My tendons screamed. Essence surged through my arm, reinforcing it, but the force was relentless.
That creature wasn’t just restraining me.
It was trying to rip me apart.
I gritted my teeth and tried to shove aside its foot in desperation.
But my hand passed through its body like mist, like trying to grasp smoke — yet the weight pressing on my chest remained solid and unyielding.
It was like the laws of physics only half applied to that thing.
A strangled gasp escaped my throat as my arm stretched past its limit.
My bones creaked. My flesh burned.
Another second, and either my chest would cave in, or my limb would be ripped clean off.
So, finally, I called upon my sword from my trapped hand to my free one.
The blade heeded my command.
It wrenched itself free and shot toward my open palm in the blink of an eye.
The moment my fingers closed around the hilt, I slashed wildly, aiming straight for the tome on the Essent’s chest once more.
But again, the creature of light proved to be faster.
It released my hand and moved back so fast that it felt like it had teleported — just beyond my blade’s reach, evading the strike by a hair’s breadth.
It seemed like a wasted attack from my end. A wasted effort.
It seemed like I was going to lose, like I was out of options.
Like I was outmatched.
And I was…
Except—
The longsword I had thrown earlier came flying back.
—Skeeesh!!
And like a silent arrow, it speared straight through the Essent’s back, bursting out through its chest — through the tome I was trying to cut all this time.
For the first time, the creature faltered.
Its head jerked forward, its faceless head stiffening in place. It had dodged my frontal attack, but in doing so, it had left itself wide open to the real strike — the one I had summoned from behind.
I didn’t waste the moment.
Before it could recover, before it could move away again, I drove my remaining blade straight into its front.
Straight through the tome on his chest, this time while looking him dead in the eyes… only it had no eyes.
The Essent twitched. Its hands trembled.
Then, with a slow, swaying motion, it took a step back. Then another. Its form flickered like a dying ember, its glowing wound expanding, its very being unraveling.
Light poured from every inch of its body.
Then—
—Fwoosh!
It shattered.
A soft, whispering sound filled the chamber as the Essent dissolved into light particles, dispersing into the air like mist caught in the wind.
And then there was nothing but silence.
Only my twin swords remained, clattering to the ground where the creature had stood.
With that, I had won.