Chapter 195: Night of Redemption III

’I’m out of mana, and I used up the last of my aura just getting here as quickly as I could.’

Regis was in a dilemma as his mind worked rapidly, trying to think of solutions and ways to escape this situation.

Earlier, he slept after defeating the skeletal wyvern.

However, he was not able to recover much before he was awoken by Aurelia’s acceptance of the contract and the pain brought by her gift.

Added to the fact that the figure in the west, which he had been keeping his eye on, finally moved.

This left Regis with no choice but to spend everything he had to try and get to the fortress as soon as he possibly could.

Now, left with nothing but his gifts and the passive effects of Sinful Arbiter of Darkness to rely on, he was at a dead end.

Unfortunately, Marzak did not care what he was thinking before attacking once again.

[Darkness Duplication]

Under Regis and Aurelia’s eyes, two figures made of pure darkness manifested on both of the demonic worshipper’s sides.

They then copied Marzak’s battle stance with their own sword made of darkness.

"Let’s get this over with." Marzak’s crimson eyes were filled with bloodthirst as he chanted once again.

[Swift Night]

This time, it was not only he who executed the aura art, but his two clones as well.

Regis immediately threw his broken daggers and picked up a steel spear of a fallen soldier, using it to parry the three attacks that were coming at him at the same time.

Clank— Clink— Thunk—

Clank— Clink— Thunk—

Clank— Clink— Thunk—

...

Crack—

"Shit..."

Regis cursed under his breath, seeing that the spear only lasted after parrying three hundred attacks.

He then threw it before rolling to the side and grabbing another weapon in the process.

This time, it was a rapier that he picked up from the ground.

Clash— Clink— Clank— Crack!!!

Unfortunately, it did not even last a hundred exchanges before it broke.

Regis then repeated what he did earlier.

This went on for a few minutes, with him grabbing a random weapon from the ground and blocking the attacks with it.

As time passed, Marzak began feeling impatient.

’Just how is he able to block my attacks!?’

He would have understood if he were fighting with a high-ranking holy knight or a seasoned swordsman.

But in his eyes, his opponent was only a human boy.

’The way he’s able to perfectly parry with random weapons he picked up from the ground is just...’

Infuriating.

For the first time in a while, Marzak started fighting seriously.

[Storm Blade]

His and his clones’ swords emitted a green glow as the humming of the wind echoed.

[High Rank Magic: Gale Bind]

"What..."

Regis felt the air in his surroundings become heavier, making it difficult to move.

Even the sheer act of breathing became multiple times harder.

These circumstances only made it more difficult for him to withstand the onslaught of the three swords surrounded by wind magic.

Unfortunately for Marzak, it did not even take a few seconds before his opponent was able to move normally once again.

’Did my Gale Bind not work on him?’

He felt confused, but did not cease his attacks.

Dispelling Gale Bind to conserve mana, he ordered his clones to surround his opponent, preventing him from dodging.

The only reason why Regis was still able to keep up was because he utilized his resources efficiently.

Perfect Adaptation made it so that he could block and build immunity against attacks.

Gold-grade Tranquility helped him maintain calm in his decision-making.

Platinum-grade Weakpoint Creation allowed him to form weaknesses in his opponents’ swords, which he targeted to match Marzak’s strength, especially since the gift also amplified the impact of his attacks.

This worked with the passive Sinful Arbiter of Darkness, making him match the strength of a swordsman at the Early Stage of Five Star.

Finally, the Diamond-grade Instant Regeneration helped him recover from any injuries.

In the distance, Aurelia was also racking her brains, "What should I do..."

"If I had accepted the contract before and was able to learn any kind of magic, then..."

She would not be such a burden at this moment.

Shaking her head, she looked for ways to help, "I don’t have the time to blame myself..."

"...the only thing I can do is to turn things to gold. I don’t have the slightest knowledge about combat and magic."

Glancing between Regis and her hand, Aurelia racked her mind.

However, it was in this moment that a figure appeared beside her.

"What are you thinking of doing right now, huh?"

Hearing a voice beside her, Aurelia flinched in shock. "W-What— Why are you here!?"

Marzak smirked and pointed in a direction, prompting her to turn and look.

What met her eyes was a heart-wrenching sight—Regis, kneeling in silence, his body impaled by several massive spikes of darkness, yet still upright as if refusing to fall.

His eyes burned with fury as he stared at Marzak.

’Just what the hell happened? Is this really the power of someone at the Five Star Realm!?’

"It looks like you’re still quite confused..."

Marzak, who was carrying Aurelia by her neck, walked slowly towards Regis, who kept staring daggers at him.

"Don’t look at me like that. Did you really think that you could fight me on equal terms just because you’re a little stronger for your age?"

"I really just want to take the cursed child and go, but you really forced my hand."

The boy did not reply and only glared at him.

Tap— Tap— Tap—

At this moment, the sound of footsteps could be heard in the distance.

"It seems like the flies had arriv—"

[Crater Force]

[Lightning God’s Wrath]

[Magic Combination: Glaciothermic Cannon]

Three chants immediately resounded in the area at the same time.

Marzak, with a calm smile on his face, met all of them head-on.

With his free left hand, he seized the ankle of the foot aiming for his face.

At the same time, his sword-bearing right hand blocked the crackling blue blade wreathed in yellow lightning that was aimed at his neck.

And as magic surged toward his head, he conjured a mana shield just in time to deflect it.

"I can’t believe this."

Marzak smirked, "You have quite the nerve to teleport there, old man."

"I’m already so old, what is there to be afraid of?"

Eldrin’s voice sounded.

Currently, he had just freed Regis from the spikes of darkness that impaled him.

"I must say... this magic really is quite complicated."

Marzak replied while holding Larkson’s ankle and blocking Killian’s blue lightning sword, "To think a mere master magician can analyze and dispel my magic..."

"What can I say? Although I don’t have your level of mana affinity, I dare say this magic isn’t really that hard to analyze. Though casting is a different thing altogether."

Hearing the old mage’s nonchalance, Marzak’s lips twitched, "Are you saying that my magic is inferior?"

"Are you deaf? What could I possibly mean by that? Of course, you’re better than humans..."

"As long as you know your pla—"

"...but you’re inferior to me."

"You fucking old man." Marzak cursed as rage filled his face.

He swung Larkson by the ankle, hurling him toward the crumbling ruins of a building while delivering a vicious kick to Killian’s face, sending him hurtling toward Pandora in the distance.

Afterwards, he slashed behind him with his sword, only to be blocked by Aurelia, who stood in the way.

Whoosh—

Like the others, she was sent flying due to the sheer impact of the sword.

Seeing this, Marzak became confused, ’Shouldn’t she be sliced by my sword? Why was she sent flying...?’

However, he did not have enough time to think as he sensed fluctuations of mana near him.

"I’m gonna kill you, you fucking old man!!"

Eldrin smiled at him.

[Master Rank Magic: Teleporto Massam]

Woong—

Two magic circles with intricate patterns materialized above and below him and the weakened Regis, vanishing just in time to narrowly avoid a huge spike of darkness that manifested from the shadow on the ground.

"Do you really think I won’t be able to find you just because you teleported?!"

Marzak shouted, his face full of fury.

He had already been feeling impatient when he fought Regis earlier, causing him to use his full power when he could not hurt him with swordsmanship.

Now, an old human mage dared to mock his magic, something he, as an elf, could not possibly tolerate.

A few seconds later, Marzak suddenly looked in a certain direction, "I know where you are!!"

Just as he was about to pursue Eldrin and Regis, he felt a presence behind him.

"As if we’re just going to let you go after them."

Larkson’s voice was filled with determination as he punched with all his might.

"I don’t have time for a weakling like you!"

Marzak swung his sword in a huge motion, his face filled with impatience.

With the enhancement of Crater Force, Larkson was able to nimbly dodge the attack before Killian rushed and thrusted his sword of blue lightning.

"Just one minute... we just need to stall him for aminute!!"

Larkson shouted, to which Killian and Pandora both responded.

"Easy." "Mhm!"

Marzak chuckled, holding his face in disbelief, hardly able to comprehend what was happening.

"These weaklings actually think... Haha, I dare you!!"