Chapter 139: Rite of Passage [10]

I scanned my body.

Three of my internal organs had been damaged by Siegfried’s attack.

It hurt so fucking much.

And that bastard had the nerve to ask me if it hurt.

I refused to make a sound.

Instead, I immediately began healing my damaged organs one by one with my regeneration.

However, Siegfried wasn’t going to let me.

He was already above me, swinging his katana downward.

"I can’t let you heal, youngest. Otherwise, this fight won’t end anytime soon, and that would ruin my plans of taking a nap."

I gritted my teeth and rolled to the side.

His blade slammed into the ground.

BOOM!

The earth split open where I had been.

My insides felt like hell just from moving.

Siegfried was already on me again.

His katana stabbed toward my back.

"Fuck off."

Dark tentacles erupted from my back.

They slammed against his blade and forced him backward several meters.

Siegfried landed and scratched the back of his head.

"Are those tentacles?"

He looked at the writhing darkness.

"You have a weird power."

I didn’t bother answering.

The tentacles immediately shot toward him.

One stretched forward like a spear.

Siegfried darted to the side.

The tentacle slammed into the ground where he had been standing, cracking the earth.

"Ouch."

Siegfried glanced at the crater.

"That would’ve definitely hurt."

He continued dodging the tentacles with his usual lazy movements.

Meanwhile, I focused on healing my internal injuries while controlling the tentacles at the same time.

It was much easier than it had been before.

My mind had adapted to controlling multiple darkness constructs simultaneously.

My ability to control them had become significantly stronger.

CLANG! CLANG!

Siegfried parried and blocked the tentacles as they tried to tear him apart.

One came from below.

He jumped over it while swinging his katana upward, cutting through another that descended from above.

But the tentacles simply regenerated.

He cut one.

Another replaced it.

He cut another.

Two more appeared.

Siegfried stared at them for a moment.

Then he sighed.

"That’s annoying."

He suddenly stabbed his katana into the ground.

Silver energy erupted from the blade.

BOOM!

Vibration spread through the portion of my tentacles touching the ground.

The darkness immediately destabilized and dispersed into formless shadows.

But the vibration didn’t stop there.

It continued traveling through the tentacles toward me.

My eyes widened.

Shit.

If that reached my body, my already damaged organs would probably turn into smashed potatoes.

I immediately dispersed the remaining tentacles before the vibration could reach me.

Thankfully, that bought me enough time.

My organs finished healing.

I slowly rose to my feet.

God, thank you for giving me a body that heals this fast.

"Why did you take back the tentacles?" Siegfried asked.

"Because I wanted to."

I straightened myself.

Siegfried clicked his tongue.

"Tsk. You already healed."

He sounded genuinely annoyed.

Then he looked at me.

"Tell me, youngest. What are your powers?"

I pressed my boot against the ground.

"Darkness."

Circular clouds of darkness formed behind me.

They floated silently in the air.

Then, at my command, they transformed.

The clouds hardened into dozens of spears and swords.

Siegfried stared at the weapons.

He slowly massaged the bridge of his nose.

"What a pain."

I gave the order.

The spears and swords launched.

They tore through the air with enough speed to make it whistle.

I followed behind them.

Siegfried pulled his katana back.

Silver energy gathered around the tip of his blade.

He thrust forward.

A concentrated vibration wave shot from the sword and slammed into several incoming projectiles.

The weapons dispersed into darkness.

But the remaining ones continued toward him.

I accelerated.

Mana surged through my legs.

My body shot forward like a bullet.

I appeared in front of Siegfried before the remaining projectiles could reach him.

My katana swung toward his chest.

Siegfried pivoted on his foot and met my blade head-on.

CLANG!

Sparks flew between us.

But the moment our blades collided, I felt it.

His sword was trembling.

Vibration.

I immediately pulled my blade back and ducked.

A spear shot through the space where my head had been.

It continued toward Siegfried’s stomach.

Siegfried’s reaction speed kicked in instantly.

He shifted to the side.

But he wasn’t fast enough.

The spear grazed his left side, tearing away a chunk of flesh.

His eyes twitched.

Before he could recover, the remaining swords and spears reached him.

They descended upon him like a storm of blades.

But at the last moment—

BOOM!

Siegfried’s body pulsed.

A silver wave exploded outward from him, like the beat of an enormous heart.

The projectiles were caught in the wave.

One after another, they dispersed into darkness.

Because I was too close, the vibration wave also reached me.

This time, however, I covered my entire body in a layer of mana.

The vibration slammed into me.

My body was pushed backward several meters.

But my organs remained intact.

I stabbed my katana into the ground to stop myself.

Siegfried touched his left side.

His fingers came away covered in blood.

"Wow."

He looked at the blood with mild surprise.

"You’re actually the first person who has managed to hit me."

He wiped his fingers against his clothes.

"From what I’ve seen, your Authority has something to do with darkness."

He glanced at the remaining darkness floating around me.

"And with it, you’re able to create whatever you want. Weapons, those weird tentacles..."

He shrugged.

"So you weren’t lying when you said ’darkness.’"

"As expected of you, Siegfried."

I tightened my grip on my katana.

"You’ve already figured out my abilities."

He had understood almost everything from only a few exchanges.

Siegfried shrugged.

"It’s pretty easy."

Then he sighed.

"But that’s a little unfair. You basically have an all-round ability."

"Blame the game, not the player."

Mana gathered around my limbs.

I burst forward.

Dust exploded behind me.

I appeared on Siegfried’s left and slashed toward his leg.

His body blurred.

He moved two steps backward, avoiding my blade.

But I wasn’t finished.

Dark tentacles erupted from my back and slammed downward.

Siegfried raised his katana with both hands.

BOOM!

He blocked the attack.

A crater formed beneath his feet.

Dust rose into the air.

At the same time, vibration surged through his blade and destroyed the tentacles.

I immediately let them disappear.

Then I drove my knee toward his stomach.

BAM!

His hand was already there.

He blocked it as if he had expected the attack.

And shit.

I tried to pull my leg back.

Too late.

Siegfried grabbed my knee.

A devilish smile appeared on his face.

"Got you."

Vibration exploded from his hand.

The energy traveled directly into my body.

My bones began vibrating.

Blood leaked from my nose and mouth.

Pain spread through every part of me.

It felt like someone had shoved a speaker inside my body and turned the volume all the way up.

Thankfully, I had already learned from his previous attack.

I layered mana over my body, reinforcing my organs and bones.

I immediately swung my katana downward toward his arm.

Siegfried released my leg and pulled away.

My blade missed.

But I didn’t let him escape.

Dark energy erupted from my body.

Countless dark spikes shot out of the ground, attempting to impale him.

Siegfried weaved between them.

Small vibration waves pulsed from his body, destroying the spikes before they could reach him.

But there were too many.

I increased the number of spikes.

More darkness gathered.

More projectiles formed.

Swords.

Spears.

Spikes.

They attacked him from every direction.

Siegfried destroyed dozens.

Then dozens more appeared.

He couldn’t destroy them all.

Cuts began appearing across his body.

Blood spilled from several wounds.

For the first time, his carefree expression disappeared.

The attacks were overwhelming him.

He could destroy my projectiles repeatedly, but new ones kept appearing.

He tried to retreat.

I chased him.

He accelerated.

So did I.

Neither of us was willing to give the other a chance to breathe.

Then Siegfried did something unexpected.

He stopped.

Mana concentrated around his body.

I immediately sensed something dangerous.

"Shit."

BOOM!

A massive vibration wave exploded from Siegfried.

The force spread across a radius of more than fifty meters.

The ground cracked.

Trees trembled.

The entire forest shook.

I was almost caught in it.

But at the last possible moment—

"Shadow Step."

My body sank into my own shadow.

The vibration passed over the place where I had been standing.

I reappeared far outside the affected area.

That was close.

If I had been caught in that attack directly, my internal organs would’ve been destroyed again.

The vibration finally stopped.

Siegfried stood in the middle of the devastated area.

His chest rose and fell heavily.

For once, he looked genuinely tired.

And honestly?

So was I.

I had already consumed enough mana to equal the reserves of an ordinary Ascendant.

I only had one reservoir left.

"Youngest..."

Siegfried was panting.

"You really have me all worked up."

He wiped sweat from his forehead.

"I wanted to end this as soon as possible, but you’ve made that impossible."

I exhaled and shrugged.

"You made the mistake of attacking me first."

I pointed my katana toward him.

"But I can help you take that nap if you just let me eliminate you."

I smiled.

"Simple. We both win."

Siegfried stared at me.

Then he smiled.

"Not a chance."

I sank into the shadows.

I emerged directly in front of him.

My katana slashed toward his neck.

Siegfried raised his own blade.

CLANG!

He blocked my attack.

Then vibration flowed from his sword and into mine.

Cracks immediately began spreading across the metal.

Fuck.

I pulled my sword back, spun on my heel, and kicked toward his face.

But there was no satisfying crunch of bone.

Siegfried had snapped his head backward, narrowly avoiding the kick.

I immediately brought my leg down toward his chest.

He somehow threw himself sideways.

My boot slammed into the ground.

BOOM!

The earth cracked beneath it.

I didn’t give him room to breathe.

I continued my assault.

My blade constantly targeted his vital points.

Head.

Chest.

Neck.

Despite his exhaustion, Siegfried blocked every attack.

Our katanas collided again.

CLANG!

Cracks spread across my blade.

Another clash.

CLANG!

More cracks.

Then—

CRACK!

My katana shattered.

The pieces of metal fell to the ground.

The damage accumulated from Siegfried’s vibration had finally taken its toll.

I let go of the broken hilt.

Darkness gathered in my hand.

A new katana formed from black darkness.

But in that brief moment of creating the weapon, I had left myself an opening.

Siegfried’s figure suddenly blurred.

He appeared directly in front of me.

His arms wrapped around my body.

My eyes widened.

"What are you doing—?"

"Let’s go out together, shall we?"

There was a bloody smile on Siegfried’s face.

I immediately understood what he was trying to do.

My body instinctively tried to sink into the shadows.

Nothing happened.

Ah, fuck.

I couldn’t Shadow Step.

Siegfried’s arms tightened around me.

Then vibration exploded from his body.

The silver energy engulfed both of us.

And this time, I couldn’t escape.