Earth's Greatest Magus

The searing flames burning his skin were not as hurtful as the regret he felt for missing the chance to land a critical hit on his opponent. Even more so when he thought that chance might be the only one he would get.

He didn't care about the burning wounds, as they would soon regenerate thanks to his [Undecaying Flesh]. What Emery had to care about right now was how he could find a way to deal with his opponent.

On the other hand, the Nephilim genius was so taken aback by Emery's planned attack that he ended up descending from the sky and decided to change tactics as he called in all of his 32 [Soaring Shuttle] back into his storage ring leaving only his 16 [Heaven's Will Shuttle] .

"I was wrong. You are indeed a worthy opponent," Eeshoo said with a calm expression.

"Thank you," Emery answered in short as he was in no mood for a chat.

At this moment, both of them realized and came into unanimous silent agreement that they needed time to take a breather and control their spirit pool for another eventual clash. After all, the two of them had cast multiple powerful spells in their previous confrontation.

Eeshoo took out something that alarmed Emery. It was another 8 pieces of the [Heaven's Will Shuttle]. As soon as he did, those onlookers who understood how unusual it was for one to control that many artifacts were surprised, among them was the female Nephilim who had been in the terrace observing the entirety of the match.

She immediately shot her irritation to herself, "What are you doing, Eeshoo?! Why do you have to force it?! This is not the usual you. Calm yourself!"

Even though such words were shouted from Jinkan's mouth, inwardly she knew what she did was simply in vain. There was nothing she could do to change the mind of the young man standing in the arena.

That particular event on Andora planet, the power displayed by a young acolyte from the lower realm was still etched deep in Eeshoo's mind. The reason for his uncompromising and stubborn attitude against him this time.

Eeshoo had thrown away his childhood, his friends, and even his family for being able to enter and become a member of the inner circle of the Nephilim. All to get the facilities and resources he desperately needed for his progress.

Hence, to know and witness firsthand that someone could match him in spite of not having such privileges made it seem as if everything he had done and sacrificed was all for naught.

So no, he could not and must not let that young acolyte get past him.

[Heaven Drill Blade]

Once again, Eeshoo performed the special battle art technique that was created only for the special spirit reader artifacts. This time, however, it seemed he had gone a step further in his quest to defeat his opponent.

Instead of forming one huge blade just like he did before, the Nephilim genius created three of the deadly instruments, each consisting of eight Heaven's Will Shuttles. The twenty-four Heaven's Will Shuttle turned into three huge lances that emitted an intimidating sharpness from their tips.

Those lances shot through the air like thunder with a wave of Eeshoo's hand, as the Nephilim changed his battle approach from long-range to mid-range, which allowed him to deliver more powerful attacks as his control over the artifacts strengthened by the close distance.

Howwlll!

[Omega Strike]

Howling loudly as he used [Battle Howl], Emery swung his two swords that were shrouded in brilliance.

Even though Emery's attacks had become stronger thanks to the battle art technique, he still needed both swords to deal with one of the incoming lances. Thus when the other two arrived, Emery was forced to use his [Aegis of Void] spell to resist it and dodge out of the way.

His figure streaked across the sky above the arena. The air whistled as he maneuvered past the three lances, handling them as efficiently as possible as he continued to try to reach the Nephilim.

It was a breathtaking spectacle for the crowd of onlookers, the Nephilim genius displayed his superb mastery over the terrifying flying artifacts while the half-wolf acolyte utilized his exceptional versatility to match them.

Baamm! Bammm! Bamm!

The battle continued becoming more and more intense as time went on. In this round, Emery managed to score some more gains compared to their previous clash, but again, the Nephilim quickly undoed them.

Whizzing past one of the artifacts by just an inch, Emery finally managed to get close to Eeshoo. There were still several meters between them; a distance not really worth mentioning. But right at that moment, the other two artifacts suddenly shook and changed rapidly, transforming into their second form.

[Heavenly Tower Shield]

An enormous wall appeared between him and the Nephilim. It was the impregnable defense that had previously managed to withstand Atlas' powerful attacks and similarly Emery was forced to retreat by it.

At this point, the battle had already been going on for more than thirty minutes, yet the cheers had not died down. Instead, it became even more lively as the battle had exhilarated the crowd, as they watched the two come fiercely at each other.

From ranged combat to close range combat, from ground to air, flaming spells and gravity magic, the arena was now a devastated site, yet the two of them didn't seem to have any plans to surrender. As a result, their battle only continued to escalate. The blood dripping from the wounds on their bodies began to fill all over the arena.

While it might appear at first glance that Emery was at a disadvantage, the truth was quite the opposite: Eeshoo was actually slowly losing his ground in this fight, and with his intelligence, he quickly realized this fact.

Unfortunately for the Nephilim, this was a bitter pill he had to swallow. Although it was an undeniable fact he possessed superior firepower over his opponent, Emery simply possessed a much stronger regeneration rate and a deeper spirit pool, which gave him a level of endurance that allowed him to slowly but surely bridge the gap between them.

"No!" Gritting his teeth, Eeshoo still tried his best to fight Emery even though he found himself losing. Meanwhile, Jinkan, who was watching all this, gasped in disbelief. She knew Emery had become stronger, but she didn't realize how far he had improved since Andora's mission.

The one hour mark was reached, but the fight was still going on. By this time, however, the situation had been reversed. Emery was clearly the one holding the initiative, but Eeshoo still refused to give up.

Each of Emery's attacks at this point was filled with the thoughts of his master. He knew he had to make his final decision, before Eeshoo or the referee decided it for him.

Thought after thought was jumbled in his mind, but his body still didn't stop attacking the Nephilim.

'You can't kill Eeshoo!' Julian's and Klea's voices once again filled his mind as the memories of his Master haunted him.

The time he had when they were together, drinking tea, laughing, training together, and many more. These memories unknowingly evoked the one skill taught by the person; it burst out from his sword, unleashing its might for all to see.

[Shadow Edge]

The crescent-shaped attack shot through the air and struck Eeshoo's [Heavenly Tower Shield] squarely. It caused the wall to shake violently, but in the end, it managed to hold on. However, Eeshoo didn't have the chance to breathe a sigh of relief as another spell was right behind it.

A swirling sphere of light consisted of two opposing colors headed rapidly for the powerful shield, it was the manifestation of Emery's dual cores. The shield shattered into pieces as the [Dao Matter] landed. It was so impactful it forced Eeshoo out of his Angelic Form, and losing his wings, his figure plunged towards the ground heavily wounded.

Emery arrived right in front of the Nephilim, knowing full well that this was the defining moment.

It was the last chance. He had to finish Eeshoo right now!

His grip on his swords tightened as he was ready to give the killing blow.

But in the end, he found himself unable to do so.

On top of the dozens of reasons that discouraged him from killing the Nephilim, was the figure of his master Xion being replaced by his father telling him to do the right thing. Killing one for such a reason was definitely not the way his father thought of him.

"Master… I am sorry" He muttered under his breath as he lost his chance.

The magus referee dashed into the arena to check on Eeshoo's condition. However, instead of announcing his win after the inspection, the referee turned his gaze at Emery.

The magus muttered shocking words that instantly made him burst with emotion.

"You have 5 seconds to kill him, or your master will die!"

From afar Jinkan who still couldn't accept Eeshoo's defeat realized something strange was happening.

Seeing Emery once again raising his sword and the referee not stopping him made her panic and jumped into the arena to shout for Eeshoo to surrender.

Alas, she was too late.

Sppllaattt!!!

The sword was swung and crimson liquid splattered into the air before falling to the ground.

The sight of several magus rushing into the arena caused commotion among the crowd. The people roared as another incident occurred in the tournament.

"The half-blood is going crazy!"