"When fighting an opponent stronger than you, focus on their weakness, and charge forward with that in mind!"
A man with a wooden sword unleashed countless blows on another man—Shyam.
His eyes sharpened, as if they themselves were turning into a sword.
Weakness! Shyam thought. He took a deep breath and—
★
"Weakness!" Shyam yelled as he rotated his sword and slid it back into its sheath.
Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself. Staring at Sagar, he prepared for the battle ahead.
"Shall we begin?" Sagar murmured as a book hovered before him, its pages opening to the first few leaves.
"Sure, why not."
Shyam replied as he readied his own grimoire.
"Ways of Water."
"Ways of Hydra."
"Hydros Orbus!" Both spoke at once!
A thin layer of water covered them both, forming a soft yet durable defense, preparing themselves for the coming clash. It was no longer a battle to destroy Vyomsetu, nor was it to save it. It was a battle to prove whose grimoire held stronger spells.
Their eyes met—distant, yet connected, as if each could see their reflection within the other's gaze.
Raitha turned invisible again. Ravina still held back the beasts. Soktomanus kept chopping down heads. Tithira still somehow stood, leading the thousands of adventurers.
Even though both sides had lost many, neither had stopped.
"Keep fighting! Just a little longer!"
Tithira said as he leaned against a wall, struggling to remain standing.
"Shyam, I hope you're alright… and that you beat Sagar fast," Ravina muttered, surrounded by monsters. Her death drew near. She never imagined she would die like this—never.
"But… I got to meet someone like Shyam before death. I am grateful…" she sobbed. Her hands shook—more than they did even against the Blue Eagle boss.
Suddenly, a hammer crushed the skull of the beasts encircling her.
"Wha—!" Her eyes widened. Before her stood a man—old, yet brimming with strength. He held a hammer firmly, staring down the beasts.
"Sorry I took so long, Miss Ravina."
It was Arohanik, the Mayor of Vyomsetu.
"It's okay… and thanks…" Ravina replied, breathing heavily, her legs trembling with fear.
"I thought of running away at first. What a shame. My teacher would never forgive me if I did."
Arohanik murmured as he readied his hammer.
"What are you saying?"
"No time to explain now!"
He roared as he impaled a beast.
★
"You are in line to be the next Mayor, right?"
A man asked, sitting beneath a banyan tree, staring at the sky.
Beside him sat a boy, eating an apple.
"Yes, my father says so," the boy replied, biting into the fruit.
"Do you know the true duty of a Mayor, Arohanik?"
The man asked again, patting the boy's head.
"To rule a city?"
"No. That's only part of it. The true duty of a Mayor is to protect his city to his last breath. Even death should not tear him apart, nor stop him from protecting his people."
"I'm sure you'll become that kind of Mayor someday, Arohanik."
★
"I couldn't, Teacher…" Arohanik grumbled, watching the battle from afar.
"Should I truly run away?" he murmured. Suddenly, his eyes landed on a group of beasts mauling a girl with short brown hair, an adventurer's outfit torn from the fight.
"Is that… Ravina? Even though she just arrived in this city, she still risks her life to protect it?"
His hands shook as he hesitated.
"What am I? A coward? I wish I was!" he shouted, lifting the hammer that lay silently beside him.
★
"Where is Shyam, Ravina?" Arohanik asked as he crushed through the beasts.
"I think he went to fight Sagar."
"Alone?!"
"I think so…"
"Ways of Water, Third Spell: Mare Vinctus!" Sagar incanted.
Thin threads of water formed around Shyam, weaving into a prison.
"Take this, you weak adventurer!" Sagar laughed as the chains wrapped closer.
"I have a brain too, you know."
Shyam murmured, raising his hand.
"Ways of Hydra, Fourth Spell: Jaladabheeṣaṇa!"
A sudden burst of water force swept away every thread that tried to capture him.
"Why stop here?"
"Ways of Hydra, Eighth Spell: Lacrimaris!"
Shyam countered—but nothing happened.
"Hah, even I know that spell does nothing—" Sagar began, but then his eyes suddenly welled up. Tears streamed uncontrollably, sorrow erupting from his heart.
"What the—?! Why am I crying?!" he snapped.
"Because that's what Lacrimaris does!" Shyam shouted as he drew his sword, dashing in to strike.
"Even though this spell weakens me, do you think I will accept defeat so easily?!" Sagar roared.
"See my potential, Vyomsetu! Ways of Water, Sixteenth Spell: Viscera Torrentis!"
The battlefield fell silent, as if a massive storm loomed near.
A gust of wind swept past Shyam, as though even the air itself fled from Sagar's spell.
The faint scent of water spread across the mountains, the calm sound of the ocean's flow revealing the true power of water.
"Are you ready for what comes next, Shyam?!"
Sagar's voice was now thick and cold, carrying pure killing intent.
"Has he gone mad?!" Shyam shouted, running toward the city to warn everyone of the disaster about to engulf them like the ocean itself.
"I will make you feel… all that I felt!" Sagar raised his hands. The spinning magic circle suddenly froze.
" No! I don't have time to warn anyone! I have to stop this myself! "He thought....
Shyam's eyes widened. His voice trembled. His hands shook. The sword slipped from his grasp. His breath stopped.
Was this… the end?
But hadn't he wanted to become an A-rank adventurer?
" Didn't I want to be an A-rank adventurer?!"
At that moment, time froze.
He felt true fear. Not of death—but of losing everything he had, everything he learned, everything yet to discover.
This was the discord between life and death.
"One last try…" he whispered, still trembling, his hands barely lifting.
Water surged down the mountains in a man-made flood.
Suddenly, someone stood beside Shyam—Ravina. Then Tithira. Then Arohanik.
One by one, everyone who had fought behind the walls stepped forward.
"What are you guys doing here?!" Shyam asked in shock. Weren't they supposed to hold back the beasts?
"The beasts suddenly retreated. We came to see you. And it seems… you're badly hurt, huh?" Ravina hissed. Her voice was no longer sweet—it was cold.
"We want to fight with you," Arohanik grinned.
"Even if I can't do much, let me serve this city one last time," Tithira said.
"What the fuck is that thing?!" Soktomanus shouted.
You guys… Shyam thought. For the first time, it felt as though time moved for him again—even just a little.
"Thanks!" His hands stopped shaking. The fear of loss no longer chained him.
The Ways of Hydra grimoire floated before him. He read the one last, most powerful spell he could summon.
"Master!"
"Shyam!"
"Mister Shyam!"
"Go for it!"
"We are counting on you!"
Their voices reached him, surging strength through his veins.
His lips moved—
"Ways of Hydra, Tenth Spell: Unda Serpenta!"
---
Ch-51