Before he could go far, Flauros suddenly felt a gaze following him. He immediately stopped and looked around. There was not a single person, only rows of houses, silent in the night. But his intuition told him that he was not alone.
A small sound came from the roof above. Flauros curled his lips slightly, his eyes becoming sharp.
"Go, hiding is not the style of a stalker."
The space was silent for a few seconds, then a black figure gently landed from above. It was a person wearing a black cloak, covering his face, but the aura emanating from him was not ordinary. An assassin? Or someone with another purpose?
Flauros squinted, clearly feeling the terrifying magical power③ radiating from the person in front of him. It did not resemble a demon, nor did it resemble a beastman. There was something very... different.
The stranger stood there, motionless, but the pressure from him made the air around him seem thick. The night wind seemed to stop blowing, leaving only a deathly silence.
"What are you?"
Flauros spoke coldly, one hand lightly tightening around the hilt of the small sword he kept hidden under his cloak.
The other person did not respond, but the moonlight reflected, revealing his face.
Under the dim moonlight, his face appeared a pair of eyes as red as fire, skin as pale as a corpse, and on his forehead, a strange mark flashing with a dark light. Flauros immediately realized: this was not a human, nor was he an ordinary demon.
It was another entity. Something that had existed but did not belong to this world.
The person's voice rang out, hoarse as if echoing from the abyss
But the sound that came out was not a language that belonged to this place, a strange language. The other person smiled, a twisted, dangerous smile.
In that moment, space seemed to shatter. A huge magical power erupted, sweeping across the empty street like a storm.
Flauros did not hesitate. He immediately drew his sword, his eyes flashing with killing intent.
Leaping into the air, rushing straight towards that stranger. But he did not dodge, just stood there, not even looking up to observe. Only when the wind was split in two, the sword that slashed straight at his main artery was suddenly blocked.
*Keng
The sound of metal rang out piercingly, and his skin was as hard as metal. That strange, magical power rushed forward again. Dozens of dark chains rose from the ground, rushing straight towards Flauros like giant snakes.
Flauros jumped up, somersaulting in the air to dodge. He chanted the object transformation spell in his heart.
'Brozonies'
The familiar spear appeared to replace the iron sword in his hand, the spell that increased damage and summoned fire that he had enchanted with the forbidden spell finally had a chance to be used.
In just a split second, Flauros rushed down like a bolt of lightning, slashing straight at his opponent.
The cloaked man raised his hand in time to create a magic circle, but the heat from the spear caused his protective circle to crack. A powerful horizontal slash pierced through the defense, cutting the opponent's shoulder shirt.
The cloaked man retreated, his voice hoarse.
The amount of negative emotions he continuously emitted made Flauros gradually absorb the newly spent Mana quickly, and it seemed that he was quite surprised that this type of spell was so strange.
He looked at the black-purple flame that was burning and could not be extinguished at the wound. The pain continued to increase, and Flauros' forbidden Mana was increasing more and more.
The two silently observed each other for a while.
Once again, the two powerful men charged at each other, the spear and the magical twin swords clashing, creating violent shockwaves. Flauros put his strength into each slash, using the force to push the spear quickly and powerfully, repelling the opponent's attacks. But the other man was not easy to deal with.
The shadows around him were constantly changing, creating hundreds of swords, chains, and even demonic hands that tried to drag Flauros into the endless darkness.
But Flauros did not retreat.
"Blanche"
That strange purple flickering black fire flared up once again, swallowing all the demonic chains from him in an instant. Without hesitation, Flauros reduced his body weight and leaned forward, preparing to attack.
The stranger smirked, brandishing the two black magical swords and immediately rushing forward like a whirlwind. The spear and the twin swords collided, creating dazzling magical sparks in the darkness.
Flauros swung his spear repeatedly, each powerful blow aimed straight at the enemy. But his opponent was incredibly agile, gliding like a ghost, dodging and counterattacking at the same time. A blade swung horizontally, and Flauros jumped back but still received a thin cut on his arm.
'Damn it, his skin is as hard as steel. Only magic can affect him.'
'Then let's use forbidden magic.'
Flauros immediately chanted a spell, from the ground rose black streams of air covered in spells, rushing to bind the enemy. But the demon was no ordinary one, it cut off the stream of air with just one slash. Then suddenly, a black magic circle opened under Flauros's feet—a trap!
Flauros quickly noticed the Mana fluctuations in the surrounding space.
Flauros gritted his teeth, knowing that this battle could not be prolonged. He immediately activated another forbidden magic, and the surrounding darkness became thicker, covering the enemy.
At that moment, he thrust his spear forward, at the same time taking the opportunity to quickly retreat. The enemy slashed through the darkness, but was a beat too slow. Flauros used all his strength to jump onto the nearby roof. While the enemy was still busy dodging the spear that was rushing from the opposite side, Flauros directly used the force to charge straight down.
'Balanze!'
Immediately, a magic circle appeared, and a magic stream appeared in its center. The cloaked man quickly realized it, turned around, but it was too late, the magic stream shot straight down.
A bright light shone.
Creating a loud echo, the rebound wave from this move even sent Flauros flying.
Quickly jumping again to regain his balance and standing on the nearby roof. Looking down, behind the hazy smoke and dust, a huge hole appeared. The entire road from earlier was destroyed, Flauros observed more closely to make sure that 'that thing' had no more signs of moving or existing.
Under the cold moonlight, Flauros stood straight, the spear in his hand dripping blood onto the stone-paved ground. His opponent, the strange monster with strange magical power, had collapsed, a fatal wound piercing through his chest. Everything seemed to be over.
That person suddenly laughed. A twisted, twisted smile, red eyes like a devil staring at Flauros. He reached into his cloak, pulled out a jet-black magic stone, and clenched it tightly in his palm.
Flauros immediately recognized what it was.
*CRACK!
The magic stone ④ shattered in an instant, and immediately, a wave of evil energy enveloped the space. The enemy's body began to recover at a terrifying speed, the wound on his chest closed, his pale skin regained its vitality, and his red eyes burned brighter than ever. Not only that, his magic power also exploded, at least twice as strong as before.
"Do you think that's enough to kill me?" His voice pleaded
Without time to react, Flauros felt a terrifying pressure coming. The enemy rushed over at a terrifying speed, and two magic swords swung out, creating deadly cuts in the air.
Flauros raised his spear to block the attack, but the force from him was much stronger after recovering…
Flauros struggled to resist, repelling the attack from him. But then, in just a moment, while he was not paying attention.
A deep cut appeared on Flauros's shoulder, blood spurting out, dyeing his tattered cloak red. But he did not stop. For a brief moment, Flauros endured the pain, poured all his Mana into the spear, and activated a forbidden magic.
"Incinerate."
The spear blade burned in pitch-black flames, carrying destructive power. He swept hard, forcing the enemy to retreat. But at that moment, the opponent also counterattacked, summoning a magical barrier to cover his body.
Flauros clenched the spear blade burning in the sacred flames, his eyes were cold and full of killing intent. The enemy in front of him, despite using a magic stone to recover, still could not hide the loss of magic power.
The two charged at each other again. The magical swords drew faint lines of light in the air, and each slash was so powerful that it shook the space. Flauros did not dodge but faced it head-on, The spear blade spun, forming a whirlwind of black fire that enveloped him.
The enemy swung a vertical slash, and Flauros immediately leaned over, the blade grazed his cheek, leaving a thin cut. But at that moment, he counterattacked.
"GO AWAY!"
The man roared, it seemed that after using the magic stone, he was gradually losing control of his mind.
He turned the spear, using the hilt of the weapon to sweep the opponent's flank, causing him to stagger. Not missing the opportunity, Flauros immediately jumped high and slammed the spear down.
*BOOM!
The ground beneath the enemy's feet shattered, and a terrifying force exploded, creating an enormous pressure that pressed down. The enemy roared, and his magic barrier cracked under the pressure of the attack.
But Flauros knew it was not over yet. He immediately retreated, took a deep breath, and poured all his magic power into the spear again.
Muttering the incantation, the afterimages of black pages gradually appeared around him and gradually gathered at his chest. More specifically, at his heart, and from there, his Mana veins once again condensed on a large scale and spread evenly on his arm. The place where he was holding the spear.
The spear burned fiercely, the purple-red flame mixed with darkness, carrying the power to burn everything.
The enemy roared, using all his remaining magic power, swinging his two swords to defend. But it was too late.
Flauros threw his spear forward. The spear shot out like a bolt of lightning, piercing through the last barrier, piercing through the enemy's body. The fire flared up fiercely, burning from the inside out, his screams echoed throughout the space before completely dissipating into nothingness.
The fire went out, leaving only ashes flying in the wind. Flauros put away his weapon, breathing heavily. The battle was finally over.
Slowly walked towards his opponent's corpse. His cold gaze swept across the body that was gradually fading away.
But then, something strange happened.
Instead of blood, only streams of black magic energy oozed from the wound. The enemy's body did not decompose like a normal creature, but instead, strange patterns on its skin gradually became visible, emitting a gloomy light. Looking closer, Flauros also realized from the beginning that he was not a living creature.
"This thing again..." Flauros's voice dropped, his eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
A moving corpse, but not a normal magic puppet. The structure of the magic power in his body was much more complex, it seemed like he was an entity that was being manipulated by someone behind it.
This was similar to the ones Flauros had faced before coming to the Divine Kingdom, battle puppets created with ancient forbidden magic.
But unlike last time, this entity was much more advanced, even having its fighting consciousness.
"How interesting..." Flauros muttered, his fingertips lightly touching the fading symbols on the corpse's skin. The lines gradually dissipated into nothingness, leaving only a layer of ash.
"It seems that the person behind this has already decided to eradicate the threat to him, to eliminate me."
He didn't have time to find out right now. If this was one of the sacrificial pawns, the person pulling the strings behind it must have observed the entire battle. Staying any longer would only cause him unnecessary trouble.
Gathering his thoughts, Flauros took a few steps back, waved his hand to summon a small flame, and burned the remains of the corpse to erase all traces.
The night was still quiet as if no battle had ever taken place. Without further hesitation, Flauros turned around, disappeared into the darkness, and continued his journey.
Flauros quickly blended into the darkness, becoming one with the shadows that were everywhere at night to move.
As for the reason? The night police patrolling would have noticed the loud noise just now, if he didn't leave, would he just stand there and wait to die?
Furthermore, blending into the darkness and moving didn't cost Mana, and also gave him time to recover from his body's fatigue.
Extremely convenient.