“Guh...” Ismoken’s thoughts didn’t last long. The searing pain coursing through his entire body threw him off balance, making him stagger. It wasn’t enough to kill him, but the impact had been severe. For a moment, he nearly blacked out. Ghislain didn’t miss the opportunity. He swung his staff with full force, striking Ismoken squarely in the chest. BOOM! “Urgh!” Ismoken let out a pained cry as he was sent flying backward. He barely managed to regain his footing before coughing up a mouthful of blood. "Kh..." But he had no time to catch his breath. Ghislain was already closing in, his staff arcing toward him once more. BOOM! This time, Ismoken didn’t take the hit passively. He quickly gathered his energy, blocking the attack and countering with his own. “You sneaky bastard! Is this how you fight?!” He was livid. He had already been humiliated too many times. Dark energy surged from his body once more, his bladed arms slashing through the air as he pressed the attack. The pace of their battle escalated. The sheer speed at which they moved made it impossible for an ordinary person to even track their movements. The air itself seemed to rip apart from the force of their blows. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Each clash of Ismoken’s black blades against Ghislain’s glowing staff sent powerful shockwaves tearing through the battlefield. Ismoken wasn’t lying when he said he was skilled in close combat. He wasn’t being completely overpowered—he was actually holding his ground. “Hoh... you’ve trained quite a bit, haven’t you?” Ghislain grinned, watching his opponent with growing interest. Ismoken’s martial prowess was impressive. It was both wild and refined, like that of a predator—ferocious yet calculated. Such a technique wasn’t something that could be developed overnight. It had been honed over years, perhaps even decades, of study and practice. Most likely, it had been specifically designed for battling humans. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Ismoken’s attacks grew fiercer. He couldn’t stand Ghislain’s smug attitude, as if he were evaluating him rather than taking the fight seriously. “Let’s see how long you can keep up that arrogance!” SWOOSH! Ismoken vanished in a blur, leaving behind only a faint shadow. A split second later, he reappeared behind Ghislain, his blade-like arms slicing downward. Ghislain twisted his body just in time, avoiding a direct hit. However, his coat was torn, and a shallow cut appeared on his side. “So, this is the limit of your speed?” Ismoken smirked. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚 He could feel it—if he kept pressing, he could win. Victory was within reach. Ghislain, however, remained unfazed. Instead of responding, he drove his staff into the ground. FWOOM! A radiant burst of light erupted from beneath them. “Tch! Such a cheap trick—” Ismoken leaped away, trying to escape the light. But that was exactly what Ghislain had been waiting for. The light condensed into arrows mid-air, homing in on Ismoken as he soared. “Damn it!” Unable to dodge, Ismoken crossed his arms in a desperate attempt to block the attack. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! The light arrows struck relentlessly, each impact forcing dark smoke to billow from his body. “Grr... you bastard!” Ismoken clenched his teeth in frustration. Ghislain’s intermittent use of magic kept breaking his momentum. If he wanted to win, he had to close the distance completely and prevent him from casting spells. That was the thought running through his mind when— “...Huh?” Ghislain was already right in front of him. Before he could react, the staff came crashing down. BOOM! “Guhhh—!” Ismoken plummeted to the ground, screaming in pain. He had no time to recover. Ghislain followed up with a relentless barrage of strikes. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! “Kh...!” The battle had flipped entirely. Ismoken couldn’t even properly defend himself anymore—he was being beaten down. Each time Ghislain’s staff connected, dark energy was forcibly expelled from his body. And the worst part? He couldn’t understand why this was happening. ‘What... what’s going on? How did he suddenly get stronger?!’ A moment ago, they had been fighting on even ground. No—he had been winning. He had been pushing Ghislain back. But now, he was the one being completely overwhelmed. ‘Was he hiding his strength all along?’ No. Ghislain’s power and speed hadn’t changed. They were the same as before—something Ismoken could still theoretically keep up with. But his movements... His staff moved unpredictably. Even when Ismoken blocked, it somehow slipped past and struck him from a different angle. Even when he dodged, the attacks still managed to land. It wasn’t about power. It was skill. Ghislain’s technique was on an entirely different level. ‘T-this can’t be happening.’ The Salvation Order had spent centuries battling humanity, adapting and improving their combat techniques. Ismoken had been taught that his style was the pinnacle of martial prowess. That if he fought one-on-one, he could defeat all but the absolute strongest of Transcendents. And yet, against this man— It wasn’t working at all. Even as he was being beaten, he couldn’t bring himself to believe it. Ghislain smirked as he watched his dazed opponent. "I’ll give you credit—you actually managed to land a hit on me. That was a pretty decent technique." “Y-you arrogant... bastard...” “If you had more real combat experience, this fight might have been more interesting. But in the end, I still would’ve won.” Ghislain had deliberately let Ismoken use all of his techniques. Not for amusement. But to study them. He had been analyzing the Salvation Order’s combat style so he could teach countermeasures to those who would face them in the future. Now that he had seen enough— He was done playing around. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! “Guhh...!” Ismoken’s eyes filled with panic. Every strike drained more and more of his energy. He could hold on for now, but at this rate— He would die. A high priest of the Salvation Order... beaten to death. The realization sent a wave of despair and rage surging through him. ‘Is my skill truly so lacking? Are the Transcendents beyond the Sanctuary really this powerful?!’ This was the first time he had ever fought a true Transcendent. He had believed that his strength was enough. The elders of the Order had told him so. They had guaranteed that with his abilities, he could hold his own. Yet the very first opponent he encountered was this. It was like crashing headfirst into an unbreakable wall. His power, his speed—none of it mattered. Because his technique was inferior. And for the first time... Ismoken understood the meaning of skill disparity. Ghislain's combat skills and techniques were undeniably beyond the norm, but Ismoken, who was fighting a transcendent for the first time, had no way of realizing that. “Ugh... We were nothing more than frogs in a well.” It was hard to admit, but the truth was undeniable. His opponent’s combat prowess was far superior to his own. ‘Then...’ Ismoken’s eyes burned with resolve. The enemy was already certain of his identity. Too many people had seen him for there to be any doubt. If he wanted to remain hidden, he had to avoid battle. But in his current state, if he didn’t fight, he would die. He had to use every ounce of power he possessed to create an opportunity—somehow. His opponent was undoubtedly off guard right now. He was overwhelming Ismoken so completely that complacency was inevitable. He had to take advantage of that gap. He had to kill him in a single strike. Now was the time to use the power of death that he had been keeping hidden. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Ismoken endured the relentless blows, barely holding on. He was waiting for just one chance. CLANG! Displaying remarkable focus, he barely managed to block Ghislain’s strike. At the same time, he used the force of the blow to propel himself backward and shouted: “I’ll show you my true power!” KWAHHHH! This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight. In an instant, Ismoken’s aura exploded outward, spreading in all directions and dyeing the ground black. The moment he raised both hands, dark energy surged from the earth like jagged spikes. “Oh?” Ghislain used magic to levitate into the air. But the black energy stretched endlessly, pursuing him like living spears. And that wasn’t all. Before he knew it, the sky was darkening, an abyssal shadow swallowing the light. It was the manifestation of Ismoken’s aura, condensed into a single phenomenon. KWAHHHH! Soon, darkness rained down from above like a storm. Ghislain looked up. “That’s...” It was a technique used by the high priests of the Salvation Order in his previous life. But this wasn’t the crude imitation he had seen lesser transcendents use. WHIRRRRR... The dark energy surging from the sky and the earth resembled the fangs of a monstrous beast, poised to consume the world. “This is impressive.” There was no place to escape. Even a transcendent couldn’t evade every drop of darkness descending like a meteor shower. Ghislain gathered his mana and erected a powerful shield around himself. BOOM! The black light struck him like a crashing comet, forcing him back. And the barrage continued. BOOM! BOOM! BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM! A relentless torrent of dark energy pounded Ghislain from all sides. Soon, his figure was completely obscured, swallowed by the encroaching blackness. Ismoken let out a breathless chuckle at the sight. “Heh... Hahaha... I actually did it. I didn’t expect it to be this strong...” It was the first time he had used this technique with his full power. His energy was completely drained, and his body felt like it was falling apart, but the result was worth it. That arrogant mage had surely been caught in the attack. Even he was surprised by its intensity—his enemy must have been even more so. “Hahahaha! This is the power granted to me by the true god!” BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM! The black energy continued to devastate the battlefield. Ismoken, reveling in his apparent victory, sneered. “Heh... But I can’t let my guard down until the fight is truly over...” He wiped the blood from his lips with the back of his hand. The darkness that had filled the battlefield gradually began to dissipate. “There won’t even be a body left... but this is bad. I don’t have the strength to deal with the others...” The two top-tier knights he had seen at the beginning were still a problem. The Holy Warriors would eventually fall. Their strength came ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) from layered enhancements, but the bandits they had empowered had limits. And the duration of their transformation wasn’t long. It could be extended if he infused them with more energy, but he didn’t have the strength to do that anymore. If he ran now, his identity would be exposed. He had to kill the remaining enemies. “There’s no choice. Before the Holy Warriors run out of power, I’ll have to use my own life force to assist them...” It would shorten his lifespan and leave lasting damage, but he had no other options. He turned to head toward the Holy Warriors— —and froze. “...What the—” Standing at the center of the dissipating darkness was the mage. Completely unharmed. Ghislain stood there, his shield intact, surrounded by eerie, humanoid black figures. They clustered around him protectively. “What... What the hell is that?” Ismoken muttered in disbelief. The figures began to dissolve like smoke. Among them, one of the shadowy forms grumbled. “This crazy bastard... Your first summon is this?” Puhah. Ghislain exhaled heavily and stretched his back. That had been genuinely dangerous. Astrion’s body was still not strong enough. So he had summoned Death Knights at the last moment to absorb the attack. The Death Knights had been summoned out of nowhere only to be pounded mercilessly. Their leader, Gascot, grumbled in irritation as he vanished. Watching them disappear, Ghislain quipped, “Damn, I used up a lot of mana on that.” His Death Knights were of an incredibly high level. Astrion’s magic wasn’t strong enough to fully command them yet. Even though he had only summoned them briefly as shields, it had nearly drained his mana. But his opponent wasn’t in any better condition. Ghislain smirked, spinning his staff lazily. “Looks like you’re out of energy. Time to take a beating.” “You... You—” Ismoken’s face turned pale. He was in far worse condition than Ghislain. He had thrown everything he had into his final attack. Yet, his enemy was still standing. Worse, he still had strength left. Ismoken stumbled backward. At this point, there was no point in hiding his identity. Escape was the only option. He turned and ran. Burning his life force, he pushed his body to flee as fast as possible. At that moment, Ghislain swung his staff back and spoke. “Magic Missile.” Thwack! The staff shot through the air, slamming into Ismoken’s back. “Guh!” Blood spurted from his mouth as he crashed forward. His body wasn’t torn apart, but his spine had been shattered. “Ghhhk...” Even so, Ismoken struggled to rise. The more he used his life force, the whiter his hair became. Ghislain, now standing over him, retrieved his staff. He was breathing heavily as well. “Hah... I still need to train more. I’m out of shape.” Astrion’s originally frail body had been honed into what others saw as an inhuman weapon. But for Ghislain, it still wasn’t enough. If he had been in his real body, Ismoken’s attacks wouldn’t have even slowed him down. “You shouldn’t let your guard down before the fight is truly over. Still, it’s been a while since I fought someone decent. You’re better than the Inquisitors I used to deal with.” “Ghhhk... Who... Who the hell are you...?” Ismoken looked up at him with eyes filled with fear. The enemy knew far too much about them. Ghislain grinned wickedly, raising his staff. “I’m the man who’s going to wipe your kind off the face of the earth.” With that, he swung his staff at Ismoken’s legs. CRACK!