Chapter 359 Revelations Of The Destination

As Emilio dashed in, engulfing himself in azure flames like a fireball, the King of Spades backpedaled and swiped his hand, seeming fearful of the Dragonheart's rush.

"Slice!" The bleach-skinned man yelled out viscerally.

It came as fast as the sound of the word reached his ears, like a nefarious wind hissing towards him; Emilio immediately flipped to the side in an attempt to dodge, though found it ineffective as an unseen attack slashed across his chest.

"Nn!"

Though it impeded his course, fortunately his armor withstood the bladeless slash. It had penetrated the draconic scales, though failed to reach his skin.

"Fly: Swords!" The King of Spades commanded with a booming voice now, pointing an index finger towards the pillar.

He had no time to think about the attack as he rolled behind one of the colossal pillars just as the King of Spades followed up. Ethereal swords of black-and-white glows manifested in the space around the snow-skinned guardian before shooting towards the Dragonheart.

The blades constructed by words carved through the quartz pillar, crashing into the wall beyond where Emilio stayed put as he added an extra layer of protection.

'I'll outlast any battle of attrition!' He thought.

With a clasp of his hands, he rose barriers of dusty, pale stone around himself as the barrage of swords continued flying in. Though he quickly realized that simple walls reinforced with mana wouldn't stand much of a chance lasting against the rain of blades as he went for a higher form of magecraft: "Elder Encasing".

The walls morphed into blood-red stone, bearing the faces of monstrous, human faces with stoic expressions. It was a difficult spell that he had added to his arsenal some time ago, though it was one that demanded a heavy toll of mana and focus.

As the ethereal swords crashed against the man-faced walls, they were turned into splatters of blood-resembling liquid that was absorbed into the mystical barriers.

'Keep tossing those swords at me–just watch it bite you in the ass!' Emilio thought.

The King of Spades continued the relentless rain of swords, manifesting them in the dozens as they swarmed the crimson walls.

"You will fall, Dragonheart," the halberd-wielding man promised.

There was a pool of crimson liquid that had laid slick on the nebulous walls, which Emilio kept himself within with complete focus, holding his palms against their interior. He couldn't see where his enemy was nor where the swords were coming from as he sat behind the man-faced barriers.

'Just a bit more and...now!' He thought.

It was just then that the seemingly endless swarm of projectiles reached its end, seeming to fall in line with the theory Emilio held in his mind:

'There is a limit to the effects of his "power words"! I noticed it when I stopped flying upward,' he thought.

After enduring the barrage of swords, which forced him to drain through a hefty portion of his mana to sustain their form, he activated the true form of the spell as he used his sword to cut his own palm open.

"Activate, Elder Blood Payment!" Emilio invoked.

Findd new stories at novelhall.com

The blood rushed from his palm, levitating into the air before splitting apart and being fed to the crimson shields around him, causing the elder faces protruding from the walls to awaken as their dormant expression shifted into ones of anger with tears of blood streaming down their faces.

"What sort of magecraft is this?" The King of Spades questioned.

"Fall."

–Though the word emitted with the intent of once more pinning the Dragonheart down, nothing met the ears of the young man as he dashed forward, catching the guardian off-guard by the lack of effect from the word.

'It seems like it worked,' he thought.

The sheer agility he possessed was put on display as he encircled the King of Spades, running behind the many pillars and sprinting on the walls as he left a trail of azure flames behind him. Each attack taken directly to the guardian had to be made thoughtfully and with utmost precision, lest he wanted to find himself turned into mincemeat.

'Have some of these,' he thought.

As he ran along the walls, jumping from pillar-to-pillar to keep the King of Spades on his toes, the swift Dragonheart tossed an array of blazing spheres towards his foe.

"Extinguish."

Poof.

"Extinguish."

Poof.

"Extinguish!"

Poof.

The patience of the bleached guardian was tested as he repeated the same word again and again, nullifying the fireballs as they sailed towards him, though unable to pinpoint the draconic, young man who continued running laps around him.

Emilio didn't let up on his planned assault, landing on one of the pillars as he stayed above and out of reach from his foe before invoking a high-grade spell: "Mountain Coffin".

A huge dome of stone erupted from the ground, taking up most of the width of the royal room and trapping the King of Spades within it. He knew it wouldn't hold the figure long at all, but he prepared a second layer to it–one that prioritized murderous intent.

"Mountain Coffin: Stone Maiden's Grudge."

More shapes of stone rose, this time sharpened into spears that stabbed through holes that opened around the dome, piercing through with the intent of skewering the guardian, yet–

"Blast outward!"

The King of Spades' powerful voice boomed along with the wind as a massive shock wave tore through the dome along with the projectiles, scattering debris in every direction before the angered figure set his sights on the Dragonheart.

"Do not mistake yourself into believing you'll make it to the Quandary Gate–time moves faster in my Checkered Keep!" The King of Spades revealed.

'What?...' Emilio thought.

The royal figure noticed the hesitance from the scaled figure now, "That's right. Those "days" you had are now minutes–less than an hour."

Things had certainly changed with this information, though he knew it could possibly be a lie to get into his head, there was undoubtedly a chance it was true.

"Then I'll just finish you before then–thanks for the heads up!" Emilio shouted, summoning spheres of water around him.

"Try and fail," the King of Spades said bitterly.