Bam!
Basil received another kick to his ribs that were barely healed from the previous kick. He didn't feel any pain, but he still gritted his teeth due to his inability to fight back.
8 swords—those were the remaining weapons Basil were currently controlling. Out of the originally 20 bladed weapons, he had destroyed 12 to either defend himself from Cabalen's attack or shoo Lucilla's attack away.
As focused as she might be in her fight, the six Legion Commanders apparently weren't enough to make Lucilla sweat, so she would always land a sneak attack on Basil from time to time.
Basil, although he still had a card he had yet to pull out, still decided to face Cabalen with the Arts and Techniques he had in his repertoire. He also used [Synchronization], but didn't use it all the time as it was energy and sword consuming.
Each time he used [Synchronization], he would need to sacrifice one of the swords he was controlling. Therefore, no matter how much time it would buy him, he wouldn't use [Synchronization] carelessly.
'His control is better than I expected...' Basil clicked his tongue. 'He is not toying with me, but none of the attacks he has launched at me managed to drain his reservoir. Tsk. What a troublesome form of Magic Dragon Language is...'
Basil was counting on the crazy Mana consumption of Dragon Language to defeat Cabalen. He was reluctant to pull his ace card out because of this—he was expecting Cabalen to fall even before said Demon could corner him.
Alas, reality often disappoints. Not only did Cabalen utilize Dragon Language better than he had thought, said Demon also had an abnormal control over his Mana.
Basil, who didn't expect Cabalen to be that careful in utilizing his power, was slightly overwhelmed by said Demon's bombardment. Although he could avoid any fatal injury, from the way the battle flowed, there was little to no way he could win.
That was, if he insisted to not take his ace card out.
"You look horrible, Basil." Cabalen smirked as he pointed his sword at Basil from afar. "Your lips are bleeding, your ribs are broken, and many of your other bones are fractured—do you think you still have the right to smile like that?"
"Why are you so proud for being able to only damage me this much?" Basil sneered disdainfully. "Didn't you say that you were going to kill me?"
"This accursed human..." Cabalen gritted his teeth, then extended his hand to the side. "Let us see if you can smile after this—[Skotchení báil]!"
Right after Cabalen uttered those words, his Mana condensed in his left hand. A fist sized black ball of energy appeared not long after, and it was even hotter than the fireball he had sent at Iliana.
Basil immediately gathered all of the swords he was controlling with his Aura Ability around him as he saw Cabalen pointed the ball at him, but he wasn't going to use them as a media to create a Qi Barrier.
As he gathered the swords around him, he infused a fraction of Asia's soul into each sword as much as the sword could handle. Since Cabalen was quick in sending his attack however, the process was hurried and erratic.
Swish! Swish!
Because of that, the Mana and Qi contained inside each sword wasn't very stable. Despite so, although not as strong as it should be, Basil could still execute [Synchronization] just fine.
As Basil's swords met with the black ball Cabalen was sending at him, he quickly executed [Synchronization], sending a dense wave of Qi mixed with Mana.
BOOM!
The shockwave of the collision between the two energies swept everything below the point they collided, creating a deeper and wider crater than before in the ground. Mana and Qi overwhelmed the air once again, but none of the two remained idle.
None of them stopped to watch the masterpiece they had created even for a second. They went around the area where their attack was colliding and went at each other.
Basil, although he was mostly in defense, held his ground surprisingly well with Cabalen.
"You used quite a lot of Mana on that, didn't you?"
"Hah! It is sad that I can't use Miasma whenever I am using Dragon Language, but you are right."
Clank!
"Still, no matter how much Mana I have exhausted, you will end up being dead, Basil!"
"Overconfidence is nothing but a stupid arrogance, you know?"
Boom!
Basil clicked his tongue as Cabalen's sword broke his Qi Blade. This wasn't his first time clashing with Cabalen's sword, but he still couldn't help feeling bitter whenever his Qi Blade was broken by Cabalen's sword.
Although he didn't think being a Peak Stage Blue Core Knight was amazing—he didn't think it was enough to defeat Cabalen either—he didn't expect his special Body Forging Technique would lose to Cabalen's physical attack.
He understood well Cabalen was overwhelming his body with the Mana that was influenced by Dragon Language, however it was still hard for him to accept that his Star Energy imbued Qi couldn't keep match Cabalen's prowess.
'So much for the "perfect" Body Forging Technique...'
Basil wanted to be grumpy, but he was aware that the Technique wasn't to be blamed; it was his mistake for advancing too slow. If he had been a Violet Core Knight, facing Cabalen would be easy for him.
Bam!
"Keugh..."
"How about surrender, Basil?"
"Is that a suggestion or a request?"
"You shan't act tough—I can see you are close to your limit already."
"Close to my limit, huh?" Basil chuckled emptily.
Basil looked at his arm that had just been kicked by Cabalen. He had used [Body Strengthening] and [Reinforcement] on his already sturdy body, but despite so, Cabalen's kick had managed to break his arm bone in half.
Basil chuckled emptily once again; he was amused that he would be faced with a helpless moment this soon. If not for the fact that Cabalen was specifically targeting his life, he wouldn't have involved himself in the war.
He had been planning to observe the flow of the event after he had killed Eugene, but now that Cabalen was apparently lusting for his blood, he could not stay back and watch anymore.
He had been holding himself back to use his ace card even though it could greatly help him face Cabalen because he didn't want to reveal his real prowess this soon. Given the situation however, he couldn't do that anymore.
"Huhh... I have revealed much enough anyway—what's an extra power does to the impression?" Basil smiled sardonically. "The people's impression on me wouldn't change—I am still the genius young Mage, Basil Pacifer."
He had been stomped down many times in his past life to the point he had gotten used to it. There was even some point where he didn't even glare at the person who had spit on his face, however it was all in the past.
The moment he learned how to fight back—the moment he knew the joy of slaughtering his enemies, such a thing never occured anymore.
Basil had tried his best to keep evading Cabalen's attack and forced Cabalen to use up all of his Mana, but he couldn't do it anymore. He realized that playing weak wasn't in his character, and he couldn't hold himself back anymore.
He agreed with Cabalen—he was close to his limit ... He couldn't act weak any longer. It was time to get rid of the lacking Basil, who could barely fend Cabalen's attack. He would show his monstrous prowess to the world, and announce his presence.
"Troublesome things are bound to occur but..." Basil roughly flicked his broken arm to the side, and it healed instantly. "...as long as I can put dirt in your mouth, I don't mind them. No one can step on me."
"Hoh? Your regeneration speed is on par with some of the High Class Demons, but do you think you can defeat me by just counting on that?" Cabalen quirked his eyebrow then sneered. "You have lost your mind, haven't you?"
Instead of responding Cabalen, Basil infused his Mana to one of the Solomon's 9 Seals he was wearing. It was the Spatial Ring containing Caliburn that could be used by either Mages or Knights.
Flash!
The moment Caliburn appeared in his hand, the atmosphere around him instantly changed. The pressure he was exuding was amplified drastically, even to the point of making Cabalen recoil in surprise.
As the person holding Caliburn that caused such a phenomenon, Basil wasn't really impressed by the sudden increase of power the sword had caused. It wasn't his first time experiencing such a thing after all.
He was more intrigued by how the sword looked, since it was his first time seeing it, so he took a proper look at it.
Caliburn was a double edged sword with a quite unique shape and intricate pattern carved on its hilt. Befitting of its Moniker, Sword of Light, it was glowing faintly in golden light.
Basil, however, couldn't tell whether the light was golden due to the way the Rune was designed or due to the light reflected by the golden color of the blade.
Either way, the way it handled his Mana and Qi was something that he could be satisfied with—the light didn't do anything but add fanciness to it though.
Although it wasn't as great as Vagus, the sword he had wielded until the end of his life in his past life, it was still great enough to allow him to defeat Cabalen.
Boom!
The ground below him immediately cratered as he infused as much Mana and Qi inside it, and much to his surprise, it could hold much more Qi and Mana than he had initially thought.
"Human.... How could you get that sword?"
"Hoh? Does it look familiar?"
"Don't play with me! How could you—"
"That is... A secret."
CLANK!
Cabalen's eyes widened as Basil suddenly appeared in front of him. Basil's insane speed, and the fact that he had healed all of his injuries didn't even astonish Cabalen as he was too bewildered by Basil's explosive power.
If not for the fact that he had used Dragon Language to strengthen his hand, Cabalen wouldn't have been able to block Basil's sword. His swing was too different from before that Cabalen couldn't believe it came from the same person.
"You have enjoyed being above me long enough, so now it is time for you to get down." Basil smirked as he felt the newfound strength coursing through his body.
This would be his debut as the peerless young Mage, but he was already on his way to carve his name on the history.
Once he killed Cabalen, he would be the first person, after 2000 years, to kill a Dungeon Master's Great General.