Chapter 332 A Parting Gift (5)

Stab!

As Durendal and Caliburn were embedded in the head of the Golem, Basil unleashed the Nature Mana in them. It violently burst forth, blasting the head of the Golem and disintegrating some of the ruins forming the Golem's head.

Basil jumped off the Golem's head after he had discharged all of the Nature Mana in Durendal and Caliburn—he watched as the Golem lost its head, its neck, and some part of its chest.

The crystal protecting Charles was still unharmed; however, it was already weakened greatly as the Mana supplying it went to the destroyed part of the Golem. Ione's Spell hit it afterwards, thus rapidly breaking it.

The crystal protecting Charles proved to be strong enough for him to not be worried about any attack from Ione in normal circumstances. Even after being weakened, Ione's Spell still spent three seconds to break it.

Shatter!

Flash!

A bright light suddenly illuminated the world as soon as the crystal was destroyed. Ione's Spell pierced through the chest of the Golem; it gradually crumbled as the ruins forming its body rapidly losing their bond with each other.

As the ruins fell to the ground—as the Golem structure crumbled, the core remained suspended in the air. A figure who was wrapped in a spherical Mana Barrier could be seen glaring at Basil.

It was Charles who was just 20 meters away from Basil. No harm had been done to him—he was unscathed as if the spectacular attack he had sustained didn't happen at all.

He did look more upset than he had been though. It seemed to Basil he was ready to blow himself up and bring everyone down with him out of spite.

"A lunatic he is indeed. He hath not gotten used to his power yet—it is apparent. Destroying one's body to make up for the incompetence ... Such a sloppy way to utilize a fairly impressive power is pathetic indeed."

Shaking his head faintly as he felt the increasing Mana Pressure in the air, Basil channeled his Mana and Qi into Durendal and Caliburn. It was a preparation to utilize the highest form of Sword Mastery: [Synchronization].

Charles extended his hand to the side, summoning his Grimoire; he was going to fight Basil with Spells this time. His Golem had been destroyed once, and he didn't want to get it destroyed for the second time.

At the same time, a part of Basil's soul was poured into Durendal and Caliburn. His mind was connected to Durendal and Caliburn's Sword Realm, allowing him to access all of their Hidden Abilities.

External veins with Mana running in them covered Basil's entire body. One could see them on his forehead, neck, and arms; shining in two different colours.

The right half of his body was covered with silvery blue veins, meanwhile the left half of his body was covered with golden veins. These veins indicated that [Synchronization] was being utilized.

"Durendal now feeleth more like Vagus... Yet, I know, Asia, it is thee."

[I am better, am I not?]

"Thou art whole—unquestionably, thou art better."

Asia merely giggled softly, and Basil smiled softly at that.

He was actually quite overwhelmed by the power his body was bearing. The power residing in Durendal and Caliburn, even though he only tapped into less than 60% of it, was slightly more than he could handle.

His hands trembled as he held the two swords; it was as if he was going to lose control of the power anytime. Would that happen though? Of course, not. With [One With Nature] active, he would never lose control over his power.

The increase in one's connection with the Nature allowed one to be calmer and more collected. One could also access Nature Mana as much as one liked, and because of that, one's Mana would never go berserk.

Nature Mana, after all, could neutralize well-processed Mana.

"That was a good strategy, I must admit," Charles exclaimed. "As you can see, however, you can't do anything to me."

Boom!

Charles dispersed the Mana Barrier protecting him, exploding the surrounding air. The temperature around him dropped drastically as his extended right hand created an ice sphere out of thin air.

As someone who didn't have an Affinity towards any of the existing Sub-Element, Charles should never be able to do it. This could only happen because of his possession of the Heart of Bahamut, and it was not a good news.

Swish!

Basil swiftly flew towards Charles. For Charles to be able to use that means he had tapped into some part of the true power of his Dragon Heart.

The fact that he could use it was disastrous enough, however the bad news was not only that. The more he used the true power of his Dragon Heart, the more he knew about what it allowed him to do.

It would be just a matter of time untill he figured out how to use Dragon Language. Basil didn't want that to happen since he knew how powerful Dragon Language was when it was used with Draconic Mana.

"Freeze to death, you bastard!"

As soon as Basil appeared in front of Charles, Charles threw the ice sphere that was already thrice bigger than him at Basil. Basil slashed Durendal at it swiftly, easily splitting it in two.

Whoosh!

As the sphere was split, a dense white dust blew into his face. The dust was so cold, it even froze some of the gas the air contained, creating shards of ice that fell to the ground like rain.

Crack!

Basil cast [Thunderclap] just before the dust touched his face, and moved to the place where Charles had moved himself to. As soon as he appeared in front of Charles, he was immediately greeted by a whip of fire.

He, of course, managed to dodge it, however he was forced to take Charles' next attack head on. It was an earthen sphere made of the ruins of the mountain that was as big as a four storey building.

He swung Durendal and Caliburn at it, splitting the earthen sphere into three parts. When he could see what was behind the earthen sphere, he found Charles had disappeared.

Screech!

He immediately turned his body around at the sound, and was greeted by the scene of Ione attacking Charles with countless of wind blades.

Deciding to be sneaky this time, he utilized [Slip] to reach Charles' side without alerting Charles. Wasting no time, he swiftly swung Durendal and Caliburn at Charles.

Swish!

"For Akasha's sake, just what is this brat made of?!"

Although Charles could successfully dodge Basil's swing, some of the top part of his Mana Barrier was cleanly cut. A gap was made in his defense, and Ione used it to her advantage much to his annoyance.

Whoosh!

Unfortunately however, just before Ione's Spell reached Charles, he had flown far away from her, thanks to his Motion Spell.

Basil immediately flew after Charles, however he was forced to stop in his tracks as he saw Charles' incoming attack. A meteor, which was basically an earthen sphere that was covered in melting stone and fire, was descending upon Ione and him.

The distance it needed to cover untill it reached them was too close, so Basil had no choice but take it head on. Fortunately, he got Ione who could lessen the hassle of splitting the meteor apart.

Sizzle!

Conjuring a huge amount of water out of thin air, Ione shot the waterjet at the meteor. The fire was put out, and the structure of the meteor was weakened due to the sudden change of temperature.

"[Double Helix]!"

Following it, Basil used his Sword Technique on the meteor. When his Technique made a contact with the meteor, it completely disintegrated the meteor.

Boom!

Casting [Thunderclap], he immediately flew towards Charles. He arrived before Charles in a second, and Charles greeted him with glee.

The area surrounding Charles had changed; it was enveloped in darkness as if it had turned night. Basil knew Charles had created a Domain just by looking at it. Despite so, he still had decided to enter said Domain and fight Charles inside it.

"A rather stupid decision, don't you think, Basil?" Charles sneered.

"It is very impressive, methinks, that despite being in the air, thy Domain still covereth a fairly wide area. Still, I am more intrigued by thy choice of calling me by my name," Basil replied calmly.

"... What's wrong with you?" Charles looked at Basil funnily with a quirked eyebrow. "Well, whatever. You will soon die anyway." He waved his hand nonchalantly. "By the way, that Pacifer Seal looks good on you."

Charles' tone was disdainful enough to make an overly positive person to feel upset. Despite so, Basil still had a small smile on his face; it was apparent that he considered Charles merely talking rubbish.

Spreading his Mana to the surrounding air, he surprised Charles as he ate up some of Charles' Domain. He rapidly turned it into his Domain, making Charles blink his eyes as he wondered how such a thing was possible.

"Sword Domain," Charles muttered in amazement. "What are those two swords for them to be able to invade my Domain?"

"Hoh? Thou canst tell?" Basil quirked his eyebrow delicately. "Thy wickedness is not the only admirable thing thou hast it seemeth."

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Charles ignored Basil and swept the air with his hand. In the next moment, seven gigantic Grimoires emerged from the dark ground of his Domain behind him.

An overwhelming pressure filled the air as Charles cast a Spell each time a page of the Grimoires was flipped. Basil couldn't even tell what Spell Charles was casting, but he was sure it would be destructive.

Of course, watching it unfolding was not the only thing Basil did. He was also tuning himself with his Domain.

Domain was a manifestation of one's power nature. Basil's Domain was the complete opposite of Charles' dark and dreadful Domain.

He had spent most of his life wielding all kinds of bladed weapons, so there were many kinds of bladed weapons floating above the ground of his Domain, which was covered in golden grass.

The Tablet of Truth also showed itself in his Domain, much to his surprise, but Charles didn't seem to know nor did he think anything of it.

"Basil Pacifer, be honoured as you die for standing in my way!"

By this point, Charles had two black gigantic hands that were cupping a black sun the size of a three storey building behind him, meanwhile Basil—except for his head—was entirely covered in an armor made of True Light Magic.

In the next moment, they clashed against each other.