Chapter 380: Final duel

Chapter 380: Final duel

We stay a bit longer and I keep an eye on Tacita and the knife she has hidden behind her back.

She is like a wounded animal, growling, and showing teeth, but knowing she is getting help and not biting because of that. I can’t help but find it amusing to watch her face while Lily works on healing her, at this point Tacita’s probably finding herself feeling even better than she did before the duels.

As we leave she doesn’t bother to draw anything for our benefit. She just watches us, clearly having us so close is making her nervous.

Giving her one last glance, I teleport us away and let Lily deal with any questions our group might have. I, meanwhile, take the opportunity to stretch and return to sitting in the spot I abandoned before. I still have some time before my final duel with Savant, so I may as well work on Flamebearer.

I replay the events of the 1st event in my mind, paying special attention to Savant’s use of the arcane glove he found there. Back then I wasn’t taking anything too seriously, but arcane weapons are probably difficult to control. Very difficult.

Flamebearer is like that even with my temporary inscriptions. It's hard to say how much more difficult it is to control a fully powered arcane weapon.

To hear Savant tell it, the glove tended to guzzle mana, and yet he made decent use of it, even with his paltry reserves. And the restriction he had in place only makes his feet even more impressive.

Hell, he demonstrated his prowess again during his duel with Tess when he managed to force her primordial lightning under his control. I think his skill gives him an edge when he needs to manipulate an ability that he’s absorbed.

That explains why he couldn’t control her lightning before absorbing it. Even so, the fact that he was able to do as much as he did says a lot.

Then there’s his duel with Tacita. I'm not worried about his domain or poisoning as I can counter it with mine. Actually, he should probably be worried about my domain. No, the interesting thing is that his bones were capable of resisting Tacita's attacks.

Tacita showed a rare expression of surprise when he did that. Connecting it with the mana stone he gave to Lily and the knowledge it contains, it's possible he made some modifications.

The question is if he replaced all of his bones or picked and chose. If I had to guess, I would say he went with the latter.

(Would you mind if I asked you something?) Sophie probes, connecting to my mind.

(Go ahead.)

(While you were playing with your ax, Lily explained what happened with Tacita. She tried to not show it, but she was disappointed and surprised.)

(Makes sense. So what’s the question?)

(I'm surprised by your reaction. I think it’s out of character,) she says.

(Is it?)

(Yes, I would have thought you would try to help just to get her on your good side, it wouldn’t have even cost you anything. You already seem to have some small connection with her, and she seems to respect you.)

(Weren’t you trying to kill her earlier?)

(A bit, but that was just in the duel. I don’t think I truly wanted to kill her if you know what I mean. So can I have an answer?) Sophie pushes.

(I'm an asshole, simple as that.)

(Were you waiting so that Lily could take the blame? Why would you do that? Why...)

(Anything else?) I snap, interrupting her.

(Just one more. I noticed a weird feeling a few times during our conversation, but did you die?)

(Yeah, once or twice.)

Sophie cuts off for a long moment and when she continues, her tone cautious, (Nat, others are coming to me to weaken their memories so they can keep dying while training. Yet you died at least two times during our conversation and who knows how many times before. Are you sure...)

(It’s fine. A bit of training didn’t kill anyone... well, you know what I mean.) Having had enough, I just cut off the connection.

Two times? It was twice as much.

I'm using this opportunity to examine my heart as much as possible, even cutting it apart inside of my chest to examine its pieces. So of course, there are some risks.

It would probably be safer if I didn’t work on Flamebearer at the same time, but it’s fine.

As for Savant, I'm curious how he will heal. At the start of the tournament, he appeared missing an arm, which Lily restored, but I can’t help but wonder if he did it on purpose so he could examine her healing. Maybe he even absorbed some? What an annoying guy.

Either way, I’m certain that he has some plan to heal the wounds Tacita inflicted. The weird effect produced by that dagger can probably be removed if he’s willing to sacrifice a decent chunk of his mana to fuel his domain.

As for me, I don’t think the duel will last very long. I plan to go all out fairly quickly and I have no qualms about using the last charge of Titan's Backbone. It already proved itself in my fight against my duplicate.

Once again, I feel myself getting giddy.

Soon.

POV Brainiac

I poke Gary and gesture at the screen. The old man finally stops talking and focuses his attention.

After he got his ass kicked by Noname, he seems even more interested in this fight. He may be trying to hide it, but I can tell that he is deeply dissatisfied with being subjected to such a one-sided defeat.

Well, it’s not his fault. Noname—that guy is bonkers, even the twins and Kim can’t say any different.

The screen displays an image of the final Arena, where the two stand, face to face. The setting appears to be a generic city from Earth.

They’re surrounded by skyscrapers and the sun sits high in the sky. Down on the streets, cars, bicycles, and a myriad of other vehicles stand parked. But not a single human can be seen.

Though the setting is familiar, I can’t help but find the image of a city without its multitude of bustling inhabitants disturbing.

Look and see what you could do to your planet and cities.

Buildings crash. Roads get torn apart, cars bowl over. I unleash flames that melt the concrete and kinetic energy reduces large statues and telephone poles into dust.

Savant dodges, the orange sword made of his domain flickering under the constant pressure applied by my orbs and mana. Yet he still manages to absorb some of my attacks. Some fire disappears here, and a pulse of kinetic energy doesn’t hit him as strongly there, and tricolored orbs fail to explode.

His heart beats. At this point, I'm sure it’s not the original. Neither is his right arm, one of his legs, and one of his eyes. All of these parts came from different beings, all of them more powerful than his own and absorbed into his form.

So I'm not surprised when all the attacks he absorbed get released, compressed into a single orb, not dissimilar to my own. His poisonous domain, my fire, and kinetic energy, my tricolored orbs and javelins, all of it merged into a single orb, which he sends my way with perfect timing.

Even before it explodes, the orb releases immense heat, setting nearby buildings on fire and collapsing the road under it.

I move one of three black javelins and shoot it through the orb, the black weapon sucking in all that mana, leaving only primordial energies behind, which I reabsorb into my Vortex Core.

The attack disappears as if it never existed.

I move my arm and the three black constructs fly back to me, all of them contained within my domain. In my hand, they connect and reclaim the form of a sword. Moving them now is much more difficult, but they are also so much more effective.

Boosting my body, I reach Savant who meets me head on, his orange sword clashing with mine.

I watch as his sword tries to poison me, to take over black mana. The domain is extremely concentrated in that weapon. But it can’t do anything. The black sword just absorbs it all with ease and it doesn’t even seem to have enough to resist.

“You won’t be able to keep it up for much longer so that’s why you are pushing me,” he says as if it’s a fact.

“Yup, soon it will start wrecking my body. How much more mana do you have stored in that sword?” I ask, gesturing at the Sword of Aeons.

“Enough to keep resisting your domain for another ten to twenty.”

I shoot a pulse of kinetic energy at his head only for it to be absorbed, and returned immediately. He does the same with my fire, javelins, and the tricolored orbs I form over our heads. All of it taxes him, I can see that.

In the last attempt, he finally pulls out his trump card. He absorbs his left arm, the one Lily restored at the start of the tournament.

His sword made of his domain disappears with it. The wounds on his body heal, the arm most likely containing some of Lily’s healing powers and his strength and speed increase likely enhanced by the biomass he absorbed from his arm.

The orange light ignites again. A light shines from the broken blade, extending it and giving it the look of a normal sword. his domain taking the place of the missing mana.

Savant then powers his sword with the mana remaining in his body and the Sword of Aeons itself.

It’s scary how much comes through and some of his domain even pushes through the black sword I made, for a moment escaping its reach and affecting my body. The damage reaches my heart even though my domain and all my other defenses. It pierces through my mantle and spreads through my circuits.

Even then, it’s not enough.

It’s far from enough.

My heart thumps and I compress the mana flowing through my body. I throw the black sword far away and I grab hold of Savant ́s hand, holding his sword in place. Then I push further, I compress more and more until all the mana currently flowing through me becomes tricolored before resolving into that mysterious black mana.

In a blink, it devours my mana poisoning and threatens to tear me from inside, until I push it out. Ignoring the damage it causes I form a big nail out of it, the same kind I made during the 1st event.

I then jam said nail into Savant’s chest, making sure he understands the message.

He tries to absorb it, he tries to work around it, but he can’t. Not currently. With his body in tatters from our bouts and the sheer amount of mana we were channeling and our abuse of powerful skills, he looks at me.

I'm ready for anything. My mind is sharp, my heart is beating wildly, and the world feels so colorful, so alive.

Show me what you can do when pushed to the brink.

“I forfeit,” Savant says simply and disappears.

For a moment I just stare into the air and at the destroyed city all around me.

What?

I appear outside in the common area, to the sound of people shouting my username down below.

What just happened?

Some members of my group rush to congratulate me but I don’t hear them.

Did he give up just like that? Just because I had an advantage?

I feel myself clench my teeth and my now restored mana starts seeping from my body.

Is he messing with me?!

I send my senses through the common area in one strong pulse and fail to locate him. I can't sense him at all.

As my mana starts to build up I glance at Lily and Isabella who are smiling. Izzy is even holding my hand and I'm sure she can feel my emotions right now. I once again look at the crowd down in the common area, most of them shouting my nickname, happy and celebrating the end of the event.

When I glance at Izzy again, she smiles at me and taps my hand.

Feeling extremely frustrated I sigh and seize control of my mana. I start cycling it again before it can start to leak and reach the people down below.

This doesn't feel satisfying at all.