When Noah saw Roy scraping away his last line of defence as quickly as a rat eating cheese, his face contorted slightly and his eyes turned ruthless.
'If this continues, it won't be long before he breaks my shield and strikes me down. I can't let that happen.'
Even being struck by a trainee is humiliating for a rank-1 mage, let alone defeat.
If Noah lost to him, he would become the laughing stock of society.
He needed to win at any cost.
That's why he decided to give "that" a shot.
It was a skill he hadn't mastered and thus lacked control over, but it was the only move he had in his skill arsenal with which he could turn the tides of this fight in his favor and defeat Roy.
"You've forced my hand," Noah said as he secretly initiated the self-detonation of the shield enclosing him. "You'll now experience the true difference between me, an awakened soul herder, and you, a trainee!"
"I've seen it many times before." Roy scoffed, "Three Weapon Masters tried to assassinate me this month. They were professionally trained killers. But they all met the same fate—at my hands, defeat. What gives you the impression that you'll fare any better?"
"My power and intelligence!"
Roy felt the sixth sense on the back of his neck tingle just as Noah said that.
He became aware of the hidden danger almost immediately as the shield glowed just a little and inflated to the point of bursting.
Seeing this, Roy immediately jumped back, drawing his sword.
"Bomb!"
Just then, it exploded, sending shrapnel and shards flying in all directions, some splattering in Roy's direction like a drizzle.
Roy placed his swords before him, using their thick surfaces to block whatever came his way as he was pushed 50 meters away from Noah and forced to the center of the backyard.
Roy raised his head and tauntingly looked at Noah, "The thing you were proud of shattered under my hand. How are you feeling?"
"Great!" Roy was taken aback by Noah's response. Noah chuckled as he noticed his confusion, his eyes turning insidious. "I've pushed you straight into my trap. It's game over for you."
A split second later, Noah raised his hand, and the countless solid shards that had once been a part of the shield that had self-destructed and were now scattered throughout the backyard hovered six feet above the ground, their shape changing from mere scarps to sharp blades.
"Have a taste of this." Noah brough his hands down. "A Rain of a Thousand Blades!!!"
Following the movement of Noah's hand, the many blades flew in the same direction, whistled through the air like an arrow, and closed in on Roy from all sides.
Undoubtedly, Noah's Ultimate was enough to make groups of trainees end up with as many holes as you can find in a sieve.
However, Roy chuckled and stored his swords in his subspace as if he was blind to the small blades that were two breaths away from stabbing him.
Hearing his laughter, Noah felt something was off, and his eyebrows raised subconsciously.
"You aren't the only one who possesses a soul shard." Roy's body instantly transformed into wisps of mist that swirled forward and moved through the gap in the many blades to reach right before Noah and assemble back into his human form, beginning with his fist, which smashed Noah's face so hard that it appeared to have caved in and with enough force to hurl him away.
He crashed to the ground but didn't come to a stop immediately; instead, he could be seen tumbling and rolling over sharp pebbles, which resulted in him getting pierced in many spots before he came to a stop.
Coughing and groaning in pain, Noah stumbled back to his feet, and just when he stood up, blood came out of his nose.
He was shocked to find that his perfect nose was broken.
This gave Roy a sense of accomplishment.
Then he was filled with the sound of the system's notification.
『Ding! You delivered a powerful blow to Noah. As a result, Noah's HP dropped by 6 points!』
『Noah: 9/15 HP.』
Noah's felt too much shame and anger as he was punched senseless by a person he had always looked down upon, and his face twisted hideously in rage.
Roy saw that and laughed, "Feeling angry? You should be seeing how you got your face messed up by someone an entire stage lower than you."
"I-I will kill you!"
Noah released a hail of blades his way, but Roy transformed into a mist and walked right into it like a... ghost.
"Whoosh!"
It was made of countless blades moving at top-notch speed, and it blasted the mist Roy had become into bits, but he didn't seem hurt, and it took him a second or two to gather the scattered mist and compile it into a ghost-like figure that resembled him in shape and size. He found himself in the center of it, with countless blades circling him. Thus, he jumped forward, passing through them to move out of the hail.
Noah's eyes widened to the size of saucers when he saw him walk out of it unharmed, and his jaw dropped, "What in the devil are you?"
The mouth of Roy's ghost-like figure moved, and a thick and suppressing voice rang out, pressing on Noah's heart. "The devil you fear."
Roy's ghastly figure flew forward, leaving behind a trail of darkness in its wake as it approached Noah with the sharpness of a sword, with such speed that he reached close to him before he could react.
Immediately, the shoulder and hand of his ghastly self became tangible.
Now he could be hurt, but he could also hurt others!
The subspace opened and closed just as fast above his palm, leaving behind a sharp sword called Piercer that was gripped in his hand and swung down towards Noah.
If this strike landed on Noah, his body would be chopped into two.
Yet, Noah didn't feel anxious as he saw it approaching him, and he just curled his finger while smiling slyly at Roy. "I got you now!"
"Thud!"
Before Roy's sword could fall on Noah, a small blade burst out from beneath the ground and threatened to slice Roy's arm off his shoulder.
Pulling back would save him from a severe injury.
And... Proceeding will put an end to this battle.
Roy came to a difficult decision in the split of a second
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