Episode 177: Rubia (2)
Damian’s strike cleaved through Rubia’s body.
From between her legs, up through her abdomen, chest, face, and all the way to the top of her head.
Rubia’s body was split perfectly in half, the cut so smooth it was chilling.
No creature in this world could survive being split in two.
Yet Damian didn’t lower his sword, keeping a wary eye on Rubia.
And then it happened.
Rubia’s hand suddenly moved, aiming to strike Damian’s head.
As if expecting it, Damian leaned back, dodging the attack that sliced through the air.
Next, thorns sprouted from the severed stump of her arm, lunging at Damian.
He leaped back, avoiding the thorns that embedded themselves into the ground with a thunderous crash, leaving the earth in chaos.
“Oh my?”
Rubia looked at Damian with a hint of surprise.
“Not fooled, are you? Most people would think I’m dead by now.”
Despite being split in half, Rubia was alive and speaking as if nothing had happened.
“I’m impressed. Not only did you react to my attack, but you even countered.”
“When my arm was cut off, I was genuinely startled.”
“To think you’d do this to my entire body.”
Each half of her body spoke independently, adding to the surreal scene.
“I was curious how a mere High-Class could kill Garot and Kardak.”
“Now I see. You’re no ordinary High-Class.”
The severed halves began to reattach, and soon Rubia’s body was whole again.
“Even after seeing this, you’re not surprised? How dull.”
Damian wasn’t shocked; he had witnessed Rubia’s abilities in a past life.
“She’s advanced her dark magic quite a bit.”
The Frenzy School used their bodies as conduits for dark magic.
To them, the body was like clay, moldable into any form.
Thus, most injuries posed little threat to them, much like reattaching a piece of clay.
“I apologize for underestimating you. Let’s get serious now.”
Her muscles began to swell, skin tearing as fibers bulged, doubling her size in an instant.
But that wasn’t all.
Dark magic crystallized, encasing Rubia’s arms like black armor.
Damian watched with interest.
“A Mana Sword?”
A Mana Sword was a spell where mages mimicked the aura of knights.
It was far sturdier and sharper than ordinary weapons.
Yet, compared to a true aura, it was a flawed imitation.
“Do you plan to face real aura with a fake one?”
“Mana Swords may fall short of aura, but that’s only when they’re on the same level.”
Rubia was a Grand Dark Mage.
Her Mana Sword was in a league of its own.
“Here I come again.”
Rubia raised her five fingers, swinging them at Damian.
Compressed dark magic tore through the ground. Damian swung his sword, Dawn, to cut through the Mana Sword.
But the Mana Sword didn’t break; instead, it deflected Dawn.
The heavy impact reverberated through Damian’s arm, making him click his tongue.
“What brute strength.”
Mana Swords were inherently weaker than aura.
Yet this Mana Sword deflected Damian’s aura?
It spoke volumes about the vastness of Rubia’s dark magic.
“Impressive, isn’t it? Quite sturdy.”
The voice came from right behind him. Damian quickly turned. Rubia was already there.
“Stay sharp, or you might end up with a crushed skull.”
Rubia swung her fist at Damian, who dodged by leaping away.
Her punch shattered the ground, sending dust billowing into the air.
Through the dust, Rubia lunged, closing the distance with a flurry of punches.
Her speed was such that by the time her arm bent, the punch had already landed. Each swing echoed with a sonic boom.
Yet every attack missed, as Damian evaded them all.
“Are you really a High-Class?”
Rubia clicked her tongue in disbelief.
The Frenzy School enhanced their physical abilities to combat knights.
Rubia’s speed far surpassed that of a High-Class.
Yet she couldn’t gain an edge over Damian.
He read her every move.
“Ugh, this is infuriating!”
Rubia charged in frustration. Just as Damian tried to widen the gap, tendrils shot from the ground, binding his legs.
“Got you!”
Tendrils from Rubia’s ankle had burrowed into the ground, ensnaring Damian.
“Can’t dodge now, can you?”
Rubia swung her fist at Damian.
In that moment, Damian moved Dawn. He deflected Rubia’s punch, redirecting it away from his face and into the ground, throwing her off balance.
”…What?”
While Rubia was caught off guard, Damian sliced through the tendrils with Dawn.
He closed the distance. Rubia tried to regain her stance.
But Damian was faster, bringing Dawn down.
“Shatter.”
The strike, imbued with the mastery of the “Wall Breaker,” crashed onto Rubia’s head.
As Dawn struck, the destructive force of “Shatter” amplified, crushing Rubia’s head and driving her body into the ground.
The Frenzy School’s physical prowess surpassed that of knights.
It was an unchanging truth. Unlike knights who had to train their bodies, the Frenzy School could alter theirs with dark magic.
Yet people believed knights were stronger. Facing knights was a daunting task for the Frenzy School.
There was one realm they could never surpass knights in.
Skill.
Knights weren’t strong just because they were fast or powerful.
They were strong because they honed their skills over a lifetime.
“Ah, haha…”
Rubia forced a laugh as she rose. Her crushed head rapidly regenerated.
“This… this can’t be happening. I can’t lose to a mere High-Class.”
Her eyes, unlike her fully healed head, were wild with disbelief.
“I’m a Grand Dark Mage. I trained under my master, risking my life. I’ve killed over ten High-Class.”
A Grand Dark Mage was akin to a Master Class.
Rubia’s pride was immense. And now, it was being shattered in real-time.
“This is… this shouldn’t be possible. It can’t be.”
Rubia’s arms split, multiplying from two to six.
“Now I’ll really… really show you.”
The six arms extended like whips, each moving independently as they attacked Damian.
There were too many, and they were too fast to dodge.
So Damian didn’t.
Instead, he activated the Starburst Elixir.
His body temperature soared. Muscles surged with energy. His senses sharpened to an extreme.
The six arms slowed, appearing to halt in mid-air.
Of course, they hadn’t truly stopped. It was his heightened senses that made it seem so.
“Triple Ring.”
The three rings within him began to spin furiously.
With the Starburst Elixir enhancing his body, high-output mana coursed through him.
One step.
He moved forward, swinging Dawn at the nearest of Rubia’s arms.
The Mana Sword covering her arm clashed with Damian’s aura.
Earlier, the Mana Sword had deflected his aura. But with the rings active, it was different.
The Mana Sword and arm split effortlessly, as if slicing through air.
Damian closed in on Rubia, severing her arms one by one.
He didn’t stop at one strike, cutting multiple times. The elongated arms were reduced to dozens of pieces in an instant.
Damian reached Rubia’s face.
He gripped his sword with both hands, aiming the tip at Rubia.
He deactivated the Starburst Elixir.
His boiling body temperature plummeted. His physical abilities and senses returned to normal.
The world, which had seemed frozen, resumed its motion. Rubia, who had been standing like a statue, finally noticed Damian.
”…What?”
Her face was a mask of bewilderment.
From her perspective, it seemed as if Demian, who had been standing far away, suddenly appeared right in front of her.
“W-When did you get here…?”
Rubia tried to raise her arms to fend him off. But the six arms she once had were already reduced to dozens of pieces.
“This can’t be happening…”
Just as Rubia attempted to regenerate her arms, Demian thrust his sword forward.
“Annihilation Strike.”
A technique mastered by Cheongyeom, one of the five saints of the Holy Order.
The blow that could shatter everything struck Rubia dead center.
From the core, her muscles began to tear apart. The bones hidden within crumbled to dust.
Before she could even scream, Rubia’s body shattered into countless fragments.
“Ahh.”
Demian exhaled deeply, releasing the energy of his ultimate technique.
The exertion from using it in such a short time left him feeling overwhelmingly fatigued. His body felt weak and unresponsive.
“It’s a powerful technique, but it drains too much stamina.”
As Demian sat on the ground to rest, the scattered pieces of Rubia’s flesh began to gather again.
The collected flesh formed a fist-sized mass. The center of the mass split open, revealing a gaping maw.
“Aaaargh!”
A piercing scream erupted from the opening.
“You did this to me? A mere high-class being dares to make me look so wretched!”
Despite her body being torn to shreds, Rubia hadn’t died. She was desperately clinging to life, forcing her body to regenerate.
“Stay right there! I’ll kill you right now!”
The speed at which the flesh gathered increased, and Rubia’s form continued to grow.
“I’ll kill you! Even if it costs me my life, I’ll make sure you—” She suddenly coughed up a black liquid.
“W-What is this… Ugh!”
Her regenerating body began to decay, turning black and collapsing to the ground.
“What have you done to me… What did you do?!”
“Oh, nothing much,” Demian replied nonchalantly to the anguished Rubia.
“I just coated my blade with Kardak’s poison.”