The fireball of destruction left a seven-layered spiral trail in its wake as I launched it in a vicious throw right at the Two-Law Usurper, the fire so strong its trail transformed anything it touched into ash. Dusk-colored magic energy gathered in the Two-Law Usurper’s hand, sucking the fireball towards it. But that wasn’t enough to stop its momentum—as the fireball landed in his palm, he was pushed back, forcing him to dig into the ground to stay upright.
The fireball immediately caught onto the Two-Law Usurper’s Leion, trying to burn it to ash with the power of destruction, but in a bold gambit, I forced my right hand into the fire to grab the spell. Immediately after, the Two-Law Usurper extended his left hand.
“Dogda Azbedra.” He drew a magic circle, firing a blue shooting star.
“Like this?” I asked, drawing the same spell formula with my free hand.
Shooting star collided with shooting star, canceling each other out and creating a shock wave that exploded in swirling fire. The writhing blue flames filled my field of view before the Two-Law Usurper threw back the Egil Grone Angdroa in his hand, the apocalyptic flames flying at me through the remains of the collision.
“Such an old-fashioned trick,” I said, grabbing the fireball with my own Leion-covered hand. The black particles of the seven-layered spiral rampaged, baring their fangs as though wishing to consume the entire world. I forced it into suppression with my physical and magical strength.
A smirk crossed my lips.
“What a ridiculous spell formula. By gathering the might of the spell in your palm, you grasp it with brute force. It’s no wonder you can just grab the flames of ruin—but there’s one point where the spell is stronger than it was originally. If you can’t control it in your hand, it’ll blow up immediately.”
If protecting himself were his only goal, it would have been better to use the same amount of magic power to construct an anti-magic formula instead; being able to grasp the spell didn’t stop it from shaking you all the way to the core. It also consumed an abnormal amount of magic power.
“A spell formula that disregards the safety of its caster. A spell for conquerors. If you designed this magic, you’ve definitely got a screw loose somewhere,” I said, walking forwards while firing several dozen Jio Grazes.
“Unfortunately, I’m no good at anti-magic.”
Sensing my feint, he stood in the rain of approaching Jio Grazes without defending himself. He merely focused on the fireball of ruin in my hand.
“What a coincidence,” I said, leaping towards him in a single bound.
“Dogda Azbedra.”
The Two-Law Usurper cast his blue shooting stars. The Jio Grazes I’d scattered in the area immediately connected to form a magic circle. Shining black flames dyed my right leg.
“Aviasten Ziara.”
I leaped forwards and kicked the Dogda Azbedra. The Two-Law Usurper caught my foot with his right hand as it pierced through the shooting star in a burst of black flames.
“Dagdra.”
With my foot still in his hand, he stomped on my shadow. An intense tremor shook my entire body, blood pouring out of my source.
“That’s the only spell I still can’t figure out,” I said.
I folded my upper body and swung the Egil Grone Angdroa down at close range. We made Eye contact before I slammed the fireball of destruction at him with all my might. The Two-Law Usurper used Leion on his left hand to catch it. Black flames swirled, scattering black ashes.
Although he had to catch the blow at point-blank range, he didn’t flinch at all, even though his Leion had to take a far larger power due to my Leion amplifying the power of the spell.
“Were you actually left-handed all along?” I wondered, releasing the fireball to free my right hand for Aviasten Ziara. I layered Jirasd and Vebzud on top and aimed a hand chop at his left wrist, making him release my foot from his right hand.
The momentum of impact sent my body flying backwards. When my shadow left his feet, the Two-Law Usurper cast Leion again, suppressing the fireball with two hands.
His body was being slowly forced back, feet gouging into the ground.
“Hmm. So that’s how it works.” I looked down at his feet. The Two-Law Usurper had no shadow. “Dagdra allows you to break the body by stepping on its shadow. But you cannot harm the body directly while it’s in range.”
I pointed to his feet.
“You don’t have a shadow, so you’re an exception to the rule. You cannot be harmed while you’re stepping on other shadows—but you can when you’re not.”
Thus, the moment my shadow left his feet, he had been forced back by Egil Grone Angdroa. Although the spell was harder to catch at close range, that logic no longer applied when he was within range of stepping on a shadow. While stepping on a shadow with Dagdra, he was nearly invincible.
“In other words...”
The Two-Law Usurper watched me for an opening to throw the fireball. I slowly stepped forwards until I was one shadow’s distance away from him and spread my dusk-covered hands.
“We should play catch at this distance instead,” I said.
“One question,” the Two-Law Usurper said in his hoarse voice. “Where did you discard the loose screw in your head?”
I burst out laughing. “Not a bad retort, Two-Law Usurper. I’m starting to think that if we actually got the chance to have an actual conversation, you and I might get along.”
He took a step forwards in response. “Dagdra.”
I ducked down and avoided the stomp he aimed at my shadow’s head. His foot broke the ground, sending tremors that knocked my body off-balance.
“Demile.”
He sent a magic arrowhead at me. I avoided it hitting my body only for it to stab into the shadow of my right hand, pinning my right arm to the ground.
“It’s over.”
He raised his arm high, launching the fireball of destruction at my back. Black flames and ash swirled fiercely. I stretched my right hand around my back and caught it with a smirk.
“Not a fan of ball games, Two-Law Usurper? We’re just getting started though.”
“Dagdra.”
The Two-Law Usurper closed the distance further and extended a foot towards my shadow. I lifted my right arm and tore the Demile out by force before running from him at maximum speed.
His foot hit the ground. My shadow had avoided him by a hair’s breadth.
“It’s your turn next,” I said, turning to throw the Egil Grone Angdroa at him as I passed.
Although he was balanced on one leg, he was able to catch it with Leion cast over both his hands. In his grip the spell cast off numerous black sparks, catching anything it touched and turning it to ash. The momentum of my throw pushed him back, and I ran along the ground to follow him.
I maintained a distance of one shadow’s length from him, catching the fireball he threw and throwing it back at close range. As we passed the Egil Grone Angdroa back and forth through Leion, it increased in power. It was already strong enough to destroy this world if either one of us missed their catch and let it fly, but that would be no problem for the man before me.
It was a battle to see who would give in first.
“Come at me,” I said.
The Two-Law Usurper had stopped moving, but he didn’t throw back the fireball immediately.
What was he planning? No, was this...?
“It is your victory. You are strong. You should be proud.”
In his hands the Egil Grone Angdroa was rampaging, no longer held in check. His Leion had failed. The Two-Law Usurper’s power suddenly began to decline.
It was unnatural. In contrast to his powerful body and immense magic power, his source was terribly weak. And it was weakening with every moment, as though his body was absorbing all of his magic.
Was it possible for a man of this caliber to have such a frail source? No, frail wasn’t the right term. When I peered into his abyss, I could see what was going on—his source didn’t match him. Only when his magic started to fade was I able to see past his declining anti-magic wards. All along, his source and body had been mismatched.
“...”
The Two-Law Usurper suddenly cupped the fireball of destruction in his hands, not to launch one last throw, but as if trying to contain it. He knew what was in his hands had enough power to destroy this world, and was trying to use his own body and source to minimize the damage that would be unleashed when he lost control of it.
I extended a Leion-covered right hand.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I’ll take two-thirds of it. Figure out the last third yourself.” I tore apart the fireball of destruction with a dusk-colored hand and clenched it in my fist. “Vebzud.”
With my left hand, I gouged open my chest, then shoved the Egil Grone Angdroa in my right hand into my source. There, I allowed the Leion to fail—and made it explode.
Graham’s nihility reduced the power, while my destruction eliminated the rest. Free from Leion, the apocalyptic flames immediately roared to their full glory; the entire forest around us turned to ash, while the blood of the Demon King rotted everything that dared to remain. Mountains fell, lakes dried up, and all the green around us turned gray. The vast woodlands of this world were erased in an instant—the damage, just barely, stopping at that.
I let out a breath of relief.
But it wasn’t over yet. A seven-layered spiral of black particles was beginning to swirl around my body, cracking the ground underneath my feet. The land split with a dull sound, creating a bottomless void; I was worn out, and destruction had leaked from my source.
I breathed deeply, forcing it back under control. Eventually, everything settled with only a few black particles lingering around me. I took a brief look around, taking in the fallout of the blast, and determined the world should ultimately still be able to recover from the damage.
“Now...” I looked over a little ways in front of me, at the lone man collapsed on the wasteland. He had also managed to stop his share of the Egil Grone Angdroa, but had come out of it worse off than I.
“I think we’ve gotten to know each other better after some catch. Are you ready to chat yet?” I asked.