Chapter 32: [Duchy of Inferna][23] Bloody Festival [8]
[Madness Effect: 50%]
[Your body is in harmony with Madness]
[The Sword of Ignis is in harmony with your mana]
[Soveregian Form Remaining Time: 2:37]
Half of my mind now belonged to the whispers of the crown, to its ancient and bloodthirsty will.
This power no longer felt foreign; it coursed through my veins as if it had always been a part of me.
Aron’s colossal sword, Ignis, felt as light as a feather in my hand, and the flame spirit within it resonated with my mana, letting out a soft hum.
The presence of the white-haired man before me had become the only reality, the sole purpose in my mind: to destroy him.
This desire was my desire. The crown’s will and my own had merged into a bloody symphony.
"Shall we begin then?"
The taunting voice lit the fuse.
Cassian activated his [Stormheart] skill.
A shockwave erupted from Cassian’s body. His pupils turned an electric blue, containing miniature tempests. A crackling field of electricity, visible to the naked eye, formed around his body.
Everything around him—the dust motes suspended in the air, the distant screams, even his own heartbeat—slowed to a whisper perceived in slow motion.
Time had bent for him. All that remained was his target, seen with absolute clarity.
The stone floor beneath his feet cratered inward from the sheer force of his lunge.
The colossal sword drew a deadly arc toward the man’s neck, leaving an orange trail in its wake.
But he was there. Calm, with an almost bored expression, he simply sidestepped.
The wind from my blade rustled a few strands of his silver hair. That irritating, amused smirk on his face hadn’t wavered an inch.
I didn’t stop.
It was as if the fabric of time had slowed for me, each of my strikes beginning before the echo of the last had faded. From above, from below, from the side... Ignis’s deadly dance wove a cage of fire around the man.
But it was futile.
Each of my moves was met by his elegant and effortless movements, like a partner in a well-rehearsed dance. I hadn’t landed a single blow.
The expression on the man’s face was more chilling than anything. A look of boredom, yet also of amusement... as if this battle were a mere game to him.
Despite Cassian’s blinding speed, the man only took a small step to the side. His movement was so casual it seemed as though time itself slowed around him. The same mocking smile appeared on his face.
Cassian, gritting his teeth, attacked again. He swung the colossal sword again, and again, and again.
Each blow shook the heavens, creating waves of wind that tore through the air. But the man was never caught.
Sometimes he would tilt his head slightly, other times he would shift his feet with an elegant step, nullifying the attacks. All of Cassian’s moves were deadly, furious, and lightning-fast; yet not a single scratch touched the white-haired man’s body.
I was tired of this game. The desire for destruction within me craved more.
I pulled back for a moment, plunging my sword into the ground. I thrust my palm toward him and called upon the frozen moisture beneath the earth.
With a fragment of my [Absolute Zero] power, a massive spear of ice instantly materialized in the air. Its surface crackled with black lightning from my [Destructive Lightning] skill.
"Try this!" I roared, my voice no longer my own, but deeper, more guttural.
The spear flew toward the man with a sound that ripped through the air. The moment it was about to hit, the ice and lightning combined, causing a deafening explosion.
A momentary void formed at the epicenter of the blast. When the smoke cleared, the man was still there.
Not a single scratch on him. A shimmering, translucent mana shield flickered around him.
My rage reached its boiling point. I slammed my hands on the ground.
With my [Child of Nature] skill, I commanded the earth beneath him. Dozens of sharp rock spikes erupted from the earth to impale him.
But the man simply stamped his foot lightly. The shockwave from that simple motion shattered the ground beneath him, neutralizing my spell.
"Is that all?" he asked, his voice laced with disappointment. "I thought this would be more entertaining."
"Is that all?" the man said, the mocking tone in his voice not hiding his disappointment. "I was expecting a storm, but you are merely a breeze."
A crooked smile played on his lips, and his gaze drifted over Cassian’s shoulder to the innocent faces in the distance.
"But perhaps I’m not blowing the wind from the right direction. Tell me," he whispered, "will the screams of those you hold dear be enough to awaken the beast within?"
Cassian’s breath hitched in his throat.
The words had struck the deepest wound in his soul. He clenched his teeth with such ferocity that he felt his jaw lock.
A red mist slowly began to cloud his vision; what flowed in his veins was not blood, but a volcano ready to erupt.
Control was the last grain of sand slipping through his fingers.
Cassian’s teeth ground together. He took up his sword once more and lunged.
But this time, something unexpected happened. The white-haired man waited, doing nothing.
As Cassian’s attack tore through the air, his opponent simply raised two fingers.
And those two fingers caught Cassian’s colossal artifact sword.
Time seemed to freeze.
Despite Cassian pouring all his strength into the blow, the sword would not move an inch past the man’s fingers. Lightning crackled around them, but it was useless... The sword was trapped.
The man tilted his head slightly, meeting my eyes. There was a mocking coldness in his voice:
— "Is this all you can do?"
In that moment, everything inside me broke. The madness of the Crown and the pride of the Dragonheart merged into a single explosion of pure rage.
"..."
The flames upon Ignis suddenly changed color. The orange and yellow fires gave way to pitch-black flames, darker than nothingness itself.
[Chaos Flames]
"AAAAAARGH!"
For the first time, that calm and mocking expression on his face shattered.
His two fingers holding the blade were instantly engulfed in the black flames and began to char. This pain wasn’t an ordinary burn; it was an agony that gnawed at his soul and devoured his mana.
His smile twisted into a mask of shock and pain. He had never expected such power from someone at this level. The flames brought not only searing pain to his fingers but a wave of weakness that spread through his entire body upon contact. He could feel his mana being rapidly drained.
At that very moment, another curse began to creep through his veins.
[Void Decay]
The man was panicking.
Faced with two different and deadly energies ravaging his body, he lost control for the first time. He threw a kick at my stomach with all his might to push me away.
I reflexively raised a wall of earth in front of me. The wall absorbed some of the impact’s force but couldn’t stop the kick entirely.
The blow sent me flying backward, tumbling several times before I hit the ground.
But I felt no pain. All I felt was the savage pleasure of a hunter who has wounded his prey.
I shot up from the ground without losing a second. I had no intention of giving him a chance to recover.
The man was groaning in pain, staring at his charred fingers. As I lunged at him again, I froze the ground beneath his feet. Thick, thorny vines of ice erupted, attempting to entangle his legs.
He noticed the danger at the last second and leaped back. The vines caught nothing but air.
"The game is over, brat!" he yelled.
He raised his hand, and a tear in space opened beside him. From within the tear, a long, elegant silver sword with glowing runes floated into his hand.
He was serious now.
Our swords clashed with a horrendous shriek. This time, my blow was met.
But just as our blades locked, I unleashed the electrical field surrounding my body. Countless bolts of black lightning struck the man’s body.
His muscles seized for a moment, his pupils quivering. That split-second of stun was all I needed.
I thrust my free, clawed hand forward. My sharp claws tore through his silver armor like paper, sinking into his chest and rending his flesh.
A pained grunt escaped the man’s lips. The Void Decay spreading from the wound my claws created magnified his weakness and agony tenfold.
In a rage, he swung his sword, severing my arm at the wrist where it was buried in his chest.
But it was meaningless.
Where my arm had been severed, a new one instantly began to form from smoke and elemental energies. The look on his face turned to one of horror at my [Peerless Regeneration].
He took several steps back, putting distance between us. He coughed, and a trickle of dark, clotted blood dripped from his mouth to the ground.
"Damn it... what are you?" he hissed, his voice trembling with a mixture of anger and bewilderment. "Are you a mage? A warrior? Or a witch?! What damned fool sent a reincarnator into this world with so much power?!"
His words echoed in a corner of my mind, but I didn’t care.
A savage smile, born of madness and the thrill of battle, was plastered on my face. I didn’t answer him.
All I wanted was more blood, more destruction.
In that moment, I surrendered all control to my instincts.
[ABSOLUTE ZERO]
The air above the festival grounds suddenly changed. The warm summer night was instantly replaced by a deep winter that made even breathing painful.
The drops of blood falling to the ground froze instantly, crystallizing in the air. I could see a few civilians who had taken refuge in the rubble, shivering. But they no longer meant anything to me. They were insignificant details between me and my prey.
Right now, my only desire was to tear the man before me to pieces.
Countless, razor-sharp ice crystals formed in the air. In the next moment, a storm of these deadly crystals began to rain down on the white-haired man like a shower of spears.
The man spun his sword with incredible speed, deflecting the thousands of crystals raining down on him in a masterpiece of swordplay.
But this attack was merely a distraction.
In the midst of the ice storm, I appeared right in front of the man like a phantom. Putting all of Ignis’s weight and momentum into a single horizontal swing, I aimed for his chest.
His eyes widened in shock as he noticed me at the last second. He instinctively brought his sword up to block.
CRAAAAACK!
The sound of the two swords colliding drowned out all other noise from the battle. The man’s elegant sword shattered in two from the force of the blow.
Though Ignis lost some of its momentum, it continued on its path and struck the man’s chest with a heavy blow. I heard the sound of his bones breaking.
A torrent of blood erupted from his mouth as he was thrown back for meters.
But a warning from a corner of my mind cut through my triumphant haze.
[Soveregian Form Remaining Time: 0:12]
My time was running out. I knew how vulnerable I would be when this form ended.
I had to finish this now.
I began to focus my entire being—all my mana, the uncontrollable power from the Crown of Madness, the will of the Dragonheart... all of it—into Ignis.
The colossal sword began to tremble as if it couldn’t handle the incredible power, the flames upon it flickering wildly. At the tip of the sword, a small, unstable black sun had formed.
This would be the one attack to end it all. Win or lose.
Author’s Note🧣:
Friends, I’d be really happy if you could share your thoughts about the Chapter with me. Especially the parts you didn’t like or think I should improve on—your feedback means a lot. I’m still a beginner writer and have a lot to learn, so your comments truly guide me. Thank you for your support!