---

Two blood-soaked men stare at each other.

“Ned, your eyes look pained.”

“Shut it, you blind bastard! Come in and I’ll put you out of your misery!”

Ned has a deep knife wound stretching from his face to his chest.

“It’s sad to think that our long-standing grudge might end today.”

Nova’s eye is covered in blood from the cut above it.

“Your demise will be the end of it.”

Watching them, Serena was at her wit’s end.

‘What the hell is wrong with him!’

From the way they talked, they were clearly bitter enemies, but Nova seemed ready to charge in like it was a life-or-death situation.

If it were up to her, she’d bolt right now, but the thought of leaving that man alone to die made her worry about how Stella would react, so she couldn’t escape.

“Nova, do you know why I’m not using my specialty, magic?”

“…”

“I’m doing it to completely extinguish your hope, to defeat you directly.”

“Shut up. That’ll get you killed.”

Still wearing a grin, Ned pulled out a shuriken, shaped like a slender metal rod ending in a sharp point.

“Nova, I’ll take your right eye next.”

In the blink of an eye, the hexagonal shuriken flew at Nova.

“Think I’d get hit by that?”

Nova dodged perfectly with just one eye.

But that action was within Ned’s expectations.

“Of course you’d dodge, it’s obvious.”

“?”

What came flying next was a massive black tentacle that resembled the tentacle of an octopus.

‘Wide range!’

As a distant attacker, Nova managed to dodge it with ease.

“Still didn’t hit…!”

“Since your left eye is out of commission, you’ll lean left, right? That’s what I thought.”

“Tsk!”

But Ned had already closed the distance.

Furthermore, his left side was a blind spot.

‘I can’t dodge this.’

What came at him was a horizontal slash like a storm.

“Your guts are gonna spill out, don’t you think?”

Thwack!

“Cough!”

Ultimately, the dagger sliced past Nova’s ribs.

An attack from his blind spot—this was fatal.

“Cutting my ribs? What will you do if I throw up everything I ate today, you bastard?”

“Told you, my specialty is striking weaknesses above all else!”

It was a cunning and vicious tactic, but Ned was pushing Nova back effectively.

‘Serena’s here too; if this takes too long, reinforcements from them will be a bother.’

With eight tentacles on his back and a dagger in one hand,

Ned strolled forward as if taking a leisurely walk.

“Waiting for blood to flow is boring, so shall we see this through to the end?”

“Agreed.”

‘Annoying, but this guy’s abilities are exceptionally high beyond expectations.’

His stats had risen dramatically compared to seven years ago.

His mastery of the Tao was also top-notch.

Combined with his specialty in speed, his swordsmanship became quite a tricky obstacle.

‘It’s not Western swordsmanship; it must be more Eastern.’

Among his underlings were quite a few who used Eastern-style weapons and techniques.

Ninjas throwing shurikens or masked individuals were examples of that.

“Did you learn this from your subordinates?”

“Well, sort of. As a leader, seeking knowledge is always vital, even if the teacher is less skilled than I am.”

Name: Nova [Copy Target: Ned] Special Trait: Copy

Strength: A (A → SSS)

Speed: (A → SSS+)

Durability: B- (B- → SS-)

Circuit (LV.3)

Magic Power: 1500/1500

Fortunately, the state of Ability Copy hadn’t ended.

But it’s evident that once I dismantle the power, I won’t be able to use it anymore.

Ordinary moves won’t work here. That guy is a Mage; thus, my level of magic would be ineffective.

Feeling that, Nova placed a hand on his blood-soaked chest.

‘In that case, only unimaginably powerful attacks will work against him.’

“In any case, charging in head-on is the answer.”

Without a preparatory move, he launched himself forward.

“Hey, wait a second! You can’t just—?”

At that moment, Serena saw the signal being sent to her from a blind spot that Ned couldn’t see.

“…Got it.”

“No matter how many times, pushing with brute force won’t work.”

“Do I look like I would repeat the same thing? This is how you attack the unexpected.”

Worst!

Just before they collided, Nova threw something.

“What…?”

‘A thrown object!? There was no preparatory action!’

Ned instinctively turned his face to the side.

However, it slapped the side of his face.

“Ugh!”

‘Liquid… blood!’

That created a momentary opening in Ned’s actions.

Nova kicked Ned’s dagger away with his foot.

“Even liquid can be used as a weapon if you use it properly.”

“Cough!”

‘What the… getting hit…’

Flustered, Ned threw tentacles at Nova.

At the same time, something shattered with a crash.

“Are you underestimating me too much?”

“This is… a potion?”

“A special concoction made from lantern light and blue mushrooms, infused with a magic release formula.”

As the glass bottle containing the potion shattered, pale blue dust surrounded the area.

“The effect is the suppression of magic release.”

The black tentacle lost its power and slowly melted away like oil.

Swoosh

“It’s a temporary suppression of the byproducts manifested by magic.”

“…Not just a Mage, but an Alchemist?”

“Now, Nova!”

“Perfect, Serena!”

With no means left to block the sword before him, Ned had no choice but to leap back.

However, because the distance was too short to escape,

“Give me an eye of yours too.”

Thwack!

Nova’s dagger successfully pierced Ned’s eye.

“Cough! This… bastard… let go!”

Ned pushed Nova’s hand away, leaping back to create distance.

He pulled the dagger out of his eye with one hand.

“Damn… I’ve really let a tiger cub live…”

“This is a well-prepared attack. I tend to be diligent.”

“I’ve decided to block your abilities and cloud your judgment.

I will make you mine.”

With a hardened expression, Ned stood up, showing an incomprehensible obsession.

“What on earth do you want power for? What do you intend to do with that power?”

Shocked by the incomprehensible obsession, Nova finally shot back one line.

At those words, Ned paused for a moment before quietly replying.

“…As I said before, for world peace… and also to revive the dead, maybe?”

“…What are you talking about, you crazy bastard?”

“No need to understand; I just need overwhelming power to achieve my goals! Strong people like you!”

At those words, Nova opened his mouth as if realizing something.

“Speaking of which, I also know something about you. I investigated.”

“?”

“You killed your companions from the Former Hero Party, didn’t you?”

“Ah?”

“Yeah, and you definitely killed that female Mage, the one called the Former Star.”

“You…”

At that moment, for the first time, a crack formed in Ned’s expression.

“That poor woman, associating with trash like you… did you cheat on her while dating? Ah… If she hung out with someone like you, she must be trash too, huh?”

With a faint smile, Nova countered Ned’s logic head-on.

“You this son of a…”

“One of your lackeys blabbed, and I found out.”

“What do you know about that woman…?”

“Ah~ What’s that? Speak louder…”

“I’ll kill you, you bastard!”

[Magic Enchantment – Acceleration]

In an instant, Ned dashed at Nova with explosive speed.

Like a beam of light, he launched an attack aimed at Nova’s head, compressing air like an explosion, creating an immense whirlwind around him.

“Fast, huh… but you…”

“Nova! Watch out!”

As a strong wind passed, making it hard to keep his eyes open, what Serena saw was a focused Nova, now right in Ned’s face.

“In a fight, you must always stay calm, right?”

Deeply embedded, he placed a finger against Ned’s abdomen.

“I didn’t realize it then, but turns out this technique is quite something.”

“…?”

Ned, realizing something, tried to leap back.

‘There’s not enough distance to dodge…’

“This ends now.”

Bam!

The technique in question was a cause-and-effect punch from a long range.

With a thundering impact, Ned’s abdomen exploded with a punch.

He flew straight into the wall, spitting blood out.

“Gah… Ugh… What the hell… did you plant a bomb in your right hand?”

‘Is this a local technique of the East, from this continent’s martial arts? This is troublesome… who knows how many techniques he has.’

“It’s not over yet.”

Nova chuckled and pointed behind him with a thumb.

At the end of his finger, there was Serena, prepared and gathering magic power.

“Just wait until this is all over.”

Elemental Fusion

A massive magic orb condensed with five mixed elements surged, firing a turquoise ray that shattered everything around it.

KABOOM!!

 

---