Several more blows were exchanged.

“Didn’t he already use a ton of divine power?”

“Yeah, that’s what they said…”

“Then how is he still fighting like that…?”

From their earlier conversation, the surrounding soldiers had already pieced together the situation. They knew Valruel had burned through a massive amount of divine power during his initial strike.

“UAAAAAH!”

And yet, Valruel was pressing Clay so hard it was hard to believe he’d spent that much power. To the soldiers’ eyes, it looked like the two were evenly matched.

BOOOOM!

Valruel’s sword slammed into the ground. As Clay retreated, Valruel followed, swinging like a waterwheel, his sword pounding the earth repeatedly.

Dirt exploded from the cracked ground, some clouds so thick they blurred Clay’s vision.

Whoosh!

Valruel charged through the dust and thrust his blade forward. Clay spun his demon sword in place, deflecting the strike. Valruel didn’t fight the force—he used the momentum to spin and slash again.

He struck again, and again, and again—until finally Clay’s posture broke. Seeing him stagger, Valruel shouted:

“This is the end!”

KRAAAANG!

A shockwave that hit like a hammer blow.

It was as if divine weight had been added to the attack—cracks spiderwebbed across the earth.

CRACK!

The ground gave way along those lines and collapsed. Clay, unable to find footing, was pulled downward into the fissure.

Valruel deliberately dove in after him.

The moment he landed, Valruel dashed toward Clay—who looked like he’d just landed on his feet in an unstable stance—and aimed to strike.

“Above.”

Clay said softly. Valruel instinctively looked up—and saw it.

A boulder, shaken loose by the collapse, was falling directly toward him.

With no choice, Valruel aborted his attack and leapt back.

CRASH!

The boulder slammed down where he had been, creating a small crater.

“Impressive.”

Clay looked at him with genuine admiration.

“To still fight like that even after using half your divine power.”

But admiration was all it was—nothing more than detached assessment.

“Still… isn’t your limit near?”

Pushing Clay this far with only half his divine power left meant Valruel was already overexerting himself.

“I could keep fighting all day like this. Can you?”

Valruel’s breathing was rough. With less divine power to work with, he had been compensating with speed and higher output to overwhelm Clay.

“Using divine power is like breathing.”

Clay spoke as though critiquing a student.

“The more flustered you get, the more you use. And the faster you burn out.”

Trying to replenish it would be like pouring water into a leaky drain.

“Still planning to keep going?”

“I won’t answer.”

Valruel gave his reply with action.

His sword lunged toward Clay once more.

“A foolish decision.”

Clay didn’t even meet him directly. Instead, he avoided each thrust, weaving between the falling boulders.

“Coward!”

Valruel growled.

“Are you really dodging the battle you should be facing head-on?!”

“You’re the funny one, Valruel.”

Clay chuckled.

“You were the one who said I had no honor, weren’t you?”

If he had no honor, then there was no need for him to engage in an honorable duel.

“Then why should I fight on your terms?”

To Clay, any method that secured victory was acceptable.

“Filthy bastard!”

Valruel spat his insult again, but the situation didn’t change. Clay kept evading, and Valruel kept burning through divine power trying to land a decisive strike.

“Guh… haah…!”

Valruel’s breathing grew harsher. Blood welled up in his eyes, staining them red.

“You…!”

He gritted his teeth just as a cluster of boulders fell from above—right toward him.

“Guh!”

Several boulders crashed down on Valruel. Instinctively, he swung his sword, cutting the falling rocks midair.

It reduced the impact, but not enough to cancel it completely—his body still reeled from the hits he couldn’t deflect in time.

Stumble.

Unbalanced and off-kilter, Valruel swayed.

That’s when Clay struck. He closed the distance in a blink and slashed at Valruel’s exposed side with his demon sword. Valruel hurriedly raised his own blade to block, but couldn’t absorb the full shock.

“Urgh!”

The force pushed him back with his sword, and his footing slipped.

Crash!

Valruel fell. Clay reversed his grip on the demon sword and thrust downward toward him.

It grazed.

Rolling hard to the side, Valruel avoided a direct hit. As he sprang up, he swung his blade—not to land a strike, but to force distance between them.

Clay stepped back, letting him.

“RAAHHH!”

Valruel seized the moment to switch to offense and charged—but he noticed too late the calm smile on Clay’s face.

BOOM! CRACK!

More rocks—ones dislodged by the earlier collapse—crashed down directly onto him. This time, unable to guard, Valruel took the brunt of the damage.

SKRRT!

Clay’s demon sword thrust toward Valruel’s chest—but couldn’t fully pierce through.

The sacred armor held, though barely. Scraped and pushed back, Valruel staggered, groaning.

“You converted the sacred gear’s power entirely into defense?”

Clay narrowed his eyes.

“But how long do you think you can keep that up?”

His demon sword lashed out—aiming at chest, sides, arms, legs—anywhere that might find a crack.

With each strike, the armor scraped, tore, and tried to regenerate itself over and over again.

“Stop this pathetic resistance. Accept your reality.”

Without that sacred gear, Valruel would have already been fatally wounded.

“Is all you can do hide behind your armor?”

Despite Clay’s words, Valruel couldn’t mount a proper offense. All he could do was reactively raise his blade to intercept.

“Why not redirect that power into attack?”

Having wasted so much divine power in that earlier blast, Valruel’s options were limited. Either continue defending until the armor’s endurance ran out—or transfer the remaining energy to his sword and go for a final strike.

“Come on, Valruel.”

Clay’s relentless barrage continued.

“If you came prepared to die, prove it.”

It wasn’t about protecting himself out of fear. True resolve meant abandoning defense to eliminate your enemy.

“Krrghh!”

It was provocation. Valruel knew it. But even so, he had no choice but to accept it.

“RAAAAAAH!”

The sacred energy shifted—flowing entirely into his sword. His once golden armor dimmed, fading to a dull gray.

Now, only the iron armor beneath remained. Valruel poured everything into his blade.

“I’ll silence you for good!”

He brought his sword down, overflowing with light.

Clay didn’t dodge.

He met it head-on with his demon sword.

CLAAANG!

“What?!”

Valruel’s eyes widened in disbelief as Clay met his full-powered blow.

Clay stared back at him, completely unfazed.

“You’re not wielding a proper sacred weapon, are you, Valruel?”

Clay had known that the Guardian Knights hoarded sacred gear. They rarely brought it out, even in battle.

But he had seen it once—with his own eyes.

Back when he was imprisoned before his execution, the Guardian Knights had stood watch. Whether it was fear or protocol, they had arrived equipped with strange, powerful relics.

Even though Clay had been sealed, weakened, and tortured, they had still brought them.

From that, Clay had learned how the sacred gear worked—how it could focus on offense or defense depending on the user’s will. It wasn’t ordinary armor or weaponry; it held divine traits far beyond mundane equipment.

But even sacred gear wasn’t invincible.

“Just like when you came to watch over me—this isn’t a full set, is it?”

To achieve full power, one had to fuse a large quantity of sacred gear into their body.

Valruel clearly hadn’t.

Whatever the reason, his current state barely reached a fraction of that former potential.

“With that pitiful setup…”

Clay’s crimson eyes gleamed. He charged.

CLANG! SCRAPE! SLASH!

“Don’t claim you came to assert your will!”

His demon sword tore through Valruel’s armor. Valruel tried to defend, but his blade was too slow.

Unbelievable…!

The speed was inhuman. Before Valruel could even react, Clay’s strikes were already in motion.

Some blows he parried. Most, he could not.

Though the sacred gear tried to regenerate, it had limits. Clay’s strikes finally began to draw blood.

Guh?!

As pain surged through him, Valruel finally realized how Clay’s attacks were so fast.

The sword… it’s moving on its own!

It wasn’t just Clay controlling it. The demon sword was acting first, reading Clay’s intentions and leading the strike—Clay simply followed through.

A sacred sword like Excalbren could never do that!

Excalbren never acted before its wielder. It only supported.

But this demon sword—this weapon dared to move first, on its own.

It wasn’t just synchronizing with Clay—it was fighting alongside him. This wasn’t Clay alone.

“Coward!”

Valruel roared.

“That’s sorcery! That’s not your swordplay—it’s two wills combined!”

“I don’t know what you’re going on about.”

Clay tilted his head mockingly.

“Whether it’s my swordplay or not… what does it matter?”

Because—

“As long as the victory is mine, that’s enough.”

All that mattered now was the result. As long as the outcome was his, any method was justified.

“Valruel—”

Clay swung the sword once more.

“You’re dying for a hollow sense of honor that no longer exists in this world.”

His words cut as deeply as his blade.

“If you have a final vision to see before you die… I suggest you take a good look at it. And think about what it’s really telling you.”

(End of Chapter)

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