Chương 49: Only One

Gray lowered his center of gravity, and his hands snapped to the hilt of his sword. Nabi ran her palm along the haft of her scythe, coating the blade in a fresh sheen of her own blood.

"I'm sorry it had to come down to this. I'll at least do you the honor of giving it my all." Gray's jaw set to match her resolve.

"Likewise." A green flag materialized in the level master's hand. He raised it high, snapped it down with a sharp crack, and blew his whistle—the shrill cutting across the field.

"Begin!" Nabi drew her scythe back and surged forward. Gray didn't move. He held his ground, fingers tight around his hilt, patiently waiting for the Blood Reaper to close the distance. The crescent blade carved a horizontal arc aimed straight at his side. Gravity Well A vortex tore into existence a foot behind her, the air folding inward with a low hum. Its pull locked onto her weapon at once, wrenching the swing off its path.

She dug her heels into the grass and bent her knees, fighting it, but the invisible grip overpowered her anyway. Her scythe jerked backward and staggered her off balance. Gray quick-drew his blade, thrusting it at her in a swift blur. The reach should have been enough to impale her. But he'd failed to account for one thing: the physics of his own vortex. Instead of resisting the pull, Nabi yielded to it. Her whole body went slack, letting the vortex rip her backward and out of the Soul Blade's lethal reach.

Gray had to extend his range. Fast. Retracting his sword to charge a second strike wasn't an option. Gravity Well's initial pull only lasted three seconds before it decayed into a soft breeze. By the time he closed the gap, the Blood Reaper's feet would be back on the ground, guard raised and ready to parry anything he threw at her. He had to capitalize on her airborne state before she landed. The memory flashed through his mind of his shadow clone elongating its blade of condensed smoke back in the second level.

Gray didn't have to wonder if the concept would work. He'd already proven it could. He'd stumbled onto the trick while showing off his new abilities to Nabi. Tobari could double its length, but the toll on his mana pocket was immense. Did he really want to commit his entire reserve to a single thrust? What if he fed it only a fraction? Instead of flooding the katana with his mana, he could throttle the siphon, giving the blade just enough length to bridge the distance without draining himself dry.

Gray aimed the tip of his blade at her torso and unleashed his core. The drain was instant. A current of mana rose from his chest, cold and fast, racing through his bloodstream and rushing down his arms before pouring into the hilt. Aware of the Soul Blade's ravenous appetite this time, Gray kept the portion size throttled. Ash-gray vapor bloomed from the steel in a rippling wave that shot outward. It wasn't as refined as the compact beam his clone had nearly impaled him with.

Gray's construct fanned out wildly, mimicking the untamed shape of natural smoke. Still, the spread worked to his advantage, creating a broader striking surface, even if the weapon only extended to one-and-a-half times its original length. But it was enough. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. The edge of the extended blade phased straight into the Blood Reaper's stomach.

Because his vision easily pierced the haze, Gray saw exactly how much damage the strike had dealt. It didn't. Nabi didn't flinch. Her expression remained blank as she stared down at the spot where the smoke blade passed through her abdomen. Unwilling to find out what the vapor would do if it pushed any deeper, she retreated on pure instinct. Crimson Pool Her physical form liquefied entirely, melting into a dark pool at her feet. Furrowing his brows, he immediately severed the Soul Blade's siphon on his core.

The katana snapped back to its normal length. As morbid as the technique was, the power was supposed to rend her flesh and rot the wound. That was exactly what had happened to the tree. Why didn't it affect her in the slightest? He shoved his confusion aside and braced for the next move. Anticipating an attack from behind, Gray pivoted on his heel and swept Tobari in a 180-degree arc, aiming to cut her down the second she materialized from the mark behind him. But the blade only carved air.

Nabi erupted out of the exact same pool of blood she had just dissolved into and pressed the edge of her scythe against Gray's throat. Nabi hadn't traveled through her domain at all. Her teleportation required a pre-existing drop of blood already staining the destination. To an observer, it looked like a masterful feint: reappearing at the exact spot she'd vanished from to fake out her foe. In reality, she simply hadn't prepared the battlefield with her blood signatures. Gray had outsmarted himself.

It was time for Plan B. Wraith Nabi, however, had already anticipated his escape. She primed her strike and whipped her arm outward. The scythe sheared cleanly across his neck before he could fully dissolve into smoke, spraying a fine mist of blood outward. Unfortunately for her, the scythe had started flush against his skin, leaving no room to build the momentum a clean decapitation required. Instead of falling to the ground, the blood halted in midair.

The suspended droplets gathered into a dense sphere and flew directly into her core. Gray couldn't move. The moment he shifted into his Wraith form, all he could manage was a silent, visceral scream as agony burned at the base of his neck. Surprisingly, the searing pain in his throat faded after only a few seconds. In its current state, Wraith merely delayed the inevitable. As powerful as the intangibility seemed, it was only a fleeting countermeasure against an incoming strike.

He'd outsmarted the Granite Soldiers with this cheap trick, but not Nabi. She waited patiently, scythe raised high overhead, silently mouthing the remaining seconds of his spell's duration. Gray refused to die a sitting duck. Shroud Domain A plume of smoke erupted in the middle of the field and rapidly ballooned into a dome that swallowed the duo whole. The duration on Wraith instantly reset. Gray shot upward into his domain as relief rushed through him, euphoric and disorienting. The high overtook him.

He lost control and tumbled into a backward somersault, the world spinning, before flailing to regain his balance. Taking to the sky within his domain was easier the second time around. He could dictate his flight path, though his physical reflexes still lagged behind his mental commands. Shaking off the adrenaline, Gray refocused on the threat below. The Blood Reaper was making a beeline for the dome's edge. But she wasn't quick enough. Gray locked onto her back and dove down.

His trajectory through the smoke was far smoother than his previous clumsy charge against his shadow clone. The trick was in the tension: keeping his core tight and his posture rigid to lock in his balance during the high-speed descent. As he closed the distance, he lowered the katana down to his side, the tip aimed at her retreating back. She showed no awareness of his approach. No signs of a counterattack. A tightness seized Gray's chest as the steel closed in on the final foot from her back.

Was this really how it ends? How could he ever look Ava in the eye after killing her disciple? Was driving a blade through an opponent's back while invisible to them really a victory? It was to him. Survival was survival. But this felt different. By his own standards, the Blood Reaper was a ruthless monster who would crush anyone in her path to succeed. So why the sudden hesitation right before the fatal strike? Did he feel guilty for winning with an unfair advantage? No… it wasn't that.

If anything, Shroud Domain had finally leveled the playing field against this monstrous fighter. His moral compass insisted she deserved to die, yet his heart tugged at him to pull the weapon back. In the end, cold logic smothered his empathy. He wasn't foolish enough to sacrifice his own life for a person he had just met a week ago. The Blood Reaper would never negotiate a truce, nor would she ever drop out of the competition. She'd never agree to a life of indentured servitude, or to losing her powers outright.

The Blood Reaper had to die. The katana impaled her back and burst out of her chest. Nabi hacked up a spray of blood as she collapsed face-first onto the grass.