Sparks flew as our blades collided.
A familiar numbness crept into my arms. I remembered it now: Verdict’s Blood Sword was heavy. Every time our steel met, my entire body felt the strain, my bones beginning to creak under the pressure.
"What’s the matter, lowlife? Is that all you have? I’m just getting started."
Verdict dialed up the intensity of his Frenzy. Refusing to yield an inch, I pushed my own Frenzy even harder.
My heart hammered with a sickening rhythm.
The surge of my blood was reaching its breaking point. Pressure mounted in my chest as if my heart might explode at any second, but I shoved the sensation aside. If I became unable to keep up with Verdict’s speed for even a moment, I was a dead man.
Damn it. Even with the Physical Enhancement of the Thunder Beast Shroud, the gap between us was still this wide?
"Hahahaha! Good, good! You’ve grown quite tenacious, haven’t you!"
Verdict sneered, appearing completely at ease. I wanted nothing more than to bury the Final Extreme Blade in his smug face—
But not yet.
I’d managed to close the distance, but the timing wasn't right. With his sharp instincts, there was a high chance he would recognize the threat of the Final Extreme Blade on sight and shift to evasion. I needed a guaranteed opening, a gap I could exploit without fail.
Risking everything on a single gamble was for the final moment only.
"More! Reveal more of yourself, lowlife! Why not attempt a Frenzy so intense it shatters your heart!? Do you really have the luxury to hold back!?"
His voice suddenly dropped to a low, cold register.
"—You do not even know when your life might reach its end, do you?"
"——!?"
In that instant, a devastating horizontal sweep caught me across the midsection. The sheer impact sent a jolt of monumental agony through me, but Luxerion's Armor held firm, turning the blade aside.
"So, you’ve brought that boring man’s Iron Wall..."
Verdict’s crimson eyes narrowed at the armor.
"To think you managed to charm that stubborn blockhead into helping you. You’re more capable than I thought."
He sounded almost impressed, but his expression immediately contorted.
"But in the end, a borrowed tool is just that."
He readjusted his stance with the Blood Sword, his voice dripping with something that sounded like pure hatred.
"You have talent. Enough to become a Demon King yourself. And yet, you refuse to stand at the summit on your own merits. Why rely on the magic of others? Why drape yourself in their legacies?"
His tone grew heavy with rage.
"Are you really content with hand-me-downs, lowlife!? Why not revel in the joy of perfecting your own gift? It’s your pathetic lack of ambition that pisses me off the most!"
"Say whatever the hell you want!" I parried his downward slash and shouted back. "You think I give a damn about being a Demon King? My power, someone else’s—it doesn’t matter! As long as it puts you in the ground, I’ll use whatever I have to! Now shut your damn mouth!"
"Utterly irredeemable, lowlife!"
Verdict’s sword speed increased even further.
Damn it, my Frenzy was already at its limit. Any more and I’d be in lethal danger. If I was going to make my gamble, now was the time—
Seizing the gap created by my hesitation, Verdict’s slash struck me. If it weren't for the armor, I’d have been killed three times over by now. I couldn't ignore the internal damage from the impact; a sickening pain was making my insides scream.
But it was worth enduring.
In the corner of my vision, I saw the tide turning. The number of Blood Dolls Sylvia and the others were fighting was finally dwindling. Most likely, because Verdict had drawn his sword and stopped sharing his mana, the production speed had dropped.
If I could just hold out a little longer, they would come to help—
That moment arrived sooner than I expected.
A presence flickered behind Verdict like a sudden gale. It was Milia, the petite assassin with the shock of pink hair. She had left the remaining dolls to Sylvia and rushed to my side.
Her face was uncharacteristically grim as her daggers flashed. Left hand, right hand—her twin blades lunged for Verdict’s throat and heart.
It didn't matter if she couldn't kill him. If she could just divert his attention for a split second—!
Verdict didn't even look back. Instead, a Blood Shield manifested to guard his blind spot.
"——!?"
Milia’s eyes widened as her daggers were deflected by the hardened blood.
"To think you could take a King’s rear... how naive!"
The Blood Shield detonated in a spray of gore. Milia didn't even have time to shriek before the blast sent her flying. She slammed into the wall and crumpled to the ground, limp.
"Milia!"
She didn't move. She lay there, completely unconscious.
"Damn it...!"
Furious, I lunged at Verdict, but he swatted my strike aside and drove a counter-kick deep into my gut.
"Gah...!"
I staggered backward, exhaling sharply as I forced myself to focus.
Stay calm, Albert!
Put aside the pain of the lost opportunity and the sight of my comrade being hurt. He isn't an opponent I can beat if I lose my head and become reckless!
"Albert!"
Sylvia, having finished off the Blood Dolls, slashed at Verdict from his flank.
"Kukuku. Is this the last of your substitute dolls? What’s your move now, Hero?"
The two of us attacked Verdict in unison. With a coordinated assault, even someone like him should have at least one opening—
"Did you think it would be that easy to create an opening?"
He sneered as he responded to our attacks, his eyes darting between us with supernatural speed.
Damn it, even now, is his Frenzy still intensifying!?
Ducking and weaving through his relentless assault, we slowly shifted our positioning. Sylvia took the front; I took the rear. If I was going to land a strike, this was the only way.
But even from his blind spot, I could feel him watching me. It wasn't my imagination; he was skillfully alternating his line of sight, evading and counterattacking both of us with terrifying precision.
What now, Albert? Do I bet everything on a single stroke right now!?
Sylvia’s Frenzy was weaker than mine. She wouldn't be able to hold him off from the front for long—
In that moment, Sylvia caught my eye and nodded. It was a signal. She was going to do something.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
With a spirited shout, Sylvia’s movements suddenly accelerated.
!?
Was she cranking up her Frenzy? Now? When she was already at her breaking point!?
"Hoh! You have more spine than the weakling behind you, girl!"
Verdict parried Sylvia’s desperate slash.
In that instant, I was certain. Verdict’s focus had shifted entirely away from me and toward Sylvia, who was unleashing every ounce of strength she had left.
—This was it. This was the only moment.
Don't hesitate. Give it everything!
A flurry of slashes rained down on Sylvia. Her sword was torn from her grip, and several more strikes hammered against her armor, shattering her stance and leaving her defenseless.
"Final Extreme Blade!"