The Masked Duke!

Two days passed, and the construction of his buildings was already completed. He made sure to demolish each building himself, shortening the time it would take for them to complete their job. Isaiah didn't just stay during the demolition of the buildings but also when they were building his designs.

After each structure was completed, he would lay formations on the disk part of the tall pyramid-like structures. There were a total of twenty such structures, spreading nearly into the Noble's Estates.

During these two days, Terry Incendio had visited him at the construction site to pass him the mana circulation techniques he gathered. He had a comprehensive list of techniques, even though not as impressive as the one he acquired from the Green Hut Gang, and there was no High Tier technique.

After he received the technique, Isaiah passed Terry a card with intricate lines carved on it. It was no simple card; it had a formation on one of its faces. "Make sure to keep this card powered on 24/7. It's really important for our plans. Also, rush here directly to the casino if it ever beeps," Isaiah told him, confusing Terry further. "What does me powering on a card do to further our plans?" he was annoyed. "Also, what plans? You keep saying plans, but I have yet to hear any plan so far."

Isaiah just laughed at his response, "Don't worry, in a few days, the fish should bite the bait." Having been given another deadline for a few days later, Terry told Isaiah, "Sigh, fine." Then, before he left, he warned Isaiah, "But be warned, this is the last time. If next time there are no concrete plans, consider our partnership over." His words' meanings were clear; if Isaiah continued stalling, they would once again turn to enemies.

Isaiah was unfazed by his threats. "Sure, you worry too much. You will die early," he laughed as Terry left. ...

Isaiah was sitting in his office, refining his mana using his vortex technique. Each time he would alter it ever so slightly to better fit his mana flow, further specializing the technique to his mana anatomy.

His closed eyes opened when a man came through from the door. Due to Lily being absent in such early hours, the man arrived unannounced.

He wore loose fitting white clothes, his face was obscured by a face mask, and the monotone look of the face carved onto the mask gave the masked man an unsettling feeling. His unnerving disposition was further empowered by the Rank 2 aura that surrounded him.

Isaiah wasn't surprised to see such an obscure figure in front of him. Instead, there was a smile present on his face. "I have been expecting you, Mr..?"

The masked man didn't speak until he took a seat. After taking his seat, he crossed his legs, his gaze locking onto Isaiah's. "So you must be the Isaiah I keep hearing about, the man who doesn't know how to act within my district," his tone was monotone, just like his looks. His voice came out wrenched, as if his vocal cords ran through a saw with each word he spoke.

Seeing he didn't answer his question regarding his name, Isaiah's smile widened further. "I'm indeed Isaiah, Isaiah Dominus, and you are?"

The masked man took his time to answer, taking items from Isaiah's desk as if he owned the office, then he looked back up at Isaiah. "They call me The Masked Duke," which caused laughter to ring into his ears. Isaiah couldn't hold himself.

Isaiah didn't mince his words despite the Rank difference between the two. While he didn't know the Masked Duke's identity, it was obvious he was his enemy. "So you decided you can call yourself Duke, just because you are Rank 2?" he openly mocked the man in front of him.

The Masked Duke didn't respond to Isaiah's mockery. Instead, he continued examining him. "And here I thought you would be worth a challenge, a man merely at the initial steps of Rank 1."

Isaiah's smile didn't falter. "Shouldn't that make you more afraid? Don't you wonder how I managed to kill all your men and destroy multiple hideouts while only being at this Rank?" He openly admitted to all his doings; it was obvious why the Masked Duke was here, and there was no need to hide behind false pretenses.

Isaiah leaned back onto his chair. "Hmm, he is still calm," he mused to himself, then spoke to the man, "So tell me, why did you come to visit me? To exact revenge for your men?"

Silence set into the room; neither side spoke, letting the question hang in the air. SLASH! The Masked Duke slashed with his arm, causing a mass of lightning to launch from his arm, eradicating half of Isaiah's office, causing his body to dissipate into light particles.

"Not bad." The Masked Duke responded by releasing a mass of electricity in all directions, filling the room to the brim with tongues of lightning, and all its walls crumbled to dust. Isaiah was flung into the air by the sheer energy released.

The Masked Duke's gaze locked on Isaiah's body flung into the air. He bent his knees, SHOO! The ground beneath him crumbled as lightning covered his body, and he launched at Isaiah, one of his arms winced back.

Isaiah exploded a formation beneath his feet to escape the attack by flinging himself even higher, barely managing to dodge the lightning-fast man.

The Masked Duke didn't bother chasing after him further to the sky. Instead, he clawed forth with his already winced back arm, causing five huge streaks of sheer lightning to release from his fingers.

Five huge streaks rushed at Isaiah; he couldn't do much else but explode another formation on his side to barely dodge the attack. Even then, half of his suit was gone, and his body beneath was covered in burns. Just being in the presence of the attack was hard for him.

Looking at Isaiah floating above, the Masked Duke once again bent his legs, a huge mass of electricity covered his feet as he pushed, and he leaped all the way to where Isaiah was positioned in a single leap.

He once again twisted his body, winced his arm, and put out a punch. This time, being this close to Isaiah, he was sure not to miss. He punched with full strength as his lightning-covered fist struck.

A huge mass of electricity was let loose upon Isaiah. There was little he could do but brace for the attack; it was so wide that it nearly couldn't be dodged.

He let the Light Cannon Formation he had prepared in his palm loose, two massive energies clashed briefly before Isaiah's light cannon was obliterated, and lightning continued to rush at him.

Just as it neared him, SWOOSH, waves of flames washed rushed, clashing with the mass of electricity, and they soon both canceled each other out.

Isaiah looked at the man who had just arrived, saying with a laugh, "Just in time."

Terry was floating next to him, using flame jets beneath his feet. "So this was your plan." The card Isaiah gave him had buzzed, causing him to rush here.

He looked at the enemy below, his gaze uncertain. While both men were Rank 2, Terry could be considered a newbie Rank 2, having just advanced.

Isaiah spoke to the Masked Duke below, "It's now 2 vs. 1."

The Masked Duke, for the first time during their entire interaction, let out a chuckle. "You think a newly advanced Rank 2 and Rank 1 is enough to stop me?" His gaze looked above as a huge ball of lightning gathered in his hand, which he shot at the floating figures.

The huge ball of lightning near instantly arrived in front of Terry and went right through him, just as the Masked Duke was confused. Terry's body dissipated into light particles as he reappeared on the ground.

He was shooting at him; he arrived near him in an instant, his body twisted as he launched a devastating flaming kick.

The Masked Duke put up his arms at the last second, blocking the flaming kick but in return getting pushed back a few steps.

Just as he was about to retaliate, his vision turned null as huge amounts of light rained upon him, obscuring his vision.

Terry took this opportunity; six flaming swords materialized and lunged towards him. However, the Masked Duke was no rookie. With a fling of his electricity-covered arm, all six flaming swords dissipated.

He then started rushing towards Isaiah while lightning covered his body. He could sense him now that he was focusing his mana sense; he directly rushed at his real body.

In just an instant, he arrived near him. He put all his weight on one leg and twisted his body. Isaiah put up his arms in an attempt to brace for the punch.

However, it was futile; the punch directly exploded Isaiah's head. Terry's eyes widened, seeing this. He hadn't expected Isaiah to actually die, now he had to deal with an enraged Rank 2 all by himself.

The Masked Duke stood straight, his expression couldn't be read due to his mask, as he gazed at the particles Isaiah's body dissipated into. "How? I sensed your location without even using my eyes," he turned to look at Isaiah, who had just materialized in front of him. "How could your illusions work on me?"

Isaiah didn't answer the man, but the way he achieved it was due to a pleasant surprise he had received while practicing his vortex technique. He could use it to spread his mana flow thin within his body. It was nowhere near perfect nor undetectable, but neither was the Masked Duke's mana sense in the heat of the fight served its purpose.

Seeing Isaiah unresponsive, the Masked Duke covered his body with mass amounts of lightning; he looked like he was inside a lightning elemental. He launched towards Isaiah once more; he didn't even need to attack, his lightning mass simply took care of the close.

Each time Terry attacked, his attacks would get easily countered. The Masked Duke was insistent on chasing after Isaiah.

While it might seem like Isaiah could easily keep dodging with his clones, reality proved different, even though he managed to dodge the main attacks, the subsidiary damage he received just from being in their vicinity accumulated on his body.

Half of his body was burned to the crust, his arms, especially, were a mess of burnt skin.

Masked Duke leaped towards Isaiah at a speed he hadn't expected, with a devastating kick Isaiah's clone was once again destroyed, however this time being so close to Isaiah, Masked Duke managed to catch a glimpse of his real body's mana flow, his senses locked on to Isaiah's real body.

"Got you now, try to dodge this," he lifted his palm facing high up towards the sky, he grasped his open palm, causing the clouds above to quake as lightning gathered on them.

As he lowered his hand, the gathered lightning converged to form one large lightning; it looked akin to a serpent made of lightning.

Isaiah gazed at the sky, his pupil dilated, knowing full well he couldn't dodge this attack. His arms couldn't be used to create formations anymore, so he opened his jaw towards the lightning serpentine, a massive formation forming above his mouth. Although it was the only visible formation, dozens of formations formed within his internals, all converging at the large formation above his mouth.

Lightning got released, sending the fury of gods to rain upon Isaiah. Just as he was about to activate his ultimate formation, the lightning tilted 30 degrees, hitting right beside him, barely missing him.

He deactivated his formations, and a huge smile was present on his face. "It's about time you arrived, Captain Jax Indra," he said with a laugh that caused his entire body to ache.