The true power of Intents

Azzul's and Davis's expressions shifted quite a bit, seeing their target pull out his strongest card. But still, they had expected this to happen so they quickly released theirs.

A similar energy appeared around them before merging with their body, revealing a crimson color around Davis, a Pseudo-Intent of Destruction and a cyan color around Azzul, a Pseudo-Intent of Control.

Noah who stood afar watched this with interest. 'So Adept Stage Battlesoul masters have access to something like this? Moreover, that energy...' Glancing within his body with his Internal Sight, he could see a bright white colored mist surrounding his Essence core. 'It seemed to be charged with the same energy as that mist within me.' Anyways the boy was more than content staying away from the fight, even retreating a bit further to not get hit by any stray attacks. Something told him that if he let a strand of any of those energies touch him, regardless of the one within him, he would still die. And it would be rather painful.

"Quick Draw!" Crimson lightning bathed Ivan's body as he drew his blade, sending a quick and powerful strike at Davis.

The latter was quick to parry. His hammer swung to the side with a heavy air around it. "Meteor Swing!"

The sword and hammer met with a ferocious bang sound echoing in their environment. The shockwaves generated from the clash shook everything around them, caving the ground in a few meters.

But it was easy to notice that Davis could not match up to Ivan's strength. A few seconds had barely gone by but the hammer wielder seemed to be getting pushed back a bit. Thankfully, he had brought an ally with him.

"Ice Glacier." At the chant of the skill, a massive body of ice jetted out of the ground beneath Ivan, propelling the Mercenary into the air. Yet the man wasn't done. He clenched his hand, filling them with his Pseudo-Intent and making the glacier like structure disappear but he soon unclenched his hand and grabbed downward at the open air, creating a massive Snowflake above the airborne Mercenary. "Snow Fall."

"Fuck." At the moment, Ivan really regretted not learning any defensive type skill within his Battle Arts.

An explosion rang out as the snowflake smashed the poor mercenary into the ground.

Seeing this, Azzul let his expression relax slightly but it soon tensed as blood escaped his lips. Clearly, overusing his Pseudo-Intent must have took a lot out of him.

"Meteor Fall!" Another boom resounded as the Hammer wielder smashed into the spot Ivan was supposed to be.

Unsurprisingly, the Mercenary appeared a few meters away from the crash site with a bloodied appearance. Yet he only smiled brutally as he charged his existence with more of his Pseudo-Intent. "Lightning Storm!"

"Blizzard." Azzul was not so stupid as to use much of his Pseudo-Intent this time. He simply used a bit of it to refine the strength of his blizzard skill. The two attacks clashed and Azzul's attack managed to successfully defend against Ivan's.

But the Mercenary didn't seem to care. He executed another Quick Draw at the approaching Davis, not caring about his Essence reserves.

Seeing this Noah frowned, musing to himself silently. "Seems like whatever Pseudo-Intent is, it affects its user's mentality." Thinking back, he remembered the words spoken by the Ivan when he unleashed his Pseudo-Intent. "He mentioned something about Destruction earlier so it seems to induce him with an unstable mind the more he battles with it." His brows furrowed but, in the end, finally eased. "Anyways it has nothing to do with me. I'm still at the Intermediate Stage and a transmigrator at that, it can't be helped that I don't know such things." He sighed as he focused back on the ongoing match. "Luckily, the Soaring Star Academy will help with that."

He watched as Ivan dashed forward with lightning coating his sword once more as he slashed out at Davis multiple times with blurring speed. "Quick Draw Barrage."

The burly man could barley react in time. His skin, at multiple locations, tore open to let out streams of blood. Luckily no part of his body had been cut off since he had managed to use his Essence to defend against that strike. "Fuck!" Grunting loudly, Davis yelled as he brandished his hammer and slammed his opponent's body to the side, sending the latter flying.

"Cough." Ivan coughed out blood as he landed on the ground. He hissed in pain feeling the pain within his ribs but he could only suck it in and use his Essence to hold his blood in, his enemies were still around afterall.

And Azzul made sure to remind him. The Mage type Battlesoul master acted further, unleashing his Blizzard skill once more on the weak mercenary.

He countered, sending a burst of lightning onto his surrounding with his Lightning Storm skill and dispelling the Blizzard skill.

"Meteor Fall!"

Ivan's eyes almost popped out seeing the figure in the corner of his eyes becoming bigger. "Damnit." He barely had enough time to raise his sword when the heavy weight Mercenary landed on him.

The opponent, surprisingly chose to back up, causing the Mercenary to smile a bit. Yet looking at the ice surrounding Azzul, the smile disappeared.

"Ice Spear Barrage." The ice around the Battlesoul master gathered and morphed into 12 ice spears that aimed at Ivan. "Go." With a clench of his hand, the ice launched forward immediately.

"Fuck." Ivan stared bitterly at the approaching for the spears and smiled weakly. His Pseudo-Intent left his body as he regained his calm once more. He looked down at his blade and sighed. His Rank 4 equipment which provided him with a more complete Pseudo-Intent could barely do anything in this fight since his assailants also possessed Rank 4 equipments. "This can't be blamed on me." His hands flashed as a weapon appeared in his hand. A broadsword. Its presence bloomed causing the air around it to vibrate, showcasing its brilliance to the world. Its owner, Ivan, tensed as he watched multiple tears appear on his body.

The Mercenary smiled weakly at the guarded Davis and Azzul. "This is a true Rank 5 Equipment. You guys will have to survive this if you want my head. Word of warning..." The man's hand, with the sword in his grip, rose very slowly till it was raised directly above him. "... It's very sharp." The hand swung down.

Everything within a five hundred meter radius vanished into darkness.