Chapter 39: A Vengeful Father

'He cut apart my spells with just a normal swing containing not even a speck of mana... that's impossible!' the sorcerer was thrown into disarray, but this was ever since Cliff's sudden appearance.

The man had bypassed his mana sense, concealing even his presence, and took out each of his spells so far with a single blow.

He was finding it hard to believe such feats without even just the littlest use of mana were possible. But in fact, he knew better than to refuse to believe. There were, in fact, such people capable of inhumane feats even without relying on the use of magic, mana, or spells, as not everyone was gifted with a good aptitude for magic. Of course, most of these people were warriors and monks who walked down other paths other than the ones of magic and sorcery. That was just the kind of world he lived in.

But facing one of those such people in person, the sorcerer was finding it even more hard to believe.

'No, maybe it's his sword. It might be a magic implement item or endowed with some kind of active or passive spell?' the sorcerer, still fighting against such apparent facts shifted his grim gaze to Cliff's sword. The cold steel reflected nothing, and even after such feats possessed neither a crack nor a chip.

"There's nothing!" His eyes widened in disbelief. But he didn't have time to stutter on his thoughts anymore.

"Look alive!" Cliff warned with a low voice. 

His figure kicked off the ground and covered the distance between the two as fast as it took the sorcerer to blink. He winced backward slightly, noticing a sharp red glint in Cliff's murderous eyes.

Cliff's blade positioned to his side as he leaped raised for a horizontal swing at the stumbling sorcerer, and for a moment the blade of the sword was coated in a faint red tint glow which the sorcerer also hadn't failed to notice this time around.

'Is that...?' his thought was forced to a halt as the blade of the sword descended down against him.

With not giving enough time to cast a suitable spell, the sorcerer raised his hands, spreading his fingers apart, he conjured a glowing magic runic circle the size of his head in both his hands.

The runic circle gave off a pale purple glow. He raised the circle in his hand to block the first attack, but as immediately as it did, the circle was shattered like glass under the full weight of Cliff's sword.

The sorcerer let out a groan as his hand was pushed away from the force and impact. He took an involuntary step back, and Cliff's sword pushed forward, prepared for another attack. This time, the sword was blocked by the other runic circle in the sorcerer's other hand.

Just like the first, the runic circle shattered into dust, even more quickly from the increased weight, speed, and power of Cliff's second blow.

The sorcerer groaned, and this time was thrown off his feet from the increased impact. He flew further back and fell to the ground with a roll.

Cliff walked forward with all the time in the world and approached the sorcerer against the ground. His steps were heavy, the sound of each of them rang as an echo of his death to come.

The sorcerer quickly moved in for a follow-up attack from his position. He muttered something quickly under his breath and swung his hand up at Cliff, during the process, his fingers grazed slightly against the ground surface.

"[MUD LANCE]!" He chanted and the surface of the ground his finger ran against sprouted a single long earthen thorn straight at its target.

Cliff simply stepped to the side, evading the single thorn by a fine margin, and effortlessly swung his sword at the sorcerer's outstretched arm, amputating it off just under his wrist with the simple action.

"Aargh!" The sorcerer grabbed what remained of his right arm and cried out in pain. He used his legs and scurried his body backward against the floor, trying to put as much distance between himself and the beast before him.

'Shit! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!' the sorcerer could only move so much as his back soon pushed against the wall.

He looked at his amputated right arm, his lips trembled in fear as he watched his arm continue to bleed profusely.

Cliff's footsteps resounded like a ticking clock, counting down the hours — seconds to the sorcerer's death.

The sorcerer looked up at Cliff's face from the ground. There was no remorse or sympathy in his expression. Just a still glare.

Cliff raised his sword stoically upon arriving just before the sorcerer.

At the same time, the sorcerer raised his hand at Cliff in one last struggle as he began to quickly mutter something under his breath, the name however, was one Cliff recognized clearly.

"Blaze forth...[LANCEA...!" Cliff paused his movements and jumped backward. Taking on that spell at such close proximity would mean he won't be able to make it out without at least some scratches. And Cliff wasn't gonna get hit while taking out this trash.

'...Just kidding!' the sorcerer grinned.

"Blind forth...[FLASH BANG]!" The sorcerer cast on the fly.

A shimmering ball of blinding gold light expanded in the sorcerer's outstretched arm. Cliff's eyes slowly widened as he realized he was deceived.

 The ball expanded and exploded into an all-blinding light, illuminating the corner of the chapel in a golden glow. The explosion came with a piercing ring, sending Cliff's senses into disarray.

Using the split moment, the sorcerer cast another spell and threw himself up into the air, across the chapel. He had a tight expression as he tore a piece of his cloak and wrapped it around his amputated wrist to stop the bleeding as he landed on the aisle close to the front of the altar. He somehow managed to pull it off.

The sorcerer didn't just wait though, for as soon as he landed, he jumped into a sprint for the altar. He picked up the black obsidian dagger along the way and grabbed the body of the boy lying on the altar.

Positioning the blade of the dagger just before the boy's neck, he shouted,

"Don't move!!" 

This was directed at Cliff still on the other side of the chapel. The effects of the spell had already worn off on him, but he still had his back to the altar.

The sorcerer tried to force a smile, but it came out crooked. He had noticed how much this father cared for his son, and with this, he was sure he'd get the upper hand. Just maybe, he could even get out alive.

But that hope was quickly tarnished in the next second.

"You're dead!" Cliff merely looked over his shoulder and glared with bloodshot eyes at the sorcerer. The pressure and bloodlust emanating from his being was Intoxicating.

Suddenly, Cliff's back seemed much much larger. He looked like a beast. The sorcerer could swear he could see the bloodlust of his take form.

A strange ghostly blood-red aura emanated from his body, permeating the environment and dying the space around Cliff with a deep crimson. The strange blood-red aura moved, coating Cliff's sword and dying his blade.

The sorcerer turned pale as he watched the aura which he assumed to be Cliff's pure bloodlust in materialization. His lips trembled and his eyes shook as the whole space of the chapel was filled with the oppressing murder intent.

The influence of Ciff's bloodlust permeated the sorcerer's mind, slowly deteriorating it with gruesome images of his death.

'...Wh-what is this...an illusion?!'

The red aura around Cliff continued to swell as he fully turned around. His pressure caused the space to vibrate slightly, it was either this or the sorcerer was simply forced to imagine it happening under the strange influence of Cliff's strange aura.

He was horrified.

Cliff no longer seemed like a human being.

'He's the devil...what is it with this family? They're monsters!'

Cliff raised the sword. The blade was dyed with a red tint. The ghostly aura shrouds it.

"Hold on! Is...is he going to attack his son altogether?!" The sorcerer was confused. At the sight, he shuddered.

 Then Cliff brought the sword down in a wide vertical swing. There was no stance, no unnecessary thoughts and movements. His sword moved with an eerie flawless ghostly beauty. It cut across the air drawing a ghostly red line.

The blade let out a wave slash. It was thin.

It was powerful.

*Swoosh*

The slash traveled forth, tearing through space and all that stood in its path. It ripped a straight line through the ground and split the altar into two uneven parts. And with it, the sorcerer's remaining right arm that held the dagger was cut at the wrist and shoulder.

Feeling an incredible gust race passed his face, Reo's eyes slowly flickered open.

Before the sorcerer could react to his blow, Cliff kicked off the ground and leaped straight across the aisle, covering the distance in the flick of an eyelid.

He repositioned his sword before him for a thrust as he got close to the altar and pulled Reo, with his other hand, out of the way. Then he threw his sword forward, running it through the sorcerer behind and pushing forward, charging the sorcerer into the wall at the end of the altar in a loud crash.

*Boom*

The chapel shook from impact. A massive web of cracks spread across the altar's back wall from the point the body of the sorcerer was crashed into.

The sorcerer died without a grunt, Clif

f's blade running entirely through him and into the wall.