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"You lower realm scum!" Lodos spat and clenched his fist as he said those words. "You shall finally taste defeat under my hand!"

Emery had a contemplating look as he stared at his opponent for the upcoming fight. He recalled how Lodos was the first, if not strongest, and most memorable opponent he had ever faced. After all, the only reason he was able to defeat the former at that time was thanks to Silva and Gerri's help in obstructing and restricting him.

The second match between the two of them however, Emery managed to defeat him fair and square. It was actually in the same setting as of today.

This marked the third time they fought with each other, and Emery could tell that the current Lodos, who they called and held the moniker of the Maniac, was really thrilled by the thought of fighting him again.

"I have been waiting for this!! Three years!! I have trained so hard for three years!! All in order to make you taste defeat!!" said Lodos emotionally.

To be honest, Emery actually became a bit worried as he watched the other party. It wasn't because of the incoming fight, but because of the possibility that the skinny man standing in front of him had really turned into a madman.

On the other hand, Magus Rommy the combat instructor had stood guard closely to where they were, making sure to prevent anything bad from happening. After all, he had seen the outcome of the last fight between them.

As soon as he gave out the sign, Lodos swiftly brought his right arm to the air and cast [Black Needle], a tier 3 shadow spell. Two dozen large, pitch-black needles seemingly made of shadow were rapidly materializing.

The empty air around his figure was quickly covered by their existences, announcing their advent from top to bottom. With a swipe of his hand, the needles immediately shot forward and headed toward Emery at great speed.

Whoosssshhh

Faint sounds of the air being pierced by numerous sharp objects could be heard in the air, telling that this attack was unordinary as it could get.

Emery raised his hand in response to the attack, making a small swing movement with it.

[Whiplash - Tier 1 Water Spell]

In an instant, a body of water materialized in the air and shaped into whip-like constructs. Pointing his hand forward, they immediately lashed toward the incoming needles.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The sounds of the needles being broken continuously reverberated loudly through the air, creating a harmony that seemed frenzied yet melodious. The simple, supposedly ordinary tier 1 spell [Whiplash] managed to destroy the tier 3 shadow spell [Black Needle] Lodos sent.

The madman was evidently startled by the sight. But he quickly regained his bearing and cast his spell again, sending more of those needles at Emery. Unfortunately, his efforts were doomed to be in vain.

CRACK! CRACK!..

Emery stood still in place confidently as his hands continued to make small movements, casting [Whiplash] in rapid succession to counteract the seemingly relentless attacks Lodos threw at him.

No matter what the latter tried to do, whether sending out the needles in batches like crashing waves, all at once like a volcanic eruption, or scattering and attacking from all directions like torrential rain, the former would neutralize the advance with a few gestures of his hand.

Realizing that his trademark method of attack with [Black Needle] wasn't working, the next thing Lodos did was use his other hand to cast his favorite move, [Pull Down]. This combination attack was his signature move that had won him the place as the top elite class.

Emery, who had encountered this move, already knew the gist behind it. [Pull Down] was a targeted area type of attack, and therefore as soon as he moved around he would be fine. However, he did not choose to cast [Shadow Mist] nor dodge with [Blink].

This was because ever since he had increased his spirit force exponentially throughout the last nine months, Emery found out that he was able to perceive the prowess a spell had even more accurately. Even though it wasn't easy at first, he had honed this unexpected ability of his throughout the months.

Using this intuition-like ability, Emery could determine how strong the spell his opponent used and decide how he should nullify it. Just like the [Black Needle]; he knew that the simple tier 1 [Whiplash] would be enough. And now, similar things would be happening.

When the gravity spell was about to take effect in his feet, Emery did nothing but stand there and watch Lodos launch his aggression.

Whisssss..

The ground beneath Emery caved in due to the pressure. His body instantly felt as if the weight of the entire world was weighing on him. He could tell through the power it showed that Lodos' [Pull Down] was at least twice stronger than the last time they fought, which was an impressive enough improvement.

Lodos was smiling wickedly when he saw Emery was trapped by his spell and quickly threw a dozen of the razor sharp needles.

However, when it got close, Emery simply dodged them by taking a few side steps. He did the motion so seamlessly, looking as if he wasn't affected by the pressure imposed upon him.

This immediately surprised Lodos as he himself understood how strong his spell had become after all the training he went through.

There were only two possible reasons why his opponent could do what he just did. One was he had some kind of spell that gave him resistance. The other was because he had such a strong battle power value that the pressure forced on him didn't affect him at all.

Even though Emery had such a spell with his shaman form, his [Spirit Reading] told him that he didn't need it. It was because he could tell that his 100 battle power was more than enough to withstand the pressure.

"URGGGHH!! What kind of trick are you playing right now?!" said Lodos loudly.

Emery, however, still kept his calm. He just stared at the raging madman and said, "Let's not waste both of our time and end this fast. Fight me with your real strength!"

Hearing that, the madman turned into a maniacal laugh. "Hahaha! That's right! You certainly not disappoint! This is more like it! Unfortunately a rank 8 like you will never win against a rank 9 like me! I will show you why!"

Emery just faintly smiled when he heard Lodos' mocking words. He watched as the latter put both of his hands together, a dark aura was seen emanating from his body and the surrounding area seemed to change.

This time, it wasn't clusters of needles he created, it was a single type of construct. A powerful-looking long pitch-black spear, half a dozen of them, floated around Lodos' figure. All of them emitted such a strong aura.

[Obsidian Lance]

Similar but definitely a few times stronger than Lodos previous needles.

After the several lances he created hovering over him, Lodos cast another powerful high tier spell as Emery can feel the ground around them has started to tremble.

Emery can feel it, it was the same gravity spell used by Hades on the battle of Camelot. [Gravitational Pressure]

Both spells were tier 5 darkness element spells, the higher form of the [Black Needle] and [Pull Down] spell.

This was what Lodos was trying to tell Emery. The difference between rank 8 and rank 9, the reason why the former would generally never beat the latter was the capability of using Tier 5 spells.

"Die!! You Die!" The Maniac fell into madness even more

To be continued