With every inch of space around him covered by destructive beams of energy, Ryuk reacted instantly.
"Activate Frost Veil!"
Immediately, the world turned to that of rigid ice as all other beams instantly paused in their path.
Yet, they were still strong enough to speed forward toward Ryuk a bit later, albeit slower than before.
But that delay was all Ryuk needed.
His scythe flashed forward with speed around his body, ripping apart all the beams of energy and instantly carving an open path.
He burst out of the dome of beams, the entire area around him exploding as the beams smashed into the ground, sending a mushroom of energy across the skies.
Caelum watched as the mushroom of energy slowly quieted down, and he couldn’t help but think:
’Perhaps I have overdone it.’
But quickly, just as the thought came, it was thrown out the window as Caelum watched a figure slowly step out of the mushroom of energy, his humongous scythe dragging down behind him on the golden sand.
"He survived that?"
"I take back my words..." Ryuk’s voice resounded from the distance, yet his figure was already flashing forth with speed.
He appeared once more before Aegis, his scythe cleaving down.
Aegis instantly clasped forth his palm, a shield appearing and blocking the strike.
But in the next instant, Ryuk faded away as he appeared by the side of Aegis, his knee crashing forth and slamming into Aegis’s left ribs, sending the chubby guy flying away into the distance.
Once more, Ryuk picked up his fallen scythe and tightly followed.
"Your ability is truly an amazing one. It can block attacks and also reflect them back..."
"But unfortunately, you are matched with me, who possesses the Nano-Reaper."
"You see, my little scythe here just so happens to possess the ability to draw away Apex Energy from Apex Energy constructs and use it to strengthen itself."
"All my scythe needed to do was draw away the Apex Energy that made your shield so durable and unbreakable."
"It devours the energy for its strength, and as a result, your shield weakens over time, while the scythe itself becomes sharper."
"Eventually, your shield runs out of power, and my scythe grows sharp enough to sever your unbreakable shield."
Ryuk said this as he arrived above Aegis, and once more, he cleaved down the scythe as Aegis hurriedly conjured a shield, only for it to get instantly cleaved apart, this time even faster than previously.
Ryuk’s fist smashed straight into Aegis’s face, burying his head into the ground.
Immediately, Aegis flung up a card, as a beam of energy erupted outward toward Ryuk, who placed his scythe before him, blocking the beam but also getting pushed back.
Caelum used the opportunity to retreat far away, panting, with an expression of disbelief on his face as he watched Ryuk calmly landed onto the ground.
"Because of your belief that your shield is unbreakable, you have relied on it to the point of ignoring your own battle abilities."
"In short, you’re a poor combat fighter. That’s why you opt to use light beams to attack."
"Your shield is useless against me, if anything, only strengthening my scythe, and your light beams can’t really do much damage anyway."
"So, can you feel it, Caelum? Your own defeat?" Ryuk asked with an indifferent gaze.
But right now, the same could not be said for Caelum.
Right now, his entire mental state had been thrown into disarray.
The only ones who should be able to crack open his shield were those at the Peak of the Plane of Ascension with an extraordinary attack power or those at the Plane of Dominion.
This was what had made Caelum incredibly confident in his ability, and even in his heart, he had believed he would be able to match an ultimate ten to a draw and, if lucky, even win against them.
His shield was supreme and invincible. It had never been broken. That was his ultimate ability.
For this, he had focused all of his training on being able to summon his shield faster as his combat focus.
He never bothered to really learn how to fight because he believed none could get past his defence.
But then, he faced this monster.
One whose scythe could absorb the energy from his shield and use it to strengthen itself.
His shield, which he had relied on so heavily, was now useless, and even severed with single slashes. His light beams, which he had kept to give the final stroke of defeat to his enemies, had not much effect on the youth!
Now, what? His defense was useless, his attacks were useless!
His own defeat? Wasn’t it as clear as day...
"I’ll... I’ll be defeated..."
"Impossible... Impossible..." Caelum said as the entire world seemed to become blurry.
Now he felt an incredible fear radiating from within him.
’I’ll lose to this trashy human?’
’How do I explain that to my proud father?’
’How do I explain it to my family?’
’How?’
’How can I lose to a trashy human?’
’No, I won’t lose!’
"NO, I WON’T LOSE!" Caelum screamed out as he stared back in front of him, hundreds of cards pouring out of his robes.
He prepared to fling them outward toward Ryuk, but then Ryuk wasn’t at his front anymore.
"You fell for it..."
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!!!
In the next instant, Caelum stood in shock as he felt the end of a scythe slice through his right shoulder, blood splashing out violently as his entire right arm was instantly cleaved off.
"Wh...What?"
In the same instant, a heavy force slammed into Aegis’s back, as he was sent erratically flying away from the place, smashing to the ground and sent flying into the air.
Right above him in the air was none other than Ryuk, whose gigantic scythe flashed forward with frightening speed.
Caelum hastily flung the card in his left hand upward.
Immediately, destructive rays of energy erupted forth, piercing toward Ryuk.
But Ryuk made no effort to avoid it as the light beam carved straight into his body, but with him still following up with his attack.
Caelum watched as the scythe inched closer and closer toward his neck, and then...
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!!!
The entire world around them cracked to pieces as Aegis collapsed onto his back, his hand firmly grasping his throat, which was slowly oozing with blood form a thin red line formed.
"Winner of the Match, Ryuk!"
The Fallen Lady’s cold announcement rang throughout the room as Caelum turned in shock to look at Ryuk, who was standing just a few feet beside him.
"You lost, Caelum." Ryuk reminded him before stepping away from him, heading to his seat.
"How... How?"
Those were Caelum’s last thoughts before his consciousness darkened, and he fell to the ground, blood oozing out of his right shoulder, as he was soon taken away from the hall by an instructor.