Alvis felt the grip of death tightening around his entire being. Atticus's speed, his power—everything had suddenly skyrocketed into the grandmaster+ rank!
Where was all this power coming from?
Alvis needed answers, but it seemed he wouldn't be getting them today.
The crimson crescent slash reached its mark, the sizzling sound of burning flesh echoing as it parted Alvis's nose.
Just as it was about to sever Alvis in two, an overwhelming force suddenly slammed into Alvis's side, shifting his body out of the way. However, the slash didn't stop.
Like a hot knife cutting through butter, the crescent slash phased through Alvis's right shoulder, its movement so smooth and effortless that it seemed almost unreal.
For a brief, surreal moment, the world seemed to freeze. The crescent slash continued its path, disappearing into the distance, its energy carving a clean line across the horizon.
Then, as if the world exhaled, devastation ensued.
The ground beneath them split open, the slash's trajectory tracing a jagged, kilometers-long scar into the earth. Mountains crumbled, and rivers diverted in its wake.
For a moment, it felt as though nothing had happened. Alvis remained still, having stopped his momentum, his expression unreadable.
But then, a spurt of blood arced through the air, vivid against the backdrop of destruction. His arm, severed at the shoulder, separated from his body and fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
The entire area fell into stunned silence, the only sound the distant rumble of the earth settling and the faint hiss of escaping air from the chasm. Blood dripped slowly from Alvis's severed shoulder, hitting the ground with surprising loudness.
Alvis stared absently at the spot where his arm had been, his expression unreadable.
His arm had been severed? By a 16-year-old child?
Alvis felt baffled, trying his very best to deny reality. But deep down, he knew the truth. His arm had really been severed, and his life had been saved by Ronad's interference.
"Sorry, kid. I don't like him either, but I can't have you killing him," Ronad said.
Ronad's words sounded apologetic, but his tone and expression were anything but. He had a wide grin on his face, and his tone seemed more like he was mocking Atticus.
However, Atticus didn't care about how either of them was currently feeling. That had been his chance to kill Alvis, but he had unfortunately missed it.
'I feel weak.'
While the exosuit had the power to absorb and multiply the force of attacks, it wasn't omnipotent. It had its limits, and Atticus had just stretched that limit to the utmost extent it could possibly reach.
The power Atticus had just unleashed with the exosuit was so immense that the suit immediately shut down, the suit retracting from Atticus's body and streaming into the slump on his chest.
Atticus felt the intense fatigue hit him. Without the suit's support, his power had reduced significantly.
'Looks like there's no other choice,' Atticus thought, holding his katana tightly and fixing his eyes on Alvis.
'This is going to hurt.'
Alvis clenched his remaining fist so hard that blood dripped from it. He had no idea what was making him angrier: the fact that a 16-year-old had cut off his arm, or that Ronad, that fool, had actually saved his life.
Regardless, Alvis was seething, and there was only one person he could unload all this anger on.
"Fine," Alvis growled, pitch-black aura seeping out from him as his presence intensified. "I will finish off what I was supposed to do five years ago."
Alvis's aura exploded, growing to unimaginable heights, becoming even more unsettling and oppressive.
His body began to warp and expand, shrouded in a dark, pulsating aura.
Muscles swelled grotesquely, tearing through his clothes as his limbs thickened and expanded, each fiber of his being hardening like forged steel. His face contorted into a fearsome visage, fangs protruding from his mouth.
As his colossal muscles swelled, his arm tensed like coiled steel. With a thunderous roar, he unleashed a devastating punch that cracked the very air itself.
Atticus, caught off guard by the sudden surge of power, had no time to react. The punch slammed into him with the force of a meteor strike, his body crumpling under the impact.
He was sent hurtling back through the air like a ragdoll, his form nearly indistinguishable amidst the blur of motion and the explosion of debris that followed.
But Alvis was far from done. He appeared in the air, his dark aura trailing behind him like a storm cloud.
In an instant, he was on Atticus again, his movements a blur as he struck from every direction.
Each punch connected with bone-shattering force, driving Atticus back and forth through the air like a puppet on strings. The sound of the blows echoed across the battlefield, each one punctuated by the sickening crunch of impact.
Even with the exosuit, Atticus had been beaten to a pulp. But now, he had lost the power of the exosuit, and Alvis appeared even stronger!
Despite his incredible perception, to Atticus, Alvis was a blur. He couldn't react no matter how much he tried.
With a final, brutal strike, Alvis drove Atticus into the ground, the force of the impact creating a massive crater that sent shockwaves rippling outward.
Alvis landed with a resounding thud, his monstrous form towering over the crater. With only his remaining hand, he continued to pound Atticus into the ground, each punch more ferocious than the last.
"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!!???"
Atticus felt his mind slipping, the pain in his body was unbearable. Yet, a smile crept onto his lips.
Atticus had known from the very beginning that there were two grandmaster+ ranks before attacking the settlement. While it was true he was able to overpower Niall, who limited his power, Atticus had never been one to be so reckless.
There was no way he would risk his life to face two grandmaster+ ranks with just that alone. It was the same with the third art of the katana. The only reason Atticus had acquired and used it now was because he wanted to test his limits.
However, it was the end of the road, and he had no more abilities left to show. He was utterly beaten.
'Looks like it's about time.'
Atticus abruptly released his hold over the water and light elements, which had been healing his broken body. Just as Alvis's punch was about to land, a blinding light erupted from Atticus, piercing into the skies.
In the next instant, a man appeared in front of the beaten Atticus, his whole body brimming with intense power.
This man was buff, with white hair and piercing blue eyes.
To the people of the human domain, he needed no introduction.
The family head of a family of madmen, Avalon Ravenstein, had appeared.