Chapter 123
Blood sprayed from the wound on Voss's chest, and the semi-cultivator stumbled back with a look of pure shock on his face.
He touched the gash, and his fingers came away red. The cut was not deep.
Aris stood in the center of the courtyard with his katana raised and his pale white eyes fixed on his opponent. His body was broken, and his burns screamed with every movement, but his Ore was still moving around him, strengthening his body, his mind, and his sword. The technique was not a spell, and it was not a physical enhancement. It was his will made manifest, pressing against the world and demanding that the world bend.
[Ore: Body Enhancement]
His muscles tightened, and his senses sharpened. The pain did not disappear, but it became distant, and his focus narrowed to a single point. Voss.
Voss recovered from his shock, and his expression shifted from surprise to cold fury. He raised his hand, and flames gathered in his palm.
[Fire Spell: Ember Bolt]
The bolt of fire shot toward Aris at eighty meters per second, and Aris's Ore Senses tracked it before it left Voss's hand. He stepped to the side, and the bolt passed through the space where his chest had been, striking the ground behind him and leaving a smoking crater.
[Mana Spell: Mana Step]
Mana exploded beneath Aris's feet, and he closed the distance between them in a heartbeat. He swung his katana toward Voss's neck, but the semi-cultivator was ready.
[Fire Spell: Inferno Shield]
A wall of rotating fire erupted around Voss, and Aris's blade struck the flames and was turned aside. The heat washed over him, and his already burned skin blistered further, but he did not retreat.
[Fire Spell: Flame Lash]
A whip of fire extended from Voss's palm, fifteen meters of liquid flame that wrapped around Aris's katana and pulled. Aris held on, and his Ore Enhancement kept his grip strong even as the flames ate at his hands.
[Mana Spell: Mana Reinforcement]
Mana flooded his arms, and he pulled back. The whip stretched and cracked, and Voss stumbled forward a step. The semi-cultivator's eyes widened because the boy should have dropped his sword by now. Instead, Aris was pulling him closer.
Voss released the whip and stepped back, putting distance between them. He raised both hands, and flames gathered in the air around him.
[Fire Spell: Firestorm Swarm]
Dozens of small fire projectiles materialized, each one no larger than a fist but burning with intense heat. They homed in on Aris's body heat, and he could feel them tracking him as he moved.
[Mana Spell: Mana Burst]
A wild explosion of mana erupted from Aris's body, scattering the fire projectiles in all directions. Some detonated against the ground, while others veered off course and struck the walls, but the burst had cost him. His mana reserves were dropping, and his body was screaming.
Voss saw the opening and pressed his advantage.
[Fire Spell: Searing Spear]
A javelin of white-hot fire formed above Voss's palm, three meters long and burning. The spear shot forward at a hundred meters per second, and Aris threw himself sideways. The spear passed through the space where his chest had been and struck the wall behind him, punching through the stone and leaving a trail of molten slag.
Aris landed hard, and his burned arm buckled beneath him. He rolled and came up on one knee, his katana still in his good hand.
Voss was already casting again.
[Fire Spell: Explosive Orb]
A sphere of compressed fire formed in Voss's palm, glowing orange and white as it grew to the size of a human head. He hurled it toward Aris, and the orb detonated on impact with the ground two meters from where Aris knelt. The blast radius was five meters, and the explosion sent shrapnel in all directions. Burning debris and molten stone tore through the air, and Aris was thrown backward by the force of the blast.
He hit the ground hard, and his vision swam. His coat was on fire, and his burns had been burned again. He could barely move.
Voss walked toward him slowly, his footsteps echoing on the cracked stone. "You had potential," he said, looking down at Aris's broken body. "But potential means nothing if you die before you reach it."
[Fire Spell: Dragon's Breath]
A continuous stream of liquid fire erupted from Voss's mouth, five seconds of molten destruction that cut a path across the courtyard. Aris rolled, and the fire passed inches from his body, melting the stone where he had been lying.
The stream ended, and Voss was gasping. The spell had drained him heavily, and his flames flickered uncertainly.
Aris pushed himself to his feet. His body was screaming, and his mana was nearly gone, but his Ore was not. He had learned something in this fight, something about the way will and mana could be woven together to create something greater than either alone.
He reached deep into himself, past the pain and the exhaustion and the fear, and he found the last of his Ore. He channeled it into his blade, and he wove his remaining mana into the same strike.
[Ore Sword: The Fallen Moon]
The crescent of energy that erupted from his katana was not blue like a mana slash, nor was it invisible like pure Ore. It was silver-white, a blade of condensed will and mana that moved through the air like a moon descending from the sky. It was five meters wide and traveled at a hundred meters per second, and it carried the weight of everything Aris had endured.
Voss raised his hands and cast his strongest defense.
[Fire Spell: Inferno Shield]
The rotating wall of fire met the crescent of silver-white energy, and for a moment, the two forces pressed against each other. The shield cracked, and the flames guttered, but the Fallen Moon did not break through completely. It carved a trench across the shield's surface before dissipating into motes of silver light.
Voss was thrown backward, his shield shattered, his hands burned. He hit the ground hard and rolled, coming up with blood streaming from his nose and ears.
"What was that?" he demanded, his voice shaking. "That wasn't mana."
Aris did not answer because he was already moving. His mana was nearly gone, but his Ore was not. He had one strike left, and he poured everything into it.
[Ore Sword: One Strike]
There was no crescent this time, and there was no visible energy at all. There was only Aris, his katana, and a single step forward. The strike was simple, a horizontal slash aimed at Voss's chest, but it carried everything Aris had. His Ore compressed into the edge of the blade, and his remaining mana followed, creating a cutting force that did not rely on speed or strength.
It relied on will.
The blade passed through Voss's guard, through the [Fire Spell: Inferno Shield] which he had raised too late, and through his chest. There was no resistance because the edge was not cutting flesh. It was cutting existence, severing the connection between Voss's body and the will that kept it alive.
His eyes went wide, and his mouth opened, but no sound came out. The flames around his body died, and his aura flickered once before going dark.
Half of his body collapsed.
Aris stood over him, his katana lowered, his chest heaving. His burned arm hung useless at his side, and his vision was swimming.
He turned and walked toward Liana, who was sitting up against the fountain, her eyes wide with shock and fear. She looked at him,
"Are you okay?" Aris asked.
She nodded slowly, unable to speak.
Aris knelt beside her, and his legs gave out. He caught himself with his good arm, and he sat there in the rubble. Liana was alive, and Voss was dead, and the slaves he had freed from the black market were somewhere in the city, making their way toward freedom.
He had done what he came to do.