"...Oh, not to be underestimated. The Omenclaws Margit is indeed a subordinate of the Elden Lord."
Xia Yu sliced through the dust obscuring his vision, speaking with a mocking, sinister tone.
Hearing Xia Yu's words, Margit on the opposite side suddenly felt something strange; he vaguely felt that these words should have been spoken by him.
He lifted his eyelids, his voice still calm: "Tarnished, toyed with by the fire of ambition, since you know I am a subordinate of the Elden Lord, you should also know the Elden Lord's power. Why do you still covet the position of Elden Lord?"
"What I covet is not just a position." Xia Yu showed a arrogant smile, clasping his hands as if gathering everything into his embrace.
"I want this world, a world that belongs to me, where no existence can dictate my actions!"
Hearing this answer, Margit snorted: "Hmph, so you have been burned by the fire of ambition and lost your mind..."
"Heh, whether I've lost my mind or not, you can see it quite clearly."
This time, Xia Yu stopped harassing with his flying swords. Instead, he gripped his Meteorite Staff with both hands, aiming it at Margit as if it were a greatsword.
Clang—!
The faint blue Carian Royal Sigil lit up, and a greatsword made of azure magic materialized in Xia Yu's hands. This sword, formed from magic, possessed the power of a greatsword along with magical damage.
The next moment, Xia Yu slightly bent his knees, a afterimage flashed, and he reappeared directly above Margit.
Magic flowed around the greatsword, an azure radiance shining brightly in the sky, and the blade cleaved straight down.
"Hmph!"
Facing this attack, Margit also conjured a golden greatsword from his right hand to block Xia Yu's attack. Then, his left staff swung towards Xia Yu with a whooshing sound.
Xia Yu's eyes narrowed, the magic greatsword in his hand suddenly dissipated, and he ducked low, letting the staff graze just over his head.
In the next instant, taking advantage of Margit's exposed opening, the Carian Phalanx quickly materialized, and Xia Yu thrust directly towards the enemy's abdomen.
Sensing the magical aura beneath him, Margit's expression remained unchanged. He suddenly exerted force with his legs, preparing to leap backward to dodge the attack.
"Awooo!"
Unexpectedly, the three wolves, who had been watching intently from the side, suddenly rushed forward to bite. Big Black and Second Black clamped onto Margit's legs respectively, while Little White bit his malformed tail.
Kula also took this opportunity to spray venom. The purplish-red venom shot straight towards Margit's head, forcing him to raise a hand to shield his eyes from the stinging liquid.
With such a perfect opening, Xia Yu abruptly increased the output of his magic, and the Carian Phalanx instantly transformed into a greatsword!
Splat—!
The tip of the magic greatsword instantly pierced through his body, blood staining the tattered cloak. Severely wounded, Margit roared in anger, raising his right hand, and the golden greatsword immediately changed form, becoming a golden great hammer.
"Get back!"
Seeing this, Xia Yu shouted, retreating rapidly while using telekinesis to pull the three wolves away from Margit's vicinity. Kula also swung its tentacles, floating up into the air.
Boom—!
The great hammer smashed down violently. The resulting shockwave shattered the swords, spears, and halberds stuck in the surroundings, and the ground of the battlefield cracked like a spiderweb with a loud rumble.
A massive crater resembling a meteor impact appeared on the ground. Amidst the swirling dust, Xia Yu could not see Margit's current condition.
But he knew this was the moment to press the attack.
"Go!"
With the command, Xia Yu charged forward first, the magic greatsword reforming, its magic swirling, shining brightly with an azure color.
The three wolves, having been saved, also roared and charged forward again, but several golden daggers suddenly appeared from the dust, hindering their advance.
Clang, clang, clang—!
Xia Yu swung his magic greatsword, the azure blade moving in an impenetrable defense. All the incoming daggers were knocked away and dissipated into golden magic in the air.
"Cough, cough, truly a sorry sight. The Tarnished are indeed descendants of warriors."
Margit swung his staff to tear open the dust billowing everywhere. He clutched his penetrating wound on his abdomen, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, as he commented.
Xia Yu did not let his guard down. He dispersed the magic greatsword on his Meteorite Staff, and then the purple gravity sigil on it lit up, instantly drawing in the surrounding ruins.
Three rock spheres compressed and formed from shattered stone appeared, flickering with purple gravity lightning. With a wave of the staff, the rock spheres smashed straight towards Margit.
The rock spheres were enhanced by gravity magic; the moment they cut through the air, they caused surrounding debris to tremble.
Seeing this attack, Margit dared not be careless and dodged sideways. However, the movement immediately aggravated his penetrating wound.
Bright red blood instantly flowed out between his fingers, causing Margit's grayish-black face to twitch. His complexion paled slightly, shifting from grayish-black to gray.
Seeing Margit forcing himself to endure the injury, Xia Yu launched a few more rock spheres, then advanced along with them. The faint blue Carian Sigil immediately replaced the purple gravity sigil, and the magic greatsword reappeared.
With injuries sustained, facing rock spheres attacking from all directions, and the Tarnished advancing with a raised magic greatsword in front, Margit's brow furrowed tightly.
But he did not resign himself to fate. He raised his staff high, suppressing the pain of his abdominal wound, and smashed horizontally at the attacking rock spheres.
Bang, bang, bang—!
The condensed rock spheres were smashed apart, and the gravity magic upon them was scattered. Taking advantage of Margit's exhaustion before he could recover, Xia Yu took a deep breath and swung his greatsword forward fiercely.
The speed of the blade even left behind an azure afterimage. In the next moment, bright red blood sprayed everywhere, and a malformed arm holding a staff flew into the sky.
"Ugh—Ah!"
Margit clutched the severed stump with one hand, collapsing weakly onto one knee, spitting out large amounts of blood.
Xia Yu stood before Margit, raising the magic greatsword high, the blade resting against Margit's neck.
"How about we talk?"
"Hmph..." Margit snorted coldly, "Beating someone to the brink of death, is this your method of conversation?"
"It's because you wanted to extinguish my fire of ambition the moment you showed up. I didn't want this either."
Xia Yu dispersed the magic greatsword and sat down cross-legged in front of Margit without any defenses. Seeing this, Margit also sat down where he was, though soon a large pool of blood gathered beneath him.
"What do you want to say?"
Although severely wounded and near death, Margit's voice remained steady.
"Naturally, it's about the greater will." Xia Yu said casually, "From your previous words, it seems you have long been dissatisfied with the greater will. Of course, so have I."
"After all, the greater will deserves credit for the state The Lands Between is in now. Although it shaped the golden order, it never cared about anything in The Lands Between."
"Whether it was abandoning all the Demigods during the Shattering War or awakening the long-dead Tarnished, it has always remained aloof, making one want to drag it down from its pedestal."
Hearing this, Margit glanced at the eyes of the Tarnished before him and was surprised to find that this Tarnished was speaking his true thoughts.
Although his eyes were dim and faded, his gaze was extremely serious, sincere to the point of truthfulness.