Rook glanced back at the pile of golden stones, but something immediately caught his attention. One of the stones near the top had a small dark stain across its surface. His eyes narrowed as he studied it for a moment before looking back at Kael.
"You animal. Who did you steal from?" Rook asked, his voice suddenly cold.
Kael didn’t answer, but his silence was enough. So that was it. The golden stones weren’t trophies Kael had earned through the forest. He had been taking them from other participants, and judging by the blood on one of them, some of those encounters hadn’t ended peacefully.
Rook turned toward Milo.
"Milo, leave. Whenever you see a demon, hide and run until you meet other participants."
"And you?"
Rook spat to the side and looked back at Kael. "Let me deal with this son of a bitch first."
Milo hesitated, clearly unwilling to leave him alone against someone who had already proven capable of creating six identical copies of himself. Rook didn’t give him another chance to argue. He stepped forward, releasing the pressure he had been keeping contained inside his body.
"Go."
Milo finally nodded and disappeared into the forest.
The moment he was gone, Kael drew his sword.
Rook’s expression became serious. He had no intention of testing Kael slowly or hiding his strength anymore. He had already spent enough time fighting the clones, and this man had stolen golden stones from other participants. If Kael wanted a fight, Rook would give him everything he had.
Kael moved first.
His body crossed the distance between them so quickly that Rook’s Perception barely caught the movement. Rook immediately activated his Agility and twisted aside, but Kael’s sword changed direction halfway through the swing. The blade followed him like it had predicted his movement, forcing Rook to lean backward as the edge passed across his chest.
Rook answered instantly.
"Vacuum Slash."
The invisible attack tore through the space between them, but Kael’s sword moved with frightening precision. He redirected the slash with the flat of his blade before stepping forward and attacking again.
Rook’s eyes sharpened.
So this was Kael’s real strength.
His swordsmanship was on an entirely different level from anything Rook had encountered. Every movement flowed into the next without hesitation, and there was no wasted motion anywhere in his technique. Rook could read the attacks with his enhanced Perception, but knowing where the attack was coming from didn’t always mean he could counter it.
Kael launched another rapid combination.
Rook blocked the first strike with a wall of earth, immediately followed by a second layer when Kael cut through it. The third attack came from below, forcing Rook to jump backward while sending a Gale Blade toward Kael’s chest.
Kael twisted away but Rook didn’t stop.
"Flame Burst!"
Fire erupted from his palm, expanding across the clearing with enough force to tear branches from nearby trees. Kael disappeared behind the flames, but Rook knew better than to assume it had worked.
A figure suddenly burst through the fire.
Kael.
His sword was already descending.
Rook raised both hands.
"Water Manipulation!"
A massive wave formed directly in front of him and crashed into Kael. The swordsman cut through the center of it, but the water slowed him enough for Rook to move.
Rook appeared at Kael’s side and released a Vacuum Slash at point-blank range.
Kael barely turned his sword in time.
The invisible blade struck him and sent him sliding backward across the dirt.
Rook didn’t hesitate.
He raised his hand toward the ground.
"Bulwark Fang."
The earth exploded upward.
Jagged stone formations erupted around Kael from multiple directions, attempting to crush him before he could recover. Kael’s sword flashed repeatedly, cutting through the stone formations with astonishing speed.
Rook watched him emerge, then he smiled. He had expected that.
"Stone Lance."
The ground beneath Kael’s feet erupted.
Several stone lances shot upward simultaneously. Kael jumped, twisting his body between them, but Rook immediately followed with another Vacuum Slash.
This time, Kael couldn’t completely avoid it.
The invisible blade cut across his side and tore through his uniform as blood appeared.
Rook’s smile widened.
"Got you."
Kael landed several meters away, one hand covering the wound. His expression remained calm, but his eyes had changed.
He was taking Rook seriously now.
Rook didn’t give him time to recover.
He surged forward with his enhanced Agility, closing the distance before Kael could properly position himself. Fire gathered around one hand while wind compressed around the other.
"Flame Burst!"
Kael dodged sideways.
"Vacuum Slash!"
He blocked.
"Wind Blade!"
He deflected it.
"Stone Lance!"
He jumped.
Rook followed his movement with Perception and attacked again before Kael could land. Water surged beneath the swordsman’s feet, disrupting his balance for only an instant, but that instant was enough.
Rook appeared directly in front of him.
"Flame Burst!"
The explosion swallowed Kael.
Rook immediately followed with another Vacuum Slash, then another Wind Blade, refusing to give his opponent even a second to recover. The surrounding trees shook from the continuous attacks as fire, wind, water, and earth tore through the clearing.
Rook wasn’t holding anything back.
His mana dropped rapidly, but he didn’t care.
Kael had been fighting with a sword.
Rook was fighting with four elements.
The flames finally dispersed.
Kael stood several meters away, breathing harder than before. His uniform was torn in several places, and blood ran down his side.
Rook’s own chest rose and fell rapidly, but his eyes remained fixed on him.
He still didn’t understand how Kael had created those clones. He didn’t know whether they were projections, constructs, or something else entirely, and he wasn’t going to waste precious time figuring it out in the middle of a fight.
He had a much more immediate problem.
Kael raised his sword again.
Rook tightened his fists.
"Come on."
The swordmaster disappeared from sight.
Rook’s Perception screamed.
He turned just in time to meet the incoming blade. The collision sent a shock through his arms, and Kael immediately followed with another strike.
Rook blocked it.
Then another and another.
The battle entered an entirely different pace.
Kael’s sword became a blur, each attack flowing seamlessly into the next while Rook relied on his enhanced Agility and Perception simply to survive. He couldn’t match Kael’s swordsmanship, so he stopped trying.
Instead, he used the entire battlefield as his weapon, manipulating the earth beneath Kael, filling the air with water, forcing him into narrow spaces with stone and attacking every opening with compressed wind.
Neither of them was willing to give ground.
Rook’s mana continued falling.
Kael’s breathing became heavier.
Rook realized that he had finally found someone who could force him to use everything he had.
He grinned despite himself.
"This is more like it."