Pitter-patter. Pitter-patter.
Gorgophone walked toward Basil; his gait was nonchalant, and carefree. Traces of wound, and tatters on his clothes were gone as if the previous display was a lie.
On the other side, contrary to him, Basil was already bare chested, and Blood was flowing from his mouth—he was full of injuries. Vagus was the only thing supporting his body from falling.
Raising his head, Basil glared at Gorgophone with heated eyes.
"Now, now. Don't look at me like that. Everyone has their own secret, right?" Gorgophone winked at him.
"You can... forcefully make me... use my Mana. No, you..."
Cough!
A mouthful of Blood was splattered to the ground. His innards were twisted, and heavily injured to the point even some of them were unrecognizable.
If it wasn't for his crazy vitality that he had gotten from his Body Forging mastery, he would have already died by now.
One might question the function of the Defensive Art Basil had used previously, and why it didn't work. To understand it, [Aegeas] was formed from seven layers of spinning orbs combined with a top tier Body Reinforcement.
Unfortunately, the seven layers of [Aegeas] Basil had utilized earlier had been broken in the first nine seconds. He had to endure the last six second with his own Reinforced body.
With laboured breath, Basil shouted, "You ... You took away my Mana!"
A chuckle was the response Basil got. Soon enough, it turned into a full-blown laughter. "Hahaha! Do you think I have drained your Mana off?" Gorgophone turned into the purple-haired woman once again, and shook his head faintly. "No, that wasn't the case, Sil."
Basil's glare turned even more heated than before.
"My, my. Look at those eyes. Aren't they beautiful?" The purple-haired woman teased. She extended her hand, and caressed Basil's cheek. "You can't say that I took away your Mana. You willfully gave it to me."
Basil wanted to slap that hand away, but he couldn't do it. Simply supporting himself was a labor itself; he could only glare at her with more heated eyes than before.
"Fufufu. That's what I'm talking about, Sil. You gave in to your anger." The purple-haired woman smiled.
Basil kept his silence in deep contemplation. Soon, realization dawned upon him.
The weird sensation he had felt when he had first seen her, and the rage that had grown the more he had suppressed it; it had been all due to Gorgophone's Art.
Although he still couldn't fully figure out what it was, it was already enough—knowing the abnormality he had undergone had come from Gorgophone's Art had been enough.
"Yes, you don't have to understand my power—it's useless. What you should concern is your fate." The purple-haired woman smiled mischievously.
Putting her pointer finger below his chin, she tilted his head upward. "What will happen to you from now on, Sil? Are you going to live or are you going to pay your sin?" A smile full of mirth adorned her beautiful face.
Basil's face contorted; a look of disgust was evident on his face.
"What's with the face, Sil? That's not how you behave in front of your Master, right?"
Bang!
The purple-haired woman kicked Basil out of a sudden, throwing Basil away. Luckily, although he was in a weakened state, he had remained vigilant. Therefore, he managed to block the kick with Vagus in the last second.
Of course, the kick he had received had been also only a half-hearted kick. If the purple-haired woman—Gorgophone—had really meant to kick him, he wouldn't be able to block it.
Despite being able to block it, Basil couldn't control his landing. He ended up landing on his back while firmly grasping Vagus in his right hand, and clutched his left hand tightly.
Swish!
The purple-haired woman reappeared right beside him. She kneeled, and took his body in her embrace.
"Fufufu... Doesn't it bring back memories, Sil?" A beautiful laughter that was full of mirth rang out from her. "It was a chaotic situation too back then. But now, our role is reversed." She smiled beautifully.
Of course no matter how she looked, Basil really wanted to punch her face. His face was full of disgust, and a boiling rage was evident in his eyes.
He knew he couldn't give in to his rage, but given the mental burden he got from bearing the pain, and the influence of Gorgophone's strange power, he couldn't help it.
A smile that wasn't quite a smile was deeply etched on her face. "Oh, my. Look at how you are! You're trying forcefully calm yourself, and failed miserably at that!" She teased like a mother teasing her baby.
Basil got even more irked; his face turned uglier in each second. When it seemed that he was about to really blow ...
"Huuh..." He merely sighed, and closed his eyes.
The purple-haired woman quickly lost her smile, and her face contorted. But in the next second, she regained her smile; it was amazing she could make so many expressions in a short time.
"Fufufu... no need to act tough, Sil. I know you are in pain."
No longer full in rage, his wounds slowly healed themselves. Now, he could talk normally, albeit painfully. "Even an idiot can figure that out. Why do you have to be proud with yourself?" He smirked.
The purple-haired woman stayed silent for a while, before responding, "I see... As amazing as always, huh?" Bereft of smile, she stared at him silently.
Gorgophone, in the form of the purple-haired woman, seemed to try his best to evoke an emotion out of Basil. He was greatly confused, and astounded at the same time.
'Just what kind of a man are you, Basil Pacifer? This is unfair! Just what kind of a mother gave birth to this cheat-like existence?!' He was whining inside; Gorgophone couldn't help it.
Even in disheveled state, Basil still looked cool; only one word could describe his entire demeanor: overbearing! What worsen it was the skills he had to back it up; Grogophone was envious of it.
Suddenly, Basil opened his mouth.
"Hey ... Do you remember when we were in Parteron? There was a beautiful garden full of Apple Blossoms there."
"..."
Gorgophone kept his silence at the particular memory he didn't manage to dig out from Basil's Mana.
"It was a sunny day. The sky was bright, and the air was good. As we couldn't help it, we laid down our body below the tree. I asked you one question back then. Do you still remember what the question was?"
"..."
Another silence greeted Basil. Gorgophone didn't interrupt him even once; he attributed to Basil's way to cope with his closing death. People would reminisce about their past once they were about to die, Basil was having his moment.
"I asked you how did you want your life end. You answered that you wanted a beautiful death, such as sacrificing yourself to someone you dear. But in the next second, you said that dying in the middle of a flowerbed was even better."
Basil chuckled, then opened his eyes; they were dimming as if a jewel about to lost its luster. Raising his clutched left hand, he pointed it to the sky.
"You asked me back the same question, since you were annoyed because I kept my silence. I, of course, didn't mean to ignore you. I just needed some time to think."
Then, he directed his gaze toward Gorgophone—the purple-haired woman "'I don't need a particular place to die, or a particular way to die,' was my answer to you."
Basil's slowly dimming eyes gained their light once again. His left fist glowed, and he brightly exclaimed, "After all, I don't have any intention to die."
Swish!
With a flash of light, Basil was gone. Gorgophone,who was in the form of the purple-haired woman, was left gaping in disbelief.
"Insolence!"
With his original appearance returned, he cursed out loud. He had been tricked by a human that was thousands of years younger than him; he couldn't help it!
"Huuh... Isn't he amazing?"
Instead of getting angry, he acted calm instead. While gazing to his front, he shook his head in amusement. There, he saw a white haired man with a strange patterned mask on his face.
The man's right hand was extended with Basil in his clutch. Basil was held by his hair, but not a trace of shock could be seen on his face; only a defeated look, and a disappointment on himself.
"Quite an amazing human isn't he?" Said Gorgophone to the masked man. The masked man merely stayed silent.
In the middle of the one-sided interaction, five other people showed themselves. Each of them had an otherworldly charm; even the one resembling a Beast was more attractive than a normal human. They were looking at Gorgophone with a disapproving look.
One of them, the one with the devilish charm, and the most attractive of them said, "Your ridiculous joke has almost resulting in your prey's escape. This is why I always say you have spent your time with human too much."
When the others were about to give their opinion too, the masked man spoke, "Make sure to finish your game next time."
A calm voice was resounded from him. His tone was neutral; it was neither cold nor warm. Despite so, none of the six people felt annoyed at being interrupted; even the playful Gorgophone merely nodded his head respectfully.
"So, what are you waiting for?" The masked man shook Basil's body.
A quiet groan came out from Basil's mouth, as he could only let his already ruined body get shaken like a rag. The amazing thing however, Vagus was still tightly clutched in his right hand.
Whoosh!
Accompanied by the wind blow, blood spurted out of Basil's chest; Gorgophone's hand had pierced through his chest. A mouthful of blood was spilled to the ground. Despite how horrible his state was, Vagus was still clutched in his hand.
Tenacious! A fitting word to describe him indeed.
Basil raised Vagus and lightly hit Gorgophone's head.
Bonk!
Gorgophone could see it clearly, but he had let Basil do that as a form of respect; letting a dying warrior to have his last struggle was the least thing Gorgophone could do.
"You have my respect, Basil." He smiled. "The very least I can do is to honor you by letting you know my real name ... My real name is Sat—"
"Just die!" Basil shouted.
Right after that, Vagus that was on Gorgophone's head glowed brightly.
'How dare he looking down on me, Basil Pacifer!' A smirk naturally formed on his face.
The masked man, who was merely observing everything up until then, shouted out of a sudden, "Kill him! He got the Fragment with him! Destroy his soul!" There was urgency in his tone.
He, with the other five, instantly reappeared beside Basil; for some reason, Gorgophone couldn't budge a single centimeter.
The man with the devilish charm swung his spear toward Basil while shouting his Art.
"[Soul Clipper]!"
The blade of his spear slashed Basil's back, and an amethyst, thick gas like substance immediately flowed out of Basil's body. It was a sign of his soul being wounded.
Soul attack!
Just as its name implied, [Soul Clipper] was an attack to clip one's soul. Under normal circumstances, one would definitely die and lose their chance of reincarnation upon receiving it
However, for some reason, he couldn't clip Basil's soul perfectly. Althoughhough he managed to injure Basil's soul, that was it.
"Impossible!"
"Hurry! We don't have much time!" The masked man shouted to the dumbfounded people.
Even while reminding them, his hand moved toward Basil. A unique shaped, red sword with half of an arm length was in his hand, ready to slash at Basil.
Clank!
The air exploded and a trench appeared in the ground. Despite so, he couldn't penetrate the translucent barrier that was mysteriously formed around Basil.
Just as soon as he swung his sword for the next attack, Basil's last attempt finally took effect. Basil, who was the cause of it, smiled victoriously.
Boom!
An explosion that was bigger than Gorgophone's [Great Annihilation] occured. Once again, the world was dyed in white. This time, the sound was heard only in the first half second.
In his last moment, Basil had exploded all the power inside of Vagus. His thought was practical: "If I am going to die, I will die with my enemies!"
His life ended overbearingly; a befitting end for an overbearing person.
'So, I have finally reached the end ... Is this how death feels?"
His body was destroyed in a millisecond, yet for him time flowed very slowly. Upon facing death, he didn't fuss much about it. For him, death was strangely comforting. It was as if ...
'... A flowerbed. It feels like lying down on a flowerbed.'
After a long time, he could rest in peace.