Chapter 990

Han and Dan watched the spectacle in pure amusement.

In fact, Han felt a strong urge to descend just to catch the action properly, but he forced himself to remain hidden.

"The longer I watch, the more I’m growing to like this Supreme Magus. He reminds me of the two of us combined," Han uttered, his smile so wide it felt as if his face might split in half.

Then, horror struck.

Grey’s neck was suddenly seized by Devan, followed immediately by a loud, sickening crack that made it sound as though his vertebrae were beginning to give way.

The warrior mage’s eyes stretched wide instantly, but he grabbed Devan’s massive hands with a determined expression.

"I WILL KILL YOU, BASTARD!" Devan roared.

He lifted his hand high and then hurled it back down, aiming Grey’s head directly for the hard earth.

’... Seriously? Does no one know a trick other than smashing my head into the ground?’

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Grey called upon the earth.

Responding to his silent command, dozens of jagged earth spikes burst from the soil, lunging toward Devan’s face.

For the briefest of seconds, the man’s iron grip loosened.

Just for a second.

That fleeting window was all Grey required.

His hands shot forth, grabbing a hold of the man’s thick fingers.

Ki flooded his palms as he pried the digits apart while the earth spikes were being swatted away by Devan’s free hand.

The moment he was liberated, the mage zipped away in a blur.

He collapsed onto his knees several meters away, gasping desperately for air.

His hands clutched his reddened, bruised neck.

Unknowingly, he had retreated toward the section of the battlefield where the enemy army stood like sentient shadows.

Seeing Grey on his knees, the idea of finishing him off while he struggled for breath flashed through their minds.

The next second, their world turned red.

Their heads were all decapitated by silent wind swords that had manifested out of thin air.

"You think it, you feel it," Grey spat.

He slowly rose to his feet while a hundred headless bodies dropped to the earth behind him in a gruesome chorus.

Looking back at Devan, the two combatants simultaneously wiped the blood from their lips.

Then, they grinned at each other like they had planned the synchronized gesture.

"Feels good, yeah?" Grey questioned, tilting his head from side to side.

Loud cracking sounds echoed as his neck reset.

Then, he rolled his shoulders, causing them to pop and crack as well.

"Ah... feels light," he added.

Then, he began jumping from one leg to the other, bouncing like a seasoned boxer ready to step into the ring.

Devan watched the display, seemingly amused.

"So, here is the catch," Grey uttered, still bouncing rhythmically.

"... I will use all my martial arts skills, Ki, and a single element against you. I want to even out the playing field a bit so I can see all your cards. What do you say?"

"...!?"

"Don’t play with me, boy. Go all out," Devan barked.

"It won’t be any fun otherwise."

The warrior mage continued to bounce on his feet as Cla

ra flashed into his hand.

His taunting smile remained fixed on his face.

Devan scoffed.

"Whatever. If you want to die quickly, who am I to argue?"

The man shifted forward into a ready battle stance, his eyes locked on the bouncing mage.

The air grew preternaturally still for a moment as blue lightning began running up and down the warrior mage’s frame.

Then, the sound of Gunther’s blade striking Ortiz’s Ki sword rang out across the plains like a gong.

BANG—! BANG—!

The two combatants surged at each other.

The clouds darkened overhead, stretching as wide as the eye could see. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Strikes of lightning rumbled through the depths of the sky as the duo steadily closed the gap.

Noir cast a quick glance upward at the blackened heavens.

’Talks about evening the field, yet he goes ahead and selects his second most powerful affinity—and the most destructive one he possesses. What a sneaky brat.’

Within a heartbeat, the duo clashed with an intensity that rattled the entire battlefield and caused the very ground to erupt.

With speed and movement far surpassing anything the onlookers—with the exception of Thalos—could keep up with, the combatants slid across the plain.

Clara clashed against Devan’s spear in a loud, ringing symphony of steel and energy.

Ducks, deflects, punches, and kicks were exchanged in a blur.

Smirks flashed between slashes and thrusts that manifested as a chaotic form of yellow and blue strikes.

Flooding his blade with Ki, Grey pressed his advantage, swinging and slamming his weapon against Devan’s Ki spear with relentless aggression.

A jab was aimed toward his side, but in a flicker of motion, he slipped past the strike.

Hauling his sword back, a massive slash of Ki burst out with full force, aiming to cleave Devan in two.

With a burst of speed, Devan leaped backward, causing the energy wave to cleave through the earth instead.

Shooting forward like a falling star, Grey descended in a whirlwind of strikes and slashes.

His eyes were firm and fixed, tracking each and every one of Devan’s movements.

Every twitch and microscopic adjustment was accounted for as he remained unrelenting in his assault.

He moved with the practiced ease of a swordsman who had trained for a hundred years, even if his actual practice spanned only a fraction of that time.

Counter-attacks were flying out in seconds.

Flipping Clara into a reverse grip, Grey made a double stab toward Devan’s face, but each thrust was easily avoided by the man’s swift weaving.

Changing his trajectory, the mage slashed toward Devan’s chest, but as the edge struck, only a loud, metallic clang was heard.

The sword failed to pierce through the dense defense.

Bashing his hand upward, Devan parried the blade to the side, creating enough of a window to smash his knuckles into Grey’s chest.

The blow sent the Supreme Magus sliding backward in tremendous pain.

Coughing out saliva mixed with blood, Grey grimaced as Devan pressed forward in a desperate lunge to finish the duel.

The terrain they occupied suffered the most; it was destroyed as if a dozen fierce tornadoes had ripped through the area, leaving deep sword marks visibly etched into the shattered ground.

Just as Devan took a few more steps forward, the sky cried out.

An enormous pillar of lightning hurtled toward him with devastating and deadly speed.

The man lifted his eyes upward for a fleeting second, his teeth gritted in worry as he prepared to evade the celestial strike.

BANG—!

The pillar seemingly froze midair.

In that same heartbeat, Devan snapped his head forward only to find that Grey had already closed the distance.

Ki and lightning flowed into the mage’s blade as he slashed forward, striking the man’s chest with all his might.

The searing heat from the lightning combined with the immense amount of Ki burned through Devan’s specialized defense, tearing a deep gash across his chest and sending crimson spray into the air.