Chapter 205: Chapter: 204 Reaching Void core.

Rosalina raised her paintbrush once more.

The moment the tip of the brush moved through the air, the entire ground started trembling violently.

CRACK.

Long cracks spread across the arena floor one after another. Broken stone lifted slightly as something huge moved underneath.

Julius narrowed his eyes while floating in the air. Another mace appeared in his hand through weaponry.

He gripped it tightly while staring below carefully, waiting for whatever Rosalina was creating this time.

BOOOOM.

The ground exploded apart. A giant centipede burst out from beneath the arena with a loud screech.

Its massive body twisted through the air while dozens of sharp legs crawled against each other rapidly.

The creature looked strangely unnatural.

Its body was painted perfectly like a real centipede, but glowing paint dripped slowly from its shell.

Parts of its body looked like wet brush strokes layered over each other. It was less like a living creature...and more like a drawing forced into reality.

"SHRIEEEEEK—!!"

The giant centipede opened its mouth and spat a thick stream of glowing liquid directly toward Julius.

Julius did not dodge. Instead, he raised the giant mace over his shoulder and swung it down with brutal force.

CRAAAAASH!!

The centipede’s head exploded apart instantly. Its giant body collapsed and burst into splashes of glowing paint that scattered through the air like liquid colors.

But the moment the paint touched Julius’s mace...

SSSSSSSS.

The metal immediately started melting.

Purple smoke rose upward while the giant weapon dissolved rapidly in his hand.

Julius stared at it silently for half a second.

"...Why does everything she touches become toxic..."

He immediately threw the melting mace away before it completely dissolved. Then he reached one hand outward again. A new weapon formed in his grasp.

This time it was a Wakizashi.

The short blade reflected purple light as Julius rolled it once in his hand smoothly before pointing it toward Rosalina.

Across from him, Rosalina finally seemed bored of drawing too. She casually let the paintbrush disappear before reaching her hand outward.

SHING.

Mary appeared in her grasp instantly. She held the sword elegantly beside her body while a confident smile slowly appeared on her face.

"You will lose in a sword fight." Saying that, she took a step.

The moment she took a single step forward...Colors exploded behind her.

Every movement she made left glowing trails in the air behind her like flowing paint. Even after she moved, colorful afterimages remained for a moment before fading slowly.

It looked beautiful....and extremely annoying.

BOOM. Rosalina rushed forward.

Julius immediately moved too and brought his wakizashi down toward her.

CLANG!

Rosalina blocked the strike effortlessly with Mary. She looked completely calm. With a smooth motion, she pushed his blade downward before instantly throwing a kick toward his stomach.

Julius reacted quickly and raised his knee to block it.

THUD.

The impact echoed loudly but Rosalina was already moving again. She spun beautifully and launched another kick directly toward his head.

Her colorful afterimages followed every movement. One kick became three, three became four.

Julius’s eyes narrowed sharply, every attack looked real, every motion overlapped with another. It became extremely difficult to tell which strike was the true one.

This was exactly why Rosalina had become so terrifying in close combat after inheriting Color Path.

Even before, she was already dangerous. Now fighting her up close felt like trying to predict several attacks at the same time.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Julius continued blocking while attacking back whenever he found an opening.

A stab, a horizontal slash, a downward strike. Meanwhile, most of his defense came from his arms, legs, and pure reaction speed as he blocked Rosalina’s relentless barrage.

The arena shook continuously from their collisions, but Rosalina was always thinking ahead.

One move ahead, and then....she attacked again. First came a direct stab with Mary.

Julius immediately blocked it using his wakizashi. Then Rosalina suddenly threw a back kick toward his stomach.

A fake.

Julius reacted instinctively and raised his knee to block it...and at that exact moment....a metal knuckle suddenly appeared around Rosalina’s right fist.

SMASH!!

Her punch slammed directly into Julius’s left shoulder.

"GHK—!"

A painful groan escaped his mouth instantly. The force sent him skidding backward across the arena floor violently while cracks spread beneath his feet.

Pain exploded through his shoulder, Julius grabbed it tightly while breathing out sharply.

"Ahh..."

The pain refused to fade immediately, but there was no time to recover. Because Rosalina was already rushing toward him again.

And this time....she was coming like a rocket.

BOOOOM!!

The ground exploded behind her as colorful light followed her charge.

Julius’s eyes widened instantly, his expression sharpened seriously.

Compressed mana gathered rapidly around his hand as he prepared to cast another spell...

However, he suddenly froze....something inside his core moved. A deep cracking sensation echoed through his body.

Like a sealed lid that had remained shut for years was finally beginning to open.

CRACK...

Julius’s expression changed instantly, the mana around him became unstable for half a second.

From the side of the arena, Elizabeth noticed it immediately. Her eyes widened sharply, this battle had been arranged for this exact reason.

To push them to this point, she immediately raised her hand toward the arena.

"STOP!" she shouted loudly.

Rosalina stopped instantly..The moment Elizabeth shouted, she had already understood what was happening.

Her charge came to a complete halt only a few steps away from Julius. The colorful trails behind her slowly faded into the air one after another.

For a second, the arena became completely quiet. Rosalina looked at Julius carefully before slowly loosening her grip on Mary.

The sword disappeared from her hand with a soft humming sound.

"...Have you made a breakthrough?" she asked softly while taking a slow step toward him.

At the same time, Elizabeth also walked onto the arena floor. Behind her, Rosel followed silently, her usual playful expression completely gone as she stared at Julius seriously.

"Is it a breakthrough?" Elizabeth asked the same thing again while moving closer to him.

Julius slowly lifted his head and looked at both Rosalina and Elizabeth. The unstable mana around his body flickered quietly.

"...I think so," he muttered. Then he slowly crossed his legs and sat down on the broken arena floor.

The moment he closed his eyes...his consciousness instantly sank deep inside his body. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

In front of him floated the massive core quietly pulsing with purple light.

But now...it looked completely different.

Cracks had spread across the outer layer of the core everywhere like broken glass. Small pieces were already beginning to peel away slowly.

It looked almost like a creature shedding its old skin.

The shell of the Core was finally breaking apart...and beneath those cracks...

The Void Core.

Julius stared at it silently for a few seconds before slowly letting out a long breath.

"It seems..." he muttered softly while looking at the breaking core. "This time... I’ll finally be able to reach Void Core."