Published: January 22, 2026
A considerable amount of time had passed since I became aware of my original supernatural ability.
During that time, I had been engaged in continuous combat with the hero, and the battle had been progressing in my favor.
What had been a thicket of trees until just a moment ago was now stripped of foliage, with the ground gouged in places, transformed into a barren wasteland with clear visibility.
There was no trace left of the original thicket.
(It wouldn’t be strange if the vanguard of the troops Count Edington prepared has already arrived at Rugau by now.)
Confirming the situation once more, I expanded the mana within my magical sword, Schwarzhase, shaping it into a greatsword, then pushed off the ground to close the distance to the hero by the shortest route.
Thanks to the seal release (calmination), my physical abilities had been raised close to their limits, allowing me to move at speeds that ordinary people couldn’t react to.
However, my opponent was the hero, who far exceeded any ordinary person.
I had learned through enough battles that simply charging in would be easily countered.
So, I activated the reflective barrier just beyond the hero’s reach.
I also canceled the gravity acting on myself.
By using multiple reflective barriers placed around the hero, I moved behind him in the blink of an eye without any loss of speed.
This move was only possible because of gravity manipulation.
It could be done without gravity manipulation, but sharp turns at high speed would exert tremendous force on the body.
Therefore, unless forced by the situation, I would never make such a move without gravity manipulation.
As I moved behind him, I changed the magical sword from a greatsword into twin swords.
I swung both blades and slashed at his back, neither too deep nor too shallow.
By the time I finished swinging the two swords, the hero turned around and swung his sword.
I dodged the strike and landed a kick to his abdomen.
The hero took the kick, enhanced by gravity manipulation, head-on, spat blood, and flew back about ten meters.
Though staggered, the hero got back up, wearing a mischievous smile like a child, and spoke.
“Hahaha! This feeling of risking my life is great! This is what fighting’s all about! Show me more! Make me enjoy it even more!”
Since I became aware of my original supernatural ability, I had been able to fight evenly with the hero or better, and I noticed his expression gradually softened as if he were truly enjoying the fight.
Given his status and supernatural ability, it was unlikely anyone could fight him fairly, and he probably never truly felt his life was in danger.
That was why he was enjoying this battle with me from the bottom of his heart.
“Don’t mess with me, you battle maniac...!”
As I cursed, the hero closed the distance with a speed that made his body blur.
Still wielding the twin swords, I released them and gripped the spare sword I had summoned.
I activated durable up on that sword, and timed it to meet the hero’s charging strike, adding gravitational weight and an instantaneous ability surge (impact) to my sword strike.
Their swords clashed, producing a powerful shockwave that scattered, cracking the ground with loud noises like fissures.
“...Zero form (mont null).”
While locked in a struggle on unstable ground, I muttered and the magical sword I had just released turned into shapeless pitch-black mana.
The black mana gradually took form, transforming into chains that wrapped around the hero’s body.
“Ugh, what are these chains...?”
The black chains, weighted by gravity manipulation, were extremely heavy.
Even the hero, with his extraordinary physical abilities, could not move them easily.
In a dream, I once fought Oliver and created similar black chains out of the void.
I remembered the sensation when I made those chains but still couldn’t fully understand that feeling.
Something essential to comprehend it was missing.
It was natural to conclude that this sensation was just too strange.
(Those chains were more advanced than the ones I just made now with the magical sword. What exactly were they? If I can perform seal release (calmination), I should be able to create those chains as well. Does it require a special technique like qi manipulation...? Anyway, I’ll think about that later.)