Unsettling silence filled the air.
From his position, dug into the soft soil, Beiric laughed. He held onto his belly, laughing himself back up.
"From that day, when I lost to Julian, I felt like the weakest man in the world. I thought that I was a fool. I lost my passion."
"..."
"Day after day, I listened to the headmaster's commands, trying to regain my passion. Trying to find some kind of purpose in this empty life I was living. I was lost. Misled. Dull. Lifeless."
"..."
"And I apologize now. For not taking you seriously. I have to thank you, for snapping me back into reality. It's not that your words were strong, or anything like that. In fact, you aren't a very good speaker at all. But... something about you, reignited the spark in me that used to burn so brightly."
He placed his hand on his chest. The tension in the air was thick, almost suffocating. Despite this, even though Lionel was fighting an enemy that intended to kill him, he smiled.
He smiled because he wasn't fighting a dull imitation anymore.
"Then fight! Fight with the same vigor you always fought with!"
"This time, it won't be just my blade trying to kill you. It'll be me."
He clutched his daggers tightly, holding one regularly, and the other in an icepick fashion.
Snow fell, painting their skin with icy flakes.
Zip!
Beiric's daggers slashed through Lionel's skin. The cut was shallow.
–– So fast!
Lionel felt at his cheek, fresh blood gushing from his wound. Beiric was already coming to strike again. There was no time to wince in pain.
He held his sword tightly.
[Cast: Rumbling Thunder]
In a single motion, he leaped into the air, obscuring the moon's piercing light. Shortly, he came crashing down.
"Something that slow... do you really expect it to hit me?" Beiric yawned, moving to the side.
"Of course not."
The ground beneath rumbled. Crackling. Splintering. Shaking.
Beiric instinctively jumped into the air. Looking down, he saw the previously safe terrain, riddled in cracks of white lightning, surging.
"Got you."
Beiric was already in the air. He couldn't change positions.
Lionel grabbed Beiric by the head with his offhand, throwing him into a tree. He hurdled through the air, meeting that tree with aggressive force.
"Gya!"
The pain surged through his body, as he slowly slid down the tree.
[Cast: Plasma Bomb]
Lionel wasn't done there. Wasting no time, he stuck his palm out, mana accumulating at the center. The bright white mana reached a considerate size, before condensing and traveling forward.
Fyeom...
An ominous sound followed as it reached toward Beiric, increasing its pace.
[Cast: Star Blade]
Manifesting the blade of light, he grabbed onto it swiftly, striking the ball of lightning.
The ball budged.
"Hrrng..."
Beiric struggled as well, using all of his force to push back the ball of mana.
The ball pulsated, thinning out, until it finally disappeared. Beiric panted, the blade of light fading away along with the plasma ball.
Bsh!
Lost in thought from all the focus and mana he used trying to defend the ball, he did not see Lionel's rising fist, striking his chin.
"Deuh!" his jaw clenched shut.
The strike lifted him centimeters off the floor.
–– That ball was my last bet... I used all my mana with that.
Beiric's head twitched forward.
"I'm not done yet!"
He lunged at Lionel with threatening speed. Speed that caught the mana-deprived boy off guard.
His daggers dug into Lionel's chest.
"Gya!"
Lionel screamed in pain, pushing off Beiric with all his force. He felt a strange feeling in his head. It was the fear of his severe injuries. The fear of death was starting to become more and more present.
–– I was so willing to die before... but..
Slsh!
One single, quick horizontal slice cut through Lionel's head.
It trickled down, brain matter and eyeballs oozing out of his skull.
The bandages that wrapped around his eyes were subsequently sliced, as well.
He was dead. Beiric's speed was far too overwhelming.
"That's... beautiful. Jeez, I could almost cry."
"Cry? In the middle of a fight?"
"!?"
He turned around. There, Lionel was, standing tall.
Just a few seconds ago, he was passionately gazing upon Lionel's corpse. Ready to mutilate it even further. But the corpse was gone. And Lionel was alive. How could this be possible?
"What the..."
Beiric was already short, but something about Lionel's presence was incredibly large and overwhelming. Suffocating.
His blade was no longer shattered. It rested at his hip and returned to its original state. His head was completely fine.
The bandages on his arms fell to the ground, revealing white, glowing scars.
The bandages wrapped around his right eye, and his forehead, fell down aswell, to rest on his collarbone. It revealed a peculiar eye; his sclera was pitch black, but his pupil was white and shattered, like glass.
His hair stood up, and his whole body was being amplified by a mana inconceivable to Beiric in his regular state.
The fear was immense. Lionel's steps were slow and steady. But with each step felt like Beiric was getting closer and closer to death.
"Wh-what the hell is this!?" Beiric yelled out.
He had never been a fearful individual.
Besides the time he fought Julian, he had never really felt 'true fear'.
But this emotion he was feeling... it was stronger than anything he had ever felt.
It was like every cell in his body was telling him to fight and run, at the same time.
He smiled, but nothing was funny. Searching through his memories to try and rationalize what he was feeling, he came to a conclusion:
"This is... the overwhelming strength of the [Pathmaker], isn't it...?!"