Chapter 674 Grudge Match (II)

The tactician frowned after getting back up on his feet. It was so sudden for him that he didn't get to use his ability to prevent himself from being thrown into this realm which he is not familiar with. Still, now that he is inside and cannot get out, he turned around and ready himself to go on a fight against his previous Best Friend, Alain.

Alain had a grim look on his face already. The bloodlust he is revealing is already hard to ignore and yet he is now forced to deal with him now.

"You should at least learn how to forgive and forget, Alain. It's been so long and you still feel like you need to take revenge for all of that? You even dragged yourself into the mud and buried your amazing talent in creating golems just for a petty reason!" the tactician tries to appease Alain but Alain no longer cares what happens next. The only thing that is on his mind is dealing the final blow and defeating the Tactician in mortal combat, dealing a fatal strike and hoping to kill him in the process as well.

"There is only one purpose of my existence and as of why I am still alive until this day! You have lived for far too long, and claimed hundreds of lives just so you can fuel your power and ego. Now, I will cut them down."

Alain disappeared from where he stands and reappeared behind the Tactician and swings his sword, intending to cut down the latter's head, only for him to block it with his gauntlet.

"As I said earlier, you are already rusty, Alain. You won't hope to defeat me with that level of skill by yourself. You won't be able to even properly do some kind of damage to me with that."

Deflecting his sword, the Tactician sends Alain flying but the latter easily managed to regain his footing and dashes towards the Tactician who has yet to regain his proper footing after deflecting him causing him to block the attack by crossing his gauntlets in front of his face and protect himself from Alain's sword.

KLANG!

The sword and the Gauntlet clash. One blunt and one sharp. Both can be used to kill and both can be used to defend themselves. But, who will win between them?

The Tactician at first was confident in reading the attack patterns of Alain. But he soon realized that his attack patterns are slowly getting irregular more and more as the battle progressed. Not only that but the movement of Alain is also getting faster than his regular speed causing the Tactician to remain in a defensive stance to keep himself safe from the attacks of the raged Alain.

PENG PENG PENG

All of the advantage the tactician has built up earlier slowly are getting flipped into the other side and this time around, Alain is now ramping up the combo of his attacks that the gauntlet of the Tactician is getting damaged that will only take a few more hits before it gets fully destroyed.

"F*CK, I can't keep on holding back!"

Forced by Alain, the Tactician decided to get serious and match up the speed of Alain. Increasing his speed allows him to also increase his chances of leaving an attack against him.

"UGH!" Alain didn't get to defend when the Tactician disappeared from his sight and delivered a clean uppercut, causing Alain to stagger and his built up momentum disappear. The Tactician didn't waste the opportunity and repeatedly punched Alain in the face, abdomen, on his sides and his chin, increasing the pain of multiple attacks and causing Alain to get dizzy.

BAM!

One strong punch and Alain flew to the very end of the arena and crashed on the wall, creating a crater that immediately repaired itself, leaving Alain to fall down to the ground and groaning in pain.

"Heh, and here I though you would be showing me something good. I didn't expect that you don't have much to show and ended up a big disappointment," the Tactician slowly walked towards the area where Alain fell from the wall slam earlier while mocking Alain again and again.

"See Alain? You should know that you won't be able to keep fighting if you will just keep fueling yourself from the grudge. In fact, let it go yourself. Perhaps accepting the grace of the Pope himself will allow you to get stronger and if the Pope managed to gather enough power himself, he might also agree to revive your dead daughter as well."

When Alain heard this, the rage that cooled down for a bit rages on once more. The anger that he is holding deep inside cannot be contained anymore. He slowly stood up, mana leaking out of his body. The noises in his surroundings are no longer something he can hear as it was replaced by the rapid beating of his heart.

There is no need to hold back.

There is no need to go easy against the enemy.

There is no need to spare his life.

There is no need to be merciful against him.

And lastly...

There is no need to let him continue living.

FWOOOOM!

Flames covered his whole body. The anger that has been building up since the death of his daughter has finally been leaked out. Now that it has gone out, it is time to end everything,.

The tactician who continue on mocking his former best friend stopped talking when he felt an odd feeling. A pressure that he have felt before. One that the mighty tactician is afraid of.

Yes...the pressure that he is only afraid of is coming from the Pope. However, this time around, that aura is not coming from the almighty pope that he idolize and worships. But from a man, raging in anger and madness. One who is willing to burn away his life in favor of destroying the enemy before him.

"Alain... calm down man!"

SWISH!

The tactician immediately defended himself and a thud of metal bouces back, meaning the blade didn't penetrate. The tactician was relieved at first since he managed to defend himself but soon, he realized something.

His metal gauntlet, the gauntlet imbued with dark powers coming from the pope. A weapon capable of killing strong enemies in a few pummeling sessions, has now reduced itself to ashes as the flames that burns on Alain's body is no longer made of mana. This is pure power that fuels itself using the remaining lifespan of Alain himself.

"TODAY! I WILL PERSONALLY DRAG YOU TO HELL!"

Soon. The screams can be heard all around the arena as the flaming figure grabbed the screaming man into a tight embrace. An embrace that is not meant to be affectionate but an embrace that helds the target into the eternal burning flames.