Unsealing Emptiness

The old man shouted while rapidly conjuring rocks and throwing them in Ozul’s direction. He couldn’t believe his eyes that this kid kept on advancing towards him even in such a dire situation.

However, he didn’t know that his taunting of Ozul to cut his body into even more pieces had made the latter a little angry.

But it was also a fact that Ozul rarely lost control of his emotions.

Although the old man’s Mana was suffocating, and that single previous hit had even made him dizzy, Ozul wanted his arm back and he would get it back just as he had gotten his leg back!

And for that, he was ready to jump into a monster’s stomach all over again if he had to.

But even when he rushed at the old man in anger, he was being as cautious as he could. He had thought things through, it wasn’t just his impulse that he had started to rush towards the old man. He knew that if he didn’t take the old man by surprise, he had no chance of winning.

.....

The old man was stronger than him and if he didn’t close in the distance, only death awaited him.

Ozul noticed the next barrage of giant rocks thrown at him. There were too many for him to simply just dodge them all without slowing down. He destroyed as many as he could with Ball of Purity before him and tried to dodge the rest.

However, it was easier said than done. Not only did he have to balance on the small pieces of Ball of Purity, but also dodge the incoming rocks that were controlled by a half-step Rank-10 Mage. Something was bound to go wrong.

And as if Ozul’s luck had run out, a relatively larger chunk of a rock that he had missed earlier suddenly came from his side.

Ozul only felt it coming towards him when it was too late for him to dodge. If he didn’t do anything about it, that single hit would throw off his built up momentum.

‘Not now!’ he shouted in his mind. He wouldn’t let anything stop him after he had come so close to getting his arm back.

He remembered that although he hadn’t paid much attention to his prosthetic arms, they were still detachable with just a single shake from him. Moreover, they could also explode.

Although the rock was close, and if it exploded, he would also be affected, Ozul felt that it was his chance.

Under the old man’s scrutinizing eyes, Ozul threw his hand at the incoming rock. At the same time, he covered his body with the Ball of Purity to protect himself from the explosion.

BOOM!

The prosthetic arm exploded just at the contact with the rock, engulfing a considerable radius in the fire.

All the nearby rocks were destroyed and debris was thrown everywhere.

The old man looked at the explosion from a distance with cold eyes. He didn’t sense any movement from under him and thought that Ozul might have suffered quite a bit this time.

But he still waited for a couple of seconds before going down there to deal the last blow.

“Tsk. The brat has guts alright...”

The old man was muttering to himself, but just then, he sensed something charge towards him from the cloud of dust which had risen after the explosion.

He turned around to face whatever came from his side.

“Hm? What is that-” The old man muttered as he couldn’t make out the confusing image of whatever approached him since the dust hadn’t settled in yet.

However, when he had his attention diverted by the blurry figure in the smokescreen, he missed another shadow that came at him from down below.

Just when he was about to cast a Spell towards the blurry figure coming from his side, Ozul came out of the smoke from under him, and before the old man could even react to it, a sharp blade had already reached his stomach.

“Bra- Arkh!...” the blade pierced the old man’s stomach as he cried out in pain.

Meanwhile, Ozul didn’t stop there and the blurry figure that the old man had seen was just the Ball of Purity!

Ozul kept on pushing with his blade and also made the rest of the Ball of Purity into several blades that shot at the old man.

On the other hand, the old man immediately started casting Spells to stop the blades and somehow stop Ozul.

“Aghhh!”

Ozul kept pushing the old man until he reached the ceiling. But he didn’t intend to stop there either!

He started to put even more force and when they hit the ceiling, they broke through it!

“Damn you brat!” the old man kept shouting and in a desperate struggle, began to cast smaller spells that just threw whatever piece of rock he could see in sight towards Ozul.

However, Ozul had also created a small shield with the Ball of Purity as he kept on pushing him through the ceiling.

Just a while back, the explosion had worsened his condition but after there was just dust and fire, Ozul thought about how the old man also wouldn’t be able to sense his presence anywhere because he didn’t have any Mana.

That had been his advantage since forever. So this time again, he planned to use it.

The only other way the old man would sense him in while the dust and smoke had risen was through movement. However, if he just sent half of the Ball of Purity from the side, the old man wouldn’t be able to differentiate between them.

Just like that, before the old man could even get serious, he was now pinned down by him and being shot through the ceiling like a doll.

“Aarkh!”

The old man kept shouting and throwing spells upon spells at Ozul as he took care that the box containing the arm was still with him.

Bam!

After just a few moments, they broke through the last ceiling!

But Ozul didn’t care about that, he had the old man pinned with his blade, and he wouldn’t let go of this chance that might be his last.

He continuously controlled as many blades as he could to attack the old man while dealing with the fact that his whole body was in extreme pain after the explosion.

If Ozul’s body contained blood, he was sure that he would have become a bloody mess by now.

He kept on pushing the old man, who by now had regained enough clarity from the pain to cast a spell to stop the bleeding.

Meanwhile, Ozul still kept pushing him upwards.

They were already in the halls of the Palace, and after a few seconds, Ozul had the old man shot through the second floor.

Bam!... Bam!... Bam!...

From the second floor, they broke through to the third, and from the third, they broke through to the fourth floor. It continued on like this until they reached the last floor!

Things happened only in seconds, but the old man had recovered from the surprise earlier and although it hurt each time he was smashed against the ceiling, it wasn’t as bad for him as he was a half-step Rank-10 Mage.

Although Ozul tried his best that he could land another hit on the old man, things just didn’t go as he had thought they would.

Just as he had forced the old man through the roof, the latter cast a spell, and the debris from the roof shot at Ozul instead of falling to the ground.

And even though he had created a shield with the Ball of Purity in front of him, a few of the rocks got through from the side and hit him like cannonballs!

The force behind those small rocks was enough to throw Ozul to the side while the old man tried to balance himself in the air.

But that proved to be a mistake because he forgot that a blade was still plunged into his stomach!

Ozul realized that and in his last-ditch effort, willed for the blade to grow tiny spikes all over it.

Khichu!

“Arrckk! Y-you bastard!” the old man spat blood from his mouth as the small spikes on the blade created tens of more holes inside his body!

Not being able to control himself because of the excruciating pain, the old man also fell to the ground.

Thud!

Both Ozul and the old man dropped on the ground of the Royal estate.

Meanwhile, although the Royal Palace was still standing still in its place, its majestic appearance was now nowhere to be seen because of all the mess that the two had created.

“Urgh...” Ozul tried to stand up as a pained groan escaped his lips. However, this time, he could barely stand up before he staggered and fell again.

Just as he dropped to the ground, his eyes fell on the box of glass just a few meters away to his left, ‘My arm!’

However, it was hopeless because to his right, the old man had already stood back up. There was not only blood on his stomach, but there was also a trail of it escaping his mouth. Together with his bloodshot eyes, he looked like a savage fiend.

Just a few moments earlier, the old man was arrogantly taunting Ozul, and now both of them were a mess outside the Palace.

There wasn’t a smile on the old man’s face right now as he slowly gathered Mana around his palm to cast one final Spell to finish Ozul off.

Meanwhile, Ozul didn’t even have the strength to stand up straight. He was in no condition to protect himself.

‘I did whatever I could...’ he spoke in his head as his eyes fell on a black cat near the glass box that contained his arm.

Jinx only stared at him without showing any intentions to help him even though Ozul felt that she somehow had the ability to. He still felt a connection to her, but she only looked at him with a face that wouldn’t reveal her intentions.

But even then, he didn’t feel any hate towards her. For some reason, Jinx not stepping in to help felt unusually normal.

He had made a mess out of a half-step Rank-10 Mage, it was already a great feat considering that he was only as strong as a peak Rank-9 Mage. He didn’t have any strength left in him now.

As the Mana gathered around the old man’s palm, Ozul didn’t feel anything about that. Only the fact that his arm was just a few meters away and he still couldn’t get it frustrated him.

Just when he expected the old man to cast his Spell, another voice rang out,

“Hoho~...”

.....