Adam steeled his resolved and his eyes turned sharper and the energy around him rose, he was executing some sort of technique. Light gathered around his body and into his sword. From it, Magnus...no, Gula, felt a familiar disgusting feeling coming from it.
Adam then spoke. "Pitiful child, I will purge the demon inside of you. Evil Banishing Strike!"
Magnus saw Adam charge at him so fast that Adam closed the distance between them in a blink of an eye. In the moment he saw Adam got close, Magnus frowned and it seemed like he felt his own emotions slowly got in tuned with Gula. He too, felt the disgusting feeling coming from Adam's sword.
And as the sword came down at him, everyone in the audience thought that everything was over for Magnus. What Adam executed seemed like a hidden art which paralyzed Magnus.
Even Scarlet was frowning, slightly nervous...
Bam!
There was an explosion that came from the pits. Wind bellowed and rushed towards the audience's face. Dust covered the arena and when it settled, they were stunned.
Back in the pits...Magnus blocked Adam's sure kill attack with a single arm. There were no sign of body strengthening techniques being executed nor was there any signs of World Energy emanating from Magnus' body.
Instead, there was a strange shadow that covered the arm that he used to block Adam's attack. When they saw that shadow, they felt an instinctual fear that came from their very soul.
"The demon's power... Poor child, hold on, I'll save you...Leave this body, Demon" Adam shouted as he raised his sword to attack again.
But suddenly he was struck in the face and was blown away. He tumbled and rolled before landing on his feet. He stared at Magnus and a cold shiver travelled through his body. From Magnus' eyes he could see the violet light, the sinister and disturbing look.
Magnus slowly walked forward and spoke as he did. "Who..."
Hearing this first word, Adam and the audience were wondering what was he going to say.
"Who are you...to assume what i've been through?" Magnus coldly said.
He got close to Adam with a single step, his face was an inch from Adam's and he had a cruel and disturbing smile.
Smack!
Once again, Magnus struck Adam and sent him flying. Magnus then continued to walk while talking.
"You servants of the Light think too much of yourself...You place yourself above others and think that the 'Salvation' you bring can truly help them...How laughable, quit trying to force your twisted rules and ideals on others."
From Magnus' mouth, everyone heard that it was still his voice but there was a strange, oppressive aura that came from every word he uttered. They shivered and thought that maybe, there really is a demon possessing Magnus.
"I will not allow you, a filthy demon, to besmirch the word of the Lord!" Adam flared and charged towards Magnus again.
Seeing this, Magnus smirked and charged at him too.
Adam swung his blade while Magnus attacked his Darkness-covered hand. They exchanged blows one after another.
Adam swung his sword diagonally downward, to which Magnus avoided with a light step away and he then countered with a hard punch. But Adam anticipated the attack and quickly swung back in a horizontal slash.
Ding!
Magnus saw the path of the blade, using his open hand and raising his knee, Magnus trapped the sword between his elbow and knee. Though his punch didn't connect, Magnus was in a favorable position, since Adam has his sword stuck.
"Mnm!" Adam struggled to pull back his sword but it was firmly trapped between Magnus' elbow and knee.
Magnus saw an opening and twisted his body a little while maintaining the firm lock he had on Adam's sword. Once he had enough leverage, Magnus brought down his fist on the spine of Adam's blade.
The Darkness-covered hand of Magnus crashed down on Adam's sword and in that moment.
Crack!
Adam's sword broke in half and he tumbled back as he was struggling to pull back his sword. With his sword broken, Adam was feeling depressed and anger, he was thinking on how to exterminate that evil that reside inside Magnus.
He was once a knight who served a priest of the church and because of that he learned a few exorcising techniques from the priest. He was well aware of the presence a demon gives off and he felt a stronger presence from Magnus but he thought that the techniques he learned would be enough...but he was wrong.
Adam got up and charged towards Magnus in an attempt to fight him using on his fist. Adam swung his right but Magnus ducked down and quickly countered with a heavy gut punch. Adam was almost blown away again but Magnus caught his arm as he was lifted in the air.
Bam!
Bam!
Magnus sent two punch to the face and the gut again. As he lifted Adam's body, the audience got to see the bloody state of Adam, he was already missing some tooth and his face was bloodied and swollen.
Magnus got close to Adam's ear and whispered.
"I am no demon..."
Adam weakly turned his head and he was thinking to himself. "What is he saying."
"I am more than that..." Magnus whispered.
Adam suddenly recalled something he read on a book back when he was still serving that priest but he didn't think that it could be true.
"I'm a sin...The Sin of Gluttony." Magnus said as his hand came close to Adam's neck.
"Mnm!" Adam issued a surprised noised but before he could speak Magnus moved.
Crack!
Spurt...
The whole audience reacted, some avoided the scene while others enjoyed the carnage and cheered.
Magnus pulled Adam's head out from his neck, half of his spine was pulled along and the entrails and blood trickled down from his severed head.
"World Devouring Art..." Magnus whispered.
The World Energy around the pit seemed to be moving, forming a storm. Out from Magnus' body the Darkness flowed out like a flood and enveloped, not just Adam's body but also the dozens of corpses that he killed in the slaughter earlier.
The Audience's eyes were wide open in shock, they didn't understand what was going on and what was that shadow that came out from Magnus' body and enveloped almost all of the pit. When the shadow returned back into Magnus' body, the audience saw that the bodies of the fallen were gone...
Nothing remained. Not their bodies, their clothes not even a sign of blood on the ground.
Only the severed head of Adam that was in Magnus' hand was the only proof left of the carnage that happened.
Magnus then turned to the remaining opponents and then threw Adam's head towards them.
The remaining six turned to Adam's head then back to Magnus, one of them chuckled and went back in the gate. Another one followed, and another.
"Cowards!"
"Fight, you worthless shits!"
Seeing three of the remaining six went back inside, the audience assumed they were surrendering and they were disappointed and blurted out many curses at them.
Magnus frowned but didn't dwell too much about it, he turned his attention to the remaining three and without waiting for them to react, Magnus charged forward.
The rest...were pretty much predictable, Magnus still fought and killed those three, albeit having some injuries but this was a testament to their strength.
The audience left with disappointing faces, they thought they would get to see a child actually fight and kill all one hundred men. Well...97 was close but it wasn't enough, their only consolation was their wins from the bet. Some of them went home with their money, tripled from betting on Magnus.
Scarlet was one of these people, she started with ten gold coins which is already a lot but went home with more than a hundred gold coins. Happy, Scarlet hugged Magnus the moment he stepped out of the pit.
Magnus was surprised first but he senses was then assaulted by a soft and warm feeling on his face.
Realizing that his head was buried deep in Scarlet's bosom, he flushed and tried to push Scarlet away.
William cut in "My Lady, would you mind releasing Young Master Magnus?"
When Magnus heard this, he was slightly taken aback, being called "Young Master" was way too weird for him to accept.
"Power commands respect and fear...don't forget about this." From within him, Gula's attractive voice echoed.
Fortunately, Scarlet released Magnus from her embraced and after a few light talks they were about to leave when the ring master, came up to them.
"Young lad...Magnus, right?" Said the ring master.
Magnus nodded and waited for him to state what he came for.
"If you ever get bored, feel free to come again. Your One versus a Hundred seems like a hit, you won't mind if i organize more matches like this won't you?"
"Not at all, just invite me again when you do." Magnus thought about it for a while before smiling back to the Ring Master.
"Definitely...ah, by the way, where should i send the invitation?"
To this, Scarlet cut in and said. "Send it to the Fort Master's villa...we'll be happy to receive you."
Hearing this, the Ring master was surprised but he calmed himself before returning back.
Scarlet and Magnus exited the pits and went back to Blacksmith's shop.
As they entered the shop, they were greeted by Gerald, the chief Blacksmith and his daughter, Andrea. They quickly saw the box they were struggling to carry and they immediately thought of the weapon, Magnus requested.
"Oh! My Lady, great timing. I just finished the weapon, the boy had me make. Here..." Gerald happily greeted Scarlet and with great effort, he threw the box towards Magnus.
Magnus walked forward to catch the box and he didn't expect it to be heavy, he stumbled a few steps backward to stabilize himself. He then gently placed the box down and opened it.
What he saw was a beautiful sword with grayish color and it was more stunning than what he imagined it to be. He gripped the handle of the sword and slowly picked it up, it was indeed heavy but it still can be wielded. Magnus saw a small, crystal-flower engraving on the base of the blade.
Seeing Magnus get enamored with the sword, Gerald laughed and asked. "Heavy, isn't it?"
Magnus nodded, still focused on the blade.
"Try, running World Energy through the engraving." Gerald suggested.
Magnus did as he said and the engraving lit up and out from the engraving was a larger version of the engraving but made of World Energy. Magnus was fascinated and when he tried to move the sword he suddenly felt it get heavier.
Bam!
In the end, Magnus couldn't handle the continuous increase of the Sword's weight and dropped it on the floor.
"Hahaha!" Gerald laughed before continuing. "That a Weight-Manipulation Inscription. It can increase and decrease the weight of the sword up to five times. I'm sure you know this principle already but let me say it nonetheless."
"If you increase the weight of the sword, it's power would increase as well because of it's added weight, now if you decrease the weight of the sword, it becomes faster but less powerful. Now then, even with it's weight decreased there is still some power in it, because of the material that was used to forge it was an hard and heavy material."
Gerald walked forward and took the sword from Magnus' hands. He activated the weight-manipulation inscription and made the sword, heavier then lighter.
"It'll take some time to get use to changing it's weight but you'll get to it." He laughed, Gerald then showed Magnus the pummel of the sword and saw a five petaled Sakura flower engraving.
"This is a Level 2 Hardening Inscription. I don't think i'd have to explain what this does but basically it strengthens the weapon."
Gerald passed the weapon back to Magnus and went to the box to take something out. It was three knives and on the blade was a small cross engraving.
"These were inscribed with Level 2 Sharpening Inscription, just like the Hardening one, this strengthens the sharpness of the knife."
Gerald placed the knives back in the box.
Scarlet walked towards him and said. "Thank you very much for your time."
Gerald waved both his hands up and said. "No, no, My Lady. I should be the one thanking you for giving me the opportunity to aid you in your quest."
After they talked for a while, Scarlet left with Magnus and William. They entered the carriage and went back to the Villa as the sun set. On the way back, Magnus fell asleep onto Scarlet's lap. Seeing his innocent face as he slept, Scarlet couldn't believe that this kid was the same one who killed 97 men today.
Smiling, Scarlet stroke Magnus' head as she stared outside the window of the carriage. Soon, her smile faded and was replaced with a serious dark expression.
Deep in his sleep, Magnus didn't know that the Shark mark on his chest was growing, other small, marks were growing out from the Shark mark. Subconsciously, he was continuously refining all the blood, energy and Stigmata that he consumed from the 97 men he killed.