The intense fight between Shoya and Ragnarok continued.
After a few minutes of rest, Shoya was able to recover some mana. Even now, he was recovering mana.
Watching his opponent carefully, they traded blows through martial arts. No one was able to land a decisive blow on the other.
Ragnarok soon grew bored of this melee exchange. Midway, he summoned a dagger of blood, slicing at Shoya's face. The boy leaned backwards, dodging, summoning a dagger of his own, slicing Ragnarok's shoulder.
(Now!)
He thought to himself.
Knocking Ragnarok's hand away, Shoya materialised Erebus in scythe form. At that moment, shadows crawled up Shoya's cheek.
"Shadow Enhancement."
The blade of the scythe became far more sinister. It became larger and sharper. It curled itself around Ragnarok's arm, slicing it off.
The Tarot did his best to keep his voice inside his throat.
(I didn't think I'd have to use it...)
Ragnarok used his blood to rebuild his arm. He then pointed at Shoya, who transformed Erebus into a katana.
"Fair Judgement."
"...!"
Shoya felt goosebumps on his arms as a crimson judgement scale appeared behind Ragnarok.
The boy tried to move his katana in front of him, instinctively attempting to block an attack.
A red woman appeared above the judgement scales, she had her hand out in the same way as Ragnarok.
The woman spoke.
[Murderous Intent detected. Fatal injury detected. Fair Judgement distributed. Severe punishment issued to the human, 'Shoya Sasaki.']
The next moment, Shoya coughed blood as immense pressure was applied to his abdomen—the force of the attack sent him through the wall behind him.
When he woke up, he was in a room.
(What...)
The boy then vomited blood. He pounded on his chest to make sure that was all he needed to release.
"That's a broken Singularity..."
He muttered, getting on his feet. Shoya noticed.
(Wait, but wasn't his Singularity to do with blood?)
"Where is this?"
He was in another room beside the Wyvern's nest. It was a fairly empty room. The only thing in the room was a statue. Since he was standing behind it, he could not tell what the statue was based on.
A blood spear landed by his feet. Shoya sliced his katana, redirecting another spear.
Through the crack appeared Ragnarok. As soon as he saw Shoya, his facial expression hardened.
"Blood Earth."
From the mark on his hand, a large sphere of blood formed. Ragnarok fired it at Shoya.
Unnerved, Shoya calmly took a breath in, and another out. His eyes glowed blue as he sliced at the large sphere.
His sword made contact with it. At first, it pushed him backwards. Although...
"I'm not playing around anymore."
"Wha—"
The sphere of blood was cut in half. It dissolved and Ragnarok landed on the ground. As he tried to make another blood weapon, Shoya mercilessly cut his other arm off.
This time, the Tarot could not keep his voice inside.
"AAHHHHH!"
His arm landed in front of the statue and Ragnarok fell in front of Shoya.
"I noticed that you always made your blood weapons with your left hand. If I removed that hand, you wouldn't be able to attack anymore."
Ragnarok glared at Shoya.
The Emperor stuck Erebus beside the man's face. Sinisterly, he asked,
"Where is Maki?"
"Don't kno—"
He kicked Ragnarok's face. Blood leaked out of his nose and his eye slowly caved in as Shoya kicked him once more.
"Don't play bullshit games with me."
Shoya told him.
"Where. the. fuck. is. Maki."
He kicked him again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
He kicked him until his face would no longer portray his identity. It was too swollen to tell who he was anymore.
"Tell me!"
It was hard to tell but a faint smile appeared on Ragnarok's face.
"G'ib bruk..."
(Good luck...)
He uttered.
Abruptly, a pillar of blood swallowed Ragnarok. From the statue near Ragnarok, a red aura appeared and it seemed to enter the pillar.
Behind the pillar appeared the red judgement scales once more. This time, the woman did not appear.
(What the fuck is happening?! Was I wrong?! His main ability wasn't from his left hand?!)
The blood pillar disappeared and so did the judgement scales.
"Huh?"
There was nothing within the pillar of blood.
"Where did he—"
"Behind you."
Upon hearing a voice, Shoya hopped away from it, on guard.
The person who was behind him was Ragnarok, however, he looked different. Almost like a different person.
"Your injuries."
Shoya mentioned, slightly uneasy.
"Oh, those. After borrowing power from Master, my injuries have healed themselves."
His tone was cocky, unlike before.
He had an eternal smile on his face. One which would annoy anyone.
The clothes he had on his upper body had disappeared, revealing his bare muscles. On his body were red tattoos, connecting and glowing all over his body.
The red marks around his eyes seemed to change. On top of his head was a halo, made of blood. It dripped.
On his forehead was a mark which looked identical to the one he had on his left hand, previously.
The most noticeable difference was his jet-black wings. It was almost like he was...
"A fallen angel..."
Ragnarok raised his hand. Branches of blood pierced toward Shoya—he barely blocked them with his dual daggers.
"Guess I'll need to increase my output."
He muttered to himself.
The boy closed his eyes, slowly increasing the mana he was exerting.
"Die."
Ragnarok said.
He touched the ground. Multiple guided blood arrows flew toward Shoya. Shoya opened his eyes.
"What the..."
He successfully dodged the arrows, even attacking some, and approached Ragnarok, quickly.
"Oh."
The man never lost his smile. He was merely surprised.
Shoya sensed something from below him; he skipped backwards, avoiding a trail of spikes.
"Good foresight. You seem slightly faster than before."
Ragnarok did not seem bothered in the slightest.
It seemed that it was not a problem in his new form.
For Shoya, he's simply using his Advanced Depth Perception to its max. He removed the Partial Seal that Lilith had placed on him. His body was fully accustomed to that skill now.
"I want to play a bit more."
The winged man smirked.
"Shut up, you fucker. I'll kill you."
Shoya glared.