The imposing aura caused by Veritas' Authority of the Leviathan caused the two Pathbearers in front of him to kneel down. Although they did so out of their will, the terrible pressure of Veritas' crimson eye was all-too fearful.
Veritas looked down at them and uttered the words:
"Is that all?"
After he meticulously conjured an illusion within a second, he hid within the trees and used an afterimage of his to fight with the two.
And his plan worked perfectly, making the two drop their guards and fall under an unexpected attack.
Now that the two of them kneeled right in front of him, Veritas walked towards them slowly.
He walked slowly but knew that he needed to act quickly due to the restraint of his eye. Upon searching further and testing its capabilities, and with the recent Faceless Apocalypse that he encountered, Veritas knew that using Authority of the Leviathan caused a large amount of Soul.
His Authority would probably get much longer as he rose up the ranks..
So, Veritas finished his job quickly and unsheathed his blade.
"Useless under my feet. Bow before me and I shall consider your lives."
Technically, no one can die on the second stage but Veritas bluffed to intimidate his opponents.
"Now, fall."
The pressure intensified and Veritas imposed his Path towards them, making use of the physical aspects of Visionshaper.
As if the air thickened around them, both Morgan and Luciphus felt a heavyweight crash down on their shoulders.
"Your heads are too high up" Veritas acted like an Emperor and ordered the two.
He utilized Visionshaper's reality fabrication and the two immediately fell to the ground as if they were kowtowing towards Veritas.
"Much better."
Veritas suddenly felt his Soul fluctuate, as if a large chunk of it was suddenly depleted.
'Did using reality fabrication take that much Soul? In any case, I should stop using Authority of the Leviathan.'
The pressurizing aura suddenly vanished due to Veritas' commands and the two felt their shoulders loosen up.
'I guess I should change my plans..'
He held his blade to his front and aimed it at the direction of the two.
He let out his soft voice and said:
"Fight me once more and regain your glory."
The two of them looked fierce, as if being forced to bow down was a very insulting task to them.
Luciphus was the one who had a visible pissed-off face and Morgan looked quite agitated but Veritas felt his emotions become riled up.
This time, he held his blade with one hand and formed an arrogant stance where his free hand was angled upwards into a 120 degree angle. His body was tilted slightly leftward and his stature carried a laid-back pose.
Veritas was mocking them, saying that their swordsmanship was not on par with his!
"Come!"
He deliberately invited them to rush towards him and battle him two versus one.
"Aren't you being too arrogant?" Morgan asked.
"If I have the strength and wits to back it up then sure.." Veritas replied.
"Then you surely wouldn't regret us tearing you piece by piece!" Luciphus crackle and showed a glint of confidence.
With those words, he jumped forward and swung his blade to Veritas' right rib, which was easily dodged but Luciphus trusted Morgan to follow up his blow.
And that.. he did.
Morgan appeared behind Veritas, using his speed to take advantage of the battle.
But it seemed futile as Veritas quickly turned around to parry Morgan's strike!
"Not quite there yet!" Upon parrying, he screamed out-loud and began thrashing down Morgan's steel blade.
With two loud metals clashing upon one another, Luciphus sneaked silently and looked for an opportunity for Veritas to be left wide open.
However, even with the one sided clash, the figure clad in black never seemed to be an easy target.
Veritas saw his desperate attempt of a sneak attack and turned around to immediately counter attack, stopping his heavy strikes towards Morgan.
As if the Winds turned around with him, Veritas appeared in front of Luciphus and punched him in the gut.
Luciphus spat out blood and was winded out by this, causing him to stumble down the ground.
Morgan, who was left initially on his previous spot, reacted slowly and in a mere fraction of a second, Veritas had already returned.
He used Morgan's perplexed reaction to grip his blade sideways and form a grueling slash towards Morgan's body.
His body was resilient due to the bodysuit, but Veritas did not stop there.
Once Morgan winced in pain due to the impact, he immediately used the Winds to propel himself forward like a jet and cause even more tremendous damage to Morgan.
Morgan tried to resist by bringing up his blade, but the sheer speed that Veritas moved at was comparable to that of his own.
The difference being that the figure clad in black was somewhat more agile than him.
Even if he wished to do so, he could not spin in mid air nor maneuver his body around so easily!
Veritas released his sideways grip and made his blade fly for a millisecond, then.. he grabbed his blade and held it normally, sending a heavy blow to Morgan's body.
Using his unique and enhanced vision, Veritas immediately noticed a shift in his peripheral.
"It is futile, your sneak attacks won't work!"
Veritas grabbed the air beside him or rather Luciphus blade, with his bare hands. Then, with the strength of a bear, he gripped it so tight that the blade itself shattered into pieces.
Veritas spun his body and sent a high kick towards Luciphus, making him fly towards a nearby tree trunk.
He focused back on his task and pressured Morgan, seeing him as the greater threat among the two.
Even with Morgan's prolonged battle state, he was still useless.
One underlying factor of this was due to Veritas experience as a fighter. Morgan had not been able to practice a high level of swordplay so he could not contend with the enemy before him.
But still, to his eyes, battling a normal Pathbearer that looked weak is doable! Surprisingly though, that Pathbearer was crushing the two of them singlehandedly.
With a fast paced downward slash, Morgan was hurriedly brought to the ground, making the leaves nearby fly in succession.
It felt as if there was a heavy weight on their shoulders and it felt like there was another variable that he was missing from the equation.
How was the gap between them so big? Was there really a big difference between the two's experiences?
Morgan felt confused.
In his perspective, he was simply out-skilled by someone with greater experience and strength.
But in Veritas' perspective, he knew that he had the most important factor for winning.
And that is his Path!
Although Veritas could not utilize it quite well, Visionshaper was in many ways useful in this specific scenario.
He used it to make his opponents slightly sluggish than their previous selves. As for Morgan, not only did his physical form become slightly sluggish but his mental fortitude was also compromised.
Veritas did not know how to fully utilize it but he was somehow affecting an individual's thoughts!
With every blow that Morgan took, his mind was beginning to falter and falter, making his confidence and strength waver.
Now on the ground, Morgan's mouth twitched due to the pain. He was protected from any lethal blows, but he was not protected from pain.
Veritas stood up straight and raised both of his hands as if delighted by the useless attempt by the two.
"Now, do you two understand?!" He claimed, and made his voice even louder.
The explosions rang out but his voice seemed as loud or louder than the explosions itself.
"This is the difference between us!"
He stared at Luciphus, who was groveling underneath a tree. Then to Morgan, who was beneath him laying down in pain.
His crimson-red eye glowed amidst their battle and suddenly felt intimidating to every person around.
Suddenly, great pressure was felt in the surroundings, shaking the leaves, trembling the trees, and making the two feel great terror. The surroundings felt illusory for a second as a black veil masked the scenery between the three of them, encasing them in a black circle.
'With this, it should be fine.'
Veritas' disguise slowly fell apart, making his hair turn back to white, his clothing show a marble armor, and his regal form returning back to normal.
He stood confidently on top of Morgan, and stared at him with his pure-golden eyes and crimson-red eyes.
Morgan coincidentally stared at Veritas' unmasked identity and his eyes widened in response.
His mouth parted but no words came out of it. Within seconds, his face gradually softened as he came to a realization.
Veritas grinned at him, but this time not with arrogance. Instead, he grinned warmly as if he was telling Morgan that he had done well.
"I commend your efforts."
With his warm voice let out, Veritas raised his steel blade to heavily strike down and finish Morgan once and for all.
Once the blade reached Morgan's chest, he immediately vanished into space. It was as if Morgan had suddenly been warped out of there.
He made his way towards Luciphus and also gave the same expression.
"You did well."
A mere compliment was enough for Luciphus to feel a great sense of peace. His chest was then struck with a heavy blow and he vanished in thin air like he was nothing.
Reality soon broke apart as the black veil began to vanish. Veritas' face slowly changed back to his identity as Line.
Then, he sheathed his blade and used the Winds to scout every direction in order to look for Jade.
'She's...'
Upon seconds of searching, Veritas' eyes suddenly widened.
In the direction where Jade had run off to, there were three groups of Pathbearers that were surrounding her!
Veritas gritted his teeth and used the Winds to gather speed and swiftly made his way towards her.