The hall was steeped in tension. Rygar gripped his glowing sword tightly, now dimming the intensity of the flames to conserve mana, his eyes scanning every movement. "I've lost the initiative. The situation isn't in my favor—I need an opening."
"Hoooh, your brother, even in death, lied about your race not having innate abilities. He was sad about not being invited to the party, you know?" he taunted, directing his words at the Black Troll.
"WHAT?!" the Black Troll roared, lifting his axe in fury and preparing to charge.
But before he could, Gallus shouted at him, "Calm down, River! He's provoking you! Don't forget, this brat almost took your head off a moment ago."
Ahead of him, Gallus Cleaner remained calm, his right hand already holding a new sword to replace the one he had thrown. The North Saint wore a cold smile on his face, while the Black Troll—a massive creature—had slightly calmed, though his rage still burned beneath the surface.
"So, you're not the leader, huh? Looks like you're just a lapdog?" Rygar tried again, readying himself for the inevitable clash.
"Do not underestimate him," Gallus warned, his voice sharp as steel. "If you hesitate because he's a child, you will die. Surround him and attack together. This must be the Beast boy who massacred the five of the icy cold or something, he can use chantless magic, once again, don't underestimate him."
The warriors around him seemed to take the warning seriously, their dismissive expressions replaced with grim determination.
Before Rygar could make his move, the Black Troll let out a roar that echoed through the hall and charged forward with overwhelming speed, utterly disproportionate to his massive size. His steps thundered like a storm, and the axe he carried looked powerful enough to cleave through a fortress wall.
Rygar spun his sword in time, but the attack was too fast. The impact of the axe against his flaming blade created a shockwave so powerful that it hurled him to the other side of the hall, nearly slamming him into a stone wall.
'This guy is incredibly strong, maybe even stronger than me!' Rygar thought, but there was no time to hesitate. Before he could recover, he noticed a dagger spinning toward him.
In the blink of an eye, he used Flash Step, vanishing from his position at the last moment. The dagger embedded itself in the wall with enough force to crack it. Gallus watched with cold eyes and a smirk, his hand still extended from the calculated throw.
"You're fast," Gallus remarked, amused.
Rygar reappeared in the middle of the hall, ready to strike at anyone in sight. But before he could reorient himself, the advanced warriors began to encircle him, their footsteps echoing against the stone floor. He could hear the whispered words of magical incantations being chanted in the background.
"Damn," he muttered, his eyes sparking with determination.
In one fluid motion, he raised his sword. The flames enveloping it danced with ferocious intensity. Without wasting time, he unleashed a fiery blade in a devastating arc, striking three warriors advancing from the left. The impact was brutal, incinerating the enemies in a burst of heat and fire.
But there was no time to celebrate. The Black Troll, now with an even more furious expression, appeared behind him again, swinging his axe in a horizontal blow that promised to cut Rygar in half.
Rygar spun on his heels, his sword still ablaze, and blocked the massive blow at the last moment. The force of the impact made his hands tremble, sparks flying as the blades collided. He felt the weight of the axe pushing him backward.
The Black Troll roared, holding the axe with one hand while throwing a sideways punch with the other, aimed at Rygar. At the same time, Rygar aimed a kick at the troll's ribs. The blows collided, creating a powerful pressure in the air from the impact.
Once again, Rygar confirmed that this creature was stronger than him as he was pushed back. He quickly raised an earth wall to block two warriors and the Water Cannon spell the mages had fired at him.
He channeled magic into his legs and exploded to the side with a Flash Step, escaping the range of the axe chasing him.
In the same motion, he spun his sword, creating a fiery arc around him that forced the nearby warriors to retreat.
The advanced mages had already completed their incantations. Two massive spells hurtled toward Rygar: a spiked earth projectile and a sharp ice lance.
He channeled his magic into a barrier strong enough to withstand the spells and turned his attention back to Gallus, blocking yet another ambush. If it weren't for his instincts and senses warning him, he was sure Gallus would have landed a few hits by now.
The ice lance struck the shield with a resounding crack, shards of ice flying in all directions, while the spiked earth projectile activated harmlessly against the barrier.
As he moved through the structure, Rygar leaped to the second floor, which was already on the verge of collapse after so many spells and impacts. He planted his sword into the wooden floor to halt his momentum.
"He must be getting tired," one of the advanced warriors whispered, jumping to pursue Rygar.
"Press now! If we attack together now, we can kill him." Another warrior nodded, circling around. "Be careful. This kid is a monster. One wrong move, and we're the ones who'll fall." Their exchanged glances were brief but filled with determination. With a battle cry, they charged in unison.
Rygar noticed the approach of multiple warriors surrounding him. In one fluid motion, he launched himself into the air, spinning in an acrobatic leap. He then created his most lethal and still unrefined magic—a vacuum sphere. Without aiming in a specific direction, he unleashed the sphere, which exploded outward while he retreated with Burst Step. The vacuum sphere detonated, riddling several warriors with holes and destroying the building's main support pillar.
As he landed, Rygar raised a stone platform beneath his feet, elevating himself above the enemy attacks. Jumping to another platform he conjured, he unleashed spikes of earth that erupted violently from the ground, impaling two pursuing warriors. They fell lifeless as Rygar landed on a third platform, but the Troll smashed it before it fully formed, forcing him to confront the beast again.
"What's the matter, boy?! You invaded so boldly, and now you're running?!" The Troll, caught in the frenzy of battle, let out a wild laugh.
The Troll was powerful, but Rygar was faster. He quickly outmaneuvered the creature in combat. Rygar's sword shot upward with incredible speed toward the Troll's solar plexus, but as it struck, a shining black barrier reappeared from the demon's body. The impact ricocheted, generating a wave of energy that sent Rygar flying backward. While airborne, he continuously used healing magic to mend his minor injuries and raised another earth barrier to protect himself from a massive fireball launched by a mage. "What an irritating racial ability," Rygar murmured, thinking of a way to bypass it.
Suddenly, he burst forward with a Burst Step toward the mages. "Annoying flies," he muttered, slashing his flaming sword and cleaving the two mages in half with the Longsword of Light.
The Black Troll chased him relentlessly. Despite its strength, its intelligence seemed lacking. Rygar was more concerned about Gallus, who had stopped appearing. He had already noticed some of the warriors fleeing and hoped Gallus wasn't one of them.
The Troll swung its axe in a vertical strike. This time, Rygar was ready. He used the first stage of Flow from the Water God Style, dodging by mere inches, and thrust the Longsword of Light at the Troll's chest, confident it would pierce the armor.
But instead of using the shining dark energy again, the Troll blocked with its arm, taking a clean slash that cut through the armor and deep into the bone, the scent of burning flesh filling the air. Unfazed, the Troll used the sword embedded in its flesh to hurl Rygar into a pillar with a roar.
"Well, boy, I thought you were stronger if you dared to attack us." One of the warriors mocked from a distance as he and five others approached slowly.
Rygar wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and stood up. "Don't worry. I'm just getting warmed up."
He channeled magic into his sword again, but this time with even greater intensity. The blade began to blaze with blue flames, roaring uncontrollably.
The complex was in ruins. Walls that were once solid now lay in shattered pieces. Chunks of stone and wood were scattered across the ground, and entire columns had collapsed. With every move, Rygar and the Troll created a spectacle of chaos. His body moved like a flaming blur, while sword strikes ignited the air around them.
He leapt through the rubble, dodging coordinated attacks. Three advanced warriors pursued him relentlessly, striking with glowing swords. The Black Troll followed closely, crushing what remained of the ground with every step.
Rygar felt the weight of the battle, but he wasn't tired yet, and surprisingly, he wasn't even close to exhausting his mana. The heat of his sword mixed with the sweat on his brow as he kept fighting. He spun, blocking an attack from one warrior, and kicked a pile of debris into another's face. In the same instant, he unleashed a horizontal slash with his flaming blade, incinerating one of his pursuers with deadly precision.
"I won't last forever like this," he thought. "Every time I get a chance to land a fatal blow on the Troll, my instincts tell me otherwise. Gallus is just waiting for an opening."
As he dodged another strike from the Troll, Rygar decided to feign exhaustion to lure Gallus in. To his surprise, he felt a presence behind him. It was fast, almost imperceptible, but he was trained to react to moments like this.
With a swift turn, he moved his sword backward, planning to strike Gallus by surprise. Finally, he thought. But what he saw upon turning made his mind falter for a millisecond.
Gallus was holding a beast girl—one of the servant maids. The Northern Saint's hand was firmly around her neck, using her as a shield. The girl's eyes were wide with fear, tears streaming down her dirt-covered face.
In that instant, surprised, Rygar hesitated for a fraction of a second. He knew he should attack. But that sliver of doubt was all Gallus needed.
SWISH!
The steel sliced through the air. Gallus lunged with impressive speed, his longsword tracing a perfect arc. Rygar managed to move at the last moment, avoiding the blade from piercing his heart, but the sword left a deep gash across his chest. Blood gushed out, staining the ground crimson.
"ARGH!" Rygar cried out, leaping backward with a sonic burst, using magic to create an explosion of air and escape the Troll's deadly follow-up strike. The monster's axe crashed into the ground where Rygar had been, destroying another section of the hall and scattering debris in all directions.
Gallus smirked in amusement. "Caught you off guard, boy. I thought you were more ruthless."
Rygar took a deep breath, blood dripping from his wound. He began channeling his regeneration magic. The pain subsided, but the weight of the situation remained. Gallus is dangerous, he thought. Alone, I could finish him with a single blow, but he's cunning. He exploits every opening in the middle of my fight with the others and doesn't let me breathe.
Rygar gritted his teeth. If I'd known he would use the girl as a shield, I wouldn't have hesitated. But he caught me by surprise. That won't happen again.
While still healing the wound, Rygar was forced to dodge another attack. The three advanced warriors and the Black Troll charged in unison, coming from every side. Swords and axes swung from all directions, forcing Rygar into a frantic defense.
He rolled to the side, climbed a pile of rubble, and used Flash Step to appear behind one of the warriors. But the Troll was always close. It kicked a chunk of a pillar with tremendous force. The massive projectile flew toward Rygar, who jumped at the last second, narrowly avoiding the blow.
Standing amidst the ruins, Rygar felt the gravity of the situation. He knew this battle would be challenging, but it wasn't supposed to be this hard. The main reason was that he couldn't use his most destructive attacks. A massive fireburst or a localized earthquake would give him a significant advantage. But he also knew the slaves were trapped in the underground levels.
"If I destroy everything, they'll die," he thought, wiping sweat from his brow. "Not that I'd sacrifice my life to save them, but they're the main reason for this invasion. Everything I've done so far would be pointless."
If he ended up in a dire situation where he was at a disadvantage, he wouldn't hesitate to destroy everything with large-scale magic, but this stalemate had persisted since the start of the fight. He needed to kill Gallus or the Troll. If either fell, he would gain the upper hand. The Troll had already proven hard to kill, so Gallus was the target.
He needed to change his approach.
An idea formed in his mind. What if I froze everything? Nothing would be destroyed, and it would surely be enough to kill Gallus at point-blank range. He just needed to create an opening to channel the magic without being noticed.
"Gallus," he murmured, his eyes fixed on the Northern Saint. "Let's see how you handle this."
Rygar formed a plan. He used the Longsword of Light and charged at the remaining warriors, engaging in battle while creating walls of earth and wind bullets to maintain a stalemate with the remaining opponents—seven advanced warriors, the Troll, and Gallus.
Meanwhile, he began preparing his next move. Winds started swirling over a wide area, slowly but steadily forming a tornado.
Gallus was too cunning and knew he would lose in a direct confrontation. "I need to lure him into a trap," he thought, already sketching a strategy.