Chương 23: 22. Rings, Cards, and Purple Spheres

Flaming arrows flew at the footman only to be ensnared in circles of pale light. Even depowered, the monster was a force to be reckoned with. Unlike the scum we were currently facing, he was part of something bigger. I performed two arc attacks in immediate succession, pushing my opponent back. My only chance of success was to kill off one of the flaming skeletons before the footman went on the offensive. A few mindless minions tried to sneak up on me from the side. That was a huge mistake on their part.

Even if I was slow compared to where I wanted to be, I wasn't that slow. As my blades thrust through their skulls, I thought of my next gym session after the trial. After all this, it was going to be fun decapitating them at the arena. The second flaming skeleton joined in with a vertical slash. Knowing what the follow-up would be, I pressed on against my direct opponent. Ignoring my mind's warning of upcoming pain, I threw one of my blades at the new attacker, then grabbed the flaming hand of the other.

My hand sizzled, filling the room with the smell of burned flesh. I didn't let go, tightening my grip further. The powers of two cards clashed directly against one another—the force of my grip versus its strengthened bones. Thanks to the arena prizes, my grip won. One of the bones cracked, then shattered, depriving the skeleton of its main weapon. Sensing that it would lose, the monster reached out towards me with its other hand.

My second blade went through the bones of its forearm, preventing the fingers from reaching me. No, you don't! I spun around. The lightness of the skeleton worked to my advantage, letting me spin it like a rag doll. No sooner had I done so, then the other skeleton's sword moved again, striking the ribs of my captive. Doubling my efforts, I broke off the sword hand of the skeleton. Beside me, another undead burst into flames. Thanks, Cathy. I thought.

Things could have become nasty if I had let myself get clawed by a stupid undead minion. I grabbed the skeleton's rib ring and broke it off. The pain had decreased to the point that it had become bearable. Taking advantage of the fact, I shoved the skeleton off, then struck the side of its skull with my blade. The edge went through like a knife passing through an eggshell. The flames spontaneously vanished, indicating that one of my enemies was dead. Now it was time for the other.

Stepping back to increase the distance between us, I put the ring in my inventory. There would be a better time to make use of it later. Taking advantage of the fact that I had a single weapon, the remaining flaming skeleton pushed on. A short distance away, the footman turned in my direction. My quick success had intrigued him enough to the point that he was about to join in. Right then, an arrow struck his head. There was hardly any damage inflicted.

The arrow bounced off, causing his head to momentarily tilt to the side. I retreated further until my back hit the wall. Even with the flames of the skeleton, it was difficult to get an idea of the room's size. As it turned out, it was a lot smaller than I had originally thought. Nearly all the undead minions had been destroyed. The few that remained seemed to have a greater interest in Carl and Cathy than chasing after me. The monster facing me paused. I could tell he was confident in my defeat.

With one burned hand and no place to retreat further, he probably thought he had the advantage. With only one weapon, I couldn't use the Three of Swords to perform arc attacks. Counting my heartbeats, I waited for the monster to get nearer. After a split second of silent gloating, it did.

"Joke's on you." I retrieved the goblin-killer sword from my inventory. Before the skeleton could start its attack, I charged at it, performing multiple arc slashes in rapid succession. The pain in my right hand radiated all the way up to my shoulder, yet I kept on going. Even with its bones strengthened, the skeleton found it impossible to withstand my attack. Retreating, it went on the defensive, trying to deflect what it could. This was where my two blades showed their superiority.

Left without a partner, no matter what the monster did, it failed to counter half of my strikes. Bit by bit it was driven back. When it became obvious that was a losing approach, it raised its sword hoping that a final attack would change things. I didn't let that happen. Both my blades struck the sides of the skeleton's neck. The goblin-killer caused a small crack to appear on the vertebra. My other weapon sliced through. Flames engulfed the entity. Within a moment it was gone, leaving two cards in its wake.

Two distinct clings sounded from the floor nearby. One had to be the ring dropping to the ground. As for the other…

"Cathy, light up the room!" I shouted as I reached down. Grabbing the cards, I made both my blades lit up. There, among the scattered bones and pieces of cloth, lay a single purple sphere. I grabbed it, and shoved it into my mouth. Purple spheres boosted magic. With the minor cards I had, the benefits would be limited. The long-term boost, on the other hand, was worth it. Swallowing the sphere was like getting electrocuted on the inside. The surge came almost immediately, hitting me like a cascade of waves.

As it did, the room became brighter. This was unexpected. In the past, I had never experienced the effects of a magic sphere. In fact, the only time I had seen one was after Avon had defeated a chimera. I still remember the envy in everyone's eyes when he swallowed it; I was part of that group. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. A flaming arrow flew by, as bright as a comet. Not that I needed it any longer.

In my current state, I could see all magic glowing in the room. The rib ring glowed a bright orange. The uncollected Arcana cards were a dull white. More importantly, ten steps away, I caught the unmistakable light of another purple sphere. Without hesitation, I rushed in that direction. In the heat of battle, there was no telling exactly how much time had passed since the first skeleton had been killed. All I knew was that if I didn't reach the sphere on time, I would lose it. Thankfully, luck was on my side.

I shoved the second monster sphere into my mouth. Bits of ash and cloth went down my throat along with it. The sensation was quickly drowned out by the second electric surge that went through me. My stomach felt as if it would be ripped to shreds. Out of caution, I used my Chalice card to cast a healing spell. Boosted by my momentary burst of magic, the burned flesh on my hand quickly regenerated. In less than a second, healthy flesh had formed, leaving a series of scabs on top.

Adding the cards to my collection, I quickly put the ring on, then retrieved the one from my inventory and did the same. Three rings of strength—that was probably enough to increase my overall power by half. The only thing that remained was for me to get my other silver blade. Finding it was easy—the entire thing glowed a warm yellow, indicating just how powerful it was. Shoving the goblin-killer back into my inventory, I snatched my second blade from the floor, then leaped straight at the footman.

Thanks to the monster spheres, I could see the circles of magic surrounding him. Moments before, it had seemed like the entity had been inactive. That couldn't be further from the truth. While Cathy and I had been busy fighting undead, and Carl was watching, the footman had been casting spells. I had only been in possession of a few Arcana cards that provided magic, but even I could recognize a few of the rings. Two of them were shields of protection, fully negating any physical damage.

That alone was enough to render any attack meaningless. In the early years of my old run, I would frequently wake up in a cold sweat, terrified whether there would be a magic monster in the next trial. It had taken me years to learn the simple trick: destroy the circle, and the spell loses its effect. That was one more thing I had a goddess to thank. Gripping both blades, I performed a power thrust immediately followed by an arc slash. Four spheres flickered out of existence as my blade sliced through them.

Among those were both of his shield spells. A moment later I thrust both blades into the footman's side. Sadly, his armor proved too strong. Both blades slid off, dealing no damage whatsoever.

"How?!" The footman stared at me, hatred mixed with surprise.

"Just lucky, I guess." I performed another attack, focusing on the remaining circles. Three of them were destroyed before the footman could do a thing. Then, he swung his saber. I leaped to the side. A line of ice continued in the direction of the strike, forming a low wall. Using the opportunity, Cathy fired another arrow at the monster, only this time, he slashed it mid-flight. With the monster sphere boost still in effect, I saw the magic go out of the saber, like a spiderweb.

Knowing no mercy, it engulfed the arrow, flames and all, turning it into an icicle mid-air. Clearly, it was going to be highly challenging defeating the footman without magic weapons. Fortunately, I didn't have to. Twelve of Rings, I thought. Flames surrounded both my blades, three times larger than I had expected. Considering his limitations and my boost, one could say that we're on an equal level. Of course, that wasn't going to remain for long. The footman's next attack followed.

His style was considerably more refined, more like fencing than the barbaric hack-and-slashing I had experienced so far. With a weapon such as his, strength was of little importance. Ice grew out of the saber's edge as it came into contact with my blades. The flames on my weapons flickered as they engaged in a magical tug of war. Both streams of magic were strong and unwavering. I could see my flames rage in an attempt to devour the saber.

Meanwhile, the ice attempted to encase them, as it would engage a rabid animal. A second was enough for both of us to see that neither power held the upper hand. The footman stepped back, another magic circle forming around him. Left with no alternative, I pushed on. The few cards I had granted me a few basic attacks. Everything else I had to attempt on my own, even if my body wasn't ready for it. Using the Five of Rings to harden my bones, I lunged with my right blade. The effect was effortlessly deflected.

The footman even held one hand behind his back as if this were an official duel. I pressed my weight against his sword, forcing him to counter. Then I released the pressure. Unprepared, the footman took one step forward. That was when I swung my second blade at him. The weapon slid off his breastplate just as before. In the process, I had managed to destroy all of his magic circles.

"Too bad," I forced a laugh, aiming to annoy him as much as possible. Being an opponent with a brain, he was one whose emotions were easy to manipulate. In the past, when I faced him in his full power, the footman had taken great pleasure in breaking participants before he killed them. It wasn't enough to wound an opponent or even cut a limb off; the monster wanted to drain every last drop of hope from the other's being before skewering the husk that remained. Now, it was time for him to taste his own medicine.

"You maggot!" the footman hissed, as I expected he would. Anger boiled over. Throwing his caution to the wind, he stepped forward. Got you! The flames on my sword turned green as the effects of acid mixed with fire. Even with the magic sight fading, I could still see both magic elements intertwine, creating something completely new. Crack! One of my blades blocked the saber, causing a hairline crack on the base of the blade. The second struck the breastplate. The metal piece of armor lit up like a candle.

The acid corroded the point of contact, and the flames lit up the fumes. The effect was so intense that every fiber of my body urged me to step back. Not yet! I gritted my teeth. It was the footman who made the move. Releasing his weapon, he withdrew several steps, quickly removing his protective armor. The breastplate fell to the floor, still burning, as if made entirely of wax.

"You cur!" the monster shouted. His hands moved faster than I could react, forming a new circle in front of him. Determined not to let him take a breath, I performed another double arc slice, destroying the spell. Magician card or not, I was going to win this!