Cain’s face was calm as he analyzed the flow of the battle and came to a conclusion.

“My captains truly don’t stand a chance against you. Everyone, fall back.”

“Guild Leader!” “Cain!” “Sir!”

The three voiced their disapproval but were cowered by Cain’s commanding order.

“Enough! If anyone else comes, they are not to disturb our duel..."

Cain locked eyes with Novus’ squinting eyes.

"...If I die, he wins his free retreat.”

“How kind of you.”

Novus' gaze focused on Cain as he thought to himself.

I could already escape if I needed to… but this is exactly the type of battle I need.

Novus watched as Cain extended his arm to the side and the battle fervour in his eyes started to build in anticipation.

“Truth be told, I’ve been trying to find you again for a proper duel. But, if you aren’t trying your best, all this effort goes to waste!”

Novus gathered his soul power to his sword as he watched faint grey lines snake along Cain’s arm and coalesce in his palm.

“I’ve even got quite the gift since the last time I saw you. Lucky you, you’ll be the first to witness its might.”

The grey lines gathered into a gardening scythe with a handle about a meter long and a blade half that size. Novus felt nauseated at the memorable sight of grey fog ruffling from the scythe despite the smaller size than he remembered.

The Death God’s Scythe!? How did Cain get...? Wait, could it be that The Divine did more than just interfere with my system? They've even wormed their way into the player's systems.

Realization donned on Novus' face.

Damned Divine really did choose other apostles!

While Novus was cursing the divine in his mind, Cain swiped the air with his scythe.

Fweh!

From the scythe’s blade, a grey-coloured mana blade shaped like a crescent flew towards Novus, who dodged just in time. Behind him, the grey crescent left a sharp line in the ground where Novus previously was.

Before Cain could swing again, Novus was already in sword-slashing range and using the arcing opening left by Cain’s attack.

Ptang!

Jutting the blade in his hand, Novus defended Cain’s unpredictable twist of the scythe and watched Cain retreat a few paces. Cain wished for the distance to widen for optimal attacking, but Novus flew in close, unwilling to let Cain gain his spacing.

The intense battle continued as Cain and Novus weaved and flowed, attacking high and low to get the upper hand. Arcs of grey crescent attacks put slits into the earth, but none landed with success against Novus. The black hue on Novus’ sword was quite close to inflicting lethal damage numerous times, but Cain always found a way to evade it.

Letting go of his second hand on the scythe, Cain one-handedly swung the scythe towards Novus before suddenly changing direction and sweeping with his free hand. Mid-air, the blade switched hands, and Novus felt the faint premonition of a blade cutting against the back of his neck.

Novus quickly ducked his head and rolled; however, that was a mistake as Cain finally held the optimal distance to resume his grey crescent strikes.

With a low sweep of the scythe, a grey crescent strike was flung towards Novus, who avoided it by circling back even farther.

No more grey crescent strikes arrived as Cain preserved his mana as if waiting for something. Cain was waiting for Novus’ deeply traumatic magic abilities, but Novus didn’t seem to want to use them. In fact, he hadn't used them in battle, which was strange to Cain.

Huff. Huff.

This isn’t going anywhere.

Novus looked at the small gashes on Cain’s body that were rapidly healing from little red potions.

Meanwhile, Cain was thinking the same thing.

If it keeps going like this, it’ll be a tie. Can he not use magic? No, that can’t be right. The sword is being imbued with magic.

Cain misunderstood Novus’ black soul power as magic imbuing his blade like the flames had done while battling Tham. That misunderstanding led Cain to activate another card that was up his sleeve.

Death Incarnate.

Soul Partner Channelling.

A grey fog engulfed Cain's figure from behind in a place Novus couldn’t see. His seemingly ordinary armour blackened as a dark grey hood manifested over Cain’s head from the dense grey fog. Had the grey hood continued into a full robe, and Cain been an undead lich or wearing a skeleton mask, he would have looked like a genuine Grim Reaper.

So, he can use magic after all.

Cain misunderstood further as he saw the top of Novus' red hair darken and the black hue along Novus’ Soul-Training Sword grow into a black glow.

Pew!

As Novus swung his sword to meet the empowered flying grey crescents, Mino's support came. However, the sound of clashing metal barely rang out as the oncoming grey crescents disappeared.

Shin… woosh!

Cain’s smiling façade halted as he watched Novus’ sword eat his grey crescent strikes. The previously fluctuating black hue solidified instantly as the glow wished to eat up more deadly strikes.

How can he…? No, if it’s him, he could have a million different ways of adjusting to my attacks.

Despite Cain’s shocked mind, he again established his smiling poker face and rapidly swung at the approaching Novus.

Shin… woosh!

Despite Cain’s wish of there being a limit to Novus’ consuming ability, each grey crescent only improved the stability of the glowing black hue along Novus’ durable sword.

Clash!

Upon contact with each other, the black glow on Novus’ sword fluctuated against the grey fog around Cain’s scythe. One power eroded as the other consumed, and for a moment, all was calm. But, eventually, Novus stepped back as the force between a two-handed scythe overpowered his one-handed sword. Yet, despite being dominated in force, Novus didn’t lose out in the battle of speed.

The clashing of blades only signalled the start of the second round as Novus used his greater speed to counter Cain’s two-handed strikes and eat away at the grey fog surrounding Cain.

Crack!

The twig snapping alerted another series of blows as Laughing Devil guild members came through the forest clearing. Hearing of their guild master duelling another player had them rushing to not miss out on the event.

Time passed as both Laughing Devil guild members and the regular players around the area formed a ring around Novus and Cain. Booing and cheering were heard as many players recorded the crazy match between Cain and a mysterious player capable of taking Cain head-on.

Eventually, the battle’s climax began to show itself as Cain and Novus held no more than rapidly regenerating slivers of health on their health bars.

Pew!

With each consumed bite of the grey fog, Mino seemed reenergized. By this point, Mino’s soul power was single-handedly keeping up both the Regeneration skill and stabilizing the glowing black hue on Novus’ blade. Thanks to Mino, Novus could keep his health up against Cain’s abusive potion chugging.

However, even that combo showed signs of faltering in Cain as he was running out of health potions while Novus only continued to grow stronger with each consumed bit of grey fog.

Clash!

Cain forced Novus away as the Blood Mask appeared on his face. Cain was hesitant to use the mask since it only had one more use before the magic kept inside the mask ran out, and it became little more than an everyday item again. However, the mask’s Enrage skill would considerably raise his strength attribute for a short time, which Cain hoped would be the deciding factor in their final clash.

The distance shortened instantly as both weapons arced in a final push to reach each other’s critical areas. Cain pushed all his strength in a gamble against Novus’ speed as the blades screeched against the air.

Whizz!

Cain’s pupils had dilated inwards as he focused his senses on each of Novus’ micromanaged muscles. So, it wasn’t surprising when he noticed the hidden movement of Novus’ fingers rubbing against each other.

It wasn’t through thought, but rather an instinctual movement, that Cain closed his eyes in time.

Snap!

However, no bright flash blinded Cain. Only the piercing sound of a sword was heard as the last of Cain’s health was taken from him.

Puchi!

“You dirty…”

Rip!

Novus’ sword ripped out of Cain’s heart, and his eerie smile washed away with the dissipating grey fog around him.

“…rival.”

Cain’s body collapsed on the ground with a light thud, and a daunting message appeared before Novus. It seemed Cain hadn't engaged in any player robbery as of late, and Novus' name above his head began to wash with a faintly red hue.

"Ah, Haha. The system is a bard now, spouting crazy stories.”

A foreign, yet strangely familiar, voice rang out in Novus’ mind.

Yes! You killed him!

Pton!

Novus’ laugh stopped due to the rude arrow by his looting hand and the voice that echoed in his mind. Cain’s loyal captains stepped before Novus, as did the numerous laughing devil guild players around him.

“You may leave.”

Bonnie spoke without an inch of patience in her tone. Like many other Laughing Devil members, she was ready to behead Novus. However, their unwavering loyalty to their Guild Leader was unquestionable. Cain had said to let Novus go if he won the duel, and unless he made a reckless decision to fight them, Novus would freely walk away.

Novus’ hand pulled away from Cain’s body, and he resumed his standing posture without sheathing his sword. Tension itched alongside the adrenaline running through Novus’ system, but he maintained a calm mind. Finally, Novus turned his back on the captains guarding Cain’s body as the crowd parted for Novus.

They are truly trained well.

Novus remarked in his mind and resumed his trek. This time, he may have bested Cain due to a split-second decision, but he didn’t think he would be as lucky next time.

More than ever, Novus needed to get stronger.