Part 12

The silence in the room was deafening as Nereus held out his palm.

Nothing had happened.

His magic had no effect on the man who stood before him.

Raziel stood there.

(I wasn’t able to destroy his soul.)

Raziel's silver eyes peeked through his white bangs.

Nereus began looking around the room.

(Could this room have an anti-magic barrier?)

Nereus thoughts were interrupted when Raziel took a step forward.

"It would seem that you encountered a small miscalculation on your part."

Nereus lowered his hand.

"You are not going to try again?"

Nereus stared at him.

"No, if it doesn’t work now, it would be useless to try again."

Raziel smirked as he took a step forward.

"Awww, you're no fun. It's fun to analyze and disrupt your ability at its core."

Raziel held out his arms.

"So, what would your next trick be? I’m curious to know."

Nereus pulled a sword out of a scabbard attached to his belt.

"The old-fashioned way, I suppose."

With a loud stomp on the ground, Nereus dashed toward Raziel as he swiped his right arm across

There was a loud sound that shook the room as the sword hit an invisible object.

(What the... my blade can’t hit him.)

Nereus attempted to force the blade toward the man standing there with a bored expression on his face, but the man could not advance forward.

Sparks started flying in the air, and then Nereus was blown back by an invisible force.

Using the palm that he placed on the white floor, he stops himself from flying any further.

As he stops himself, he stabs the sword into the ground. The impact of the sword caused multiple sections of the floor to break off and rise in the air.

With his sword still embedded in the ground, he grabbed a floating piece of rock that was larger than his head and threw it at Raziel.

The cement rock broke as soon as it made contact with the invisible wall, creating ripples in front of Raziel.

Nereus did not let the ripples escape him.

(So that's how it is.)

He took his sword out of the ground and began cutting the flying debris around him. He began hitting the debris with his limbs, sending it flying toward Raziel. Multiple ripples began appearing on the invisible wall.

(If I attack the wall from all angles, then a weakness should reveal itself.)

"The Crystal Guardian. You are after her power, are you not? I had figured that with your great power and intellect, you would have made a more conscious effort to retrieve it for yourself instead of hiding in the shadows," Nereus shouted out.

Once again, he rushed the man, thrusting the sword forward.

"Do not think that whatever you are hiding behind will save you; with enough strength, I will pierce that wall and you along with it."

BOOOOM!!!!!!!!!

There was a loud shockwave that shook the entire room.

Nereus stared in shock at what he was witnessing. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would have thought he was going insane.

(…How?)

Raziel managed to block the tip of the sword in its tracks, not with magic or an invisible force, but-

"My, my, it seems that in your ignorance or arrogance you made two minor calculations, which by themselves are one thing but, up against me, may prove to be fatal."

The tip of the sword was pressed against his index finger.

"The first miscalculation was that I had not made a move to retrieve the girl or the power she possesses. I do not need to; the moment she took a step within the city, she was already under my domain. You will catch on eventually. And second-"

Raziel's palm began to light up, surprising Nereus. In one fell motion, he backed up several feet to regroup himself.

"And the second: Do not attempt to pass your insecurities on to me. I don’t need the Crystal Guardians powers the same way you are trying to use them. I told you that everything in this universe, even the powers that very same universe gave birth to, are nothing more than a mere steppingstone on to greater things."

Raziel lowered his arm to his side.

"If I’m going to stand at the highest echelon of reality, then I want to do so with an even greater power than that of the Crystal Guardians—my own."

Nereus frowned.

"Oh, did that statement strike a nerve with you? I know that's hard to hear now considering you were the first-generation water Crystal Guardian long ago.”

Chapter 3: End