Lodos, the madman, stood before Ery like a twisted specter from his past.
He was one of the first opponents Ery faced during his ti at the academy, a once-promising student now twisted by the horrors of the Nightwalker disease. Ten years ago, Ery had seen Lodos confined to a hospital bed at the Golden City dical Center, battling the ravages of his affliction. But now, Lodos had ascended to the full moon magus realm, his power palpable and nacing.
The air crackled with tension as Lodos conjured a powerful gravity spell, its force slamming into the enforcers with a bone-crushing weight. Ten enforcers found themselves pinned to the ground, straining against an invisible force that held them captive. Panic flickered in their eyes, but Ery remained calm, his heart steady even as the ground quaked beneath the might of Lodos's spell.
"Let them go... You are fighting ," Ery declared, his voice steady, as though Lodos's overwhelming strength did not faze him.
Lodos twisted grin crept across his face. "Yes… yes… you are a gravity user too... My junior... You should show so respect!"
In an instant, Lodos unleashed his full might. The gravitational forces erupted from him in a violent wave, crashing into the enforcers and sending them sprawling backward. The very building trembled under the sheer force of his spell, cracks spiderwebbing across the walls as debris began to rain down from the ceiling.
Lodos's laughter echoed through the crumbling structure. Despite the chaos and destruction surrounding them, the madman seed invigorated, his madness feeding off the turmoil.
Ery's focus, however, was unwavering; the safety of the victim remained his top priority. He quickly cast a shimring barrier around the restrained magus, creating a protective cocoon that would shield him from any further harm during the ensuing confrontation.
Yet, in that mont of distraction, Lodos seized the opportunity to make his escape.
"You can't run away from !"
With a swift movent, Ery tapped into his divine sense, honing in on Lodos's energy signature, and utilized his spatial magic to create a portal. In re seconds, he stepped through, re-erging directly in Lodos's path, cutting off his escape.
The air crackled with tension as they locked eyes.
"I thought you wanted to fight… why did you run away?" Ery challenged.
"Hahaha… running? Who said I am running? No, no… I am the one chasing you…" "...."
Ery was taken aback. He had almost forgotten the extent of Lodos's insanity, and apparently, the Nightwalker disease only made him worse.
Lodos unleashed another gravity spell and this ti, Ery was prepared, his mastery of gravity coming to the forefront and pushed against Lodos's gravitational field.
To his surprise, Ery found himself able to resist Lodos's magic completely.
The realization hit him: Lodos's gravity spell wasn't much stronger than his own.
This quickly brought troubling thoughts. If Lodos hadn't broken into the full moon realm through the law of gravity, then how had he done it?
His introspection was abruptly shattered by a cacophony of screams echoing from the surrounding area, snapping him back to the imdiate threat.
Ery turned just in ti to see multiple civilians being drawn into Lodos's gravity spell, their bodies lifted off the ground as they spiraled helplessly toward the madman. "What are you doing?!? Stop right now!"
Ery swiftly summoned his spirit energy, a luminous barrier emanating from him as he tried to forcefully halt Lodos's gravitational pull. With a flick of his wrist, he conjured several thick roots from the ground, intertwining them in midair, ready to catch the civilians before they could et a tragic fate.
But just as victory seed within reach, a ripple distorted the air around him, and a sickening realization gripped his heart. He felt it before he saw it—the abrupt shift in the civilians' screams, the horrifying sound of flesh tearing and blood bursting.
"No!!!" Ery's heart sank as he witnessed the grueso scene unfold.
The civilians were not just falling—they were being shredded apart in an explosion of crimson. Pools of blood erupted beneath Lodos's control, swirling chaotically, their lifeblood mingling in a horrifying display of death and destruction.
"Blood magic!! You are crazy!!!" Ery shouted in horror.
Lodos's laughter echoed through the ruined space, his eyes gleaming with an unsettling mania. "Hahaha… how do you like the new ? Lodos, the Bloodthirsty Phantom!" Ery felt rage boiling within him, a molten heat that threatened to consu him. He trembled, not from fear, but from the weight of responsibility that pressed down on his shoulders. The blood of the innocent civilians stained his conscience, and the thought of their tragic fate tore at him.
He should have stopped the madman sooner.
Just then, the enforcer group burst onto the scene, their faces etched with a mix of horror and fury as they surveyed the aftermath of Lodos's blood magic. The carnage ignited a shared rage among them, each enforcer ready to spring into action. But Ery raised a hand to stop them, his voice steady despite the tempest inside him.
"I will deal with this madman!" he declared, his gaze fixed on Lodos, who stood laughing maniacally, completely unfazed by the weight of his actions.
Without another mont to spare, Ery charged forward, his savage sword gleaming ominously in the dim light. He channeled his energy, casting Spatial Bending to warp the space around Lodos, limiting the madman's movents and creating an opening for his strike.
Lodos, however, was not without his defenses. With a flick of his wrist, he manipulated the pools of blood surrounding him, weaving them into weapons and shields that glimred with an unsettling, dark beauty. Blood magic, drawn from the very essence of life, granted him a ferocity unlike any other—its unique strength feeding on his sheer madness.
"Hahaha… you cannot defeat , Ery! Hahaha!!" Lodos's maniacal laughter echoed through the air, mocking Ery's attempts as each strike failed to breach his blood barrier.
Realizing his usual attacks couldn't break through, Ery cast his [Void Blade], the powerful dark edge crackling with deadly energy as it t the blood shield in a sweeping arc.
The blade ripped through Lodos's defenses with a thunderous crack, shattering the blood barrier in a single strike.
Lodos's grin faltered, shock flashing in his eyes as he staggered back.
"Wait… wait… this is not fair…!" he sputtered, his voice dripping with disbelief as he scrambled for balance. "I… I need more blood!"
Ery's expression hardened, and without hesitation, he surged forward.
"Then here—take your own!" he snarled, delivering a decisive slash that severed Lodos's legs. sprayed blood through the air, Lodos howled in pain, yet he continued laughing, "Hahaha… no… not my blood! I need other blood… the stronger, the better…" Ery shook his head, exhaling a heavy sigh as he watched Lodos's pitiful form writhe and bleed. There was no reasoning with such madness; each word from Lodos seed to peel back more of his humanity, revealing the twisted soul within. With a swift, precise movent, Ery struck Lodos once more, delivering a punishing blow that left him weakened and barely conscious. With a swift motion, Ery summoned thick, twisting vines from the ground that snaked around Lodos, binding him in place,
The bloodthirsty phantom was finally caught.
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