Chapter 99: Knight in the Palm of His Hand
"Hah... hah..." Mikel panted, lying flat on his back and staring into the endless darkness of the void. "...That was one hell of a battle."
Several paces away, Gallos sat, one knee bent, an arm resting atop it, his head turned toward Mikel. If Gallos moved now, he could try to stab the kid. But he knew that even then, Mikel would still fight.
After dueling him for who knows how long, Gallos realized something clearly: Mikel had many concerning traits, but his resilience was the most troubling of all.
"You hold curses," Gallos remarked. "And also own a phantom."
Mikel, still catching his breath, turned his head. "And?"
"That’s an odd combination," Gallos explained. "At least, I haven’t met anyone who could do both at once."
"Why?" Mikel blinked. "Is it taboo?"
"No, but it requires a higher spiritual energy."
Gallos fell silent, looking up at the Anima around them. No matter how fiercely they dueled, the Anima remained untouched, not even shaking. That alone demonstrated how stable and vast the spiritual field truly was.
On top of that, Mikel’s phantom, Haleth, was still present. Just keeping Haleth out would require consistent spiritual energy, similar to the Anima. Yet Mikel was still able to duel without much trouble while still using his cursed relic.
And yet, that exhaustion from him isn’t even a spiritual strain, Gallos thought. It’s all just physical.