Chapter 48 - Lava-Bound Brawl
Raze, his frame now swollen with muscle and wrapped in crackling dark energy, let out a thunderous roar that rolled across the open field, sending a chill down the spines of the few spectators who dared to watch.
Karian lunged forward, his greatsword blazing as it cleaved through the air. The blade burst into flames upon contact with Raze’s hand. But Raze caught it barehanded, halting the mighty weapon with nothing but brute strength.
The impact of the clash echoed throughout the entire battlefield.
"What a pathetic excuse for a sword strike. You ought to be ashamed, swinging like that with a body so massive. Hahaha!" Raze laughed, clearly a master of cutting insults as much as combat.
Undeterred, Karian pressed on, launching blow after blow with relentless ferocity. His strikes came fast and hard, each one powerful enough to split stone. But Raze didn’t flinch. He blocked every attack with his hand, as if such violent force barely mattered to his transformed body.
Then, with a sudden surge of power, Raze gripped the greatsword tightly, twisted it from Karian’s grasp, and hurled both sword and man to the side with terrifying force.
Karian was thrown away, crashing hard into the scorched earth. His greatsword flew from his hand, landing far from him. Glowing splashes of lava struck his body, drawing grimaces from those watching. They could feel the pain just by looking.
In that moment, a chain tipped with a vicious blade snapped through the air, coiling tightly around Raze’s neck from behind. Kurogasa had arrived.
He rushed forward, unleashing a barrage of spectral duplicates, each one darting in and striking with eerie synchronization. One by one, they lunged at Raze.
"Is this supposed to scare me?" Raze snarled. "I’ve had tougher fights wiping shit off my boots, you masked little maggot!"
Raze swung with feral strength, every blow scattering the illusions into smoke. But the moment he destroyed one, another leapt in. And then, amidst the chaos, the real Kurogasa appeared, slashing viciously at Raze’s exposed torso.