Chapter 122: Destroy the Collar
Akane lunged at him, her blade whistling through the air like the scythe of death. But this time, Isaac’s body reacted before his mind could even register the danger. His muscles moved on their own, guided by a primal intelligence, sidestepping with perfect precision, evading the strike with a grace that defied the natural laws of movement. Akane struck again, but Isaac no longer needed to think: his legs bent instinctively, his torso twisted with mathematical precision, dodging the attack even before his brain processed the threat.
- "Isaac! She’s going to cut you to pieces if you don’t power up!" shouted Naesha from the shadows, her voice betraying a rare concern.
Isaac didn’t bother to reply. His eyes now burned with an incandescent glow, his pupils shimmering with white light, pure mana vibrating under his skin like a contained storm. His muscles reacted even before his mind commanded the movement, dodging, parrying, anticipating each of Akane’s strikes with an ease that bordered on the supernatural.
He took a deep breath, his body tensing like a bow, and a visible shiver coursed through his skin in concentric waves. His mana flared up, crackling around his fingers in luminous arabesques. His body seemed to ignite with a pale, ethereal light, and the air distorted around him as if warped by extreme heat. Akane, in response, accelerated further, her movements becoming frenetic, almost desperate, pushed to the very limits of what the human body could endure.
- "Very well..." Isaac murmured, finally accepting the true fight.
Their blades clashed again, but this time, Isaac did not merely evade. Each blow struck was parried with doubled strength, absorbed and returned with controlled violence. For the first time, Akane was forced to step back, her empty eyes fixed on him, her movements growing more erratic, less fluid, as if two wills were battling for control over her body. But Belgaroth’s grip was tenacious, relentless. Invisible chains pulled at each of her limbs, forcing her to attack again and again, even as pain began to flicker across her once impassive features.
That’s when Isaac saw it: the collar pulsing faintly at the base of her neck, the runes etched into the metal oozing with a sickly red glow, like corrupted blood.
- "That’s it," he murmured, a glimmer of hope igniting in his gaze.
He straightened up, adjusting his grip on his katana with an almost imperceptible motion, and turned slightly toward Naesha without taking his eyes off Akane.