Although Raze perhaps should have been afraid and worried for what was about to come, part of him was a little excited. He had been practicing the Fifth Formation for some time.
He was nearly there, and although he could somewhat perform it himself, it seemed imperfect, and now he might go on to learn the crucial points needed to perform such a move.
When Belil lifted his hands in the air and placed them by his side, after images made of his orange Qi appeared, signaling the start of the formation.
"Ready?" Belil said, and in an instant, he had kicked off from his feet. So much Qi extended out from his leg that large chunks of the hard flooring split apart, looking like even more giant slabs coming up from the floor.
Rushing toward him, Raze feared for the worst that was about to come his way.
"I'll slow him down!" Raze blew a tornado of wind from his palm and added frost with his other hand. Whatever went in its path would be condensed with ice.
However, this time, without even needing to throw a fist, the explosive power of Belil allowed him to crash right through the wind and ice, having no effect on him at all, and Raze saw a fist coming right at him.
Switching to his Ghost blade, Raze swung the blade to match the fist, condensing as much Qi as he could to stop the attack.
'I'm not as weak as you think I am!' Sparks of lightning came from his elbow, allowing for superior speed, and the blade struck right on the knuckle.
Still, Raze knew this wasn't enough; he needed to pull the blade away. As someone who knew the Fifth Formation, he understood this was only the start of the attack.
As the fist struck, several fists of energy appeared from all corners of where Raze was. He tried to move the blade away, to use his magic to push the attack away, yet it was impossible.
The orange fists appeared from every direction. They were slighty translucent, like fists from a ghost. When they moved forward and hit Raze's body, it was quite clear they were not fist's of a ghost.
The powerful strike erupted, striking Raze's body and pounding him from all sides and directions.. The Qi energy hurt him not just on the outside but on the inside as well.
He was sure he could feel some of his bones fracturing, and he couldn't hold it in anymore as he coughed out blood from his mouth, part of it landing on Belil's face.
"Did you think I would just attack once?" Belil said, already throwing his fist up from underneath again.
In desperation, Raze, close to falling to the floor, placed his hand on the ground. He shifted the earth, moving Belil back, and used his lightning footwork to rush away.
When he had reached a reasonable distance from Belil, he let out another large cough, splattering blood onto the ground.
"Kek!" Raze was breathing heavily, his eyes twitching, his body still in pain.
'All of this just from one of his techniques hitting me… I'm still alive, but if that second hit had struck, there's a good chance I might have died.'
Raze thought back to the technique Belil had just used. Although Belil had called it the Neverfall Phantom Formation…
The Dark Edge Sword Arts called it the Phantom Edge Formation. When Raze used it, the sword took on a translucent effect, appearing more like a ghostly blade.
As it moved in the air, faint, spectral images of the sword would appear as well. It had the capability, in a single strike, to perform multiple strikes that could attack from various angles simultaneously.
The strikes that came from the spectral images rather than the sword itself were weaker, which was why Raze had put his all into blocking the attack, but he was already so hurt.
"Come on… what did I say?" Belil shouted as he walked forward again, this time casually strolling toward Raze. "You have to win this fight, or you get nothing. You won't achieve what it is you want."
"Why are you even doing all of this?" Belil asked. "There are plenty of mages who are part of that Alter group, who come over here every day."
"They decide to just live their normal lives. Some are interested in the Pagna world, but they're not like you. Why did you pick up the Dark Edge Sword Arts? Why did you push yourself to reach this high position?"
"I can tell; I can see from the look in your eyes that there's something you want! If you don't beat me now, then all of that will go away!"
The pain Raze felt all over his body started to fade. Instead, it was being replaced with emotions of anger.
'He's right… if I lose this fight, then all of those years, everything I continually went through, will have been for nothing.'
Raze took a deep breath, and his feet ignited with lightning powers once more. He charged forward, exploding from his position, and appeared right in front of Belil.
In one hand, he held a large, condensed ball of Dark magic, while his Ghost blade was covered in darkness. Raze pushed one hand forward, swinging the other.
"That's not it!" Belil shouted as he slammed down with his fist, hitting Raze right on top of both shoulders. A loud cracking sound echoed just before Raze's entire body was thrown to the ground.
Cracks appeared all across the battlefield, and Brack, watching from a distance, was nearly thrown off his slab once again.
With one hand, Belil lifted Raze, his limp body hanging in the air.
"You are not the person who defeated Sha Mo. You are not the person who defeated Murkel! This is not enough."
As Raze weakly opened one eye, looking at Belil, a deep thought filled his mind.
'He… really is going to kill me.'