Frey moved his hand .. so fast that it left nothing but afterimages.
Balerion, now fused with that hand, shone with a terrifying violet glow as he carved deep into Gvardiol’s body.
One slash. Then another. Then a third.
Then dozens... hundreds...
Frey ripped his foe apart, torturing him, ignoring the torrents of black blood pouring from Gvardiol’s shredded frame.
"I don’t care how many years you spent training in Hellmond"
"But you must’ve worked really hard."
"Now look at you .. everything you worked for, wasted against a mere human who only trained for eight months. It’s painful, isn’t it? To lose in such a humiliating way?"
Gvardiol’s blood flooded the surrounding sea without pause.
The previous exchange hadn’t even lasted a few seconds, all due to Frey’s monstrous speed.
As a result, Gavid Lindman couldn’t reach in time, even after trying to heal himself.
The one who stepped in was the masked man, V. He attacked from behind, unleashing a massive wave of dark fire aimed at swallowing Frey whole. But Frey responded with a single flick of his free hand .. the one holding the Dark Sister.
With that simple motion, he launched a wave of darkness that clashed directly with V’s own.
In the raging waters of Shizkcar Bay...
Darkness and black fire collided, each trying to consume the other.
V kept hurling his flames relentlessly, launching attack after attack. But for every swing he made, Frey answered with ten.
The black flames were far stronger than ordinary dark aura . but Frey’s aura was simply... endless.
Fighting V with one hand, and destroying Gvardiol with the other...
Frey continued to mock Gvardiol.
"I wonder... what does someone with a dead body feel? Do you still feel pain? Do you feel rage? If you’re dead, can you even be killed?"
With the same maniacal grin, Frey laughed in his opponent’s face.
"Let’s find the answer together, Gvardiol!!!"
Amid the destruction caused by the clash of black fire and Frey’s darkness...
After having his body mercilessly and repeatedly shredded ..
Kneeling before him ..
The world bore witness to a horrific sight: a man torn limb from limb by a merciless black sword.
Frey’s strikes had been so precise, not a single spot was left untouched.
What remained of Gvardiol was nothing more than a mutilated chunk of meat, barely recognizable.
A tattered mass sank slowly into the raging sea.
This battle was far from over... and it would’ve been foolish for any of the strong to reveal their full power from the beginning...
Whether Frey or his enemies.
Everyone knew that well.
Yet Frey had overwhelmed them in terrifying fashion .. just one young man had pushed them this far with his incomprehensible power.
Gvardiol had been at a disadvantage from the start, unable to spread his shadow due to fighting above the ocean’s surface.
One could say he was handicapped from the very beginning.
But to be humiliated like that...
It clearly shook him.
And that explained what happened the moment his body sank into the sea ..
Without warning, a terrifying explosion of shadow aura erupted, sending shockwaves across the entire battlefield.
The aura of shadows kept spreading at such an overwhelming volume that it took shape as a black pillar that pierced the sky.
The crushing pressure it emitted caught the attention of everyone in Shizclar—it was a declaration.
That monster was done playing.
Standing before the towering pillar of aura, Frey didn’t flinch. He only laughed when he realized...
He had gotten exactly what he wanted.
"So you’ve finally decided to unleash your full strength."
Having been pushed to the edge, Gvardiol had no choice but to explode.
Bearing witness to that, rage flared on Gavid Lindman’s face nearby.
"Gvardiol, damned bastard, you’re going this far just from being pushed a little!? Damn you!"
Fixing his gaze on Frey, Gavid gripped his sword as his body lit up with the glow of dark aura.
’Frey Starlight is strong... and unpredictable. He’s full of strange tricks. But he’s still just one man.’
Surveying the battlefield, Gavid Lindman checked on his subordinate, V.
The latter was nearby too ... and like Gavid, he hadn’t yet fought seriously. He had only been observing, just as his master had taught him.
Frey was the one surrounded here—not them.
He was the one who should’ve been forced to go all out.
But Gvardiol had ruined everything ..once again proving just how dangerous Frey was. He had toyed with them all far too easily.
’If it’s come to this... then he must die.’
As his eyes darkened, Gavid raised his blade.
The battle was about to escalate far beyond its previous limits.
And the main event was about to begin .. between Frey and the man who had risen from the ocean’s depths.
The Gvardiol whom Frey had just destroyed was no longer the same as the one who now stood before him.
This new body was entirely coated in the same black metal from before—a shell of dark armor that made him look like an iron statue.
His muscles pulsed with terrifying power, encased in the swirling aura of shadow. His face had morphed completely .. eyes now glowing a blood-red crimson. Gvardiol was utterly serious.
Face to face with Frey.
The two exchanged glances for a moment... then, without warning ..
Two trails of darkness slashed through the air as they collided violently .. stronger than ever before, sending shockwaves through the sea beneath them.
As Frey’s swords clashed with Gvardiol’s iron fists...
They tore into one another, detonating waves of shadow and darkness alike.
Gvardiol’s fists hammered into Frey’s blades again and again ..
But this time, each impact sparked only blazing sparks of metal-on-metal ..no longer the flesh Frey was used to cutting.
In this new form, Gvardiol was absurdly tough... faster... stronger. He immediately pressed down on Frey in their clash.
Frey tried slashing again and again . but it was useless.
His opponent’s body had become something else entirely.
"So this is your peak... Gvardiol."
Their auras erupted once more ..
The real battle had only just begun.