----


    ''BOOM!'' ''BOOM!'' ''BOOM!''


    "Ayahahahaha," Vc''s maniacalughter throughout the pauses in the explosives vibrations. In addition to burning Desolim''s internals with his blue mes, he also pummeled his body until it formed an identical indent in the floor. Obviously, Vc was fixated on causing an astonishing amount of damage.


    Compared to any other Spirit involved in this scuffle, there was no other Spirit who suffered as much damage as Desolim. Since he had gotten on Apollo''s bad side, Apollo allowed Vc to act without restraint under the circumstance that he remained in his current form.


    Naturally, to Vc, this small condition was worth the exchange. As he tortured Desolim and beat him senseless, Vc felt the repressed frustration dissipating. Sadly, while his mental state was stabilizing, Desolim, on the other hand, was bing far worse. In fact, under the repeated blows from Vc, he struggled to stay conscious.


    To make matters worse, Grayson had just fainted. In other words, even if he wished to return his Spiritual Mark back to Grayson''s Soul Temple, it was nearly impossible. To return, the summoner needed to still be conscious to open back up their Soul Temple.


    In this situation, Desolim was no different than a sitting duck.


    "More...more… Fight back! Where your vigor? Where is your will," Vc eximed in a crazed manner. A maniacal looked circted in his eyes as he grabbed Desolim''s face and hoisted him up before himself. Due to the extreme amounts of damage, Desolim''s body dangled limply from Vc''s grasp.


    When he noticed this, Vc started to frown. It was a blow to his enjoyment when he realized this opponent was weaker than he expected. "Tch, that can''t be it. Useless race. Their show strength is just a facade."


    Disgruntled, Vc clicked his tongue and tossed aside Desolim''s body. Afterward, a majestic spear appeared in Vc''s hand, wreathed in an ice blue me. A look of disgust permeated his expression and his grip on the spear tightened.


    "Since you have disturbed my only moments of pleasure. You can die," Vc said in a cold tone. Without another thought, heunched his spear forward. In the middle of its flight, it began spiraling, causing the mes to take on a respective drill shaped. It warped the air as it blitzed forward.


    However, right before the spear impaled Desolim, his eyes mmed open. At a nce, it would seem to be a reactive response to death, but that wasn''t the case. When Desolim''s eyes opened, Grayson''s body seized and started to spasm uncontrobly.


    "This may be a taboo amongst the Spirits, but it is only allowable in our moments of so-called death. After all, no human is worth forever condemning our potential," Desolim uttered. His hand snatched the air before him and he grasped the iing spear right before his face.


    A nket of dark shadow encroached on the blue mes and dispersed them. At the same time, Desolim''s body underwent a change. His dark attired leaked embers of shadows while a ck cloak extended from his back. Additionally, ayer of permanent darkness cascaded his des.


    "It''s a shame that I had to use my Reality Manifestation, but it is much better than experiencing a fake death here," Desolim uttered. The wounds to his body mended and his cracked bones creaked and reshaped themselves to their prior form.


    In light of this disy, Vc''s eyes shimmered with excitement, "Yes! Thank the dark lords that you weren''t that weak. I can finally let loose!"


    ''Fwoosh!''


    A burst of dark energy strong enough to contort the nearby space billowed from Vc. However, if one looked closely, there was a difference in the two aurae these beings exuded. While Vc''s was more so centered around death and madness, Desolim''s darkness was stagnant and almost murky, it was simr to the technique Xezym utilized. Needless to say, they originated from the same world—Umbrenith.


    On the other hand, the barrier didn''t ount for such strong surges of power. Minuscule cracks appeared in the foundation of it. More importantly, this took ce when they hadn''t even shed yet.


    ''This barrier won''t hold. It''s liable to shatter after a few simple shes. Nevertheless, I have already aplished my task. This is just to allow Vc to channel his inner resentments,'' Apollo thought.


    Concurrently, he turned his head towards Odessa and the others. There was a look of fear on their face. The scene before their eyes could only be described as a nightmare. Not only would there undoubtedly be punishment, but their forces for the excursion will also be affected!


    Nevertheless, Apollo soon shifted his attention away. Truth be told, this issue didn''t bother Apollo in the slightest. Unlike the rest, when he felt like it, he could always visit his indigenous world. Thus, even if he was punished, there was no ce on Astarat that could truly contain him.


    Not to mention, he had already started to create pawns. When push came to shove, he would just have to gamble on their preparation. With his attention back on Vc and Desolim, he watched them intently. When it came to Typhir, there was no need to monitor him, Apollo was confident in his ability.


    After all, the training received from Fuhrer wasn''t for naught.


    All of a sudden, both Vc and Desolim made their moves. Each of them performed explosive dashes that obliterated the ground beneath their feet. Whereas Vc took to the air and zoomed down with ever-changing trajectories, Desolim''s body seemed to phase in and out of appearance.


    Additionally, as this happened, not only did he elerate, but his dark energy formed small aerial tforms that acted as springboards. This enabled him to close the distance between him and Vc with ease.


    When Vc noticed this, it was impossible to contain his jubnce. Creating mayhem wasn''t his only joy, on the contrary, a worthwhile fight was also high up on the pedestal of his pleasures. A peal of nearly child-like enthusiasm sounded as he struck his spear forward.


    A beam of pale blue mes fired towards Desolim, scorching its surroundings. For a moment, it looked like this strike would overpower him. But, Desolim reacting ordingly.


    He held his rapiers before him and executed an X-shaped energy sh that collided with the iing strike. The resulting collision caused discernible cracks in the barrier, but there wasn''t a single soul who paid this any mind.


    Vc was too busy bearing an unsettling grin, whilst Desolim''s expression remained solemn.


    "Again! You have grown stronger indeed! You had less preparation but were able to match my magnitude," Vcughed boisterously. With a flicker of darkness, his body turned into a streak, zooming towards Desolim.


    In response, Desolim prepared himself, pooling a substantial amount of energy into his des, fortifying the sharpness. From what he realized, Vc''s spearhead was remarkably sharp. While his rapiers were no weaker, whenpared side by side, the materials seemed to be of different divisions.


    Compared to the materials found on Astarat, the materials found within the Nihilistic Rings and Spirit World outsses them many times over. Be that as it may, there was still a ranking system present in each world. Hence, the reason for Desolim''s current preparatory actions.


    A few instantster, Vc appeared before Desolim. The two began interchanging strikes faster than the eyes could track. Yet, despite Desolim possessing two weapons, he couldn''t find the opportunity needed to overwhelm Vc.


    ''He''s faster than me. Even though it''s only marginally, it seems like he''s too experienced in battle. He''s using the rebound force to elerate his next strike and deal with my second weapon ordingly,'' Desolim thought with a slight frown.


    To date, this was one of his most difficult battles. Even the training experienced back on his homeworld paled inparison to the onught of this madman. The pattern of his strikes was erratic and virtually nonexistent.


    Moreover, the angle Vc attacked from was always change. Since he possessed the ability of flight, even when it seemed like he was horribly off-bnce, he was in fact not. His wings allowed him to stabilize himself in any position. This was a reason Tirasha had lost to him terribly.


    Suddenly, Vc changed his style. He performed an aerial spin the moment their weapons collided. And right before he lost his momentum, he channeled the force to his leg and kicked Desolim''s chin.


    The transference of the umted force disoriented him and caused him to stumbled backward. The surroundings blurred and Desolim stabbed one of his rapiers into the ground to halt his slide.


    Unfortunately, his opponent was an unrelenting one. Vcunched his spear once again. However, this time, it was akin to a ming meteor.


    Although he was disoriented, the danger was great enough to discern with terrible senses. As a result, Desolim formted a shoddy defense. The figure of a dark entity formted around his body and retaliated against the strike.


    Despite his efforts, the spear throw was still overwhelming. Desolim''s body mmed against the barrierpletely shattering it.


    As this happened, Vc floated back to the floor and walked forward with a saunter-like gait. It was as if he was going for a simple stroll through the park. Moreover, he lifted his hand and recalled his spear to his hand.


    A pleased smiled appeared on his face as he gazed at Desolim''s battered appearance in the distance, "Ah, this battle was quite fun. Unfortunately, you''re still not strong enough. You can''t ovee my advantage. As far as power goes, we are nearly equal. But, when we take into ount our experience, you pale inparison. Pure power can only go so far. Unlike you, I''ve been beaten and drilled since my birth. I may seem like a heathen, but…"


    Vc''s aura stagnated, like a calm before the storm. A momentter, in a focus st, it assaulted Desolim. "In truth, I''m more ancient than you believe."


    "D-de-..." Desolim tried to sputter out a response, but Vc shed forward and grasped his throat shut. The ripples of their battle spread out through the entirety of the academy.