Chapter 59: Chapter 59: Now It’s Zenos’ Turn

After watching the spear user’s body dissolve into fading particles, I felt a wave of pressured heat slamming against my back. The storm still lingered some distance ahead.

It had shrunk considerably, dying down to a fraction of its former size but the power contained within remained terrifyingly immense.

I moved away from it immediately.

My eyes found Beatrice. She stood frozen. Stunned by everything that had just transpired.

I rested my axe on my shoulder and gave her a smug grin. A silent declaration of who owned this battlefield.

But before I could savor the moment properly, a scream tore through the air.

Zenos.

I whipped around to find him collapsed on his knees. The reason was his right arm. Black flames were devouring it, crawling up his flesh like hungry serpents, and their intensity was only growing stronger with each passing second.

I sprinted toward him.

If those flames consumed him entirely, I would lose my strongest and only summon in the middle of battle.

I closed the distance and raised my axe high.

“This will hurt a bit.”

SCHWICK!

I brought the blade down with precision. Aimed for the shoulder. It carved through cleanly which severed his arm before the corruption could spread any further.

His dismembered limb dropped to the ground. The black flames continued their feast even on the severed flesh. Growing hungrier. More violent.

Until nothing remained but ashes that scattered in the wind, releasing wisps of aura energy into the atmosphere.

Even after the flames had finished their meal, I could still hear the sound of burning.

I glanced at my right hand.

The one gripping the axe.

CRACKLE. HISS.

The entire weapon was engulfed in black fire. Heat radiated through the handle, searing my palm.

I hurled it away from me instantly.

CLANG!

The burning axe clattered against the stone floor. Another second of hesitation and I would have lost my arm too.

I hadn’t accounted for this. The flames could spread through contact alone. Even brief contact with corrupted material was enough to trigger their hunger.

Now I was weaponless.

I turned back to Zenos. He had risen to his feet, recovering faster than I expected. But there was something different in his eyes now. A cold fury directed entirely at Vespara.

He wanted vengeance.

I walked over and patted his back firmly.

“Ready to destroy her?”

He didn’t look at me. Didn’t acknowledge my presence at all. His gaze remained locked on the old witch across the battlefield.

That was exactly what I needed from him.

“Zenos, forget about long range attacks. Forget the flying kisses you’ve been blowing her way. It’s time to go over there and give her a physical kiss instead.”

The moment those words left my mouth, I caught sight of Vespara’s wrinkled face in the distance. And I realized what I had just said matched the current situation but carried a significantly worse meaning.

I cleared my throat quickly.

“Let’s switch to the fighting style we’ve been practicing.”

His expression transformed instantly. The wrathful glare melted away which was replaced by a devilish grin.

Good. He was listening. He was present.

“But don’t get carried away. One touch of those black flames and you’re finished. And let’s not forget that your main hand is missing now. So you need to be—”

“My jerking hand is enough to jerk the very magic out of her veins.”

He cut me off without breaking eye contact with his target.

I stood there stunned.

Did they even understand what jerking off meant? Did summons have that kind of luxury in whatever afterlife they came from?

Or were they simply absorbing everything I said and repeating whatever sounded badass?

This was exactly like raising a child. And based on the results, I deserved an award for being the worst parent in existence.

I sighed heavily, pressing my palm against my forehead.

“Then… finish her with your jerking hand, I suppose.”

He smiled.

Then charged.

WHOOSH!

“Ray of Atrophy!” Beatrice’s voice rang out across the arena. Vespara responded immediately, raising her staff and unleashing a concentrated beam of black flames at my sprinting summon.

“Zenos, fire walls! Dozens of them! Same precision we practiced!”

He understood perfectly.

FWOOSH! FWOOSH! FWOOSH!

Long walls of fire erupted from the ground in rapid succession. But these weren’t defensive barriers. They were meant to obscure. To hide his movements from the enemy’s line of sight.

The walls carved a maze across the battlefield, creating a protected corridor for him to advance through.

The black beam searched for its target but found nothing. Zenos had already changed direction, dashing behind one wall before conjuring another dozen ahead of him.

Again and again. Shifting trajectory. Multiplying his cover. Pressing forward relentlessly.

“Abyssal Geyser!”

Desperation crept into Beatrice’s command.

I couldn’t see Vespara anymore through the forest of flame walls, but I could sense her magic activating.

The ground beneath the arena began to tremble. Strange patterns formed across the stone surface. Dark energy concentrated at specific points.

Then eruption.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Geysers of black fire burst upward from the ground like volcanic explosions. Dozens of them scattered blindly across the battlefield.

“Zenos, watch where you step!”

That bastard didn’t respond.

I had no idea if he even heard me. He was charging forward without a single moment of hesitation, weaving between the deadly geysers as they exploded around him.

The entire arena before me had transformed into a hellscape. Over fifty dark volcanic pillars competed with the red walls of Zenos’s creation. A maze of destruction where one wrong step meant instant death.

And somewhere within that chaos, rushing past every obstacle, mere meters away from Vespara now, was my one-armed archmage.

Zenos stopped creating walls. His remaining left hand rose into position, fingers extended like a blade ready to deliver a killing chop.

“The Black Horizon! NOW!” Beatrice screamed the command with everything she had.

The fire walls were fading now. I could finally see the battlefield clearly again. And I could see Vespara in full panic mode.

She conjured a shield of black flames around her entire body. Not a frontal barrier like Zenos’s walls. A complete sphere of cursed fire encasing her form.

Zenos only smiled wider at the sight.

He made a gesture with his hand. As if reaching into the depths of hell itself and dragging its fury up through the earth.

And that’s exactly what he did.

Ground Eruption Fire.

FWOOOOOOSH!

Flames exploded beneath Vespara’s feet. Inside her own protective dome. She had trapped herself in a cage with no room to escape.

Her screams pierced through the roar of flames. Agonized. Desperate. The shield she had created to protect herself was now cooking her alive.

Instinct overrode strategy. She released the barrier.

The moment she did, Zenos’s voice thundered across the arena.

“TAKE THIS, YOU BITCH!”

He lunged forward. His left arm swept through the air like a blade. Because it was one.

Wind Blade.

Our newest technique. Concentrated wind magic wrapped around his limb, compressed into an edge sharper than any steel.

We had tested it during training. It could slice through some tree trunks with a single stroke.

Now, fueled by his magic, his strength, and an ocean of burning rage, that same technique found its mark.

SCHWICK!

Vespara’s head separated from her body.

The headless corpse stood upright for a single haunting moment. Then began to dissolve into particles.

Zenos stood over his fallen enemy. Chest heaving. Every breath carrying the weight of accumulated pain and exhaustion he had been suppressing throughout the fight.

But before her form vanished completely, he delivered one final remark.

“You look much better without that ugly head of yours.”

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