As soon as Selene’s voice dropped into that last sweet lilt, the entire floor split apart.

『 Plant Series: Thorn Serpent Surge! (✦ 6th-level Spell ✦) 』

Vines—thick, thorn-covered, and glowing with sickly green mana—burst through the stone, wrapping and spiraling around in twisting arcs.

They surged toward Aestrea like serpents, screeching through the air with a wet, snapping sound.

SWOOSH—CRACK—SNAP!

Aestrea didn’t wait.

He kicked off the ground instantly, his legs moving even before his body screamed at him to stop. His knees ached, his muscles burned, but he moved.

Fwip!

His scythe swept low in a sharp arc, cutting through the first wave of vines with a clean swing.

The thick stems fell to the ground, twitching like dying snakes.

Selene’s hand motioned again.

“Bloom for me.”

A massive flower bloomed beneath Aestrea’s feet, its wide petals snapping open.

WHUMP!

Inside its core, a dozen smaller vines sprang out like spears.

STAB-STAB-STAB-STAB!

He twisted midair, barely avoiding impalement, before kicking off one of the petals.

He spun to the side, landing hard on one knee, his body screaming in protest, but still moving.

His aura flared again—pure violet, crackling along the edge of his scythe like liquid thunder.

Selene’s body shimmered briefly, and a wave of intoxicating scent flowed outward—sweet, sticky, suffocating.

Aestrea’s breath hitched for a moment as his heart beat irregularly, his mind clouding just a fraction too slow.

『 Seduction Series: Blooming Seduction! (✯ 7th-level Spell ✯) 』

“Don’t look away, Aestrea,” she whispered, her voice dripping like honey, her eyes gleaming maliciously.

“Let me make your last moments… gentle.”

Aestrea snarled.

“Shut the fuck up.”

He launched himself forward again, his scythe crashing down toward her in a brutal, overhead arc.

CLANG!

A vine hardened like steel, intercepting the blow just inches above Selene’s head.

Aestrea’s knees bent—he threw his full weight into the follow-up swing, twisting, pivoting, and striking again.

SWISH!

CLANG!

Vines kept pouring from the ground, the walls, even her shadow.

They danced between them like whips and spears, but Aestrea’s movements were completely precise.

CRACK!

His scythe cleaved a vine cleanly in half, and then spun upward to strike again, forcing Selene to leap back as the blade grazed her cheek.

A small line of blood ran down her face.

Despite that, Selene’s smile didn’t vanish at all.

“That’s it…” she whispered. “Keep struggling, I want to see how long you’ll last.”

She spread her arms wide, and a dozen flowers bloomed around her in a wide circle.

PUFF!

They opened in unison, releasing a golden, glittering mist that spread like wildfire.

『 Seduction Series: Scent of Ecstasy! (✯ 7th-level Spell ✯) 』

“Cough, cough!”

Aestrea started coughing, his eyes burning, and his throat tightening.

The mist was thick with mana.

Disorienting, overwhelming.

His muscles faltered for a brief second.

Just one second.

But Selene moved during that second.

SHHHK—!

A whip made of vines laced with thorns shot forward, curling around Aestrea’s ankle and yanking him off his feet.

THUD!

He hit the ground hard, cracking the floor beneath him.

Selene stalked toward him slowly, her steps elegant and mocking.

“You’re so close to your limit now,” she murmured, stepping over the broken vines and frost.

“No more spells. Aura flickering. Body collapsing. I could kiss you right now, and your heart might stop.”

She stepped on his chest.

Pressed her boot down.

Hard.

CRACK.

His ribs protested, and his breath hitched for a moment.

But even still…

Aestrea stared up at her.

And he laughed.

“Try me… bitch.”

Selene’s smile vanished for a moment.

PLOP!

In that second, Aestrea gripped the shaft of his scythe with both hands and slammed the butt-end into the ground, using it to push his upper body up as he roared through gritted teeth, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.

Then—

He swung.

BOOOOM!

The scythe cleaved upward with monstrous force, tearing through the vines around his leg and sending a shockwave that split the floor open in a straight line.

Selene flew back, her feet sliding across the floor as vines rushed to catch her.

She landed gracefully, but that red smear across her cheek had widened.

She touched it.

Then smiled again.

But this time, her expression wasn’t playful.

It was serious.

Dead serious.

“Then I’ll just have to break every bone in your body,” she whispered.

CRACK!

The floor split again as Selene surged forward, vines twisting beneath her like serpentine tendrils guiding her steps.

Her body moved with an unnatural grace, as if the battlefield itself bent to carry her forward.

Above her, petals burst open midair, each acting like a stepping stone as she dashed over them, turning the sky into her personal path.

“Let’s see if you still smile when I tear your limbs apart,” she whispered darkly.

She dropped like a blade from the sky, leg sweeping downward in a destructive arc—

『 Plant Series: Thorn Bloom Strike! (✦ 5th-Level Spell ✦) 』

CRACK—!

Aestrea twisted just in time, allowing the blow to slam into his shoulder rather than his chest. His body launched sideways, crashing through a broken pillar and tumbling like a ragdoll.

Debris flew everywhere.

But even through the dust—

Selene didn’t stop.

She landed with grace, both arms wrapped in spiraling vines. She snapped her fingers, and the ground hissed.

『 Plant Series: Blooming Lash! (✦ 4th-Level Spell ✦) 』

WHIP—WHIP—WHIP!

Three strikes came at once—left, right, and above.

CLANG!

Aestrea ducked the first, blocked the second with a raised scythe, and flung himself backward just as the third cracked into the ground, blasting open a crater.

Fwoop!

Then, Aestrea tried to counter with a horizontal sweep of his scythe, but she twisted and evaded with the same mocking elegance.

Then came her next spell.

『 Plant Series: Bloom Snare! (✦ 6th-Level Spell ✦) 』

The vines beneath his feet erupted upward like living chains, coiling instantly around his arms and legs.

WRAP!

Thorns dug into his skin as they yanked tight, locking him in place.

She walked forward like a queen approaching an insect.

“Poor Aestrea…” she whispered. “So powerful, yet so easy to bind. You should’ve used that strength to kneel at my feet, not against me.”

Of course, Aestrea didn’t even bother to answer.

And unfortunately, she wasn’t done yet.

A single glowing pink sigil shimmered beneath her heel.

『 Seduction Series: Kiss of Obedience! (✦ 6th-Level Spell ✦) 』

A wave of sweet, floral pheromones rushed through the air. The scent was dangerous, magic-infused, thick, and heady.

The kind that blurred the mind, seduced the will, and slowed the body with warmth.

Aestrea’s vision swam for a split second as his heart rate started accelerating.

But his glare never softened.

“You’re underestimating me again,” he muttered.

Selene’s eyes narrowed slightly, but her grin remained fixed.

“You’re out of mana. And your Aura isn’t as strong as your mana, soooo… what can you possibly do?”

At her words, Aestrea took one long breath.

He braced his legs, clenched his teeth—

And roared.

BOOOOOOOM!

Violet aura exploded from his body like a volcanic eruption, reducing the vines around him to dust.

The spell shattered under the weight of his raw physical will, and Selene had to leap back as the very ground cracked beneath her feet.

When the dust cleared, he was standing despite blood coming out from almost all the entrances on his body.

Blood flowed down his ears, nose, eyes, and, not to mention, the open wounds.

Yet, he still charged at Selene.

FWOOOP!

In a blur, he drove the blunt end of his scythe into Selene’s gut.

THUD!

“Kaaugh!”

She gasped.

Then—

『 Plant Series: Snapburst Ivy! (✦ 5th-Level Spell ✦) 』

From her wound, a surge of green erupted—a last-ditch counter that sent snapping vines outward in all directions.

Aestrea was hit with a few, his arms slashed, his shoulder bitten, but his grip never loosened.

THWACK!

He twisted the scythe and slammed her ribs with the side of the blade, sending her tumbling across the battlefield.

She hit stone, flipped, and slammed into a half-broken column.

Dust fell around her.

But even then, her eyes didn’t lose their edge.

“…You… really are too DANGEROUS to stay alive…” she hissed coldly, wiping the blood flowing down her lips.

At her words, Aestrea scoffed.

“And you,” he replied, dragging his battered body forward, violet aura swirling around his scythe, “are too blind to see when you’ve already lost.”

“…Hah. That was the best joke I’ve ever heard,” she let out a low chuckle, green mana flowing through her arms as she started to prepare for another spell.

But unfortunately, for her, Aestrea was telling the truth.

After all, because of him being pushed to the limit, even though his body was something akin to a skeleton at his right moment.

His Aura, which hadn’t been strengthened for more than a year, had finally broken the limit.

『 Aura’s Rank: SS-

✦ Disposition: Violet (Power & Luxury)』

It had reached the SS- rank, which theoretically was two and a half times stronger than the peak of the S-rank.

Which meant that his current power had doubled.

And along with that…

He had finally reached the level where his Aura could be materialized into reality, meaning that even without magic, he could manipulate Aura just as he did with Mana.

So now…

The fight was finally going to end.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep