Chapter 781 (1/2)

Silo eyed up his opponent. Strangely, even through the haze of darkness and erratic impulses that was Silo’s current worldview, there was something about Shal that quieted the monstrous voices that whispered to him. Which was liberating.

And infuriating to the part of him that was lost to the voices.

“Draw your spear,” Silo whispered. His own spear felt heavy and unwieldy in his hands. But that was the point, wasn’t it? It wasn’t a tool of control, it was overwhelming. The destruction caused by the spear was its ultimate power. It could level cities and raze the countryside. Before such a spear, what could this man do?

“So foolish,” Shal replied with a shake of his head. But he produced his spear. It was a traditional spear, with a stiff shaft and a triangular head. Unwilling to wait for a more sporting moment, Silo rushed forward.

They had drawn spears. They were opponents. Once those two things were determined, all that awaited them was contest and bloodshed. And Silo was determined to prove to Rumi that he was the one who deserved to received her affections. Silo understood the spear so much more than this old fool.

Blighted Slash cut sideways toward Shal’s throat, but the other man moved with a surprising elusiveness. A few short steps to the side and Shal had completely disappeared from Silo’s vision. Roaring, Silo spun around and brought down Weight of the Rotten Hero. The parted as it descended, grinding away at the substance of the world around Silo. The ground shuddered underneath the sudden pressure. A nearby chair shattered into splinters as Silo’s ability became too much to bear.

And yet, when Silo laid his eyes on Shal, the other man sidestepped again and was gone with a smile. Although absorbing strength from the jewel had rendered him rather numb, Silo could dimly feel that his Skill wasn’t hitting Shal any longer.

“Fucking ghost,” Silo hissed. He rapidly gathered the thin threads of violence that he had produced in his attacks to empower his Momentum of Tragedy Skill. Already, his gaze was sharpening and some of the numbness was starting to wear off. Using this Skill was one of the few ways that he could truly felt alive since absorbing enough of the jewel’s power to rise to Level 70. Without this Skill, everything was so thick and murky. It was almost impossible to live.

It was only through fighting that he could feel truly present. That was the true Path of the Spear.

Shal’s counterattack was a brutally quick thrust. Such was its force that even though Silo twisted aside and dodged, the wind of its passage buffeted him backward. Still, Silo’s expression was gleeful as he straightened and readied himself to meet the assault. But then he blinked.

...Shal’s attack hadn’t left any threads of violence…? That was impossi-

The next spear thrust came. Silo attempted to deflect this one away from his body.

Clang!

Schlick.

Looking down at the spear sticking out of his stomach, Silo couldn’t figure out what had happened. He had clearly smashed his much heavier spear against the thrust with perfect timing. It should have been deflected.

Yet the attack was so powerful that the air pressure weakened his attack, and the thrust itself didn’t even seem to notice his attempted interference. Just how high was this man’s stats…?

Silo’s expression twisted into something like glee. Perfect then. Time to go all out.

“Do you yield?” Came the bored voice of Shal. With a light tap, he appeared before Silo and yanked the spear out with enough callous force to rip open a large wound. Black blood poured out and spattered on the floor. Both looked down at it, Silo in mesmerized wonder, Shal in revulsion.

“What-” Shal began, but Silo surged into motion.

Once more, he brought down Weight of the Rotten Hero. This time Shal was within its area of effect, but Silo was infuriated to see that the other man didn’t even flinch. So he followed it up with Forsaken Thrust. Darkness gathered around the attack as it slid toward Shal’s heart.

Clang.

Silo blinked. The thrust was knocked away-

Crack.