57. Sacred Encroachment

“—Sacred Encroachment!”

In that instant, the Duke’s body was enveloped in madness-colored light.

And in the next moment, Reet could not help but notice that the Duke’s magical power had surged dramatically.

The sight was similar to something he had witnessed not long before.

Yes, it resembled berserk—the state where human life was drained away, and in exchange, power increased.

But unlike berserk, the Duke’s mind remained completely lucid.

The eyes that looked straight at Reet were not those of a crazed man.

Only the sharpness in them had changed from before.

The nature remained the same.

But to gain power, something had to be surrendered.

So what had the Duke given up?

It was life itself.

He was burning through his remaining years, converting his lifespan into magical power.

The Duke had spent long years studying berserk. He wondered: could he enhance his magical power in the same way, without losing his reason?

And what he eventually developed was this—Sacred Encroachment.

Instead of sacrificing his mind, he burned away his lifespan. The price was extraordinarily steep, but when one held power, desperate circumstances were inevitable.

And now, that moment had come.

Capture meant certain death.

So he would halve his remaining years to escape this.

If the remaining half was to be filled with glory, he would gladly forfeit the other half.

“Well then, Reet. The games are over.”

In the next instant, the Duke raised his sword and closed the distance in a flash.

“—!!”

Reet caught the blow instinctively, but the weight behind it was completely different from before.

Even with Aira’s assistance, he was being overpowered.

Planting his feet, his boots gouged into the brick ground.

Just as he thought he’d stopped it, a relentless follow-up slash came.

A single attack met at full readiness was barely survivable.

There was no way to defend against the next strike.

Reet was driven back violently.

And as he faltered, the Duke unleashed the finishing blow.

“—Sacred Blade!”

His instincts told him it was hopeless.

Yet all he could do was meet it with his strongest counter.

“—Sacred Blade!”

The same technique.

Yet their quality was utterly different.

What collided was:

One strike radiating the hellfire of burned lifespan.

Against merely a strike.

The outcome was already clear—

Reet’s Sacred Blade was swallowed in an instant by the Duke’s malevolent light.

Even with his sword holding, the overwhelming magical pressure leaking through was impossible to endure.

Reet gritted his teeth and bore the attack that stabbed through his entire body.

But at some point, even that reached its limit, and he was sent flying backward.

Landing on his back.

His entire body screamed in pain, and he could not breathe.

Yet he still sensed only the Duke’s bloodlust—

He managed to look toward the Duke with just his eyes.

What he saw there was certainly not that of a father.

Only the hellfire of pure hatred burning before him, and Reet accepted his defeat.

The Duke walked slowly toward Reet.

“You have been such a nuisance all this time. I must say, you inherited my blood well.”

The Duke said this looking down at Reet.

These were meant to be his final words to the son he shared blood with.

Then he raised his sword and brought it down toward Reet’s torso—

But in the next instant.

“—Magical Slash/Dragon’s Breath!!”

From behind the Duke, a strike enveloped in raging flames descended—the steel brand of a counterattack.