Ayn had already told Vincent everything he knew about Darien's abilities, so the duke's son came well-prepared.

But that was only what Ayn knew so far.

Vincent's eyes widened when Darien suddenly split into three more versions of himself, each wielding a weapon and moving in the same lethal manner.

All four attacked in synchrony, overwhelming and confusing Vincent as his eyes darted between the shifting afterimages.

In that swift moment of uncertainty, Darien seized the opening he had created, sliding through the boy's guard.

With a savage clash, Hellheart carved a deep, searing line across Vincent's side before the noble's glowing blade deflected the strike with a ringing kink.

It was a refined defense from Vincent, who managed to replenish his magical shield quickly before Darien could penetrate it again.

After defeating a Rank 2 Minotaur Swordsmaster during an earlier expedition, Vincent had sharpened his swordsmanship to a level greater than what Darien had engaged with last.

He was also armed with an arsenal of skill scrolls as the duke's son. This alone brought him very close to matching Darien's sword art.

But after comprehending <Sword Will>, Darien had unlocked an entirely different realm of mastery that he could explore.

Unlike Vincent, his strikes commanded the space and the duel, not just simple swings and recoils.

~Tzraa! Tzraa! Tzraa!

In rapid succession, Vincent unleashed three Light blasts that tore through Darien's clones, dispersing them into wisps.

Then he conjured a blazing sphere of radiance between his palms and hurled it toward Darien.

But Darien evaded, gliding aside. The deadly ball missed and detonated against one of the towering pillars, blasting a hole clean through it.

Before he could respond to Vincent's attack, the Sanctum's monumental front doors swung open.

A rush of royal templars stormed inside.

"The Crowned Heir is under attack! Protect Lord Velgrane at once!"

In perfect formation, they unsheathed their gleaming blades and aimed them toward the snow-haired culprit.

But Darien didn't flinch, even though caught between Vincent and a dozen of them.

With nothing more than a raised palm, he purged the templars with a rug of inferno that even destroyed the Sanctum's entrance.

'Darn,' Darien thought.

He hadn't intended to bring the Sanctum down to ruins.

Vincent seized the fleeting moment, slashing his arm horizontally. He released a big, deadly air Light blade.

The spell struck Darien's magical shield with tremendous force, so powerful that the impact knocked the snow-haired warrior off balance.

Regaining his stance just in time, Darien met Vincent's descending blade once more, their gazes locked in fury.

"Why do you want to kill me so much?" Darien demanded as sparks scattered between them.

But Vincent only smiled diabolically.

"Your ignorance has always been amusing, bastard!" he snarled, eyes glowing with divine fury as he threw himself down at Darien with blinding light.

The entire Sanctum trembled under the impact as Darien's feet slid back against the ground, his arm raised to shield his eyes from the radiance.

When the flare dimmed, Vincent was glowing, a luminous figure, angelic yet deadly.

Darien wondered what kind of power his opponent had just tapped into.

"I once pitied you, bastard. But now I understand. You were sent to test and forge me, the savior of Valurion, through fire!"

As Vincent declared this, the entire entrance of the Sanctum collapsed, and the light pulsing from his chest and palms burst outward into the vicinity.

Vincent laughed, his tone trembling as if he were mad, yet convinced he wasn't.

'This guy is crazy,' Darien thought, squinting to see the discs of power that could be the source of this strange energy from his enemy.

Unleashing a destructive spell like <Abyssal Fracture>, one that could swallow Vincent whole, might just completely destroy the Sanctum.

Darien didn't want to bring the Sanctum to complete ruin, and he also had a hunch that Vincent was powerful enough to counter it.

Standing firm with his sword, he stared at the glowing mage, curious to see what this could turn out to be.

Vincent had spread his arms in a wild manner, like a godly phoenix, revealing seven floating discs.

"Haha! I saw your destiny, you abomination! You're here to bring ruin, and the Undoing itself!"

~FWOOM!

Vincent clashed all seven discs together, and the collision birthed an unbelievable sphere with a spinning core.

Funneling the surge forward, Vincent thrust his arms, and the torrent erupted toward Darien.

The spell reached Darien almost at the speed of light, but his sword came up just in time, intercepting the luminous blast.

~BAANGGGG!

Energy exploded in every direction, dispersing by Darien's side as his blade absorbed and resisted most of the impact.

The sheer pressure and brightness were so intense that he couldn't even see, relying only on his strength to resist.

However, his strength faltered under Vincent's spell, and Darien tumbled backward, his body and uniform scraping violently across stone and rubble.

But the blast chased his tumble nevertheless.

Darien had to regain his senses quickly, grunting as he brought his sword up once more.

Another binding clash detonated, and the Sanctum was lit anew.

~BOOOM!

"But you end now, bastard! Haha! The heavens themselves will acknowledge their vessel—I, Vincent Velgrane!"

Grinding his teeth, Darien tightened his grip on his weapon as he unleashed three tendrils of fire.

Like hungry serpents, the tendrils spiraled out of the blade, snaking around Vincent's whitish-gold blast.

The ribbons intertwined and weaved through the air in a deadly helix of heat, speeding toward the glowing target.

"You're going to hell," Darien spat.

Vincent's eyes widened as the three liquid fires collided into him with a thunderous roar, wrapping him in a pillar of infernal flame that consumed the hall in crimson light.

Darien lowered Hellheart the moment Vincent's blast ceased.

The air around him was shimmering, and the Sanctum had taken on a goldish-red hue.

Up on the shrine's dais, Vincent was kneeling, his form wreathed in the remnants of the consuming blaze.

The fire still clung to him like a living thing, unwilling to release its prey, crackling and snapping.

Darien clenched his teeth in repulsion when the flames finally dwindled, revealing Vincent's full form.

The duke's son still lived, still glowing even, but his body was half-burnt, his aura flickering, and a weak smile lay on his disfigured face.

He looked both alive and unreal, like something that should not exist.

Determined to end it for good, Darien stepped forward, dragging his sword against the stone.

His eyes fixed on Vincent's half-charred form, and he proclaimed that there would be no mercy.

But just as he reached the first of the shrine's steps, a wave of invisible force slammed into him from the side.

~WHAM!

The impact sent him airborne, his body twisting midair before crashing hard and skidding across the scorched floor.

"What—?!" Darien gasped, stunned, as he tried to regain his footing.

Before he could react, Vincent's kneeling body began to rise slowly and unnaturally, lifted by the same unseen force that had struck him.

'What could this be?'

Wondering, Darien looked around to find out, until he saw a figure standing in the gaping ruin of the Sanctum's entrance.

The figure had both arms raised, telekinetically pulling Vincent into the air.

What stunned Darien was that the figure was a female warrior, and not just any warrior, but Vynsera Velgrane.

Clad in light armor and a special regal uniform, Vynsera glowed with the same divine brilliance as her brother, but a bit more composed.

Her long, golden hair flowed like sunlight, her features a perfect mirror of what Vincent had terrifyingly shown moments ago.

Darien wondered why she was here, and what she was doing with her brother suspended helplessly in the air.

And then, Vynsera did the unthinkable.

As Vincent weakly lifted his head, his glowing eyes widened in disbelief.

"Vyn…sera…?" he rasped, recognizing his twin's face, his tone trembling between fear and hope.

But then, a sharp line split across his forehead like fractured glass.

With the wound came light, instead of blood, leaking out.

"Vynsera… what—arghhh!" Vincent screamed, his body trembling as the crack began to spread into more fissures, his skull threatening to explode.

Darien stared in utter disbelief as Vynsera stood motionless, her expression cold, dragging on the torture of splitting her brother's head apart.

Blood streamed down Vincent's fingertips as he cried, each crack revealing more light from his skull and illuminating the Sanctum.

Moments later, a final crrrk echoed through the shattered hall—then

~BLAAAM!

Vincent's head burst, gruesome, but also divine, an explosion that scattered fragments.

The Sanctum's foundations quaked under the force, and the remaining pillars fractured, raining debris from above.

From where he stood amid the rubble, Darien's eyes searched through the fading brilliance as his vision gradually adjusted.

He finally spotted her, Vynsera, standing motionless, her hands still raised, still holding aloft the twitching, headless body of a warrior.

Darien gripped the hilt of his sword tighter, his heartbeat pounding with disbelief and fury at what he had just witnessed.

'This bitch just killed her brother…!'

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