Shang's Addum slashed forward, its edge glowing with intense heat due to all the absorbed Mana.
On top of that, Shang used the Mana he had just absorbed with his Void Break to increase the power of his attack.
This would be the best shot he would get, and he would take advantage of it!
BOOOOOOOOOM!
Shang's Addum exploded onto the Mage's Mana Shield, shooting him into the distance.
In an instant, the Mage had already been shot away by over 20 kilometers.
Several parts of the Mage's body exploded with blood due to the g-forces acting on his body.
Even though his Mana Shield wasn't broken, he still received some injuries.
The Mage took a deep breath and gritted his teeth in pain.
However, he didn't try to stop his body and let the momentum carry him further.
Naturally, Shang didn't wait and immediately shot after the Mage at his full speed.
With this attack, Shang destroyed nearly 40% of the Mage's Mana.
That was a lot of Mana, but one had to remember that Shang had struck his opponent from melee range with two Void Breaks worth of Mana.
The Mage slowed down, and in the end, he was nearly 50 kilometers away from Shang.
Shang managed to use up a lot of the Mage's Mana, but the Mage now had time to prepare his Spells.
Unless Shang used Mana Step.
Sadly, Shang wasn't sure if he should use Mana Step or not.
Shang could reach the Mage with three Mana Steps, but that would consume 60% of the Mana inside his mind, which didn't recover nearly as quickly as the Mana of his opponent.
However, if the Mage managed to survive the attack, he would know that Shang could also use Mana Step, making him prepared for future uses.
Then, Shang wouldn't have the surprise effect of Mana Step.
Shang preferred using Mana Step to end a fight since it often gave him the opportunity to kill his opponent.
'But if I don't use it, he gets to prepare at least five Spells.'
'Can I survive a barrage of five prepared Spells?'
Shang's mind was very powerful, and his thoughts moved at incredible speeds.
He debated long with himself, but nearly no time passed in the real world.
In the end, Shang came to a decision.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
Shang used three Mana Steps in rapid succession and reached the Mage in an instant.
The Mage's eyes widened in shock, but after that, they quickly narrowed into a gaze of determination.
SHING!
Suddenly, the Mage's Focus teleported from the Mage's right to his left.
Nothing else had happened.
But then…
SHING!
Shang gritted his teeth.
The Focus hadn't teleported!
It had rapidly moved from one spot to the other, destroying the space and building a new space!
An extremely thin and dense line of space!
Everything below Shang's shoulders separated from his body.
He had been bisected!
BOOOOOOOM!
Yet, Shang's Addum still exploded with black fire and hit the Mage's Mana Shield!
At the same time, Shang's body regrew in an instant, but due to the nature of his injury, he had also lost a lot of saved life energy.
Shang's life energy had dropped to a measly 10% of what it was usually.
However, his opponent also received a terrifying attack, and the Mage was shot into the distance again.
The Mage puked blood as he received more injuries, and he even lost concentration for a bit, which meant that he lost all his prepared Spells.
Naturally, Shang charged after the Mage again.
After some time, the Mage regained control and readied his next Spells.
WHOOOM!
Shang used Void Break to absorb Mana.
Shang had noticed that his most recent attack had completely disrupted the Mage's concentration, which meant that he couldn't have prepared a trap for his Void Break, giving him a rare opportunity to use it.
He immediately used the Mana to create a corridor of darkness, allowing him to move nearly 30 kilometers in an instant.
The Mage was only around 15 kilometers away from him now.
Sadly, Shang couldn't reabsorb the Darkness Mana he had just used since the Mage had already regained control.
In the distance, the Mage had summoned more space, and he was preparing his Spells again.
That was when Shang's Subsis began to burst into black flames.
Shang's Addum had already used Entropy, and now, his Subsis was also using it.
Shang's Subsis stabbed forward, and a line of black fire appeared between Shang and his opponent.
BANG!
The line of black fire hit the Mage's Mana Shield, but it wasn't nearly as strong as the past two attacks, throwing the Mage barely two kilometers away and failing to interrupt his concentration.
The Mage's eyes were still determined as they looked at the distant Shang.
But then, he saw something terrifying.
Shang's Addum had transformed into a Subsis after using Entropy!
And at this moment, it was stabbing forward, and a Needle made of Darkness Mana was shooting out!
Even more, the Needle had a tip made of Death Mana with the Concept of Weakness, transforming the Needle into a ranged Injection!
This wouldn't be nearly enough to destroy the Mage's Mana Shield normally, but right now, the Mage was very low on Mana!
Lastly, the earlier attack with Entropy had created a tiny tunnel with nearly no space.
This meant that the Needle reached the Mage in nearly an instant!
BANG!
Yet, the Needle didn't hit the Mage's Mana Shield.
At this moment, the Mage's Focus broke into pieces as it appeared between the Needle and the Mage.
SHING!
And then, Shang appeared right in front of the Mage as he used his last two Mana Steps.
At that moment, time seemed to stop.
The Mage saw his end approach.
Yet, he noticed something.
Originally, he wanted to use Mana Step to escape, but his instincts were screaming at him not to do it.
This warrior had outmaneuvered him every step of the way, and using Mana Step was the most obvious choice now.
This probably meant that this warrior had also foreseen that, which meant he had something to counter his Mana Step.
At that moment, all the clues of the battle came together for the Mage.
After that, the Mage did something outrageous.
He shoved all of the Mana he had stored up into his Mana Shield…
And dispersed it.
The immediate surroundings of the Mage became insanely dense with Mana.
Shang's Subsis was moving toward the Mage.
But before it could reach him…
Shang's body completely vanished.
BANG!
Shang's Subsis shot through the Mage's body, but without anyone controlling it, it didn't remain stuck and just shot into the distance.
A huge hole appeared in the Mage's chest, but it was not a mortal injury.
He had survived.
He had won!
Earlier, he had noticed that this strange Domain that his opponent had summoned was also injuring him, and he had also noticed in what situation he had used it.
He had only used it when the Mana in the surroundings wasn't as dense!
This meant that the more Mana he had to destroy with that Domain, the greater the price he had to pay.
So, the Mage had pushed all his remaining Mana into the small space between them.
If the Domain were active, the warrior would need to pay all the cost for getting rid of so much Mana.
And what if the Mage had used Mana Step?
Maybe this weird Domain had a way to cancel that?
If that had happened, the Mage would have died.
Luckily, he had combined all the clues just in time.
The Mage fell to the ground in relief.
And then, he vanished as well.
On top of the Affinity Wheel, the jester only smirked.
"Better luck next time," he said with a chuckle before he went on to resurrect Shang.
Shang had lost.
