[Dual Element Drive: Light and Dark Force]!!
A month had already passed ever since Souta consumed the High Phaseless Fruit. A fruit that allows him to have an affinity in dark and light attributes. He already mastered the [Element Drive] of dark attribute so in the past weeks, he tried to master the [Element Drive] of light attribute inside Saya's inner consciousness.
He succeeded in performing the [Dual Element Drive]. He could now use it in real battle.
"It's not enough..."
Souta's aura grew stronger once again as he activated the [Possession] skill of his sword.
[Hunting State]!
[Serial Killing Steps]!
His opponent's speed would decrease by 20% while his speed had increased by 20%. Also, his other movement skill experienced an upgrade as their effect had been raised by 10%.
Decreasing the opponent's speed while increasing his speed will create a huge gap. It was a good combo skill of his equipment [Solid Hunter State Boots].
No matter what, he shouldn't underestimate his opponent.
"Now, let's start the real battle."
Souta grinned as he stared at the clouds of cursed energy. The four spider limbs on his back pointed at the clouds and each one charged a huge amount of best feram.
Boom!
Four [Bestrou]s were shot in just a second.
An explosion occurred above the city that shook the entire area.
Souta narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Everyone! Keep fighting! The Athen's Champion is here to back you up! Fight for your survival!"
He then said in a loud voice that everyone could hear. It was to motivate the experts of the dukedom to keep fighting. If those experts fall and the old man received help then it would make everything troublesome for him.
At least, he didn't want that to happen.
He should at least let the people of this city know that the Athen's Champion was here to help them. The name of the Athen's Champion was huge and it would give hope to some people that lost their will to fight.
"Stop giving them hope."
The old man who was in the clouds of cursed energy said in a coarse tone.
"All of you will die here."
"Eh~ is that so? Then, let's see how you can do it!"
Ten black balls formed behind Souta and he quickly flew in the old man's direction.
"Fine!"
The old man pulled back his fist as a powerful concentration of curses swirled around his hand. Then, he threw a punch in front of him.
[Everlasting Curse Strike]!
Souta tightened his grip on the vajra sword and swung it to meet the attack of the old man.
[Archetype: Vajra Extremity]!
[Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]!
BOOM!!!
Two attacks collided causing ripples in the atmosphere. The cursed energy and best feram clashed directly destroying everything around it.
It formed a spherical shape energy in the mid-air as the two types of energy tried to push each other.
BOOM!!
In the next moment, a blinding light erupted as a powerful wave of energy swept out in every direction.
It exploded.
The explosion created a huge crater with a diameter of three hundred meters. All the buildings inside the range of the explosion were turned into dust.
...
The experts who were fighting the cursed people felt a little hope after they heard Souta's words.
They started to fight like a madman trying everything that they could do to survive. Their bodies were weakened with curse but it didn't stop them from fighting the enemies in front of them.
"The Athen's Champion is here!!"
"The warriors of the Goddess are here with us!!"
"Don't lose hope!!"
"We can still make it!!"
"YEAHHHH!!!"
They screamed at the top of their lungs. Their fighting wills were once again ignited. It doesn't matter if their enemies were once their friends, everyone knew that the people that died from the curses would be controlled by the leader of the enemies. So they will fight to free the bodies of their friends and families.
Alice raised her head as she heard the shout of the other people. She shook her head and smiled.
"I guess they could still fight and help us."
She then turned her attention back to her opponents.
"You people think that it would be easy to destroy an entire city that has a population of over one million. The experts are flocking here and they would do everything to stop you."
It's true that the Dukedom of Halbun wasn't as powerful as the city near the Champion's Den. But the number of experts here couldn't be underestimated.
Despite the fact that the protector of the dukedom had fallen. Some of the citizens here could still fight and with their combined strength they could turn the tide of battle.
Swoosh!
[Freezing Shards]!!
Alice pointed her spear ahead and dozens of sharp ice flew toward her opponents at high speed.
...
Boom! Boom!
Two figures were colliding repeatedly in the mid-air. Each time the two figures collided a powerful shockwave would sweep out.
One of the figures was covered in dark green light while the other one was covered in dark and light aura.
In just a second, they collided hundreds of times. Hundreds of tall buildings were razed to the ground.
These two figures were Souta and the old man who was the successor of the Creep Lord.
Boom! Boom!
Both of them wrestled in the mid-air and their bodies crashed to the ground. They directly landed on the sewers and continued their fight.
Bang! Bang!
"Are you not afraid of the nobles?" Souta asked while blocking the attacks of the old man.
"Why would I be afraid of them?" The old man asked back in a strong tone.
"Some of the nobles here had a descendant in other huge cities like Champion's Den. Some of them even reached the Shackled Realm. They would be writhing in rage if they knew what you did." Souta explained while slashing his sword horizontally.
The old man shifted his body to avoid it before launching a ray of cursed energy.
Boom!
"I'm not afraid of them! I will surpass them sooner or later!"
Souta waved his hands and the dust around him was blown away. The black armor on his body had started to decay. The cursed energy of this old man was really a strong one.
The old man stopped and looked down at Souta. He slowly opened his mouth and asked, "What's the point of asking such question? You know that you can't defeat me so you're trying to scare me away, right?"
"Well, yeah. I couldn't defeat you with my current strength." Souta shrugged his shoulders.
Even with [Dual Element Drive], [Possession], [Monster Orb Release], [Serial Killing Steps], and [Hunter State] he couldn't defeat the old man. The old man still had an advantage in speed, strength, and other stats.
The only thing Souta had the upper hand on was the quality of his energy.
After all, the old man used the decades of accumulated energy to boost his combat power. That's why he called the old man a fake. The old man broke one of his shackles without even liquefying and solidifying his mana pool.
This would result in a backlash sooner or later. His normal body which was protected by a gaseous mana wouldn't be able to handle the rebound of shattering ones shackle.
There was a reason why people liquefy and solidify the mana in their mana pool first before they try to break their mortal shackles.
"You think everything will be solved as long as you gather enough cursed energy from the people you cursed." Souta smiled.
"Yeah, I will keep repeating this cycle." The old man said in response.
"So sad. I could only kill." Souta's expression turned serious.
"I could say the same thing to you!" The old man said before he charged forward. He stretched out his hand and grabbed Souta's neck.
But Souta already expected this scenario. He vanished from his position and reappeared behind the old man.
"Wha-" The old man was surprised.
[Shadow Ball]!
Souta grabbed the old man's nape before he could react.
Boom!
The two smashed on a metallic door.
"That caught me off guard." The old man muttered as he stood up.
"We're here. This will be a perfect place for your fall."
The old man turned around after hearing Souta's words. He noticed something in his surrounding.
"This is...?"
"That's right. This is the Tomb of the Creep Lord. You are her successor, right? Then, this is the right place for you." Souta smiled as he stared at the old man straight in the eyes.
"You are making me laugh. You think you could defeat me here?" The old man opened his arms widely as a huge amount of cursed energy flooded the entire area.
"Yes, this is the right place." Souta nodded before he closed the metallic door.
The tomb was full of runes so it should prevent some of the energy from leaking out.
[Blessing of the God of Hunt]!
[Watching Prey]!
[Soul Blood Mode]!
[Yin Yang Unification]!
The entire tomb shook as Souta's aura grew several times once again.
"This will be the final battle... for you..."