As I figured, Mordred was not holding back at all in this fight! Each swing and move he played had every intent to finish the fight with as much force as he could muster. If I weren’t careful, there would be a serious chance of dying in battle! I couldn’t afford to make a single mistake!

  It wasn’t long until I found I was running out of Mana. I instinctively opened my [Dimensional Box] to retrieve some [Mana Lotus] to help me recover.

  …but I stopped.

  It was clear this battle meant to Mordred a lot more than he wanted to let on. Just one look at his expression was enough of that. Trying to cheat out of this would insult his own pride, wouldn’t it?

  ‘’Don’t tell me you’re actually going to disregard recovering your Mana? No wait, this is you, of course you’re going to do just that. Fine, I’ll just have to work overtime to keep us away from as much danger as I can.”

  Not like I was going to listen to him anyway. But it is a bit of a concern. Already, I could feel my exhaustion kicking in. It took a bit of an effort to keep my focus on Mordred. It seemed he thought the same thing as he opted to charge at me in full power.

  The sheer strength of his stampede was enough for my other self to push me to create a shield again. But I stopped, not wanting to waste my limited reserve of Mana. Instead, I went with something crazier, ignoring every one of his screaming complaints.

  Since I wasn’t going to use my free hand to use any Mana at the moment, I thought instead I would use it for something else practical and quite frankly cool. ~

  The old slide and slash combo did the job as I had hoped, and I managed to get some good hits on him, followed up by a few [Iron Needles] to his back. Finally, I was changing the momentum of the battle to my favor!

  Though that was quickly short-lived. Not long after, he managed to counter back easily. I was forced to both create a rocky shield and dig a hole to just narrowly avoid his attack. The earlier move depleted my Mana reserve even further.

  I wasn’t even allowed room to catch my breath inside the small space underground before I felt the ground shake and break apart. I felt my body flung out into the air and spinning unprotected in the air! Things only started to get worse for me as my body was twirling and I noticed a familiar Axe coming straight at me!

  “Dodge Dodge Dodge!!”

  Damn it, I know already!! It was coming so fast, I wouldn’t have time to maneuver the debris into a shield, and even if I could, I doubt it would have helped. And I didn’t even have enough Mana left to create an air shield like before!

  “Make an Air Ball now!!”

  What is he up t- Gah, I don’t have time to question it right now! I decided to just do what he suggested and created a ball of [Air] using my [Basic Elemental Magic], only to find said arm moving on its own! I could only guess what it was he was doing, but I’m too busy trying to survive to care right now!

  A tilted updraft picks up as debris flew around and changed direction. Of course! He’s trying to redirect our descent! That sh-

  AAGHHHH!!!!

  I felt a tremendous amount of pain on the side of my stomach as I saw my own blood scattered in the wind. My vision starts to blur, but I wouldn’t let myself fall unconscious now! I didn’t even dare look at my wound, even as my body screamed in retaliation.

  I crashed-landed, my body treated like a crash test dummy as I sustained several bruises! I clung to my stomach in an attempt to slow down the bleeding.

  When the dust settled, I faced Mordred. The second he saw me, his expression slowly changed to one I was more familiar with. Seems he was finally enjoying himself, huh?

  Good.

  “I can’t believe you’re risking your own life just to make him feel better!”

  Say as much as you want, this is just as essential for world domination. ~

  Even as my body continued to scream in pain, I held my [Falchion Sword], having lost my backup sword in the earlier scuffle. I needed to show him that I was still standing and ready to end this fight, finishing it with a declaration.

  “Bring it on!!”

  He in turn, took my challenge and started to clench his body as a familiar feeling started to creep in.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  No….he’s not thinking of…

  My question was immediately answered both by his proclamation as well as a message from my [Game Screen].

  “Show everyone your true strength boss, and go all in!! Here comes my BLOODY RAGE!!”

  Dammit! What is he thinking?! We have too many onlookers for him to use that! I took a glance at the crowd. Those who were familiar with this skill had a look of terror and were ready to bolt out of there, while those who didn’t look on in anticipation.

  I was ready to call out a retreat, only to be stopped by someone speaking.

  “Looks like it worked! HAHAHAHA, I wanted to surprise you with this boss, but I managed to learn to control this skill after some practice! Now I should be able to fight you with all my might!!”

  But…how….

  “About that… you should check out that skill really quick….”

  He did it…he actually did it!! I would have been excited for him if it weren’t for the fact that he was using this directly at me. Just the force of pressure coming out of it was enough to almost sweep me off my feet.

  Not only that, but I was already running on empty. At most, I could do maybe one last push of my Mana, but it was easy to tell that the moment I did that, I would lose consciousness. It would have to be a last resort.

  I doubt I would even reach the point where it would work. My brain wracked for any ideas while he was finishing up, but I came up empty. I had no more moves left…

  So instead, I decided I’d relinquish any plans and just go directly for it. There was no point or time to even think about it now! I can already hear my other self screaming at me right now, but it’s not like he had any other ideas himself.

  Seeing that I was ready, Mordred gripped his Axe once more and we both charged at each other yet again. I didn’t have the strength to repeat that same maneuver, which Mordred picked up on as he went for a basic horizontal cut. There was no hint of any trick or tactic in the move.

  This must still be a drawback for using his [Bloody Rage]. Even if he has enough control over himself, he wouldn’t have enough room to think of any complex moves and had to rely on simple, basic attacks.

  Not like it would hamper him much, even just a basic swing was enough to cut through the very air! I couldn’t do much more than just counter back with my own weapon, though all that managed to do was to protect my own vitals, and before I knew it, I was already sent flying. My sword didn’t even come close to interacting with his Axe! It was like that one game where the hero could send invisible beams from just his slash attacks!

  I managed to stop myself by jamming my sword to the ground, ignoring the increasing pain building in my body. Looking back, I could see a small streak of my own blood trailing in my path. My own sword was already at the brink of cracking. I was forced to use my Mana to repair the damage, making sure to only use enough as not to force me past my limits.

  I struggled back up, my body shivering both from keeping itself together as well as the overwhelming might of my Minotaur, all thanks to the other me.

  It really seems impossible if I can’t even get near him! Yet I still wasn’t going to give in! Not until the last moment.

  I won’t.

  Give up.

  Aga-

  “Hate to interrupt you, but…”

  What is it now?

  “Well, you might want to check on your abilities real quick.”

  What is he talking about now? I reluctantly checked my status; thankfully, it seems Mordred was kind enough to let me do so. The second I did, several notifications had popped up, all of which were all too familiar.

  After so long, I had forgotten I had this kind of option. This was a game-changer and exactly what I needed!! If I were getting a new ability, then this must be my chance for a [Weapon Style], and if it were anything similar to Damian’s [Emotional Spectrum], then I may have a chance yet!

  I quickly went through the process; I don’t know how long Mordred was going to just stand there, and I didn’t want to find out!!

  The hard part was trying to decide what to create. I would have to limit my options to something more reasonable. I couldn’t take too long, so I had to go for something that would immediately help me at this moment.

  What would be something I would need at this moment? That’s when it hit me. Alright, I decided.

  I was prompted with confirmation on my choice and quickly accepted. No sooner did I do so than I felt a new power course through me. Well, I wanted to say it was like that, but it ended up feeling like something that was always there in a sense. It’s hard to really put it into words.

  Then I was greeted with the name of my new Ability.