Nameless King

Everyone strived to achieve the ideal, to become an absolute, but it was impossible. Even if someone removed all the flaws in themselves or their technique, it was just an illusion.

Every person or ability had flaws, and Gael with his fourth giant scar was no exception.

Wind spheres were dangerous tools, and wind blades were deadly weapons, but Ereg already realized what Gael's limitations were.

"Well, well, it looks like you should have ended things much earlier if you wanted to win. When you shot me in the shoulder you should have aimed for the head, then you would have won!" Ereg exclaimed with an excited smile, rising from the ground.

With a wave of his hand, Ereg threw away the wind blades and pointed the ether to his hands. However, this time Ereg decided to create something new rather than just claws or a dense layer covering his fists like flames.

The ether, turned into massive gloves, with long edges reaching up to his elbows. The fingers were pointed with spikes, like claws, but not as long. Threads emerged from the back of the gloves, waving in the wind and waiting to be used to protect their wearer.

Gael shook his head.

"Not a bad use of ether, but I wasn't going to spare you when I attacked you in the shoulder. Although, from the outside, it might seem that way."

"Hm? Then why didn't you attack the head!" Ereg said with a wave of his hand.

Gael shrugged his shoulders.

"Instincts. Now, I decided to end things by piercing your heart, I was counting on the two blades flying behind me to be enough. However, as always, your body took control of the situation and maximized your resources. Moreover, your ether has started to grow again..."

Before continuing, Gael glanced at the light layer of blue energy around Ereg. Before defending against the Wind Blade, Gael's ether had stopped growing, for it had reached 89%. However, due to the severe stress on his body, the energy began to increase again, slowly approaching the next milestone of 90%.

"If I were to attack you in the head, you would most likely somehow manage to survive. It was too much of a risk, so instead I chose to wound you."

Ereg grinned contentedly. He liked the fact that Gael took him seriously and considered his instincts as a powerful weapon.

"Alright, actually your ability turned out not to be as omnipotent as I thought it would be. First of all wind blades need time to dispel and turn back into spheres." Ereg uttered as he cast a glance at the spot where he had previously stood.

The wind blade was almost dispelled, only its tip sticking out of the ground. It needed a few more seconds before it would return to its original form, a sphere.

"Second, you can't control your blades, can you?" Ereg smirked, looking intently at Gael.

Gael didn't answer anything, but he frowned slightly, and his gaze grew sharper. It was enough to show that Ereg was completely right.

Ereg chuckled as he stepped forward. This part of the fight gave him confidence, however, he didn't forget that his opponent was the strongest he had ever faced.

'Damn... I may have found a way to deal with blades, but what about this scary thing?' Ereg pondered, glancing at the vortex that had already gotten much bigger since the battle began.

"Pfffft. I'm disappointed." Nitra snorted in an arrogant way.

"Hmm?" Alucard raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"He only needed one attack to realize the weaknesses in Gael's ability. Moreover, his ether has already started to grow, and when it reaches 90% there will be no other option for Gael, but to use the next scar."

Alucard wanted to say something, but Nila beat him to it. Unlike Nitra, she was genuinely worried about Ereg and tried to learn as much as she could about the situation.

"Maybe Nitra is right, but what if Gael can use two scars at once at the same time?" Nila suggested.

Nitra's eyes went wide with a slight shiver throughout her body. For some reason, she hadn't even considered it, though it was entirely possible in theory.

Alucard waved his hand.

"Nah, if he does that then the effect of the past scar will cancel out. You can rest assured of that." Alucard nonchalantly said, making everyone believe him.

Liang turned to Alucard.

"Either way. Even if it's all Gael's abilities, he hasn't shown the full power of the fourth scar yet, has he?"

Alucard smirked, chuckled evilly, and glared at Gael. This time, he didn't bother to answer but just focused on the fight, causing the others to do the same.

They couldn't get an answer from Alucard, so they could get an answer by watching the fight.

"Furthermore, although it's not a serious flaw, this ability has another one!" Ereg said confidently, pointing at Gael's hand.

Gael narrowed his eyes.

"To control wind blades you need to use your hand, don't you? You can't do it with your mind, as these spheres are pretty free entities." Ereg uttered, looking around.

He realized that if all the spheres turned into wind blades at the same time and rained down on him, he wouldn't be able to defend himself. However, Gael didn't have that option. He couldn't control all the spheres at once, because he couldn't swing his arm more than a hundred times in an instant.

Gael let out a heavy sigh. He was about to say something, but Ereg had other plans!

Whooooooooooooooooooosh.

Ereg tore forward, in a heartbeat, finding himself in front of Gael, whose eyes went wide with surprise. Before he could realize anything, Ereg's fist was bearing down on him.

However... Gael remained completely unharmed, for at the last moment he was able to switch with the sphere and was ten meters behind.

"Running away? Alright, you won't be able to do that all the time anyway!" Ereg exclaimed, dashing off

Then, Ereg continued to chase Gael all over the arena, while Gael dodged time after time.

It was quite difficult to reach Gael, for every time Ereg's attack had to reach him, Gael would change with the orb.

It seemed like this could go on indefinitely, for even after a hundred different attacks, Ereg couldn't hit Gael once.

Sure, Gael didn't attack either, he only occasionally launched wind blades and defended himself with his sword. However, in his current state, Ereg had no trouble dodging every one of Gael's attacks.

However, in this situation, it was Gael who was winning, not Ereg. Ereg was expending much more energy than Gael, and also, without a mortal threat to himself, his blue ghost wasn't growing as fast.

At this rate, the vortex would reach its full power before Ereg got to 90% and didn't break the next barrier in his strength!

"Oh, it looks like Gael has found the right tactic for him. He realizes that even if he is behind Ereg's back, he won't have time to inflict a mortal wound on him. Ereg will defend himself with instinct and ether and take Gael down. Then, if Gael can't escape, he will be in big trouble." Liang uttered while rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Even though he was The Strongest One, it didn't mean that he considered retreating as cowardice, because in this case, it was part of Gael's tactics. Besides, he wasn't running anywhere, just waiting for his main weapon to gain strength - it was a strategy, nothing more.

Alucard chuckled evilly.

"Yeah, but that will work until Ereg is no longer afraid. If you follow his gaze, you'll realize he's focusing too much on harmless spheres. He needs to act more confident and risky, and then Gael will have to do something to survive."

It seemed that Ereg had heard Alucard, for that was when his actions changed slightly. Sure, he didn't hear Alucard, for he was completely focused on the fight and his opponent. Then, everything outside the arena simply did not exist for him.

Ereg could not afford to be distracted by anything or anyone when he was facing one of the strongest creatures in this world.

Whoooooooooooooosh.

Ereg stopped right in front of Gael when the threads coming out of his gauntlets came into motion. In a heartbeat, a dense ether curled around Gael's hand preventing him from swapping with the sphere.

'Hehehehe, I knew it. If something was holding him back, he wouldn't be able to swap with the sphere. I wasn't sure about it, but now... I can attack!" Ereg internally exclaimed, clenched his fist tightly, and brought it down into Gael's face.

This time, he couldn't dodge, though the sphere in the distance trembled, but the ether threads prevented him from doing so.

Gael's nose bled as the ether threads released him, and the shockwave threw him back dozens of meters.

However, no sooner had Gael regained consciousness or reached the wall than Ereg appeared behind him, kicking Gael in the stomach with all his might.