The Villain's Story

Ezra Fornum approached me.

What Pressure he exudes.

The crowd parted to make way for him.

So...this is the man, that nearly annihilated Behemoth.

The guy killed hundreds of thousands after losing the love of his life.

The guy that beat Elijah, Using [DECIMATION] to a pulp.

Wow.

The pressure is suffocating.

Yet...I feel such a thrill.

My blood is boiling.

Fight him.

...

...

..

But I must endure.

I can't just let him copy my techniques.

A 7-star art in his hands when I know what he does in the future?

Fucking bullshit.

"I do not think he will be able to copy the Chaotic Spear."

The voice of Aranus resounded in my mind.

"I have not heard of this Ezra Fornum, but a talent to copy every physical movement you see at first glance seems far-fetched."

His voice...somehow evaluating Ezra seemed comforting.

But I know that the talent possessed by Ezra Fornum is real.

As far as the memories that Jame had are concerned.

"Alan Peccator, I would like to duel you."

Ah...how direct.

I walked up to him planning to reject him, but then...my steps came to an abrupt pause.

[Ding!]

[You have received a quest from The System.]

[Quest:Defeat Ezra Fornum on Equal Grounds.

Difficulty:SS+

Restriction:On Equal Grounds

You must defeat Ezra Fornum while remaining in your human form!

A dragon does not bully weaker beings!

Quest Reward:A High-Grade Elven Tear.

Acknowledgment as the one who bests the legend]

[I wish you luck in overcoming this trial.]

...

...

...

I paused as I read the contents of the quest.

...what?

"What bullshit is this?

A dragon, limited to a weak form?"

Aranus said in my mind, ridiculing the quest.

But my attention was not on him.

Elven tear.

Elven Tear

Elven Tear.

The name of that item kept appearing in my mind.

Repeating in it.

.....i..can cure Samantha with it...

...

..

.

"Accept it, I can guarantee you that he will not be able to fully grasp the technique.

A 7-star art is not something one can easily understand."

"And I want to see the ability of this talent as well, this so-called copying talent."

My mind was in turmoil as I listened to him.

And then, I was taken out of that turmoil by a hand that appeared on my shoulder.

Richard...

He told me not to. accept.

But how can I not?

With Samantha's condition deteriorating, I don't even know how to calculate spatial coordinates.

I don't know how long it'll be until I find out Elvenheims coordinates.

And...I don't think I'll get another quest like this.

...shit.

Strangely, even though im cursing.

My body is moving.

My eyes are unwavering.

I want to fight.

Even though I think I'll lose.

I want to brawl.

I want to duke it out with this man.

My thoughts...are all focused on fighting him.

Damn, if Arken saw me like this, he sure as hell would be proud.

And how am I supposed to deny the quest?

I can't deny the opportunity to cure Samantha.

No matter what...I must restrain myself during this fight.

I cannot use my transformations and risk failing the quest.

My sister's health is much more important than my foolish pleasure.

And so, I accepted it.

The quest and duel as gasps of shock were heard from the crowd.

I smiled confidently and accepted this duel.

****

In the underground training area of the building.

Alan Peccator and Ezra Fornum stood in front of the people, adorned in their gear.

A simple protective armor, and a spear.

In each of their hands, was a spear.

Ezra would copy whatever alan was doing, so it made sense for him to use a spear.

The audience surrounded them in the stands, providing Ample space for them to fight.

Cameras could be seen all around, focused on Ezra and Alan.

"I will stand as the referee for this duel.

Both parties are to begin in..."

Logan Fornum acted as the referee of this duel, and Richard could be seen clenching his teeth and hands as hard as he could.

"3."

He counted down.

The tension in the atmosphere was palpable as the two duelists readied themselves.

Enhancing themselves with their mana, they readied their spears.

"2."

Their weapons pointed at each other, ready to launch themselves into action.

And then it was time.

"1!"

Logan immediately disappeared from the area as Alan Peccator dashed towards Ezra Fornum, who took a defensive stance immediately.

His speed was immense, yet...when he had covered more than half the distance, his figure disappeared.

Ezra, who was preparing himself for the attack, was surprised momentarily... Until he felt a deathly pressure from atop.

And lo and behold, Alan Peccator was somehow in the air, just a few feet above Ezra.

His spear thrusted towards Ezra's head, who immediately lowered it to dodge the spear.

The blade of the spear was just a few centimeters from his face, yet Ezra's Eyes were calm as he thrusted his spear towards Alan in the air.

Alan, who couldn't block or dodge as well in the air, teleported behind Ezra and slashed his spear, and the armor covering Ezra in the back was hit by the spear.

Ezra, who wasn't as injured by the light attack, immediately created distance between the two of them and thought.

'...that spatial attribute is indeed annoying.'

The power to teleport anywhere around an opponent in a duel... was just too far-fetched for Ezra to believe.

There has to be a limit or an indicator.

That ability was just far too broken to have no such limitations.

Ezra, trying to find the weaknesses in that teleportation raised his senses to the max by using a skill.

[Sensory Enhancement[B] has been used]

It was hard to handle the skill whilst keeping himself at C rank, but he endured it and put his focus on Alan Completely.

The movement of his eyes, his head, his body, every fiber in his muscles, Ezra scanned them all as he maintained a neutral stance.

He observed Alan Peccator intricately, and...just when Alan Prepared to attack he noticed it.

His eyes.

Those bright blue diamonds looked to his side, and not himself.

And Alan appeared to the side this time, exactly where his eyes were looking.

'...his eyes show the location of his teleportation.'

His instantaneous teleportation has a drawback, one of many.

It is dependent on his sight.

'So ill just take it.'

Alan thrusted his spear from the side, and Ezra Blocked it with his own.

Their mana of grey and white clashed, as Wind clashed with Ice.

*CLANG!*

The noise of the clash was deafening, Ezra, taking advantage of it, formed sharp wind blades on his fingers and slashed at Alan's Face, who conjured ice to block it.

Yet, immediately after, Ezra Performed a spinning back kick, powered up by his previous attack, and kicked alan straight in the stomach.

Alan Peccator on the other hand endured the kick and answered with a low kick of his own which was dodged by Ezra Jumping, immediately after, he used the wind to propel himself into a spin and kicked Alan Straight in the face with a round.

Alan was sent flying as a result, and before he even landed, Ezra was right on top and delivered an Axe Kick to Alan's Face.

It hit straight in his face, and Ezra observed his movements again.

And then, from the cloud of dust formed by the destruction of the floor below, A leg encased in white Fire emerged and Threatened Ezra.

He immediately put forth his palms and used a technique he learned from another talent to cancel Alan's Technique.

[Art of Redirection(4*)]

THIRD MOVEMENT

/|Spiral Redirect|

The wind that formed a spiral on his hand blew out the flame covering the LG and redirected the leg away as well.

[You have gained a complete understanding of the first movement of the [Dark Leg[4star], Collier]

[Collier:A kick to the neck enhanced by the user's mana, upon contact, it drives the neck of the opposite to the ground, and may even break it]

And Ezra used the same move on Alan, imp a devastating kick enhanced with the wind to the neck!

Alan was sent flying again.

He got a hold of himself and stood, coughed up red blood, and struggled to breathe.

"..fuck that hurt."

A curse could be heard being spoken.

And Ezra silently observed Alan again.

Every movement of his.

A person would become more used to using their unique art movements in normal life.

Even if it was an insignificant move, when one had practiced it so much, one would subconsciously use it.

Their footwork, their breathing, the way they held everything.

He observed everything.

Even the way mana circulated in the weapon.

Every detail was in his sight.

Every little detail.

Everything.

And as Ezra saw Alan prepare to attack again.

He received the notification from the system.

[Understanding of *******(?) is currently 0.5%]

Ezra focused even more on Alan's spear .

All to copy it.

All to copy his art.