Nameless King

The flaming blades, one after another, rained down on Ereg, not allowing him to dodge or escape anywhere. All he could do was defend himself and try to destroy the flaming blades that used the full power of the Peace Nightmare.

In fact, Ereg wasn't going to run anywhere. He knew it was dangerous, but it was also an opportunity to evolve further! After all, his blue ghost was different from all the others and took a long time to reach the peak of its power.

'Come on... Just a little more...' Ereg inwardly muttered, reflecting the second flaming blade of many, 'Just a few more particles, and I'll reach the next stage!'

Nila watched her king's battle with a trembling gaze and a look filled with anxiety. To her, everything was happening very slowly, and somehow, she could discern Ereg's every move.

She saw the first flaming blades leaving burns on Ereg's body, and the flaming sparks falling on his skin, trying to burn it.

However, after a few flame blades, when Ereg's defenses were about to fall and he was about to take serious damage, something changed.

There was more blue energy around him, the density increased dramatically, and his claws became longer and wider. His blue ghost had reached 75%, and it continued to grow at an accelerated rate.

"I see..." Osvald muttered with wide-open eyes.

"Perhaps Ereg can't increase the amount of the Ether by his own will, but... External pressure can help him do so."

Marlis nodded.

"Well, now I understand why he didn't worry about it, even though it was quite risky. If his Ether had grown a little smaller, the flame blades would have turned him into a handful of ashes."

Whoooooooooooooosh.

Ereg retracted the barrier, returning all of his energy to his claws, right when the next flame blade was about to slam into him.

Then, Ereg grinned widely, making Gael feel a slight shiver, and stepped forward, swinging his claws. 

Ether claws, effortlessly passed through the flaming blade, tearing it apart, leaving only clots of fire flying off to the sides.

"Hahaha, that's it! It's already 77%!" Ereg exclaimed with an excited expression, gradually moving forward.

For those who were watching the fight from the outside, especially the spectators who didn't have such sharp eyesight as Wain, Sven, and the others, things looked different to them.

At first, the spectators saw only the red flames that filled the left side of the colosseum, Ereg's ether was not visible, it was simply lost under such powerful pressure. However, now, they could clearly see Ereg's blue flame, moreover, the ether continued to grow and take over more and more territory.

It wasn't that the ether was spreading like a flame, no, it still stayed around Ereg's body just like before.

Ereg simply moved forward, destroying the flames and showing the spectators more and more attacks with his claws composed of ether.

Gael frowned heavily as he gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.

He didn't expect that all he could achieve was a few burns on Ereg's body. This result was nothing compared to how much energy he had expended on this!

'Shit... I should hurry up, if I want to achieve any result with two scars, I should do something right now, after all, he's already reached 79%!' Gael internally grumbled irritably.

His mind tried to find a suitable plan, then his gaze traveled to his right arm. Ereg had already used his first scar, however, there was still about 10% energy left. Also, while Gael was using Peace Nightmare, his scar absorbed some energy, so the total reserve reached 15%.

That wasn't much, 15% would only be enough for one swing of his silver claws. However, all Gael needed was one powerful attack and he could do it right now before it was too late!

Gael swung his sword, aiming it at Gael who was about to destroy the last flaming blades. Then, he placed his other hand on the hilt, channeling the energy from the first scar to the sword.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Peace Nightmare shuddered, sending ripples through the air, and then a long streak of silver flame traveled along the black blade.

Liang's eyes went wide for a moment as he realized what was the true power of Gael's sword.

"Oh... What a curious weapon. Well, surprisingly, this sword lives up to its name." Liang muttered with a curious expression.

"Hm? What are you talking about?" Nitra asked in confusion.

Liang sighed, pointing at Peace Nightmare.

"Earlier, at the first swing, Gael's sword turned its energy into destructive power, we all saw that. Then, Gael used his blood to activate the sword and use its ability, however, it was a mistake on our part to think so."

"What...? Gael used his blood!" Nitra waved her hand, "There are millions of weapons in this world that become stronger by absorbing the blood of the owner!"

Liang nodded.

"Sure. It's quite a popular technique. However, Gael's sword ability was activated from the beginning. I would call it a transformation. The blood became red flame, and the energy from the first scar became silver fire. His sword equates the other powers to one form, flame as if pacifying them."

Nitra wanted to say something, but she quickly realized that Liang's words made sense and turned around to take a closer look at Gael's sword.

Alucard smirked, chuckling evilly.

"Not bad, not bad at all. I'm sure besides you, only Nameless King would be able to understand it if he were here."

Liang snorted, looking away to the side.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Gael's gaze turned cold as he muttered something and raised his sword slightly.

At the same moment, a silver flame beam flew forward at tremendous speed, destroying everything in its path.

Ereg had just destroyed the last flaming blade, surely he expected to be able to take a short break afterward. However, Gael wasn't going to let him do that, he had to keep suppressing Ereg until he became too strong.

"What the hell...?" Ereg muttered with wide-open eyes, staring at the fiery stream that was already almost getting to him.

The only thing Ereg could do in that situation was to block that attack because it was too late to dodge!

Ereg placed his wrists against each other, leaving his palms open to let the flame stream hit his hands as it did just a moment later.

The silver flame quickly began to burn everything in its path, In a few more seconds, Ereg's skin would burn, followed by his flesh and even his bones.

Ereg centered his ether at one point, but it seemed it wasn't enough. The flames slowly passed through the ether, because the layer was too thin and the ether was not dense enough.

'No! No! No! No! I've already withstood all the other attacks! All I have to do is hold on for a few more seconds! Come on... it has to happen now or I'll lose my hands!" Ereg inwardly exclaimed, begging for the ether to grow right now.

Perhaps, in his case, it would have been more logical to let the flaming beam collapse on his chest, get a serious burn in a relatively safe place, and then continue the fight. It would have been a pragmatic decision, however, Ereg was not known for doing everything based on logic and cold calculation alone. 

Ereg, like many, liked to take risks and often acted on emotion. However, unlike others, it never had negative consequences for him.

Somehow, he always sensed the edge he could reach before he lost and stopped right at the last point as if standing on a sharp blade. One more step sideways, and he'll fall into the abyss, but it's not for Ereg, for he's never had to take that step before.

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle. 

Bits of burnt skin flew aside, almost exposing Ereg's flesh, but... The moment the flames were about to touch his flesh, a gentle, blue energy covered his hands.

Gael's eyes went wide, for Ereg had just reached 80% blue ghost, which meant he had moved to a new stage of power!

"Alright... I got lucky again, though maybe it's all down to my superior instincts. Although, such instincts I have are partly because I'm a Beastfolk, so I'm still lucky, right? Hah, whatever, the important thing is that I was right again!" Ereg smiled widely before directing all his energy to his palms and squeezing them together in an instant.

Whoooooooooooosh.

The energetic blue pulse spread around destroying the beam of silver flame and rendering everything within a kilometer radius soundless.

For a few seconds, there was complete silence, people forgot for a moment that they had ears and focused all their attention on their eyes.

"No way... Just like that...?" Nitra muttered tightly clenching her fists. 

 Clots of silver flame flew off to the sides, sweeping over Gael's shoulders, who stared wide-eyed at Ereg.

"Alright." Ereg smirked, slicking his hair back, "It's your turn to get punched in the face, isn't it?"