Strings Of Domination

Nash watched the descending greatsword above him with a clear mind, and without the slightest panic in his movements, he quickly jumped to the side, avoiding being crushed into a meat paste just in time!

Whoosh!

BAM!

With terrifying power that split the earth once it reached the bottom, Latael pierced the spot where Nash stood a moment ago but had to see with surprise that his strike missed, for the second time under a few seconds at that!

"?"

Watching as Latael became confused and turned his head to look at him, Nash's lips curved and quickly swung his Soul Breaker at the back of Latael's thigh. However, this time he made sure to focus on his entire body without blinking, so he can perceive every bit of his soul's movement with ease!

Latael feeling as his leg was targeted from behind became enraged and after letting out a loud bestial roar he quickly swung his lowest right hand that held the scythe backward, hoping to serve Nash's head off his neck once and for all!

Nash, however, didn't feel any shock or surprise when he noticed Latael's attack going for his neck as he had already seen it coming way before he started moving thanks to his Soul Eye! Hence, he quickly pulled his weapon back, and with a strong push against the ground's surface below his feet, he thrust himself backward, safely avoiding death's scythe!

Whoosh!

Once Nash was back on the ground again, he quickly seized the opportunity while Latael was still confused and mad over his inability of killing him, and closing the distance between them in a mere instant he swung his Soul Breaker for the third time!

And this time, his attack finally succeeded in reaching its target, striking Latael's leg from the side with great speed and power!

Clang!

"Huh?"

However, when Nash's Soul Breaker hit Latael's skin, the anticipated sword cutting flesh and bones cutting sound didn't appear, and instead what rang in the surroundings was the sound of metal clashing against metal!

Nash watched with slightly widened eyes as his weapon was unable to penetrate Latael's skin, and even felt like he wished to cut not a living being's flesh but a steel alloy instead!

'I thought his skin will be hard, but I didn't expect it to be this hard!' Nash thought with deep shock in his heart as he pulled his sword back and avoided another strike from Latael's scythe.

Whoosh!

Swish!

Clang!

The sound of air splitting, earth breaking, and metal clashing against metal sounded all around the vast grass field, creating total chaos whenever Nash and Latael tried to kill each other by swinging their weapons around with all their might. However, no matter what they tried to do or just how strong they attempted to strike, none of their assaults were able to reach the other much less injure or kill!

One was incapable of hurting the other because their opponent's skin was way too tough for them to cut while the other one failed to hit their target as it moved almost as if it knew where he wished to strike!

Like this, the two stood in a stalemate for quite a long while, none of them able to acquire the advantage over the other because of the incapability of breaking the other's defense!

However, if one were to spectate the fight between the two and would take a closer look, one would realize that the fight was slowly approaching its end as one of the two seemed to be reaching his limit.

And unfortunately, this someone was none other than Nash, who was not only just sweating like crazy almost as if he just ran a marathon, but his complexion even looked slightly pale from exhaustion.

• Essence: 1,470 --> 1,420

Although Nash's essence was not depleting fast as it only gets less by 50 with each passing minute, the time since they started to fight was so prolonged that his essence had been depleted quite the amount.

Furthermore, he was no machine with infinite stamina, hence fighting against Latael for a little more than an hour straight without rest was quite taxing on his body and it was no wonder he was finally reaching his limit.

As a fact, it was already a complete miracle that he was able to remain alive until so long without dying under Latael's crazy barrage of attacks; if it would have been anyone else, it was pretty much a sealed deal that they wouldn't be able to sustain more than a few seconds before getting smashed into a meat paste by one of Latael's deathly strikes!

'It's no use. I can't hurt him!' Nash clenched his teeth as he avoided a whip slash from Latael and swung his sword with a small amount of his essence fused into his weapon's blade.

Swish!

CLANG!

"Tsk!" seeing as his attack failed to cut through the firm skin of Latael once again, Nash clicked his tongue in irritation and quickly distanced himself from Latael.

'I have struck him hundreds of times on the same point, but failed to cut him. Even tried to use my Soul Breaker ability, but it seems it has a long preparation time before I can use it.' Nash thought and took a deep breath before his eyes turned firm and quickly put his longsword back into its scabbard.

'Then I only have one last option left.'

"ROOOOAAAARR" with a thunderous roar that shook the earth, Latael leaped high into the air, and with his giant Warhammer raised above his head, he descended toward Nash like a meteorite.

Seeing the terrifying speed with which Latael was descending toward him, Nash couldn't help but swallow nervously and think back at the sight that happened about ten minutes ago. With the same move, Latael literally changed the landscape in a mile radius around them into a cracked wasteland that was filled with nothing but seemingly bottomless fissures with a width of a few meters!

At that time, he jumped high into the air to avoid getting smashed into a lump of meat paste or getting buried alive, but this time Nash decided not to and stood firmly on his feet without moving!

'Let's hope it will work...' Nash prayed in his heart and extended his hand toward Latael and with his Soul Eye still active, he waited patiently.

And it was not long enough when Latael's soul finally reached the tip of his fingers, giving Nash a tingling sensation on his skin where he was in contact with Latael's soul.

'NOW!' Nash's eyes flashed with a sharp glint and without daring to hesitate even a second longer, he clenched his fingers into a tight fist!

• Essence: 1,420 --> 420

Crack!

A huge portion of Nash's remaining essence vanished the moment he activated his Soul Shattering Grab, but at the same time his fist also lit up with a bright blue light, painting Latael's entire Soul with the color of azure before getting shattered into millions of tiny fragments.

The sight was pretty much similar to a fragile glass getting dropped from high above, having no chance at all to survive the landing in one piece upon landing!

"ROOOAA-!!"

Tremble!

And soon enough, Latael's eyes turned hollow with his body no longer moving in mid-air, and like a ragdoll, he fell down from the sky right before Nash's feet with a loud 'Thud!' sound, shaking the ground below its humungous body akin to a minor earthquake!

[Congratulations! You have successfully beat Latael, the Ancient Fifth!]

[You have successfully completed your Final Trial, Against the Ancient!]