Damon had heard rumors of Renataâs magic attribute. It wasnât elemental like fire, water, or even his own. Noâit was one of those rare, conceptual types.
Renata Malcrist was very powerful.
Her attribute allowed her to reduce anything to zero. In simple terms, she could lower the value of somethingâanythingâuntil it hit absolute zero.
And thatâs exactly what had happened to Damonâs magic bullets. Before they ever reached her, their value had started to decline, getting weaker, fading... until they were nothing.
If each magic bullet had a power value of 10, she made sure it reached zero before impact.
Damon clenched his jaw. He hated to admit it...
But her attribute was overpowered.
How were standard attributes supposed to compare? Even with his own upgraded versionâUmbral, a superior form of the Shadow attribute courtesy of the Unknown Godâit still felt weak next to hers.
âAnd even then... it doesnât compare to Void,â Damon thought bitterly. That belonged to Lilith Astranova. Not only could she control space, she claimed to influence other phenomena too.
As for Renataâhe didnât even know her full class history. Her first, second, third class? A mystery.
Still, Damon could feel itâshe was stronger. Her power was somewhere in the realm of Ruin Fairy-class threat.
He glanced at Matia who was just watching him lazily.
He wanted to cry... save me damn it.
Back when heâd fought Matia, heâd needed everything: strategy, magic artifacts... even the Staff of Carnage and its devastating area effect. He had to go ravenous to survive.
And the only reason he won... was because he was completely insane.
Right now?
No ravenous.
No magic artifacts.
No Ascendant Armor.
No madness to lean on.
There was no way he was beating her.
He was strong, sureâbut defeating Renata? Not happening.
Their stats werenât even close.
But stillâthat didnât mean he couldnât put up a fight. Just because he couldnât use ravenous in public didnât mean he was weak without it.
And he wasnât about to back down now.
Had he ever?
âStill... I donât have to win. Iâm good at evading...â
Renata raised a brow, glancing at the fading violet sparks around her.
"Maybe you donât know this... but I suppose I should make it clear and tell you my class."
She smiled.
"Itâs called Mage Killer. Itâs a mage-type class. Basically, Iâm a mage... who kills mages."
She shrugged casually.
"I have no idea why, but apparently Iâm the bane of all magic users. [Zero]âmy passiveâreduces the value of any attack."
She crossed her arms like it was already over.
"My second class is called [Delete]. It didnât come with a skill, so I bought a barrier skillâlets me create and control barriers."
A smirk curled on her lips. She wasnât just explainingâshe was mocking him.
"My third class came with a skill, though. Itâs called [Canceler]. The skill I received is [Negative]. What does it do?" She tilted her head coyly. "Well... youâll find out soon."
Lilith scoffed, placing a palm on her cheek.
"Her skill lets her mark youâthen it starts draining your mana or any energy you have. When your mana runs out... it starts leeching your life force."
She scoffed.
"Stop acting mysterious..."
She gave Damon a look.
"It can drain any energy."
Damon froze slightly. That changed everything.
If she could drain any energyâshe could even drain shadow energy. If that happened, his Ravenous form would trigger.
He could control what he did in Ravenous now... but he couldnât stop himself from transforming into it.
"Carp..." he muttered under his breath.
Still, he plastered on a smile.
"Senior Renata... erm... you look very beautiful in that outfit..."
"No way... is he buttering her up?"
"Ahh, yeah. I remember now. Damon Grey has no honor."
"Shameless wretche."
Someone raised a hand, whispering, "Donât be stupid. Itâs Damon. Heâs definitely planning something."
Renata glanced down at her attire.
"You mean... my academy uniform?"
Damon smiled brighter.
"You pull it off wonderfully. No wonder youâre the prettiest girl in the academy."
Renataâs smile faltered. Was he flattering her? Was he expecting her to go easy on him?
How cute.
Until he continuedâ
"Second to Lilith, of course... wait, no, sorry, my badâalso Sylvia."
Renataâs temple twitched. He wasnât done.
"Youâre also behind Evangeline. And... well, Leonaâs kind of hot too."
He grinned. "Donât worry, youâre still good-looking. I mean... your looks are kind of like Xanderâs."
Someone from the crowd whispered, "Wait... isnât Xander a boy?"
Renataâs hands trembled.
Heâd just compared her to a man.
Her aura surged, pressure radiating off her skin like waves of lead. Damon staggered slightly under the weightâhis lungs compressed.
How...?
"If youâre wondering how," Renata said, smiling wickedly, "itâs simple. I turned your resistance to gravity... to zero."
Damon straightened, coughing slightly.
"Impressive loophole. But enough yappingâ"
He hurled a blast of black flame.
The arena ignitedâbut he wasnât aiming to hit her. He was buying time. Recovery time. Heâd stalled just long enough for his Ashborn skills backlash to fade.
Renata activated her second skill, her barrier flickering into view.
He watched the flames weaken in real timeâdiminishing until their strength evaporated entirely.
He expected that. Overpowering her was pointlessâit would cost more energy than the damage he could deliver.
âThat barrier of hers... just too broken.â
But he had other ways.
He slid under his own flame, his body morphing into shadow. A swift, darting wisp of darkness.
Renata might be a mage killer... but she was still a mage. If he could overwhelm her in close combatâ
He reformed just in front of her, fist wreathed in compressed black flame.
He struck the barrier.
The barrier resistedâbut he felt it weakening. His momentum slowed as its value was reduced to zero... but he surged forward anyway.
Her eyes widened.
He smiled. She was open.
He clenched his fist for the follow-upâ
But Renata smirked back.
She swung.
Their fists collided in an explosion of air and shadow.
Damon was thrown backward, skidding across the stone tiles.
What?!
Her strengthâher physical strengthâwasnât just unexpected. It was absurd.
He stared at her in disbelief.
Her class... was a mage-type.
There was no way she shouldâve hit that hard.
He had killed the Beldam herself, and even she didnât hit like this.
At least not pyshically.
Renata twirled her finger in the air.
"Tag. Youâre it."
Damon felt a jolt.
A mark settled on himâsickly and invisible. His mana began to leak. His shadow energy too.
Slow. Steady. Relentless.
"Carp..."