Chapter 9 The Shitty Old Man.

Deciding to toy with Suzal, the old man put on a wicked grin and lied, "Yes, that would be me. Why, did I do something wrong by wiping your village off the map? Hahaha! You know what?" he said, using a tone befitting a villain.

"What?" Suzal asked.

Leaning in closer, the old man's eyes gleamed with false malice as he said, "Your village... It was quite the enjoyable plaything for my boring times, you see."

"I see. Then you're just another piece of shitty garbage I need to clean from this tainted world," Suzal said in a completely emotionless voice, devoid of any expressions. As he began molding a huge amount of magic power, he channeled the energy throughout his body and muttered, "Sensumo."

'What kind of attack is he preparing that requires such a vast amount of mana? Also, is it just me, or is his mana control off the charts for his age?' thought the old man as he continued to watch Suzal. Then he muttered, "Nothing's happening?"

"No, it's more like I didn't do anything until now, you shitty old man," Suzal replied with a completely different look in his eyes. He matched the old man's gaze, then raised his swords as he continued, "By the way, what did you do? Oh, I remember now. You were the one who destroyed my village."

"What is he going on about?" muttered the old man as he processed his thoughts. 'What's happening? All that mana for nothing? That would be a waste; he definitely didn't waste it for nothing. Then, is it that case? Haha. If so, then even I am doomed,' he thought, growing increasingly apprehensive.

"But nevertheless, you're just another midget who wandered here to meet your demise," said the old man as he raised his sword. He immediately closed the distance between them and delivered an attack intended to render Suzal unconscious. But surprisingly, Suzal held his own, blocking the old man's sword with his own using both hands.

Suzal backed off a bit, then matched the old man's speed. He sent a diagonal downward slash, which the old man blocked. Suzal followed with a horizontal slash and then an upward vertical slash. As he thought, 'Now, time to aim for his throat,' he looked towards the old man's liver and sent a thrust aimed at the old man's throat.

The old man blocked it with moderate difficulty and backed off. 'This boy, he is definitely B-ranked. But how? At his age, all I thought about was how I missed drinking milk from my mother's... No, better not think about that. This boy was a lot weaker just before. I see. His special ability somehow increases his strength tremendously. But at what cost? Because if it's this powerful, it could affect his life,' the old man thought, feeling a slight twinge of fear.

"Hey. You're quite good. Do you have that too? Does it give you a temporary boost? Hmm?" the old man asked, throwing questions mid-battle, or rather mid-clash. Suzal decided to mislead him, replying, "You!? How did you guess?"

"Because I know about it too. Also, does it have any setbacks? Because you know you're doomed if so," the old man pressed.

"No need for concern. I will cut you down before that happens," Suzal responded.

In the next moment, Suzal launched a fierce front kick, which the old man dodged. Suzal then followed with a high-speed downward vertical slash, which the old man blocked with his sword. Suzal thought, 'Although I don't know if it's going to work, it's worth a try. I'll fool him and then get him.'

Suzal exhaled, indicating he was preparing something significant. He raised his sword to his right side, forming a stance called shoulder hold (kata gatame in Japanese), preparing for a precise and powerful attack. It was a 'false' final attack.

'If this works, great. If not, I'll have to pretend to be near death, and when the old man lowers his guard, I'll deliver the final blow,' Suzal planned. He was ready to attack deceitfully if it meant defeating his enemy. Even the old man almost fell for the trap, saved only by his lifetime of experience.

"Arcane Blade Strike," Suzal muttered, glaring fiercely at the old man. 'Why do I feel like I'm doing something wrong? Although it's wrong to kill, this man destroyed everything I had. Why am I feeling pity for him? It's something I can't fathom.'

"But that doesn't matter now. Because you will die for sure," Suzal said coldly, molding his magic. In the next millisecond, his whole body was enveloped in magic, flowing majestically, indicating the highest level of potent magic. The old man was beyond shocked.

In this world, it meant the energy or mana of gods.

'Ho~ This attack. If I take it head-on, I won't die, but I can't guarantee anything else. I might get permanently injured. Seems like I must get a bit serious,' the old man thought as he raised his sword. For the first time, he formed a stance with seriousness, not the random swinging he had done until now.

"Bring it on, young warrior!" the old man screamed. In the next millisecond, he channeled a tremendous amount of mana into his sword. Although it wasn't as potent as Suzal's, it was more than enough to deal with Suzal's attack. But he wouldn't walk away unscathed.

One false move, and one of them would definitely die. That was the caliber of this attack.

"Yaaaargh!" they both cried out in a battle cry as they rushed at each other with the highest concentration they could muster. Suzal was far more serious than the old man. Their speed easily surpassed 230 km per hour.

CLANG!

As their swords clashed, they both screamed their battle cries, pushing against each other with all their might. The ground around them crumbled and was destroyed, leaving many holes and even a huge crater at the exact spot where their clash occurred due to the magical flow.

But Suzal was at a huge disadvantage compared to the old man. His physique was inferior, but in terms of skills, technique, and experience, he wasn't far behind. If the old man was a perfect 100, Suzal would be an 87 in numerical comparison.

After nearly seven seconds of the clash, a victor emerged.

It was the old man.

'Phew! What a monster! Is he even alive? I doubt it. Although overall, this kid is still B-ranked. That attack was more than enough to kill even 49% of the S-rankers out there. Just who is this kid? Hope he didn't die. Wait, is his mana depleting? Sigh! This idiot. But I doubt it. Just in case, let's act like I let my guard down,' the old man thought as he approached Suzal with a relaxed posture, but inside, he was very prepared for anything unexpected.

"Sigh! Well, now that was something. If I hadn't pushed even a bit of the strength I used in that last moment, I would have definitely died," the old man said, thinking, 'This isn't flabbergasted. It was true, kid. Now let's see if you're really dead or just acting dead.'

He then swung his sword and put it back in its sheath as he approached Suzal, who was lying on the ground.

As he reached Suzal's supposed body, the old man kicked it a few times. But nothing happened. He then turned away, saying, "Yeah? Boss? Oh yeah. Um, the kid survived. But don't worry, I already finished him. But he sure was one hell of a kid. I bet he's already S-ranked. What!? You want me to take his body for further experiments? Alright, I'll do it after a cigar." While he was putting on the act, he felt nothing from Suzal's body, leading him to be 100% sure Suzal was dead. Not a trace of mana.

But suddenly, he felt a huge surge of killing intent directed at him. 'I see. So that's the case. He's still good to go. Almost no major damage. And a similar sword technique involving mana. And that other emotion. He's definitely feeling pity. From his killing intent, it's clear he hasn't killed a single human yet. Hmm. He could be a good student of mine,' the old man thought.

He turned back with a huge grin, extending his hand to capture Suzal from his right side. Suzal thought, 'I already predicted it, you shitty old man,' and shifted his direction and trajectory sideways. 'The real attack begins now,' he thought.

With a mana-coated sword, though not as potent as the previous technique, Suzal attacked with enough strength to kill the old man according to his calculations. Of course, this wasn't enough to kill the old man. And as expected, Suzal was unaware of this.

'What!?' Suzal thought as he was about to slash the old man's throat. He felt pain in his cheek, and the next moment, he was pinned to the ground. His last thought before losing consciousness was, 'That shitty old man. He predicted my sneak attack. No, he already knew about it. No wonder I couldn't take him by surprise.'