[Shadow Claw]

Dark claws formed around his left arm, extending outward like sharp talons. He slashed sideways, aiming for Aziz's torso.

Aziz stepped back half a step and blocked with the flat of his blade.

Crack!

The shadow claws shattered on impact. Aziz countered instantly.

Slash!

Amon felt burning pain rip across his chest. His clothes tore, and blood spilled out as he staggered backward.

"Gah—!"

He barely managed to stay on his feet.

Aziz tilted his head slightly. "You really are good at using your skills," he said calmly. "It's really bad that you are too weak."

Amon coughed, blood dripping onto the ground.

'Like I don't know that…'

He clenched his jaw and forced mana into his legs again. He dashed forward, swinging his sword wildly now, no longer able to keep proper form.

Clang! Clang!

Aziz blocked every strike with ease.

Then.

Kick!

Amon was sent flying once more. His body smashed into the ground and rolled painfully. His back scraped against rocks and roots until he finally stopped.

He tried to stand. His legs gave out.

He dropped to one knee, panting heavily. His vision blurred at the edges. Every breath felt like fire burning his lungs.

Aziz walked closer, his flaming sword leaving scorched footprints behind.

"You're slowing down," Aziz said. "Running out of mana already?"

Amon didn't answer.

He raised his trembling hand, holding the sword tightly.

He swung it in a horizontal slash, covered with shadow.

[Umbral Veil Sword Art: First Form – Crescent of Dusk]

A dark curved slash moved toward Aziz at full speed.

Aziz bent his knees and then jumped very high.

The slash hit a tree behind him, splitting it in half.

"Tch," Aziz clicked his tongue. "That was not a bad attack. But too slow for me."

He appeared in front of Amon again and struck.

Punch!

Amon felt his ribs crack this time. His body lifted off the ground before slamming back down.

"Gahhh—!" A painful groan left his mouth. His body shot with pain. He couldn't help but curse his luck inside.

He screamed in pain, rolling onto his side. It was really a bad day for him.

On the other side, Aziz didn't stop. He came closer to Amon and sneered at him.

Kick.

Slash.

Punch.

Each attack landed cleanly.

Amon's body was tossed around like a broken doll. Blood stained the forest floor. His sword slipped from his hand again, landing several meters away.

He tried to crawl toward it.

Aziz stepped on his hand.

Crack!

"Aaagh!" Amon cried out as pain shot through his fingers.

Aziz pressed down harder.

"You're stubborn," he said coldly. "But I like that stubborn personality of humans very much. You are not bad. Maybe I should take you with us. You can be a good slave. You've got potential to become stronger."

With every word that came out of Aziz's mouth, chills ran down Amon's spine.

Aziz lifted his foot and kicked Amon in the face.

Amon flew backward and crashed against a tree. The impact made his vision go completely white for a moment.

He slid down slowly, leaving a trail of blood on the bark.

His head drooped. His arms hung uselessly at his sides. His mana felt almost empty.

'So… this is it…?' For a movement...he nearly have up.

His breathing was shallow now. His body refused to move properly.

Aziz stood a few steps away, looking down at him with mild disappointment.

"To be honest, you will be a burden to take to our base… but it's not like every day we get human slaves. Hehe~" Aziz said. "We haven't had any human slaves for so long. You could be very useful."

Aziz continued to think about what to do. Honestly, if the person were some really beautiful human woman, he would not have thought twice before taking her.

But this boy… other than torturing him and ordering him around, there were hardly any things this boy was useful for.

Though Aziz thought for a moment about brainwashing this boy, making him like a puppet.

They were always useful. Not forgetting Amon's skills, he was quite impressed with the boy. Since he was only at first rank, yet he fought well.

It was amazing how, even in this situation, the demon was thinking about how to make use of this human rather than just killing him.

In this kind of situation, it was better to just kill him. Yet it was Aziz's demon nature that wanted to use humans.

But then he suddenly clicked his tongue. "Tch!"

He raised his flaming sword.

"I'll end this now," Aziz muttered.

Amon's eyes flickered open.

Through blurred vision, he saw the blade glowing brighter, the heat making the air ripple.

His fingers twitched.

Shadows around him flickered weakly, barely responding to his call. Still.

Somewhere deep inside, something refused to die. Even if there was no hope.

'No… I will not die this easily… not yet…'

Even now. Even like this.

Amon clenched his teeth and forced himself to move.

Slowly. Painfully. He lifted his head.

His eyes burned. Not with strength, but with pure, stubborn refusal.

'Not yet…'

His mana was nearly depleted. His brain was throbbing hard because of using shadow abilities so much.

Yet his resolve never weakened. Rather, it became stronger.

The shadows around his body stirred again, faint but alive.

He was not going to give up. Not even if he were to die… he wouldn't die this easily.

'Unless I kill this man… I won't fucking die.'

The desire to survive slowly started to change into a desire to kill.

Amon's heart began to fill with spite for this demon.

What had he done? He was just going his way, not bothering them. He was far weaker than them. He was no danger… yet… yet they came to kill him.

That thought alone made his blood boil in anger. His remaining mana started to circulate too fast inside his body.

Ba-dump!

Ba-dump!

His heart beat loudly. Not like normal. It was loud enough that even Aziz could hear it clearly.

'Now!'

But Aziz didn't care and stepped forward. The finishing strike was coming.

Amon's shadow moved widely from his legs.

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