Aren took his stance again, eyes forward. This would be the final round, one that decides if he wins or loses, and as far as this fight has gone, he has been on the losing side.

It looked like they were equally matched, but that was not the case. The Minotaur dominated.

The Minotaur pulled its arm backward and then slashed. The ancient devourer moved through the air like a whip, the head locked onto Aren and came fast.

Shadow tendrils burst out of the ground, wrapping around the sword as it approached, but the sword ripped through them all and still headed for Aren.

"You wanna go, then let's go." Aren roared, pulling back his right arm and throwing a full-powered punch that slammed into the head of the sword.

BOOM!

The air rippled wildly, shock waves ripped out, rocks fell from the impact.

Aren's arm was blasted back, his eyes wide after he felt the unbelievable power inside the head. If not for the fact that he had on a doubled layer of armor, he would have surely suffered.

The Minotaur pulled back the sword quickly and then leaped into the air, swinging down. It coiled like a serpent at the still recovering Aren. Aren moved out of the way fast, the sword slammed into the ground.

BOOM!

The ground exploded, debris flying in all directions. The force slammed into Aren and threw him back, he hit the ground, rolled, and came to a stop, looking up again to continue.

He got on his feet and instantly unleashed a wave of shadow blades, but the sword moved with full flexibility and slammed into each one, destroying the attack before lunging forward at Aren.

When it was about to hit, Aren lifted one hand and a geyser of lava shot out, highly compressed and very hot, slamming right into the head of the sword. It didn't do much to deter it, but it managed to stop it for a moment, allowing Aren to bolt to the side, headed right for the Minotaur.

He had noticed something when the Minotaur started using the awakened form of the sword, a very small yet important detail. The Minotaur was in panic, a slight panic, and Aren was sure that it was because of the fact that the sword would kill him if he didn't kill Aren.

This made the Minotaur not plan as well as it should, but rather rely on the sword to end Aren fast.

'If I make use of that, keeping the sword away at all times, I'll be able to win this.' Aren thought.

He ran as fast as he could, trying to outrun the sword that had already coiled and was rushing at him fast. He could see its movement with shadow sense.

An idea came to mind instantly. Rather than find a way he could dodge, he decided to make the best use of the speed of the head.

Swift wind allowed him to feel the best path, so that he could follow it as best as possible. With that in mind, right when the head was catching up, Aren leaped into the air, making a clean flip at just the right moment and landing on the head of the sword.

He grabbed on with all fours, lying on his belly as the forward force of the sword took him forward faster than he could move himself.

When the sword came to the realization that Aren was on its head, it stopped abruptly. But the laws of inertia worked wonders, as Aren was thrown forward, heading right for the Minotaur.

The Minotaur was stunned when it saw Aren coming its way, and at that speed, he would surely reach it before the sword could get back.

Aren saw the hesitation in its eyes, he knew that his plan would work.

"I win!" Aren roared, as his entire body crackled with lightning. He had never used the black lightning ability in this way. He wasn't sure if what he was doing would work, but regardless, he was going to do it.

His entire body crackled with bolts, they struck the ground and everything around him. His eyes glowed a furious red, his heart rate reaching an all-time high.

"Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

In that moment, he channeled all that lightning into his fist, throwing a punch that the Minotaur would not be able to block.

The Minotaur instinctively lifted its hands to block, but the punch landed on its hands, shattering bones as heavy volts of lightning filled its body in an instant.

BOOM!

Its body flew through the air and then proceeded to smash through pillar after pillar, after pillar after pillar, until it stopped.

Debris fell, dust rose, the entire hall shook.

Aren stood there, hands stretched out, breathing heavily, sweat dripping down his face.

After a few seconds, he collapsed to one knee, wheezing hard. He clutched his chest like he was about to die, but regardless, he felt a heavy sense of joy.

'I have to check if I won.' Aren thought, placing his hands on his knee and forcing himself to stand. He gritted his teeth and looked forward.

He staggered in the direction that the Minotaur was sent flying, and after walking for a bit, he finally reached where the Minotaur lay.

He saw it on the ground, blood seeping out of wounds that lacerated it. It was barely breathing, its sword lying beside it.

Aren took a deep breath and then squatted beside it.

"I don't even know what to say, fighting you took all and extra from me." Aren said.

"I've never felt so close to death in a fight before, aside from when I faced the butler." He said, and then got up.

"With that sword you should have won against me, but you got carried away with your fear and used only the sword. Either way, I win." Aren said. He picked up the sword and it immediately transformed into its normal form.

He thrust the sword right into the heart of the Minotaur and killed it.

[You have leveled up, +4 stat points]

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