As Ibaan stumbled and his face neared the Xorra's Inferna Noctis—the black flame burning along the blade of the Divine Sword—

'Huh? Wha?'

His eyes stretched wide. A cold jolt ran through his heart, as if icy hands had gripped it with sudden force.

But before the black flames could swallow him whole, a huge yet steady blow slammed into him at once.

The world spun into a blur. A sharp pain tore through his body, bouncing through him like a ball thrown against the ground. He rolled without control until he finally stopped inside a deep dent carved into the earth by the impact of the Menace Punch.

Almost everything around him was crushed to nothing. Pure chaos.

And the cause? The Menace Punch, unleashing its full force on the filthy creature—reducing it to tiny pieces hardly visible to the human eye.

'Damn it!' he cursed inwardly. As his senses snapped back, he pushed himself to his feet inside the dent, gripping the divine sword with control. The Utopian's Duke stood a few metres behind him, its blade still flickering without a single flaw. The dragon-carved skull on the hilt looked almost alive, as if it were the source of its power, watching and guiding.

But right now, there were no blows coming at him—not like earlier when he had faced the filthy creature, Beast-monster Uman. Faced? No. He had been crushed by them.

His mind clicked in.

A question rose and drained the colour from his thoughts.

Why didn't he use his puppet? The leader of the Iron Knuckles, now nothing more than a marionette under his owner's command — Ibaan De Light, the leader of the Servants of Will, pulling its fate-strings. Through that puppet, he could even use both his own powers and the puppet's, making everything far easier.

A wave of excitement rushed through his heart as he realised he could use the Xorra's Inferna Noctis without facing any problem or consequence, by letting his puppet wield it instead. And the biggest benefit was simple: if he used the puppet to fight, that foolish and filthy creature would surely attack it just like before.

That was the only trick and power the creature had—how pitiful. So the creature would have to make contact with the puppet. And if the puppet carried the Xorra's Inferna Noctis, the black flames would surely devour it. Of course, he could craft anything through those flames, or so he believed, going by the vague memories that had recently connected the lost dots and were still forming more.

Without wasting another second, he summoned the one thing he needed—his puppet which swirled itself from the void.

A torrent of emotions surged in his chest, almost too strong for him to contain, but he tried his best to steady himself and hold back his feelings.

And twisting his torso, he jumped and ran backward just to dodge the filthy creature's surprise attack. He didn't stop; he kept making those abnormal long jumps backward and sideways — closing the distance between himself and the Utopian's Duke at the same time. Yes, you thought it right — his mind and heart wanted to take a bit of a risk, as expected from a student of the Nemesis of Angels.

Just then, right as he jumped sideways, the Menace Punch of the Beast-monster Uman appeared again, striking the very molecules of the air and sending out a huge yet controlled blast. But Ibaan had already dodged to the side. The force of the blow sent the Utopian's Duke flying from its place, making it land a few metres farther back.

Gritting his teeth, Ibaan twisted his legs and, with a burst of adrenaline, swung the Divine sword at the spot where the creature's Menace Punch had floated for a single second before fading away.

Ibaan gained control of his body, and at the same time he took full control of his puppet.

The bird-like eyes of the Bain opened, and its messy hair swayed a little, almost as if it were truly alive — and yes, it was.

The puppet's hands then twisted and moved smoothly over one another, as if shaping an archer out of thin air. Dark sparks burst from its palms and began to swirl above them.

Chikara rushed through every part of the puppet's body, gathering and tightening at its hands.

And then, something dark like a flame flickered into existence — an arc born from black fire, shaped like a tall, sharp figure made of flames instead of flesh. Its body shifted like burning smoke, its edges rippling as if the heat itself was alive.

The flames clung to it in layers. And almost at the same time, a wall as tall as the puppet appeared, guarding its owner from any misfortune.

Ibaan's eyes lit up with joy. His thoughts and guesses were right. From the vague memories of the Utopians and the Utopian legacy — Xorra's Inferna Noctis — that he had regained, the Utopians could use the Black Flames to form anything from them, be it a weapon, armor, or a protective barrier. However, there was a drawback too — it drained the user, sometimes for days or even weeks if used without care.

But Ibaan still didn't know whether he would face the consequences of using Xorra's Inferna Noctis, since he wasn't using the Black Flames directly.

The puppet's hands moved again under the controller — Ibaan's command — shaping an arrow made of Black Flames that flickered with every passing second. And the moment it was hurled straight ahead, something happened.

As expected, the Menace Punch of the Beast-monster appeared at the puppet's spot, landing a huge blow on it — a blow that hardly affected the puppet. But to the creature's surprise, something unexpected happened, even though it was exactly what Ibaan had guessed — the black flames flickered with a sudden, fierce intensity.

The arrow formed from Xorra's Inferna Noctis shot forward, cutting through the very fabric of the air and the molecules that made up the Menace Punch's structure. It stopped just a centimeter away from the creature's small form.

The creature's Menace Punch had no effect at all. In bewilderment, the filthy Beast-monster let out a silent, painful cry from inside the Menace Punch structure, trapped in its tiny form.

Meanwhile, Xorra's Inferna Noctis devoured the very molecules that shaped the creature's Menace Punch.

Right then, Ibaan sprinted toward the Utopian's Duke, keeping the Divine Sword at a careful distance from his body, letting it devour nothing but air.

Got you. I won't change anything, only smooth the wording where it's awkward. No rewrites, no new ideas, no altered meaning.

Picking up the Utopian's Duke, and twisting his torso, he ran back toward the puppet, which was now more than a hundred metres away.

As his mind shifted — just like his behaviour and nature that changed from too innocent to abusive — he dismissed the Divine Sword.

With a loud growl as he closed the distance, he commanded and instantly dismissed the puppet, then hurled the Utopian's Duke at the half-eaten Menace Punch.

And almost at the same time, he shouted, "Come forth, Menace!"

Immediately, the Menace Punch's structure emerged from the mouth of the dragon skull carved on the hilt of the sword. Its dark, shadowy, large form curled outward, and two horns rose from the two top edges of the fist.

And to the very surprise of Ibaan's subconscious mind, the Menace Punch spoke in an inhuman voice.

"Damn this bastard! All out!"

The Menace Punch struck the half-eaten Menace Punch of the creature, and it thinned out at once, fading into nothing and even betraying its own owner. The Beast-monster was left alone in the air as the sharp tip cut it into two halves, and the blow of the Menace Punch erased it completely.

Not only that, even more devastating and drastic blows spread through the surroundings, far more dangerous and on a far greater scale than any of the earlier Menace Punches he had used.

The ground lifted and shook, the already ruined land broke apart even more, and the shrubs, herbs, flowers, and trees were crushed into pieces no larger than a millimeter. And the force? It was far, far, far stronger than anything before.

[You have destroyed Beast-monster Uman core]

[You have received Beast-monster Uman core]

[You have slaughtered a Beast-monster; Uman].

Even Ibaan had to face the consequences of his own choices—ones he hadn't expected. He too was caught in the blow.

A sharp pain shot through his body as he lost control, and the world around him spun endlessly, his vision blurring and his mind teetering on the edge of insanity.

Yet, despite the tremendous chaos, the Menace Punch didn't vanish. It remained fixed in place, staring as everything around it collapsed into disorder.

It muttered again in a human-like voice, a mouth forming on its surface, opening and closing, with sharp red teeth clawing outward. "Asshole, nothing comes for free. Pay to get it. And you will have to pay"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.