My SSS-Rank Class Is Blood Monarch!-Chapter 343 - The World Of Eternal Torment (Part 12)

The pillars of ice eventually stopped forming, and the entire arena was completely reshaped. Arthur quickly stood up, deactivating the skill as he took a heavy breath. He had consumed a huge amount of mana doing that.

The Frost Flame was already quite heavy when it comes to mana consumption, and making it form that many pillars of ice was quite taxing. However, that first step of his plan was finished successfully, and as he expected, the men didn't attack him out of wariness.

They didn't know what Arthur was planning. Standing there, they seemed quite lost and confused, trying to stay as far away from every pillar of ice as possible. That sight made Arthur smile as he quickly retracted his aura to his body.

Then, like a ghost, he vanished behind the pillars of ice, dashing forward with all the speed he could muster. He moved in a zig-zag, avoiding the pillars while slowly approaching the man from behind.

The two kept turning left and right as if they were searching for Arthur. All their awareness and their sharp perception, even without their eyes, were all gone.

Arthur closed the distance quickly and when he was close enough, he leaped in the air and sent a flying kick toward one of the men. But, unlike before, the man couldn't react in time as the moment he felt the sudden shift in the atmosphere around him… it was far too late.

*BANG*

The kick hit his torso, sending him flying several feet. At the same time, his friend was alerted to that as he tried to attack Arthur where he thought the boy landed. His speed was fast enough to get there instantly.

He threw a flying punch at Arthur, aiming for his chest. He had no doubt that the boy wouldn't be able to avoid it or deflect it. He couldn't do that before, either.

*CRACK*

"Huh?"

However, the moment his fists connected, he felt something crack loudly. He was completely stunned as the sound of the ice bursting echoed in his ears. He didn't hit Arthur.

At the same time, a silhouette appeared behind him.

"Got you~"

*BANG*

Arthur punched the man in the back, pushing him off his balance. The two men fell to the ground with a thud. They held the spot where they were hit as they squirmed and cried.

"..."

Meanwhile, the people around them were completely stunned. They could feel it, their friends had fallen to the ground out of nowhere. The boy had somehow connected two hits against the two of them.

The one most surprised was Yonathan. His eyes were visibly wider, and he was completely silent. It took him a moment to regain his composure.

'This kid…' He mused.

"Come on, guys. Surely one hit didn't defeat you, right?" Arthur asked as he hopped a few times in his place. "I still feel like I can go for a few more rounds!"

The two men slowly stood up, trying not to fall back. They had sustained serious damage from that one hit.

'As I thought… They had crushing power and immense speed, but their defense was really not that good. They probably didn't need to focus on defense when they had an arsenal of skills of that caliber.'

When he hit them, Arthur felt it in his hand. Their bodies weren't fortified enough with mana and so the damage he dealt was way higher than it could've been if they had proper layers of mana to defend their bodies.

That was great news for Arthur as he didn't have to worry about not being devastating enough with every hit that connects.

'I can still trick them but… I only have at most two or three more opportunities.' Taking a fighting stance, Arthur decided to end the battle as quickly as possible. He didn't want to leave any chance for them to figure out his plan and find a way to counter it.

Closing the distance again, the two men were more alert than before. However, with the pillars of ice standing in their path, they couldn't figure out where Arthur was at all. Their senses were picking up several sources of mana in the arena, each one closely similar to the other, and since they were all created by Arthur, the mana was his.

Arthur also deliberately made his aura mimic the one around the ice, so for them, it was as if there were several Arthurs all around them, and the real one was somewhere between them.

*BANG*

Then, like a ghost, he appeared behind them and in quick succession hit both of them where they couldn't dodge. The two fell again. But Arthur didn't stop there and continued his assault at full intensity.

From the left and the right and even from above, Arthur attacked them relentlessly. Punches and kicks flew, and they could barely deflect or defend any. Arthur's ability to vanish quickly into the trap he created was flawless.

He knew exactly when to attack and when to make them lose track of him. The men tried to punch the ice pillars, hoping to break them all or hit him by pure chance. But the task was way harder than they expected. For each pillar they destroy, they sustain heavy damage.

The punches left deep blue marks all over their bodies. They were barely able to stay standing after sustaining that much devastating damage.

At the same time, Yonathan was watching the entire battle with the most interest he had in years. His eyes were locked on Arthur, watching his meticulous movements and decisions with great shock.

'He had completely nullified their ability to outpace him using illusion… And he came up with that after merely fighting for a few minutes… Who is this child?' Yonathan muttered to himself as he held his cane with two hands.

For some reason, at that moment, the man felt something very weird rush through his mind. A feeling he hadn't had in ages or perhaps never had in the first place. It was excitement… and hope. A lot of hope.

For some reason, the silhouette of the boy as he fought left a very deep impression on Yonathan. His movements, style, and even his aura… They were something of a different kind.

The battle continued for several more minutes, and it was completely different than before. The dynamic had changed, and Arthur took complete control of the situation, doing everything he wanted without any problems.

The two men tried to start moving to avoid Arthur, yet they would always end up where he wanted them to be.

"Is that all you've got? Why don't you attack me, hm? I'm here, you know?"

On top of that, the boy didn't hesitate to play mind games with them. Even when they didn't understand what he was saying, his mocking tone made them instinctively lose control over their emotion and, by default, lose even more control over the battle.

"No more strength to fight back? You were really confident when the battle started. Now, all you've got are battered bodies. I'm quite disappointed, you know?" Arthur asked with a smile as he stood in front of the two.

"Let's go one more round."

"..."

"Come on, stand up!" Arthur said as he smiled widely. "Or are you just go-"

"Enough!"

At that moment, Arthur was snapped out his thoughts as he heard a very strong voice reverberate through the entire place, shaking him to the core. He quickly looked to the side and only saw Yonathan glaring at him coldly.

"The battle is over." He said as he tapped his cane on the wooden floor. "You have won, child. Let them be."

"..." Arthur blinked a few times, a little taken aback. "Over? But they can still-"

"It is over. I have seen enough. You have won the battle." The man said before he shifted his gaze to his men and spoke to them in their language. The two slowly stood up and nodded their heads before they walked away.

The boy stood there, still being watched by every single person inside that room.

"Hmm, if you say that I won… Then I have nothing to complain about." He muttered as he rubbed the back of his head. 'I actually somehow made it. That was a really tough battle, and if they could use weapons… I would've probably lost.'

Although the end of the battle was very heavily tilted toward him, Arthur didn't think that he was suddenly stronger than these two. He only won because of that trick he came up with, and even that trick would've not held on for long had the fight been to the death.

'There is still a lot for me to learn and master…' He thought to himself. 'A very long journey.'

Updated from freewёbnoνel.com.

"So, can you now lead me to the place you told me about?"

A//N: Thank you all for the gifts, golden tickets, and PS. Let's keep it up!