Elaina and Klaus stared at each other waiting for one of them to make a move. Klaus finally revealed his true colours, no longer holding back on the use of dark magic.
Elaina didn't want to get close as one wrong move could instantly cause her death. It wasn't known exactly how it works, but the main reason for the ban on dark magic was due to it being able to instantly kill people. It was a power that nobody should wield, so there were many laws that enforced the destruction of any grimoires or any form of writings relating to it.
It was thought that everything related was destroyed as it hadn't been harnessed in years, but Klaus was living proof that some knowledge still remained somewhere. Of course there had been some instances of dark magic being used throughout history, but it happened unintentionally. The only known cases were of people who were mentally ill and gave birth to negative emotions who in turn took form as dark magic.
It was not fully understood, but it was believed that dark magic uses emotions to take form. So seeing Klaus use it so effortlessly shows how deeply ran whatever negative emotion he is feeling, which Elaina could only guess is hate.
"It's a shame seeing you like this. Why do you have to go to such lengths to make everyone suffer? As far as I know, you had a great life growing up." Elaina wanted to get to the bottom of why Klaus has fallen down this path. It didn't make sense why someone who used to be so bright turned so foul and dark.
"Words are a waste of breath, don't bother to try to understand what I've been through." Memories flashed through Klaus' mind which only infuriated him. It pushed him to make the first move, disappearing into black mist. He then appeared directly behind Elaina while swinging a sword made of that same pitch-black mist.
Elaina blocked his sword, worried that the dark magic would destroy or corrode her own weapon, but it did nothing. The demon god's soul in it was protecting it from getting destroyed by the dark magic, which also meant the armour she wore would at least give her a layer of protection.
She was no longer afraid of the dark magic allowing her to fight back far less restraint.
Klaus was annoyed that the natural corrosion dark magic caused did not work so he pulled away, but as he did a hand grabbed him by the neck. Elaina smashed Klaus into the ground while blasting him in the face with black flames. She also spun her axe with one hand and then swung it down trying to cut him in half.
Black mist caught the axe, preventing him from getting cut, but the impact from the axe was still felt. The bones in his body were getting crushed by the shockwave caused by the clash of axe and mist, but it wasn't enough to do any major damage.
"Just die already bastard." Elaina stomped on Klaus' head, but just as her foot was about to make contact, a hammer made of black mist the size of a building suddenly rammed into her from the side, launching her away from Klaus.
Swinging her axe into the ground, she slowed herself down to regain her footing. Yet by the time her foot touched the ground, dark mist swords had already materialized around her trying to skewer her.
Just as she managed to dodge the blades, Klaus took the chance to appear in front of her and knee Elaina in the stomach. His knee was coated with dark magic, turning it as sharp as a blade. However, Elaina's armour successfully stopped it from piercing her so she was only pushed back instead.
Although the blow did not hit that hard, the corrosion from the dark magic took a lot of blood from Elaina to repair. She didn't expect it to take so much, reminding her she wasn't as safe from dark magic as she initially thought.
"Tsk." Klaus was irritated as he hoped that would have been the killing blow, but he overestimated his dark magic.
"Not so confident now Klaus? Sounds like your cheat codes are not as powerful as you thought." Elaina tried to play it off as if his attack did almost nothing to her, trying to deter him from continuing the fight.
"Don't think you can stop me with words. I won't yield until I am dead." Klaus intended to finish what he started, especially since he had already revealed his use of dark magic. He needed to act quickly before more tier 10 beings catch wind and team up to defeat him.
It was a risk he was taking, but if his plan played out smoothly then it wouldn't matter if the whole continent fought against him.
"I shall be your death then. As I always have, I will keep protecting the continent from the shadows." Elaina didn't like that her taunts were not working, but if she needed to sacrifice herself then she would. To her, the monster Klaus is becoming should not exist in this world, so if her life was the price of peace, she will gladly pay it.
"If only you knew the truth..." Klaus muttered under his breath, smiling as he pitied the common people of this world.
Elaina dashed while dragging her axe behind her, but before she got close to Klaus a voice resounded in their ears.
"Long time no see Klaus." Freja had made her appearance prompting Klaus and Elaina to look up.
"Great more problems." Klaus shook in anger as the last person he wanted to see was Freja. She was the one thorn in his side that he had been unable to pull out. He tried avoiding her by causing problems in the fox realm to keep her at bay, but it seemed ineffective.
"Freja!" Elaina was shocked to see Freja here since she wasn't one to interfere unless it directly affected her.
Freja floated down to Elaina's side smiling as if she was meeting an old friend.
"Good to see my master is in good health." Completely out of character, Freja addressed Elaina as a superior. If anyone else had heard that they would be doubting their hearing, considering Freja's prideful nature.
"Don't go saying that, you long surpassed your master when it comes to the black flame." Elaina didn't like this dynamic as Freja was now so much more adept at magic than her.
"You declined long ago to join my harem so sadly I'm yet to call you my little de-."
Klaus was not going to sit there and listen to Freja talking about her relationships. It disgusted him at how openly perverse Freja was, so he shot forward with his dark magic sword trying to stab her in the throat.
With the tip of her fingers, she grabbed the blade, completely unaffected by its dark magic. Klaus looked at her in confusion, unsure how she was even standing.
"Heh~." Freja loved how Klaus was confused as it showed just how immature his knowledge of dark magic is.
"How?!" Klaus jumped back in pure reflex from the sudden fear that washed over his body. Seeing his attack get completely stopped with just a few fingers terrified him, activating his fight or flight response.
"How naive of you, must mean you haven't been using it for too long." Freja walked closer to Klaus while conjuring up a small flame on her finger. With each step, the flame got darker to the point where it looked like a void.
"Freja no! I told you to never go deeper with the black flames, it already treads the fine line of dark magic." Elaina knew what Freja was doing which was a very dangerous territory of magic.
Dark magic can take different forms which can be indistinguishable from a variant of an element. The black flame was an example of this, with the only thing separating it from dark magic being the type of negative emotions needed to bring forth the corruption.
Freja was someone who could control her emotions, so it was easy for her to forcefully ignite her hatred or despair.
"Do not worry Elaina, I'm still staying a few millimetres behind the line." Freja understood Elaina's concerns, but she wouldn't have been able to stop the blade any other way. Dark magic was a counter to itself, so only by being tantalisingly close to the edge would she be able to stop Klaus from using its corrosion.
"Tch, just some party trick then."
Freja's words only made Klaus more infuriated since to him it all seemed to be a facade. There was no way Freja was able to harness dark magic without crossing that line.
"Don't get cocky now, I have had plenty of practice with that nice barrier over the Fox Realm palace." Revealing where she was able to practice, it all clicked inside Klaus' head.
"No wonder you haven't come out of your forest bitch." He couldn't believe that his own magic was used against him, but now it was impossible to deny. He now had to Kill Freja here, otherwise she will literally be the death of him.
"Why thank you~ I put a lot of effort into learning everything I could." While speaking Freja took a few steps back to see what Klaus would do. It was also for her own safety as in reality she couldn't freely use her void flame as there was a high chance of killing herself.
"Katarina, take over for me." Klaus' eyes suddenly became void of life for a few moments before they returned. However, his demeanor completely changed, taking a more feminine posture.
"Careful Elaina, we could be up against a god." Freja didn't know what kind of possession it was, but with Klaus so entrenched in dark magic it wouldn't surprise her that some evil being just entered his body.
"Hoho~ how perceptive of you." A female voice came out of Klaus' mouth which was very jarring, but it only proved Freja's words.
"A god? How?" Elaina knew of gods possessing objects, the demon weapons being living proof, but a human body? The soul would be destroyed alongside the body as the power of a god is impossible to contain.
"No questions, just fight." Katarina moved even faster than the pope, becoming a blur even to Freja's eyes.
Freja pulled out a thin black sword adorned with black gems just barely in time to block a strike she couldn't even see.
"No holding back it seems." For the first time in a while, Freja felt threatened.
"Please, entertain me."
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