Reborn as the Last van Ambrose-Chapter 81: Talyra Slyphine Vs Grim Van Ambrose Part 2

The black lightning arced toward Grim, cutting through his mist like it was nothing more than morning fog. He barely managed to bring Echo up in time, catching the brunt of the attack on his blade. The impact sent him skidding backward. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

A terrible numbness spread from his hands up his arms where the black energy had made contact. It wasn’t pain, exactly, but something worse.

[This is bad,] the voice said, a note of genuine concern in its usually calm tone. [That’s not ordinary darkness energy. It’s consuming your mana wherever it touches.]

Grim shook his arms, trying to restore feeling. "What the fuck is she using?" he muttered.

[Soul Shade is a technique that steals light umless your strong enough to over power it. It also can asorb mana when it touches you ir anything that has mana in it.]

In the royal box, the atmosphere had shifted from entertainment to grave concern. Empress Alexia leaned forward, her eyes fixed on the black blade Talyra wielded.

"Archmage," she said quietly, "am I seeing what I think I’m seeing?"

Archmage Marcus, who had been observing from the back of the royal box, moved forward to stand behind the Empress. His weathered face had gone pale.

"I’m afraid so, Your Majesty. She has darkness affinity. She is from the Demon Lands."

Chancellor Levenhart’s expression darkened. "This is an outrage. We’re technically still at war with the Demon Lands."

"Not to mention the tournament rules," Princess Liona added, her eyes not leaving Grim’s form as he recovered from the initial attack.

"The question," Empress Alexia said, her voice dangerously quiet, "is how she gained entry to the tournament in the first place. Someone vouched for her."

In the arena, Talyra wasn’t waiting for Grim to recover. Each swing sent more black lightning slicing through the air.

Grim abandoned any pretense of tournament etiquette, rolling and diving to avoid her attacks.

"Fucking demons and their fucking soul magic," he snarled, narrowly avoiding a strike that would have taken his head off. The black energy scorched the wall behind him, leaving a section of stone that looked desiccated, as if it aged a couple hundred years.

[Control yourself,] the voice warned. [Anger will make you predictable.]

"Shut up," Grim snapped, springing to his feet. "I’m done playing by the rules if she isn’t."

Something was happening to his face. The scar that ran from his forehead to his jawline had begun to darken, taking on a purple hue that stood out starkly against his skin. The change wasn’t lost on Talyra, who paused for a fraction of a second, her head tilting slightly in apparent interest.

"Soul Shade: Emptiness Path," she intoned, making a complex gesture with her free hand.

The black energy from her blade expanded, forming a corridor of absolute darkness between her and Grim. The temperature in the arena plummeted, spectators drawing their cloaks tighter as their breath began to fog in the suddenly frigid air.

In the Luminaris family box, Max leaned toward his father.

"Will he die here?" he asked, a hint of eagerness in his voice despite his attempt to sound neutral.

Julius didn’t take his eyes off the fight. "With darkness of that magnitude at play? Unless he has command of Light Sword Dao techniques we haven’t seen, yes. He will likely die here."

Back in the arena, Grim knew he was in trouble. The Celestial Mist style wasn’t designed to counter dark-based techniques like Soul Shade. His mist, which normally gave him an advantage, was being consumed by the darkness wherever they touched.

His scar pulsed with each beat of his heart, the purple coloration spreading outward like veins across his face. The pain was excruciating, but with it came a strange clarity. Rage burned away fear, leaving only a cold determination in its place.

"Let’s fucking play. I’m done screwing around with you."

[Grim, be careful,] the voice cautioned.

Echo’s blade blazed with intense blue-white energy as Grim launched himself directly into Talyra’s corridor of darkness. It was a reckless move, one that drew gasps from the crowd.

Talyra hadn’t expected such a direct confrontation. She faltered momentarily, forced back several steps by the sheer audacity of Grim’s attack. Her black blade met Echo in a series of lightning-fast exchanges, the sound no longer the clean ring of metal on metal but a discordant screech like reality itself was being torn.

"Soul Shade: Consuming Void."

Black tendrils shot from her blade, wrapping around Echo and beginning to crawl up toward Grim’s hands. Wherever they touched, the metal of the blade seemed to dim, its usual luster fading.

[She’s trying to corrupt Echo,] the voice warned. [Break contact now!]

Grim disengaged, leaping backward just as the tendrils reached his fingers. A searing pain shot through his hand where one had made contact, leaving a small black mark like a burn.

"I should stop this match," he murmured to the Empress. "Soul Shade techniques can affect more than just the combatants if fully unleashed."

"Not yet," Empress Alexia replied, though concern was evident in her voice. "I want to see how Van Ambrose responds. This may tell us more about him than all his previous matches combined."

In the arena, Grim’s composure was crumbling. The cold calculation that had characterized his earlier matches was giving way to something darker, more instinctive. His movements became less refined but more unpredictable, fueled by a fury that seemed to be feeding the spreading purple hue of his scar.

"You think you know darkness?" he spat, blood dripping from a dozen minor wounds across his body. "You don’t know shit about darkness."

Talyra’s response was to raise her blade toward the sky.

"Soul Shade: Midnight Sun."

The arena darkened as if someone had drawn a veil across the afternoon sun. Shadows deepened and stretched, the temperature dropping further. Above the fighting area, a perfect circle of darkness formed, blotting out the daylight. Within this circle, a moon appeared.

Spectators cried out in alarm, many rising to their feet. This was beyond the usual display of martial techniques; this was reality-altering magic of the highest order.

Under the spectral moonlight, Talyra’s features changed subtly. Her pointed ears lengthened slightly, her eyes taking on a silvery glow. The black blade in her hand seemed to drink in the moonlight, growing darker

Grim stared up at the impossible moon, then back at Talyra. For a heartbeat, the arena was completely silent, everyone holding their breath as they waited to see his response to this overwhelming display of power.

Then, unexpectedly, Grim began to laugh hysterically.