A single punch was thrown between a young man and a monstrous entity. The mist-filled forest had a visible area where all mist managed to cease to exist within a blink of an eye. That single punch didn't have a single ounce of strength behind it but was filled with a terrifying amount of mana capable of overloading a normal human being.

When Zane's punch was fully laid out, the aftermath was astounding, the mist that entered the trees and started to propagate themselves were all purified, no, it was simply caused by such an extremely dense amount of mana to enter Zane's body that it could no longer support the mist's existence.

The mist that was further away from Zane was still unaffected and still continued to take the life force of the trees to self propagate still fulfilling its purpose to corrupt. However, the moment it reaches a certain distance near Zane it suddenly disappeared as if it was a puff of smoke.

It was as if mana itself was favoring Zane as if it was its own child. Choosing to follow Zane despite it being able to fully support both Haze and Zane's mana usage. The unbelievably dense blue hue around Zane was truly a sight to behold.

Although Zane's punch did not land on Haze, the fear from Haze's multiple eyes were all clearly visible. The big red ball of flesh continued to create more mist from its own body but was constantly disappearing as it was produced for the monster's multiple holes.

Fear, agitation, envy and, anger could all be vaguely seen from the monster's grotesque face. After failing to create more mist, it decided to make a move now before it was too late. From a few of its multiple holes grew long and slender limbs and slashed at Zane.

Zane didn't make a single move but just looked at the incoming attack and maneuvered his mana to protect his body. His injuries earlier were not light so right now he was just buying time to heal himself.

The moment Haze hit Zane, there was a cloud of dust that appeared due to the sheer force of his attack. As the dust settled, Haze could see that he didn't even make contact, rather he did but it was simply on the protective barrier covering Zane's skin.

At the moment of seeing the effects of his mana technique, he couldn't help but praise Adam in his heart. Although he did see how effective it was when he taught Abel and Gabe the basics of Adam's mana technique he still hasn't realized its full potential.

"I really was too weak back then, I didn't even realize what this technique really was. It really is a fitting name you gave it..."

Zane gathered the mana within himself and tried to forcefully increase his own body's regeneration. Usually, this isn't a good idea since people's bodies couldn't handle the sudden influx of mana and would only be done in desperate times but because he had now finished the assimilation, he could now do this without any issues.

Despite seeing his earlier attack fail to even scratch his enemy he still continued his onslaught since he knew it would be bad for him if he failed to take out Zane now from the frighting amount of mana inside him. Clouds of dirt and dust sprouted out destroying the nearby trees and creating quite a visible depression around Zane.

After the relentless attacks towards Zane, he still stood there unfazed. The ground around him could say otherwise, it was now a two-meter deep hole with multiple marks of Haze's limbs. Zane was at most mildly affected since his sword was now down there.

Zane's badly beaten body was healing at a visible rate to the point that he could now move without too much trouble. He first went down and reached for his sword then jumped out of the hole facing Haze on equal ground.

Zane had to end this quick, there was still the fact that his people were being killed for each moment this went on for. He remembered Adam saying that the sword that he made for him was special despite its thin blade.

He then infused his mana inside it to see what it was about, he then realized why this sword was quite special.

Zane took out his sword and dashed forward, none of Haze's attacks were going through and all of the mist he could make were disappearing as soon it was being made. Haze could only sit there as Zane approached with his sword.

Nonetheless, Haze still made a desperate attempt at survival as he once again slashed at Zane. This time, however, Zane wasn't as vulnerable as he was earlier, he now had a sword which he could use to attack with.

Zane with his mana infused sword slashed back and with his sword's special property to change shape depending on the user's mana had his blade's length and width change to a disproportional degree where the hilt was the small one and the blade being the large one.

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All of Haze's limbs were all sliced in one go. Haze cried out in pain as laid flat on the ground at the complete mercy of Zane's sword. His fall caused the entire forest to grumble that could be heard throughout the empty battlefield due to the sheer weight of his body.

With his limbs all gone, Haze reeled it all back and went back to desperately creating mist in his last moments.

Haze could not understand how fast the tables could've turned, one moment he was having fun breaking Zane's body but the next moment he was the one being played with.

"Why! My mana... it's gone..."

Zane heard that in a grotesque yet elegant language that he was never heard of before yet he could still fully understand. Zane simply replied in his own language, "It's called Ruler of Mana for a reason."

After speaking those last words, Zane positioned himself in front of Haze and brought his sword above him and infused a large amount of mana into it and forced it to grow to an unbelievable size. With both of his hands balancing the gigantic sword above him he slashed down cleanly cutting apart Haze in two pieces.

Haze's cold body laid there acting out its last few actions before his death.

Zane wasted no time and went to where the horses went in hopes of finding out that Haze's words were false. His speed compared to before was extremely noticeable as he was moving at a rate he never could before. This trip that would've taken him around ten minutes only took him just over thirty seconds.

The moment Zane laid his eyes on the camp he then felt a giant rock weighing down his chest, what Haze said was all true except for the fact that the men stationed here were all killed and what awaited him was his own men.

Zane slowed down and looked at all the cold bodies of the people who were beside him when he protected him, the faces of the children he promised that he would help, and the women whose last emotion was sadness.

Abel was tending to his wounds when he Zane from the other side of the camp, he wanted to come and talk to him but decided against it. There were also other people who wanted to talk to Zane but Abel gestured them to not do it and to just let Zane compose himself first.

Gabe heard Abel but ignored him anyway. He approached Zane among the dead bodies and touched him on the back.

Zane looked back and saw Gabe's face, one of his eyes was closed and there was visible blood dripping out of it presumably from an arrow. His limbs were now covered in new scars and there was visible anger and determination on his face as he said, "They aren't all dead, those bastards killed those who weren't involved but the guards didn't do anything!"

When Zane heard this he remembered the entire law within this kingdom, men fight men but the women and children are not to be touched for they are the spoils of war. Zane felt a headache coming on, from the relatively carefree week of training he had, and the freedom that his people had were something that made him forget the entire flawed system that Adam wanted him to abolish by creating a revolution.

Realizing that the system he had trusted a little was disregarded without a second thought in the face of winning.

Zane sat down and decided to lay down amidst the dead bodies and said, "I killed them, this wouldn't have happened if I..."

Gabe immediately stopped Zane's train of thought of stabbing a dead soldier beside and yelling, "NO! It's their fault! There are still 80 of us here, we'll save them and kill everyone else!

Zane looked at Gabe's furious face and looked at everyone else that had the same face. Abel was dumbstruck at that moment but still shouted out, "Revenge! Kill them all!"

The eyes of the soldiers all around them were all filled with fury but weren't enough to incite a massive decision like fighting back.

Gabe wasn't affected by their lack of action and gazed into Zane's eyes, "I don't care about my life anymore, I just want revenge! They broke the rules but the guards didn't do anything! The rules they made didn't even matter!"

Abel went forward while he was still tending to his wounds. His badly bruised arms that were caused by facing the brunt of the attacks himself were barely movable due to the injured that he had taken.

"We won because of the weapons and Gabe's reinforcement, they had skill, teamwork, and formations. We would be throwing away our lives for this but at this point, it doesn't even matter anymore! Right now that only thing that matters is revenge."

Zane stayed silent for a few seconds but said something, "I have a way to get us our revenge, I broke through and I could now use my mana."

Right after, the entire camp suddenly was infused with mana that they could visibly see. The amount of mana that was being condensed within this small area was so much that the area around this space was being deprived of mana.

Abel spoke out in a low voice but since everyone was thinking of the same thing they all stood quiet, "Dear God..."

The soldiers that thought of giving at that point suddenly gained the courage to face the challenge head-on. They all knew how effective Gabe's reinforcement was and was one of the sole reasons they managed to win.

Compared to Gabe's mana, Zane's inhuman amount of mana, and considering the density of the mana here, the power that they would receive would be enough to keep fighting for weeks.

While standing in shock, Gabe was frozen but regained his thirst for blood right after and shouted, "Revenge! Kill them all!"

Everyone else joined and chanted the same words. Their voices reverberated within the camp.

"Kill them all!"

"Kill them all!"

"Kill them all!"

Gabe reached out his hand in front of Zane, his eyes were burning bright red, "So, are we going to slaughter them or what?!" The eerie and sinister smile he had on his face was unnerving but fit the scene all around him perfectly.

Within the loud blood-filled voices of his soldiers burning with vengeance, besides the cold dead bodies of the people he had sworn to protect, in the enemy's base painted with their own blood. Zane was in the middle of everything.

From where Zane was, he could only speak in a voice only audible to himself, "Instead of despair, wrath. Instead of death, slaughter. Instead of fate, victory." Then took Gabe's hand.

In the fifth month of the year 8454, Zane had shed his naive way of thinking and had decided to kill humans.