There was a reason why Alex had taught himself Rapier Arts despite already knowing Sword Arts, Blade Arts and Shield Arts.

It wasn't to complete his White Dragon's Street Boxing, but balance it with the aspects of the Black Dragon's Unorthodox Karate.

Even though there were compatible aspects to both fighting styles, the old freak of the Dragon Family wasn't able to make do with having just two types of weapon masteries, and so…

…the Refined Rapier and Tempered Katana became his most prized Combat Gift!

These two weapons allowed him to focus on extremities of the two styles.

It allowed him to become a true practitioner of the two separate Dragon Family martial arts.

An 'Ouroboros' if you will...

Right now, Alex focused on the wholly new style he personally created by layering over the Basic Skill used by Humanoid Beasts to increase their combat efficiency at night: 'Darken'.

The new name for this fighting style was:

Dark Dragon's Shadow Karate.

Just opposed to the Light Dragon's Radiant Boxing he created for battling in broad daylight, this new fighting style was formed without fully separating the elements of boxing he had incorporated into it in his last life.

Just because he named it 'Shadow Karate' didn't mean it was based off the regular Unorthodox Karate used by a titled 'Black Dragon'.

It would be wasteful if he completely nullified the hard work of his previous life just because he was incorporating 'Darkening' and 'Lightening' into his styles, so he made sure to be extremely pragmatic.

Progress wasn't in complete separation of his martial arts, but fitting them in a brand new mould.

As he was an Arcanist who was experienced in using the Dark Attribute, he knew full well of his environmental advantages while hiding behind a stone pillar. His eyes glanced at the now hidden Spencer while he covered his body with 'Darken'.

There was a reason parents in Gaia told their children to never enter the Dark Forest at night.

The advantages of the Light Attribute became disadvantages once paired with intelligent Beasts.

The scholarly freak glanced at the bright radiance of Jasmine's Mana.

She used Lighten to quicken her pace while searching for the 'assassin'.

Only after would she find her fiancé.

He was tempted to open up his Personal Space and shoot her with his 'Doom Revolver', but knew that the subtle sound of the gun's trigger clicking would give his position away almost immediately.

Such weaponry of the past wasn't suitable for this situation. He put it at the back of his head...

Even though the freak was slower than her, his own pace was fast. He stalked her using the shadows created by the shining Sword Type Spirit Essence in her hand, and the stone pillars of the museum.

His dark Qi Armament should be on par with Spirit Essences in terms of durability, but he wasn't sure what would happen if they clashed. That's why he was planning on striking her unconscious the same way she did to Spencer using his Refined Rapier.

As holding back his Devilish Physique's 'Body Slots' would be useless now that midnight was already coming. He quietly deliberated on what attack would be the most efficient to defeat her.

Although he hadn't been able to use any kind of Spell Slots before this and had to rely on his Magic Skills before Samuel came into his life, he had already mastered how to use Movement Skills and Half-Spells by scanning them using Runic Insight.

That wasn't to say he could use everything he learnt at this moment. He had to narrow down his options to the ones that would be most helpful to him, which was the Dark Attributed Body Slot.

The ones of Time Attribute and Space Attribute were also viable options, as they wouldn't remove his advantage like the Light Attribute would, but even with their great power, he didn't have the knowledge necessary to utilise them properly.

The Space Attribute was mysterious and rarely used by anyone other than Samuel, while the Time Attribute also wasn't something he could just use just because he knew all its Force Formulas.

He could only use two Half-Spells before running out of Dark Mana, that's why he had to make both matter. He was already focused on using the Fencing part of his 'Martial Skills' rather than using his fist, and he'd set them up using a 'Formation'.

As he was thinking over his options, Jasmine had already thought of a solution to take away his environmental advantage. In her hand appeared a second Spirit Essence in the shape of a staff...

'She has two Spirit Essences?' As Alex was unaware of her identity, he had no idea that the title of Weapon Mistress was given to her as a Mirror Priest was because her powers were beyond being quantified by a Class or specific fighting style.

He had thought she was a Sword Warrior at first due to his Runic Insight seeing her 'stats' as ordinary on the surface, but those words in his eyes became blurry as soon as she manifested the second Spirit Essence without much effort...

[Weapon Skill- Beaconing Lamp!]

She threw the white staff in her hand and drove it into a wall, allowing it to become a source of light that illuminated the darkness. This shook Alex to the core. He couldn't understand what he was seeing...! He couldn't believe his Runic Insight!

The moment the second Spirit Essence left her hand, her stats returned to being that of an ordinary Sword Warrior's. However, this didn't change her tactics. She walked out of the light of the shining staff and manifested another weapon.

This time it was a katana, which made Alex all the more flustered. He couldn't understand how she was breaking the limits of Classes... There was a restriction enforced by the laws of physics itself that one individual can only be born with one Class!

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It was impossible to have many Spirit Essences, but here Jasmine was, making a mockery of the laws of nature, as well as the Magic System in general. He was unable to stop himself from acting out impatiently before she lit up the entire Museum.

As the radiant individual was walking around nonchalantly without a hint of worry or anxiety in her heart, the shadowy figure of the scholarly freak made his move as he 'rode' on the shadows.

He didn't reveal himself and hid his fighting spirit as he got close enough to his careless opponent.

[Runic Formation- Ensnaring Shadows!]

He used the same Skill he used before to create a blindspot in the direction he was in. Then used that to his advantage without hesitation. His eyes were sharp as he watched her cut up the dark tendrils.

After he did so, he used two Half-Spells consecutively without any wait between them:

[Leg Blackening- Fencing Advance!]

[Rapier Blackening- Blast Point!]

First he focused his Darkening to his legs and turned it into 'Blackening', and used the technique of a fencer to keep his Refined Rapier facing the back of his opponent. He hid his figure using the long shadow that was formed by her shining staff.

The dark shadow was like a lane stretching to him…

If it was a trap, then it was cleverly disguised. His experiences were telling him this was his chance…!

This opportunity was so succulent…

He couldn't wait to take a bite!

His speed was a lot faster than those using Light Movement by a large margin. Incorporating the footwork of Fencing allowed him to easily shift to an attack-type Half Spell without missing a beat!

His rapier thrusted through the air after being Blackened the same way as his legs.

Alex quickly moved so fast that it was impossible for her to react, even with abnormal reaction speed.

This was a calculated attack done at what was supposed to be the speed that could never be dodged or blocked by anyone... but reality wasn't as he expected. He couldn't predict her counter.

[Sword Whitening- Wave Edge!]

Just as he stopped just a few steps away from her and shot out a straight beam of Dark Mana from his Refined Rapier, Jasmine matched that with a single swipe of her sword that matched his speed and strength- No, it overpowered his thrust...!

The sight of the two magical energies clashing would've given others the thought that a Beast and Human were battling.

The scholarly freak discreetly comprehended that all his previous planning had gone to waste...

He was about to abandon everything and use his strongest fighting styles without hesitation.

Unfortunately, a light appeared in her eyes…

She wasn't done yet!

[Leg Whitening- Brilliant Kick!]

Her foot travelled at the speed beyond what was usually possible with Light Movement.

She kicked him away with unstoppable force!

It was now that the scholarly freak knew he had underestimated the danger of this kidnapper...

After realising he had to also fight without constraints on whether his attacks would seriously injure his opponent or not, his expression started to darken. There wasn't much he could currently do.

What could he do…?

However, his resolution was unnecessary. The lethal woman didn't even give him time to recover.

Time seemed to slow down in her eyes... She was watching Alex's flying figure with radiant eyes; her body covered in the 'Collective Radiance' Spell Slot passed down to her by the Lord she so admired.

Her sword swiped again in that moment.

Ten times!

[Sword Whitening- Tenfold Waves!]

Ten Half Spells in a single slash. Almost like five Spell Slots being consumed without hesitation!

She wasn't a Lord Rank, yet she was able to throw out so many Half Spells as if they were common?!

The Light Waves created by her sword slashes travelled through the distance at once after he heavily impacted into a wall, smoke arose in the air and was cut to pieces straight after. Her sharp energy waves relentlessly chased him down.

Blade lines covered his body…

Jasmine didn't seem to care about using up her energy. She continued by taking out another Sword Type Spirit Essence. Then, separately with each arm, she slashed with the exact same technique again, adding up to twenty Light Waves at once!

The Weapon Mistress didn't have worry about using up her one and only Sin Type Spell Slot.

That singular source of magical energy refilled itself every time she used a Half-Spell by itself.

As long as she didn't use a proper Full-Spell that used up her Collective Radiance at once, she had unlimited amounts of magical energy at her disposal. All without any restrictions for use!

When the smoke created by Alex's impact into the wall of the Museum cleared up, it revealed a tattered figure holding a Qi Armament to defend the Light Waves that pursued him.

His Force Shield had taken the brunt of the Light Waves, but that didn't mean that his body was left uninjured.

His eyes were anxious as he looked at his chest.

Blood spilt from his wounds as the sheer force of the thirty Light Waves tore up his skin, leaving him in a state that could barely fight back. His body instinctively got up in order to move somewhere out of her vision, but she didn't let him do so.

Even as he was trying to use his Leg Whitening to initiate Light Movement, twenty more Light Waves interrupted him before he could complete the technique and smashed him onto the wall again.

Her two swords burned with a bright radiance…

Alex's eyes looked through his transparent shield to see the mocking smile on Jasmine's face.

She toyed around with him rather than killing him immediately.

He was like a mouse being played with by a cat, but cornering him only made him stronger.

That was the destiny of a 'Joker'. He was someone who could flip fate regardless of his own desires.

He took out his 'Vector Sword' Qi Armament and was about to display his swordsmanship, but she didn't even let him properly utilise his moves. The girl threw out another twenty Light Waves at him.

[Leg Whitening- Light Movement!]

He endured and charged forward with all his might after forcibly snatching the time to utilise the fastest footwork he could execute. His body was like a beam of light in darkness, travelling at insane speeds in the direction of the Weapon Mistress...

...with sword and shield in hand.

She couldn't help but he surprised. He looked like a certified Paladin Class with his current appearance.

The Force Shield in one hand blocked her Light Waves while the Vector Sword in his other hand radiated a dangerous glow. She realised he was about to use an attack using the Space Attribute.

Out of all the Attributes, attacks using time and space were the worst to get hit by. Every child and even their mother knew how devastating it would be to get cleanly slashed by a spacial Half Spell...!

That's why, she didn't let him succeed!!

[Body Whitening- Lightspeed Movement!]

While Alex was moving like a beam of light at a pace hitting the limit of the speed the eye could see, Jasmine's own movement was even faster than that! She directly reached the speed of light and appeared behind him with dual swords in hand.

To the scholarly freak, he was unable to see what happened or why she suddenly disappeared in a flash of light. Only realising that she was behind him the moment her blades cut into his flesh.

His back was open, and she didn't give him time to retaliate. She slashed him with the intent to kill...!

Blood spattered all over the ground. He realised something at that moment: He was going to die!!!

Samuel wasn't here to help him, nor any of the people living in his mansion. He was alone in this Museum, and his opponent was stronger than him by an entire level...! Alex couldn't even hope to retaliate. His long life flashed before his very eyes.

Where was the gradual escalation trope? Weren't action heroes supposed to win every encounter?

It was his fault for being a 'Wannabe Hero' and butting in without understanding the strength of his opponent... Life wasn't so fair that you'd get notified before death, nor was it that predictable.

If he was the main character of a story (which he definitely is), he'd at least get to finish everything he needed to do before dying. However, Alex didn't even get the time to do that as he regretted...

He didn't regret risking his life to save someone whatsoever, the scholarly freak was as stubborn as a bull when it came to helping others as he saw fit… rather than because of a sense of obligation.

Alex wanted to help that Museum Manager, and dying after picking a fight with someone out of his league was him being unfortunate rather than something he could've controlled. Maybe he could have changed up his strategy a little to last longer.

Even so, there was nothing he could do as the sword inched closer and closer to his soft neck.

A Strong Physique was durable, but it couldn't do anything about a direct and clean strike like this.

The sword cut deeply into his flesh and bone...

A head was cut off and went toppling onto the floor. Life was extinguished in those empty eyes...

Alex Stuman had died!