As surprised as Ace and Amira were, Linley was even more so. He knew Bebe's strength better than anyone.
Though he was only a rank-four magical beast, Bebe was more than capable of fighting off rank-seven magical beasts on his own, and his speed was by far one of its most impressive attributes, and yet, Ace had managed to divert his attack at the last second to block his beast companion's surprise attack.
A sigh escaped Linley's mouth as his former rage calmed. "My family was wrong to look down on you for rejecting to be my guard. If that's why you wish to kill me, on behalf of my family, I apologise."
From inside the coiling dragon ring, Linley's master smiled appreciatively. 'It takes a wise man to be able to ignore his pride and take a step back. Unfortunately, if I'm right, that won't be enough…"
"Hahahaha, you apologise? Do you think that's enough? Because of your family's pathetic pride, my family were almost slaughtered!" Ace laughed, the anger in his heart rising to all-new heights. "No matter where it is, you nobles always believe you're beyond reproach.
I don't want your apology. I want your head!"
As he said that Ace masterfully used [Soru] to charge in Linley's direction. Unfortunately, although Linley was injured, his beast companion wasn't.
Even with Ace focused on the shadowy magical beast, it still appeared as a blur. If it wasn't for his ability to see through its intention, Ace might not even be able to react. Still, he was placed in a position where all he could do was defend.
Seeing that Bebe was able to steadily suppress his attacker, Linley decided to take that time to recover what little energy he could. He knew that Ace had two more teammates, and even if he didn't know exactly how strong they were just from looking at them, he knew they were unlikely to just sit back and watch as Ace died. For both his and Bebe's sakes, he couldn't afford to underestimate them.
Ace had been on the defensive for over five minutes already, and unlike Linley, who began to lose his patience after finding no opening, this little shadowy rodent appeared to be a natural-born predator.
"Looks like I can't hold back anymore," Ace sighed as he blocked another one of his new opponent's strikes.
As he said that, he unstrapped the glaive that Wukong had gifted him from his back and calmly put it on the ground.
"Bebe, be careful," Linley transmitted mentally to his beast partner. "I don't know why but both he and his partner seem a lot more confident now that he's taken it off."
"Don't worry, boss," Bebe sent back confidently. "He may have been holding back, but so was I."
As Ace removed his glaive, a sigh of relief escaped Amira's thick bow-shaped lips. This was the main reason that Amira had been able to keep herself from interfering in Ace's fight so far.
It had to be remembered that 'Newgate' – Ace's new glaive – was made from Adamantine and Ichor Wood, two of the heaviest materials on the continent. Though he wasn't ready to start using it as yet, Ace had decided to keep it on his back as a passive way to train.
Not only had it affected his movement speed, it had also restricted his movements slightly. Amira knew that when he removed it, his speed would be incomparable to what it was.
Ace saw an almost human-like derisive sneer on the little mouse's face as it tore through the air towards his neck. He knew it more than likely didn't believe Ace could do anything to change his position, but it was in for a rude awakening.
As it neared the neck of its prey, Bebe's jaw opened, revealing its razor-like teeth, preparing to tear a chunk out of Ace's neck, but instead, he phased straight through his opponent's body.
'Afterimage?' Cowart realised in shock.
After removing the deadweight from his back, Ace managed to set a new personal best for [Soru], kicking off against the ground 23 times in an instant.
"BEBE, WATCH OUT!" Linley shouted as Ace appeared behind his beast companion.
Ace's [Haki] infused glaive was like a shooting star as he performed a perfect [Thrust] straight into the airborne rodent.
Linley could only watch in horror as Bebe, a magical beast he saw as more of a brother, was sent flying through the air.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" He roared, his voice a mix of fury and anguish.
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He ignored his wounds as he hurriedly stood to his feet and shot forward.
"Not if I kill you first," Ace smirked as he seemingly teleported in front of his target, performing yet another meteoric [Thrust] aiming for Linley's heart.
"[Superfield Gravity], [Supersonic], [Earthguard]!" Linley roared, impressively insta-casting not three spells, two of which were spells of his own rank.
It was true; there was no faster way to improve than in life-and-death battles. Linley's improvements during this fight were incredible. Unfortunately, Ace was too much of a monster in comparison.
He felt the gravity double suddenly, and although his attack slowed slightly, it was still too fast for Linley to dodge or block.
But at that moment, defence was the last thing on Linley's mind. To him, Ace had just murdered his brother. The only thing he wanted was Ace's death. He completely ignored Ace's attack as he threw his dagger at Ace's head.
Seeing that, Ace merely smirked. With incredible control, he went from offence to defence, and back to offence in one move.
As the dagger was mere inches from his face, he spun the glaive in his fingers, knocking it up with the butt of his polearm and using the momentum of his spinning glaive, he seamlessly transitioned into a [Chop].
Amira could only sigh in admiration at Ace's skill. Honestly, it was like watching an artist at work. When using magic to supplement her abilities as a warrior, technically, she should be the superior of the two, but Ace's skill and combat experience put him in a league of his own.
If it were anyone else, she would more than likely hate the feeling of being second best, but for some reason, she didn't mind it with Ace.
Time seemed to slow as Linley watched the air being split by Ace's glaive. He was under no delusions. He knew that his [Earthguard] wouldn't be able to block this next blow, especially with his [Superfield Gravity] spell increasing the power of Ace's attack, but at this point, he didn't care. He watched with a helpless smile as death approached.
'Father, Mother, Wharton, I'm sorry, but this is as far as I go.' Linley thought to himself. 'Bebe, I'll see you soo-'
Just as Linley felt he was about to die, he heard an immature voice in his mind. "I'm not dead yet, boss!"
He'd been so overwhelmed by his partner's 'death' that Linley forgot his bond with Bebe was still as strong as ever.
Bebe's speed was definitely one of his most impressive attributes, but without a doubt, his most impressive attribute was his defence. Not even a seventh-rank magical beast had been able to do anything to him, let alone a fourth-rank warrior, even one as heaven-defying as Ace.
Ace had long since realised his attack had done next to no damage. As shocking as it was, he was more focused on killing Linley. He would focus on the little rat after Linley's death.
Unfortunately for Ace, it seemed that he wasn't the only one who'd been holding back. Bebe shot forward like a bullet, his speed reaching all new heights.
The edge of his obsidian blade was centimetres from Linley's face when Bebe crashed into its flat side, knocking it just off target.
As Ace's glaive crashed into the ground, a small crater formed by Linley's feet, but as soon as he knew Bebe was all right, he had already begun jumping back, trusting his partner would handle the incoming attack.
From there, the second round between Ace and Bebe began, and although Ace wasn't suppressed as badly as at the beginning of the fight, he could do next to no damage to Bebe, even with his [Armament Haki].
He knew the only way he could break the freakish defence of this monstrous rodent was if he switched to 'Wielding light as though it were heavy'. But, unfortunately, the drop in speed would mean that not only would he be unable to land a hit on his rocket-like opponent, he would undoubtedly suffer from its razor-sharp claws and teeth.
Instead of giving in to his frustrations, Ace's focus reached all new heights. He focused on nothing but penetrating the rat's ridiculous armoured fur.
It appeared the fight was at a stalemate as neither could break the defence of the other, but neither appeared willing to give up.
After ensuring that Bebe was in no immediate danger, Linley sat down to recover as much as possible in preparation for what was to come.
The fight continued for almost two hours, with neither party slowing down when a giant grin suddenly appeared on Ace's face. "Hahaha, I finally did it!"
As his voice waned, a frown suddenly appeared on Linley's face. At first, the strike seemed no different than before. Its speed was impressive but not too much for Bebe to handle, but when the two made contact, Bebe was forced to retreat. That wasn't the shocking part, though. What really made Linley worry was the drops of blood on Ace's glaive.
Though it was only a couple of drops, meaning it hadn't done much damage, its implications were what made Linley worry. It meant Ace was now capable of hurting Bebe, which in turn, meant Ace's victory was only a matter of time.
"Bebe…" Linley called out worriedly as he suddenly began chanting quietly.
Ace was too focused on Bebe to realise what Linley was doing. He immediately began to suppress the little rodent who was doing all it could to survive. Unfortunately, a new injury would appear on Bebe's body with each subsequent clash.
Ace might not have realised what Linley was up to, but Amira, who had been patiently watching from the side, immediately understood what Linley was planning to do when she heard him chant the incantation for the [Supersonic] Spell.
Linley was easily capable of insta-casting a spell like that on himself, so when she heard the all too familiar incantation, it became obvious that he intended on using it on Bebe.
"[Supersonic]," Amira called out as she, too, used [Soru] to appear in front of Linley, her sword pressed against his neck.
She knew Ace wanted to kill him personally, so instead of killing, she resorted to threatening to kill him to keep him from finishing the spell.
Ace was just about to finish Bebe, who had accumulated too many injuries to avoid this next attack when a scream entered his ears.
"AMIRA?!" Ace shouted as he stopped his attack to turn to face the direction of the scream.
When he turned, he was shocked by what he saw. Amira was on her knees, clutching her head in pain, and floating above her was the illusory figure of a smiling old man. The shocking part was that he couldn't see him with his eyes; it was only through the use of his compressed [Observation] that he could see him.
"Who are you?!" Ace asked through his teeth, his killing intent reaching all new heights.