James had two hundred Javelins armed and ready, and yet he wasn’t launching any of them. Even as his barriers were cracking, he kept just casting Javelins without releasing them.

Because he knew his Javelins wouldn’t do much to Garantep. Against normal agents, they were deadly weapons that could eradicate them in one hit.

Against this foe though, he could launch all two hundred of them, and he’d probably still survive. He might not even get hurt at all.

And the offensive power of this foe was just as impressive as his durability. But to James, who habitually creates new skills, the enemy’s weapon wasn’t a threat, no matter how dangerous it was. No, it was actually an inspiration.

James kept dodging as he was conjuring Javelins, trying to stockpile as many as he could. But his time had run out. The crescent blade merely grazed James’s barrier, and it completely shattered.

Garantep smiled, quickly launching a wave of energy to deliver the killing blow while James was exposed.

But James smiled as well. “How would you a like a taste of your own medicine?”

Every single strike against James was a lesson. Every time his Chaos Barrier cracked, his mental image of the weapon was getting clearer and more sophisticated.

Suddenly, the more than two hundred Chaos Javelins coalesced into a thick, viscous red plasma. It was so bright that even James himself couldn’t look at it.

But he didn’t need to look, he knew what he had created. He lunged forward, grabbing at the glob of plasma. His hands passed through the giant glob unhindered, the chaos energies not daring to hurt their master.

Garantep was launching wave after wave of Darkness at James, but James was now fully within the glob. The waves impotently vanished as they hit the vicious chaotic energies.

However, James didn’t cast the glob for protection. It was so bright that he couldn’t see anything, but his hands didn’t have to search for long. He knew instinctively what he was looking for.

His hands finally grabbed onto something solid within the giant glob of viscous energy. He smiled as he felt the power within his newest creation.

[Skill unlocked: Chaos Glaive]

As soon as he grabbed it, the glob vanished, all the viscous energies flowing into the Glaive.

Garantep didn’t waste a second, slashing at James before he could even look back at him.

But James’s hands moved, as if the Glaive had a mind of its own.

The shape was perfect for defense. Even though James took inspiration from Garantep’s weapon, his mind involuntarily added to the design by taking into account his need to defend.

It was like two crimson moons had been forcefully linked together to form this oddly-shaped weapon. The blades so large that one could mistake them for shields, if not for the undeniably sharp edges proving otherwise.

Garantep slashed at James, but he didn’t even have to dodge. All he had to do was move the blade, and the attack would be parried effortlessly.

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Taking advantage of the situation, James sacrificed his health several times, casting three layers of Chaos Barrier on himself.

But more importantly, [Reckless Abandon] activated. With increased speed and power, James flicked the Glaive at Garantep.

A small crack immediately appeared on Garantep’s barrier.

James smiled. The crack was fixed in a second, but that didn’t matter. It was proof that the Glaive was a threat.

And Garantep knew it too.

“You really think your makeshift weapon can rival mine?” Garantep shouted, the ground shaking from the mere force of his shout.

“Save your petty intimidations and just fight.” James spat towards him.

Suddenly, Garantep’s hands turned black. It was so fast James didn’t even see the transition.

Despite being an agent, Garantep’s current body almost seemed to repel Darkness. But now, his hands were greatly enhanced, so full of Darkness that they seemed to warp space itself.

Garantep leapt at James with a blood-curdling scream.

James moved to block with the Glaive, but Garantep’s speed was nothing like before. Even with [Reckless Abandon], James couldn’t rival the speed.

It wasn’t Garantep’s body as a whole that was fast. But his hands seemed to teleport throughout space.

James tried to block, but the dark, crescent blade hit his barrier thrice, his Glaive unable to keep up. Even the force of the attacks seemed much more devastating, his barriers already about to disappear.

James returned to the strategy of dodging, using SARM to push himself away. Luckily, he had ways to make himself faster as well.

With Lunaris constantly pouring her heals into him, and with his new body being so much tougher, he was able to sacrifice even more HP right away.

He cast another five sacrifices. But instead of screaming in pain, James was smiled.

He didn’t dodge any more, choosing to stick to close-quarters combat. And Garantep was happy to oblige.

Their two blades met each other, the crimson and dark thundering as they collided.

Cracks echoed as they hit each other’s barriers. They were both so fast that they couldn’t parry all of each other’s attacks.

As powerful as Garantep was, James had a temporary edge. His [Reckless Abandon] wouldn’t last long, but its effects were clear. Even though James’s barrier was cracking too, it was much worse for Garantep.

James took full advantage of his temporary buff, using both ends of his Glaive to swiftly pile up damage on Garantep’s barrier.

Every second, dozens of cracks would be heard.

All of a sudden, drops of black blood leaked from Garantep’s hands.

“Not quite invincible, are you?” James mocked him.

Even though his own barrier was about to break, James didn’t stop. Instead, he focused his attack on Garantep’s hands.

“If I cut these off, what other part will you enhance?” James laughed as he unleashed countless targeted strikes, chunks of dark flesh flying in all directions as he chopped at Garantep’s hands.

Suddenly, a wave of dark energy pushed James back, stunning him for a second as Garantep leapt away.

Immediately, the Darkness within his hands seemed to expand, extending all the way to his shoulders. His hands regenerated in seconds as he screamed in pain. But even after the hands were fully regenerated, he continued screaming, as if the Darkness itself was consuming his body.

“I can’t believe you pushed me this far.” Garantep laughed maniacally. “You’re strong, I’ll give you that. But this is where it ends.”

James tried to leap at him, but waves of dark energy pushed against him. He boosted himself forward using his mana, but it was too late.

Garantep screamed, the Darkness within his arms flowing outwardly. Within moments, a second crescent blade was formed, giving off an even more imposing aura than the first.

“Let’s see how you deal with two of them.” Garantep screamed as he jumped towards James.

James knew it meant trouble. He had a hard enough time dealing with one blade. And now not only were there two of them, but whatever was happening to Garantep’s hands extended to his whole arms.

James tried to block, but as soon as Garantep reached him, cracks appeared all over his barrier. He was even faster than before, James not able to block anything with his Glaive at all, especially as [Reckless Abandon] was beginning to wear out.

“His barrier is about to crack! He’ll die in just a few hits!” Emilia shouted.

“That Garantep seems to only power up every time he takes damage.” Denmac growled.

“You’re forgetting that brother can do the same thing. Every time our backs are against the wall, he pulls some crazy, harebrained stunt that actually ends up turning the tables.” Helios replied with a radiant smile, not a hint of worry on his face.

Lunaris was worriedly pumping heals into James from afar, but as she looked at Helios’s smiling face, she beamed as well. They didn’t know what James was going to do, but they believed in him with all their hearts.