Brunaulf POV:

“Heuk!”

His foot caved into my stomach. He twisted it, increasing the force that blasted me away.

‘A Knight's Apprentice...’

I rolled to the ground as I dodged Percival's sharp lunges. His pressure was relentless, barely giving me any room to breathe. What made matters worse was that I was overly conscious of Leonard, who hadn’t looked away from the fight once.

‘He’s stronger than the District Leader who fought Storm.’

I barely slipped past the blade as he retracted it in the same motion, following up with a double strike to my chest that broke through my Ki armour.

He splayed his hand, and a blast of wind crashed into my stomach. My back smashed against the reinforced wall, leaving a large crater behind as I slid to the ground.

I had to treat Leonard as if he didn’t exist. That was the only way to focus on dealing with Percival.

‘...Kehehe... If you honestly think I’m going to lose again, then you’re insane.’

My lips spread into a wide smile as my eyes curved upwards. I abandoned the suppressions and dashed forward. Percival responded calmly by taking two steps back before firing off those piercing lunges.

“!”

I dodged and weaved through them as the gap slowly closed between us. His eyebrows rose slightly when I suddenly sensed Leonard bolting towards me from the side. He entered my peripheral vision in a flash, but I didn’t panic.

‘I knew it. He was waiting for this.’

There was no need to stall anymore; it was time to fight with everything I have. I wouldn’t be able to activate my ability in time, so I had to choose which blow to take: Leonard’s or Percival’s.

“!”

Two soft hands pushed me to the side as curly, dark violet hair entered my vision.

‘Beatrix?!’

I clenched my teeth while reaching out to her. Strands of madness enveloped my legs as I shot forward. I wrapped my arms around her body and turned into Percival’s blade that pierced through my abdomen.

‘Keuk...’

Less than a second later, Leonard’s fist shattered my ribs as I covered as much of Beatrix as I could. I crashed into the wall, taking the full force so she wouldn’t get hurt.

My eyes widened as I flipped on top of her, blocking a blade of wind that smashed against my back. I looked down at Beatrix, making sure she was unharmed.

“You...”

Beatrix stared into my eyes as her lips parted slightly. I grabbed her hand reaching for my face and glared at her.

“Don’t you ever do something like that again. I will never let anyone sacrifice themselves for me. Do you understand?!”

Her lips curved upwards while her gaze shifted to my wounded chest.

“I am convinced, Brunaulf.”

“!”

She splayed her hand, blocking the blades of wind that suddenly dropped down from above.

“Allow me to get serious.”

We got to our feet, and she released the full extent of her Ki, blowing away the rose eyepatch and causing an explosion of fire to spread out around her.

“Do you still think you could handle me?”

“...It's too early to say.”

“You have a competitive side too. I think that’s cute.”

She bolted forward, leaving a trail of fire behind her. Leonard smashed his gauntlets together with a wide grin on his face as he met Beatrix in the middle.

I belatedly realized my ability had activated partially without going through the usual process of starting from my back—it had evolved further.

“Madness: Chaos II.”

The strands erupted around me like tendrils poking out of the earth. They intertwined around one another while encasing me in a more refined version of Chaos that resembled the musculature of a human. It wrapped over my head, shielding my eyes with a thin visor-like layer that barely affected my eyesight.

Percival's eyes remained locked onto me as he closed his open hand. He took a step forward and got back into the same stance as before.

“I apologize for the interruption, but your death is still guaranteed.”

The madness probed and poked my mind while I glared at Percival. I could feel my thoughts becoming twisted as I reprimanded the madness.

“Kehehehe... Do you know who we are?”

I crouched down as Ki surged throughout my body like never before. Percival's eyebrows furrowed while he stared at me.

“We? Have you finally lost your mind?”

“No. We just gained control of it.”

I closed the gap between us in an instant, catching Percival off guard. He lunged forward with his rapier, but with my madness-infused muscles, I sidestepped his strike and struck his wrist.

The blade dropped out of his hand, and I immediately followed through with a full force punch aimed directly at his solar plexus.

“Cotis Style: Barehanded Ammunition.”

His hand slipped past my fist as the back of his wrist shot upwards. I felt the power leave my strike as the course of my attack was offset, but he absorbed the momentum while stepping deeper into the pocket.

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‘How...?’

Percival’s hands vanished as his fists imprinted themselves all over the hardened madness. Before I could back away, his final strike crashed into my chest, sending back more than the full force of my own intended attack.

I watched his eyes flash while I spun like a corkscrew right back into the reinforced wall.

“Keuk...”

A pained moan escaped my mouth, but fortunately, Chaos had absorbed most of the damage received. Percival looked down at his fist briefly, then at me.

“Interesting.”

I got to my feet and dashed forward again.

“Madness.”

Strands of madness erupted from my back, covering the surrounding area. I couldn’t use Distortion because it would end up affecting Beatrix too.

Tendrils shot forward from different angles as Percival dodged them effortlessly. I reached his side and threw a barrage of punches that he successfully parried. However, his attention was split.

“!”

A tendril wrapped around his leg and threw him towards the fountain. I instantly splayed my hand as a column of wind descended down upon him. Beatrix launched herself high into the sky and commanded the flames to wrap around the wind.

She kicked off the air as Leonard jumped up to meet her. The tendrils spiralled upwards, locking his fist in place while her knee crashed into his chest, sending him hurtling to the ground.

‘She’s impressive.’

I couldn’t deny her ability to grasp and create openings. Beatrix also seemed to match my rhythm oddly well.

Percival broke through the encasement with no visible damage and charged towards me. He had refused to pick up his rapier, instead showcasing his superiority in hand-to-hand combat.

“Cotis Style: Falling Leaves.”

His body flickered, and I immediately looked up to where I sensed his new position. However, he was nowhere to be seen.

I quickly looked back down when a foot struck against my shoulder from above. It cracked through the madness, dislocating the bone underneath as I dropped to one knee.

‘Seriously?’

I raised my guard as the bottom of his foot crashed against my other shoulder. He reappeared in front of me, creating a barrier of wind that fended off the tendrils trying to attack him.

“The time of your death draws near, Mad Wolf.”

The strands of madness forcefully popped the bone back into the socket as I welcomed the pain. I clicked my tongue while I opened up the distance between us.

‘I can’t fight carelessly against someone like him.’

The madness was disappointed by my thoughts but behaved accordingly. This wasn’t like the battle with Storm; Percival was better than me in every aspect, despite not using his ability at all.

The moonlight illuminated the garden as Percival faced me, brimming with confidence. How should I fight against him? Should I draw out more power from the madness? I glanced at Beatrix, who was being slowly pushed back by Leonard.

“Do you know why I haven’t killed you already?”

“...”

“You should experience the pain and humiliation of those who you have made suffer. From this moment onward, I am going to break you down.”

His Ki flared as he moved into a stance; he wasn’t bluffing. Percival kicked off the ground, and half a second later, his fist sunk into my stomach.

“!”

“Cotis Style: Annihilation.”

I dropped to my knees as a flurry of blows from every angle rained down upon me. The speed of his attacks gradually ignited the air while the tendrils of madness frantically tried to break through the wind barrier around him.

The madness peeled away strike by strike as the flames exploded on my body after each blow. My vision blurred while I gazed at the estate behind Percival.

‘My sister...’

“Keuk!”

I coughed up blood as his fist smashed against my face faster than the madness could regenerate. My head slumped forward, and he flicked his hands to the ground, cleaning the blood off of them.

He bent his legs as his fist fired towards my face once more.

‘That’s enough.’

“Kehehe... Ha... Damn. You really want me to kill you, don’t you?”

“!”

I caught his fist as the ripples of air exploded around us. For the others, I had the luxury of fighting with the Leader's integrity in mind. I did it because I respected him, and I was grateful for the opportunity—for the encouragement he gave me. But right now, I needed to put that aside for just a few minutes.

Because I was going to kill this man in front of me.

“That’s enough games. Kehehe... You’re dead now~”

I giggled as the madness around me exploded with vigour. Percival immediately backed away, but my fist rocked his jaw right into the fountain.

The calm expression on his face faded slightly as the impact caused steam to rise from the hand that barely managed to block my punch. I cocked my head to the side as the madness tightened its hold over me.

“...So you had this much power still hidden.”

His hand hovered over his sword grip, and I smirked at the cautiousness he was taking. Tendrils of madness shot forward at a speed incomparable to a few seconds ago as I stepped back into his range.

I launched my fist squarely at his chest while he manipulated the wind to keep the tendrils at bay. His hand slipped underneath my fist, repeating the same movement as before.

I cackled to myself like a madman when a tendril of madness spiralled out of the ground below and caught his fist midmotion.

“!”

“Kehehehe~”

I arched my body backwards and twisted it, carrying that momentum into an uppercut that crushed through the barrier of wind. It sunk deep into his stomach as he smashed into the fountain.

'Tch.’

Even a blow that strong wasn’t enough to dent his Ki Armour? Did he actually excel at defence rather than offence?

I watched him get to his feet, completely unfazed by the sudden shift in the battle. I clicked my tongue as we traded blows in the middle.

Each impact damaged the environment around us as our speed increased. The tendrils constantly harassed him from every angle as his eyes darted around while simultaneously keeping me in check.

“Kehehe~”

I deliberately missed a punch, slightly offsetting its trajectory. Percival stepped in immediately to capitalize on it when my knee crashed into his chin, launching him into the air.

“Madness: Execution.”

The tendrils in the surrounding area combined into four thick strands, coiling around his limbs by breaking past his annoying wind barrier.

“Kehehehehe~”

I splayed my hand as a tendril sprouted from the ground. It intertwined with whatever madness remained and formed a giant spear.

I gripped it tightly, arched my back as far as possible and launched it forward. The shockwave destroyed the ground in the immediate vicinity, forming mini rings of air as the spear bolted towards its target.

“Torment: Ignition.”

Dark flames with a slight purply-blue texture wrapped around the spear, increasing its destructive power. I glanced at Beatrix, who had her hand splayed out without even looking at my attack while forcing back Leonard.

‘...’

It was a direct hit as it exploded on contact. Percival dropped to the ground, and this time there was noticeable damage from his light armour to a few marks on his face.

“I didn’t expect the Mad Wolf to be able to synchronize with someone else to this extent. Your evil character aside, your ability is just below the top percentile of all of Idora.”

Percival pointed to the strands of madness scattered across the battlefield.

“Flexibility, creativity and what appears to be your own resource. It is hard to put a limit on how far your ability could go if developed correctly. I suppose, in that case, the name of your ability is rather fitting, Mad Wolf.”

I narrowed my eyes as I glared at him. He was still looking down on me. I gnashed my teeth together and prepared to attack again when Beatrix suddenly crashed into me.

“Percival, are you really struggling against such low-level opposition?”

Leonard strolled forward with minor cuts and bruises littered over his body. I glanced down at Beatrix, who was relatively unscathed, but she seemed to be having difficulties with something.

‘Her vision?’

She got to her feet as her knees wobbled slightly. Beatrix placed her hand over her eye while letting out a pained moan.

“Hold my hand.”

She stretched out her hand towards me, and my eyes widened. The Madness squirmed as a familiar scene overlapped with the present reality.

‘No, no, no! Not now...!’

That hand that reached out to me in the darkness before, that hand that wanted to support me—it belonged to Denise.

Her image overlapped with Beatrix, and my throat went dry. Thoughts of cancelling my ability instantly bombarded my mind as I backed away from her. The confidence and bravado I had were peeled off layer by layer while her gentle gaze rested on me.

“Brunaulf, what are you doing?! Hold my hand now!”

I heard the urgency in Beatrix's voice, but all I saw was Denise slowly walking towards me. My eyes shook as that scene played itself over and over again in my head.

“I-I can’t!”

I shouted back at Beatrix while noticing Leonard and Percival closing the gap between us quickly. The Madness wriggled with joy as I backed away. I could stay sane as long as I could get that scene out of my head. I couldn’t falter here.

I prepared to charge against the both of them when Beatrix stepped in front of me. Denise's image overlapped with her again, and a stabbing pain shot through my chest.

“Ugh...”

“Yes, you can. Hold my hand now.”

Beatrix didn’t wait for an answer this time. She grabbed my hand and interlocked her fingers around mine.

“Torment: Resonation.”