Iris leaped away just in time as my shredding code crashed down toward Isaac.

Sparks and blood flew as the rapidly rotating rings of the blood gyroscopes clashed against his radiant sword.

Amidst the shredding orbs, I collided with Isaac, our swords emitting waves of fervor, driving the paladin further into the ground.

Behind me, I heard the crackle of lightning and quickly retreated as Carlo's claymore descended upon the luminous blade.

Crimson lightning exploded from the collision, pulverizing everything in its path.

Huge ice spikes hurtled toward the paladin as Krystal dashed forward, her rapier gleaming.

Observing the intense clash between them, Iris materialized beside me from the shadows. Her eyes faintly glowed, and dark marks adorned her face.

"You activated your stigma?" I raised my eyebrows.

She nodded. "It's going to be excruciatingly painful."

"Yes, it will be." I stabbed her in the side. My sword pierced her uniform and plunged deep into her body.

She cried out, clutching her side as blood gushed from the wound when I quickly withdrew my sword.

"A little warning would be nice," she said through clenched teeth.

I shrugged. "Hey. The closer you are to death, the quicker we finish this."

Iris took deep breaths and straightened her body. "I'll engage and stay with Isaac. Tell Carlo and Krystal to unleash attacks regardless."

Turning to me, she added, "Do your best to put me on the brink of death as well."

I smiled. "Of course, I will. I'll accompany you. Someone has to watch your back."

"But..."

I placed a finger on her lips and reassured her, "Don't worry, Iris. I'll evade in time. I'll be fine."

Iris looked uncertain but nodded and smiled. "Let's win this."

Just then, amidst the chaos, my earpiece crackled to life with Artemis's urgent voice.

"Mordred! We've discovered a plethora of artifacts in the room! Any one of them could be the anchor!"

My eyes lit up with anticipation. "Well? What are you waiting for? Burn them!"

"All of them? They are extremely old and rare artifacts!" Artemis sounded devastated.

I rolled my eyes impatiently. Really? Now?

But I understood her apprehension. The artifacts held invaluable historical significance.

Destroying them seemed reckless.

Sighing, I turned to Iris and conveyed the situation.

She frowned in contemplation. "Artemis has a point. Indiscriminately destroying them isn't wise."

Her eyes brightened with a sudden realization. "I have an idea. Release an ardor pulse strong enough to disrupt a warlock's flow without harming the artifacts. No matter how strong he is, Isaac will react if the ardor flow of his anchor is disturbed."

Swiftly relaying Iris's plan to Artemis, relief flooded her voice.

"That's a brilliant plan. Wait, Apollo! Don't burn them all!"

Her voice cut off abruptly as Carlo crashed into the nearby wall, engulfed in a burst of red lightning.

Turning our attention back to Isaac, we witnessed him holding Krystal aloft, his gauntleted hand tight around her neck.

Krystal struggled against his grip, summoning a barrage of ice spikes that Isaac effortlessly dispelled with a flick of his radiant sword.

"Is this all?" he asked, his eyes burning into me.

He hurled Krystal toward me, and I caught her just before she collided with the floor.

"Sorry," she winced and tried to lift her battered and bloodied body only to collapse in pain.

I smiled. "It's fine. We'll take it from here. You and Carlo focus on healing and if you are ready, unleash your deadliest long-range codes. Make sure they hit Iris as well."

Her azurite eyes widened in disbelief. "What?"

"Just do it. Trust me," I insisted.

She looked uncertain but nodded. "Okay."

"Great," I said, carefully settling her against a fractured column before turning to Iris. "This is the final push."

The Fairy of Tenebris nodded eagerly, her blue eyes shimmering with anticipation. "Indeed. Let's go wild."

Gripping my sword tightly, I leaned forward, activating my stigma.

I had closely studied Isaac's swordsmanship and absorbed invaluable insights.

Now, I merely needed to wish for it.

"I want his skills."

A searing headache threatened to overwhelm me as knowledge flooded my mind, my body instinctively adopting Isaac's techniques in seconds.

I gasped for breath, the intensity was unlike any previous skill acquisition.

S-rankers truly are on a whole new level!

But now, his skills were mine.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

A grin spread across my lips. "Let's finish this."

Together, we shot forward, sending out powerful shockwaves of ardor as we reached Isaac in the blink of an eye.

Iris's obsidian daggers, shrouded in ethereal darkness, descended upon the paladin like the venomous fangs of a serpent from the abyss, while my sword, its emerald edge aglow and ensconced in the swirling mists of my blood, mirrored his thrust with unwavering precision.

Isaac met our advance with formidable resistance, swiftly switching his sword to his left arm to intercept Iris's onslaught while seizing the blade of my sword with his clawed gauntlets.

But we were prepared.

Iris melded into the shadows, reappearing beside him in an instant, while I deftly twisted my sword free from his grip, mirroring his movements down to the slightest detail.

We struck out once more, and despite his disadvantaged position, Isaac retaliated with ferocity.

His slashes drove me backward, and he aimed the hilt of his sword at Iris.

Yet, instead of evading as she usually would, Iris braced herself for the impact, absorbing the blow with a gut-wrenching force that sent blood spewing from her lips and tore a ragged hole in her jacket.

Propelled toward the shattered ceiling, she instinctively flipped midair, her fairy wings propelling her back into the fray.

Seizing the opening, I launched myself at the paladin, engaging in a deadly dance of swords where our movements mirrored each other with uncanny precision.

Isaac's shock was palpable as he faced my flawless execution of his own techniques as if confronting a reflection of himself, adapting seamlessly to his every move.

Thrust for thrust, slash for slash, we continued our intense exchange, each blow pushing him further back under the relentless onslaught of his own skills wielded against him.

"Is this your Gift!? To copy the abilities of others?!" Isaac yelled at me as he found himself getting pushed back by my relentless assault with his skills.

"Ding ding! You got it right!" I shouted in reply, amplifying the speed and ferocity of my attacks, unleashing my blood tentacles against him with renewed vigor.

In a burst of darkness, Iris rejoined the fray.

She danced gracefully amidst the chaos, her movements a blur of darkness and blades.

Unlike me, who evaded and parried, she endured every blow.

With a primal howl of pain and determination, she withstood the onslaught, her flesh torn, her bones broken, her blood vaporized.

Witnessing her agony tore at my soul, every fiber of my being screaming to intervene, to spare her from the unbearable torment.

But I held fast. She must endure. It is the only path to victory.

The Sanctuary of Light trembled violently, its once-stalwart walls crumbling under the relentless onslaught of our battle.

Everywhere we clashed, the floor shattered and powerful waves of ardor, darkness, light, and blood ripped into the runes and white stones that made up the Sanctuary.

I felt a surge of ardor behind me, prompting me to leap aside just in time as a devastating beam of crimson lightning and a barrage of ice spears, swords, and colossal spikes from Carlo and Krystal assailed Isaac and Iris.

The echo of Iris's anguished scream reverberated throughout the cavern, nearly paralyzing me in my tracks.

"No. Iris!" I rushed forward as the lightning sparkled away and a thick fog washed over me.

Please be okay!

The fog was blown away by raging ardor to reveal a sight from my nightmares.

Iris's body was covered in blood, her form battered and broken, her once-immaculate uniform now a tattered mess, revealing gruesome wounds that marred her flesh, some exposing bone.

The sheer horror of her injuries threatened to overwhelm me, but her eyes, wild and bloodshot, gleamed with unyielding determination as she continued to rain blows upon the paladin, leaving deep gouges in his radiant armor.

Witnessing her primal fury ignited a fire within me, hardening my resolve.

Pushing past the limits of my fatigue and pain, I surged forward, knowing that time was of the essence.

If I were to deactivate my stigma, I would lose my acquired skills, but there existed a minuscule window, mere milliseconds before the penalty took effect.

In that fleeting moment, I would unleash my most potent strike, not one borrowed from Isaac, but one honed over a lifetime on Earth.

I just needed to reach that window.

I needed more power.

My blood vessels ruptured, and crimson jets sprayed from my skin, the pain drowned out by the surge of adrenaline coursing through my veins.

Muscles tore, and bones cracked under the strain of the immense power propelling my body beyond its limits.

With a scream of defiance, I shot forward, appearing before Isaac.

He pivoted to meet me, but I pushed Transcendence to its breaking point, teetering on the edge of mental collapse.

Transcendence: Absolute Nirvana.

In an instant, time halted, freezing everything in its tracks.

Even Isaac, poised to strike, was suspended in motion, his sword held aloft.

Gritting my teeth against the blood that obscured my vision, I deactivated my stigma.

Ten milliseconds.

In that frozen moment, I unleashed my most devastating slash directly at Isaac's chest.

The blow struck true, shattering the frozen world as a gaping wound tore through the paladin's armor, unleashing a blinding burst of light.

"ARGH! THAT HURT!" he bellowed.

My body drained of all strength and skill, collapsed forward as Isaac advanced, delivering a crushing downward blow.

My sword spun through the air as my arm was severed cleanly from my body, a spray of blood accompanying its trajectory.

Just before Isaac could deliver the fatal blow, Iris, her eyes ablaze with fury, drove her daggers into the gaps in his armor, diverting his attention.

As I lay helpless on the ground, I summoned the last remnants of my fading strength and control over ardor, extending my arm to unleash my final gambit.

{Haema: Crimson Nova}

A surge of blood erupted, coalescing into a growing sphere that engulfed us, its tendrils reaching out to touch the massive crystal at the heart of the cavern.

The sphere pulsed with power before condensing into a tiny marble in my palm.

"Suck on this," I muttered, before the marble exploded in a cataclysmic burst of crimson energy, consuming everything within the perimeter of the dome that once encapsulated the Sanctuary.

*******

As the dust settled and the crimson mist dissipated in the cavern's vast expanse, Mordred lay prone on the ground, his body battered and broken.

Krystal and Carlo emerged from their cover, their faces pale and eyes wide with shock as they surveyed the aftermath of the explosion.

There was no sign of Iris.

Mordred struggled to lift his gaze, his vision swimming with pain.

Just then, a terrifying wave of ardor surged over him.

With a thunderous roar that shook the very foundations of the mountain, Isaac burst forth from the rubble.

His once-pristine armor was now heavily scarred and cracked, radiating an unstable brilliance that fractured the stone floor beneath him.

"MARVELOUS! ABSOLUTELY MARVELOUS! I ACKNOWLEDGE YOU, MORDRED PENDRAGON! YOU TRULY CARRY THE BLOOD OF THAT MAN!" His voice boomed, echoing through the cavern’s vastness.

His blazing eyes locked onto Mordred.

"But I am afraid this is the end," he declared, summoning his sword, which now blazed with a renewed, almost blinding intensity, as he advanced menacingly.

"Shit," the young Pendragon muttered, his voice trembling with a mix of dread and determination as the paladin drew nearer.

Carlo and Krystal watched in horror, their breaths coming in short, panicked gasps as Isaac’s armor flared with dangerous intensity.

Just as Isaac raised his sword to deliver the final blow, he staggered.

His aura flickered and dimmed, and his eyes widened in sudden, bewildered realization.

"Impossible!" he roared, his voice tinged with desperation.

Mordred’s earpiece crackled to life with Artemis's urgent, excited voice. "We found the artifact! We’ve lit it up!"

Isaac’s confident demeanor shattered. "Impossible! That artifact has no hold over me! I am strong enough to exist without an anchor!"

"True. But it weakened you significantly," a calm, resolute voice interjected from behind him.

For the first time in his immortal existence, Isaac Zierhart felt the cold grip of fear.

Rising like a specter from the shadows, Iris’s bloodied form emerged.

Darkness swirled around her, and the markings on her face glowed with a menacing intensity.

Coup de grâce.

Her black daggers flashed with lethal precision, and a burst of darkness tore through Isaac’s chest, followed by a surge of pure, blinding white light.

"Ah. My Goddess..." Isaac murmured, a sense of weightlessness enveloping him as he sank to his knees.

His once-fiery gaze softened into one of disbelief and resignation.

As his spirit began to fade, he mustered the last of his strength to ask one final question. "Child of Darkness. What is your name?"

Iris's blue eyes met the gaze of the fallen paladin as his spirit dissipated from his armor.

"My name is Iris Kar-"

She stopped, thought for a bit, and shook her head with a smile.

"No. I'll no longer use that name."

She looked at Mordred and then at the paladin.

"My name is Iris Lefay."

Isaac Zierhart, the paladin of the Incarnus of Lux, breathed out his final words as his spirit dissipated.

"Ah. The Fairy."