The moment the intention to eliminate me was felt the Scholar moved in a blur toward me with a speed I underestimated. It wasn’t until he drew closer when the pages of his book flipped in rapid succession before once again my Esoteric Restrictions jolted the entirety of my being and forced my body to react like I was forced into a motion I had no control over.

I instantly kicked myself off the ground with a surge of magical energy and avoided the attack he had aimed for me. It seemed the Scholar wasn’t just going to let me figure him out in the way I preferred.

Still, he realized his attack had missed and snickered a bit before his attention shifted to where I evaded to. At this point I knew the book he held wasn't just a simple book, in fact it practically held his knowledge of an array of spells and techniques that was fueled by the strange power he possessed.

I knew it was pointless to continue trying to forcefully figure him out now. After all he had no intention of giving me that time and Reiner and Lilith were going to be in danger if this dragged on.

The Scholar didn't waste a second as he initiated his next attack with a flick of his wrist and summoned forth a barrage of shimmering projectiles, each imbued with his strange Mana Essence.

I was ready to easily dodge his projectiles but then it wasn’t till the first one neared me when my Esoteric Restriction surged again and forced my body into a motion I wasn't expecting for good reason because the Scholar seemingly teleported in the place of his projectile. My Esoteric Restrictions felt like they were tearing up my head as they continued to react to the Scholar's power.

Still, even if I dodged his initial attack, the remaining projectiles he summoned weren’t far behind. I knew I had to react before his next attack came but my thoughts were a bit scattered by my Esoteric Restrictions which resulted in me being struck in the midsection by the scholar before he teleported to his next projectile and landing another blow to my back.

The scholar was like a tornado that only got faster as his attacks landed blow after blow on my body. It took me a long second to get a hold of my Esoteric Restriction before I managed to block his next attack and create some distance between us.

It was clear my Esoteric Restrictions were trying to react but for some reason couldn’t for a second. Of course, that wasn’t ideal and my few seconds to analyze was cut short when the scholar snickered in my direction.

“You seem to be struggling quite a bit, Reaper. Are you finally realizing just how outmatched you truly are? You see… I have the knowledge to completely outmaneuver every ability you possess, it’s just that simple.” He remarked and shut his book with an audible thud. “It looks like the curtains are closing. I can’t believe I met, the Ghost of the Xiao only to find him to be this pathetic, it truly is a shame,” the Scholar added as he stepped forward casually like I was incapable of harming him.

I wasn't going to deny what he noted though, Reiner was on his last leg and Lilith was barely holding Astrid in place. Truthfully, I felt somewhat powerless in every aspect of the situation and among that I even began to feel a sense of grief and irritation at myself.

Still, I certainly was not going to just accept he won anything. My first reaction was to immediately remove Reiner from his current battle with a blast of air from my hand.

Reiner flew exactly where I wanted him to and that was into Astrid. Of course, he was still conscious and as soon as he hit her Reiner held her down, giving Lilith a hand but that also meant I’d be dealing with the puppets Reiner was fighting as well.

The Scholar didn’t seem to care for my party as he ordered his puppets to surround me while my amber gaze stared them down ready for the next attack that was surely coming my way at any moment.

When the inevitable came and the puppets attacked me from all directions I was forced to act accordingly. Still, I was fully aware that the real threat was the Scholar himself, who was following up behind the puppets as if they were just stepping stones.

I sliced through one puppet and sent another flying, Zenki Ryu and my Esoteric Restrictions could easily counter his puppets and eliminate them, and they did just that one after the other until the Scholar finally came into view. The final puppet in my way flew across the room as I finished it off and caused the Scholar to smirk before he unleashed a powerful blast of mana at me.

However, I was prepared and took the full brunt of the attack head-on with a single defensive stance from Zenki Ryu. Which in return manipulated his spell to blast around me without so much as a scratch.

In terms of his defence, it wasn’t the best, but it was enough to withstand his attack. The Scholar on the other hand smirked before the pages of his book flipped rapidly as he adapted to me and switched to a different form of attack.

When one of his projectiles appeared behind me, I knew what was coming and twisted my body to confront the Scholars next attack, and causing my Esoteric Restrictions to surge throughout my body again practically telling me the exact second the Scholar would appear in front of me and attempt to land the same attack he landed earlier.

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However, that wasn’t going to work twice. I had adapted to it, the second in between his teleportation was readable, all I needed to do was watch all of his projectiles for the slight glint one would have before he used it to teleport and deal damage accordingly.

When that moment came, the scholar and I were locked in combat, despite the Scholar’s appearance his martial abilities didn’t lack a single flaw. We traded blows with one another, neither of us able to land a solid strike but each time I did the Scholar was quick to react, in truth both myself and the Scholar were adapting to one another in terms of combat.

Still, my Esoteric Restrictions were increasingly becoming more difficult to ignore each time they reacted. The momentary surge that would occur each time began to tear at my body and caused a slight pain to shudder against my very core. It was almost as if I was beginning to lose the ability to think properly, a feeling I had felt before.

In truth when I was back on Mythral and me and Isabelle were trapped within a Mana Art, despite the threat that may have been waiting for us was an endless swarm of creatures I completely annihilated while being driven solely by my Esoteric Restrictions while my recollection of the event was blurred at best. Although if there was pain back then it was faint and barely noticeable like a heart beating because it had to. There was no real explanation for why it was occurring, but I knew it wasn't coincidence, there was a purpose behind everything my Esoteric Restrictions did.

Regardless, my brief state of thought didn't last long due to the Scholar and his continuous assaults, it wasn't until my blade flowing with the movements of Zenki Ryu and Magical energy did I manage to off balance him, and followed up with a single boot to his mid-section that forced him back in a blast of debris.

The Scholar snickered as the dust settled around him seemingly amused by something. "I must say, I'm quite disappointed in you, Reaper. In all honestly calling you that name is quite redundant... This being in front of me right now is nothing like that man, that Ghost." He remarked dusting himself off before he scoffed. "I do wonder myself how you still exist in this age after being put down by your dear master, but I must thank that past version of you, for paving the way for the founder of the Kyojin... I suppose none of that matters. After all it seems your intelligence and memory has all but withered away as well. I'm wasting my breath at this point... so allow me to end this."

When the Scholar finished his remarks he opened his book up to a specific page, however, unlike the others spells before, the Scholar opened his mouth and spoke.

[Absolute Annihilation]

The moment his spell was cast, the book he held gathered a great deal of energy before it expelled a solid mass of purple hued energy toward me at a speed my Esoteric Restriction reacted too, but failed to avoid the attack completely or rather there was no possible way to prevent the spell from hitting me.

The moment the Scholars attack struck my body I felt as if I was being ripped apart. my Esoteric Restrictions surged wildly reacting to my predicament as my Magical Energy did all it could to deflect the attack and mend the wounds being dealt.

Regardless, the seal had its limits and when I hit that limit it was like a drop of water had struck a calm pond and, in that instant, my entire body shut down.

The untimely loss of my body caused the Scholars spell to throw me across the room and into the wall with a heavy impact.

It seemed I lost.

My party and who ever was left within the labyrinth watched as I seeped into the ground unable to do anything. The look of shock and defeat was clear on their faces. Reiner and Lilith both were stunned and looked like they were considering running to my aid but that gave the possessed Astrid a chance to claw her way out of their grip ready to proceed with whatever the Scholar had planned for them.

The Scholar only snickered at the sight. "… I was looking forward to using my Mana Art on you, but I guess that wasn’t needed. Goodbye Reaper." He said coldly as he turned his attention to my party and the remaining Clans who were unable to flee the room.

As for my pathetic state, I could do nothing but lay there while the internal pain my Esoteric Restrictions surged throughout my body while thought after thought of my own failure flashed within my mind.

I was supposedly some being that the world feared and hated, someone who had an unrivalled power but here I was unable to stop one person from ending me and destroying the goals I had.

Still, despite the obvious my thoughts didn’t hesitate to point out every little detail I did wrong and the consequences that resulted from my actions.

Which left me feeling disgusted with myself.

The year and a half I spent on the mainland was spent hiding my abilities while my personal growth since Mythral had significantly slowed, even if I had hit a standstill with my progress there were things, I could have been doing to make up for what I lacked in a situation like this. It didn’t matter if I had my full attention on succeeding my goals, I was still lacking.

Then there was those like Reiner and Lilith, if I would have cultivated with them like I did with Isabelle they may have been able to grow a little faster as well and avoided this fate.

My Esoteric Restrictions didn’t mind torturing my thoughts with the facts. Although the constant flow of thoughts were leading me to only one conclusion, I was weak.

Yet when those words rubbed against my core, I couldn’t help but feel a scoff of humor to scrape my throat simply because those words were entirely false.

In a way it felt like my Esoteric Restrictions were mocking me or rather wanted me to realize just how pathetic I currently was, but in the same breath it gave me a chance to correct my mistakes.

I had forgotten this world was ruled by power and strength. My Esoteric Restrictions weren’t trying to harm me or mock me. It required more from me. It wanted me strong. It took a long moment for me to realize this, but the moment I did my entire existence began to change like something inside me had just shattered but at the same time filled me with an indescribable amount of satisfaction.

[Esoteric Evolution]

[Adapting: Eliminating The Sovereigns Six Faced Seal: Fail: Fail… Successful: Evolution imminent.]

In that moment for the very first time My Esoteric Restrictions were heard. Their will was clear and concise to the point I knew exactly what it wanted from me.

In other words, I was becoming something more, my Esoteric Restrictions and me were changing, evolving. It was like we had become one entity despite thinking we were already.

Regardless, I was ready for the changes that would come. It was clear I needed to if I was going to continue on this path, I chose for myself.