Chapter 76: Excellent

The cavern was dying.

There was no other way to describe it.

The once-massive underground chamber had been transformed into a landscape of destruction. The floor was barely recognizable beneath layers of shattered stone. Entire sections of the walls had been carved away. Cracks stretched across the ceiling like enormous veins, and somewhere far above them, the ancient structure groaned under its own weight.

Eden stood in the middle of it all.

Blood ran down his face.

His clothes were torn.

His breathing was ragged.

One arm hung slightly lower than the other, and every breath sent a dull pulse of pain through his ribs.

Yet his eyes remained sharp.

Across from him, the guardian stood with only two arms remaining.

One spear was gone.

The other was held firmly in its remaining hands

And despite everything, it somehow hadn’t slowed down.

Eden’s eyes narrowed.

’That’s ridiculous.’

He had expected it to become weaker.

Two arms destroyed.

One weapon gone.

Surely its ability to fight should have dropped.

Instead, the guardian had simply adjusted.

One spear had become enough.

Two arms had become enough.

Its movements were still as precise as ever.

If anything, fighting with fewer limbs had somehow made its movements even more economical.

The guardian stepped forward.

Eden raised his Dark Matter blade.

"You’re not tired at all, are you?"

"No."

The answer was immediate.

Eden laughed breathlessly.

"Fucking beast."

The guardian lowered its stance.

"Are you?"

Eden looked down at his own body.

His ribs hurt.

His shoulder hurt.

His leg hurt.

His Essence reserves were dwindling, especially because of the amount of times he had used Burst-Step.

His Dark Matter felt strained from maintaining the blade and the constant reinforcement.

His Corrupted Surge was burning through his Essence faster than he’d have liked.

"...A little."

The guardian’s eyes narrowed.

"Then show me what you do when you are tired."

Eden’s grin returned.

"Easier said than done."

His body disappeared.

[Burst-Step]

The guardian’s spear shot toward the space where he had been.

Eden reappeared above it with a downward strike.

The guardian blocked.

The impact shattered the ground.

Eden twisted.

The guardian’s spear slid off his blade.

Eden immediately turned with it.

Slash.

The guardian ducked.

Eden’s knee rose.

The guardian caught it.

Eden used the contact point.

[Burst-Step]

He vanished.

The guardian turned.

Eden appeared behind it.

The blade swung.

The guardian moved just enough for the edge to pass by.

It countered.

Eden leaned backward.

The spear passed directly above his nose.

He stepped forward.

His forehead collided with the guardian’s face.

Both stumbled backward.

The guardian thrust.

Eden parried.

It thrust again.

Eden dodged.

A third strike came.

[Burst-Step]

He vanished.

The guardian turned.

Eden was already moving again.

A heavy Nosebleed ran across his mouth due to increasing lack of Essence being forced to sustain his skills.

Eden ignored it, adrenaline fueling his flow state as their bodies collided.

The shockwave ripped through the chamber.

A mountain of rubble was thrown into the air.

Hundreds of tons of stone came crashing down around them.

Eden felt his own body slowing down.

His eyes widened.

’Move!’

[Burst-Step]

He vanished.

The guardian moved as well.

A gigantic boulder crashed between them.

Eden appeared on the other side.

The guardian came through the rubble immediately.

Eden’s grin widened in excitement.

The guardian’s spear came.

Eden shifted.

The spear passed.

Eden’s blade followed.

The guardian blocked.

Eden rotated.

Its spear redirected.

Eden stepped with it.

Another attack.

Another block.

One action became another.

There was no beginning.

No ending.

Only continuous movement that resembled the flow of water.

Eden’s eyes sharpened.

The guardian’s technique.

Its attacks had no recoil.

Every motion naturally became the starting point for the next.

It never stopped.

Never reset.

Never wasted momentum.

And Eden was finally doing the same.

The guardian’s eyes seemed to acknowledge the realization.

Then it attacked harder.

Eden was sent flying.

He smashed through a wall.

He bounced off another.

His body crashed through the ground.

Pain exploded through his back.

He coughed blood.

For a moment, his vision blurred.

He smiled through the pain.

"Not bad."

He stood.

The guardian was already there, throwing it’s next attack.

Eden blocked.

The force drove him backward.

His heels carved trenches into the stone.

The guardian pushed.

Eden’s arms trembled.

’I can’t keep this up for much longer—’

The spear suddenly shifted.

Eden immediately followed the motion.

His blade slid along the spearhead.

His body rotated.

He stepped around the guardian.

The Dark Matter blade cut upward.

The guardian’s remaining spear was knocked sideways.

Eden followed with a punch.

The guardian blocked.

Eden elbowed.

The guardian ducked.

Eden kicked.

The guardian stepped back.

Eden pursued, forcing what little essence he had left to sustain his next skill.

[Burst-Step]

The guardian pursued.

They vanished from one side of the chamber and appeared on the other.

Entire sections of rock collapsed from the shockwaves.

A boulder larger than a house fell from the ceiling.

The guardian cut it apart.

Eden Burst Stepped through the falling debris.

The guardian attacked.

Eden blocked.

Another boulder came crashing down.

Eden kicked it toward the guardian.

The guardian split it with its spear.

Eden appeared through the dust.

His blade struck.

The guardian blocked.

Their faces were inches apart.

Eden grinned, blood now freely flowing through down his nose and mouth.

"You really don’t give up!"

"Neither do you."

They pushed apart.

Then charged again.

At the edge of the battlefield, Sylvia watched with wide scarlet eyes.

"Master..."

Obsidian stood beside her, ready to intervene at any moment if his Master was pushed into a fatal state.

His gaze remained fixed on Eden.

Sylvia’s expression softened.

"He’s puahing himself too much."

Obsidian nodded.

Obsidian’s head tilted slightly.

Eden’s breathing became heavier.

His body was approaching its limit.

But his movements were becoming cleaner.

The guardian thrust.

Eden moved.

The spear followed.

Eden flowed around it.

The guardian rotated.

Eden rotated with it.

Their attacks connected.

Blocked.

Redirected.

Countered.

Every action became another.

Then Eden saw it.

The discarded spear.

It lay several dozen meters away, partially buried beneath rubble.

His eyes flickered toward it.

’There!’

He immediately knew what he was going to do.

The guardian attacked.

Eden blocked.

Another strike.

He dodged.

[Burst-Step]

He vanished.

The guardian followed.

Eden appeared beside the discarded spear.

He grabbed it.

The guardian’s eyes narrowed.

Eden spun.

And threw it.

The spear flew directly toward the guardian.

The guardian raised its remaining weapon.

It instinctively prepared to deflect the incoming spear.

That was exactly what Eden wanted.

The guardian’s attention shifted.

Its body turned.

Its stance opened.

And for a single instant, there was an opening.

Eden vanished.

[Burst-Step]

The guardian deflected the thrown spear.

It shattered against the cavern wall.

The guardian turned back.

But Eden was already there.

His Dark Matter blade was raised.

For once, the guardian’s expression changed.

It understood what Eden had planned.

But it was too late.

Eden stepped forward.

His entire body flowed into the strike.

The Dark Matter blade pierced forward.

The guardian’s body froze.

The blade had struck directly through its center.

Silence.

Eden remained there for several seconds.

His arm trembled.

His breathing was ragged.

Then the guardian slowly looked down at the blade.

"...Excellent."