VIP Chapter 496: A Fighter, After All This Time?!
“To settle the score…?”
Facing Will’s staff pointed directly at him, Carver wasn’t the least bit nervous.
“…Until Treya becomes the fully realized Empress of Zero Demon City, I’ll hold you off… and they’ll hold off your conquest team. Of course,” Will gripped his Tai Chi Staff tightly, his tone laced with ‘teasing’, but his body remained extremely alert. He had prepared for this moment for a long time: the moment he’d face Carver. He couldn’t afford to relax for even an instant.
Despite his extensive investigations, he still didn’t know how Carver fought. Carver had intentionally kept those details hidden. But… Will was much stronger now than before. What could the strongest adventurer from twenty years ago do?
“How strange. It makes one curious how you managed this—bringing only us in, with no bystanders.” Carver seemed more intrigued by how Will had managed to isolate them.
“Why would I tell you? Just try to guess.”
“You hold quite a grudge against me… If I’m not mistaken… your words at the meeting were meant to provoke me into coming here myself. You really want to fight me, why?” To Will’s surprise, Carver himself didn’t seem to have much ‘interest’ in this fight. He hadn’t even drawn his weapon yet. Instead, he kept probing for information. He didn’t even resort to circling him while fighting. He simply stood there with his hands behind his back, completely at ease.
“Do I even need to ask? Mr. Carver, you’re a bit old, but surely your memory isn’t that bad? Who attacked me in the Dust Bone Corridor? That’s what I want to ask you… what kind of mentality drives someone to want to kill their own son?”
Having said that, Will had already silently activated his magic circuit. This method of activation, undetectable by others, was taught to him by Liya.
“…You lured me here with the intent to kill me, and it’s just you? That doesn’t seem to be your usual cautious self, Will.” Carver scanned his surroundings, verifying if there were any other helpers besides the few individuals present. But… there were none.
“Your true objective isn’t here. If you intended to kill me, you would have brought your whole family.” His expression became noticeably more serious for the first time. However, his tone remained as light as ever, as if he were joking with Will. Will looked at him. Carver bore no traces of magic, and he had no weapon in his hands… He had indeed suspected something… Will had told everyone else that it was about ‘revenge’, but only Carver had shown doubt upon hearing that reason. Was it because they shared the same blood… making him more sensitive?
“This, is because there’s something I only want to discuss with you alone. Perhaps this can be called… a father-son showdown? Of course, no one else is needed—”
“Is it… really just that?” Since Carver hadn’t ‘revealed’ his intentions, Will couldn’t wait any longer. The magic circuit surged from his abdomen to his fingertips, which held the staff, and in the next second, it concentrated at the tip of the staff—
“Extreme Flame Meteor: Third Modified Form.” Will’s staff swung down instantly. He shifted half a step to the side, allowing the high-temperature flames to soar from his fingertips. With Liya’s augmentation of his magic circuit, he could now use this as a basic attack. A preemptive strike!
However… “Heh. So you say, this time you… weren’t cautious enough…”
“!? ” Almost grazing the fiery projectile, a white figure in front of him, like a white lightning bolt, hurtled towards him at extreme speed!
“Ah?!”
Clang—
A wall of Ice Array materialized before Will’s eyes at lightning speed, a swift casting magic from the collar Iaar had given him. He had dared to attack prematurely precisely because he had this. Due to the overload of magic from the Ice Array, its usage was limited, but it was perfectly fine when used at the crucial moment. Hearing the sound of a heavy weapon striking the ice shield, he immediately created distance.
Boom—
As the ice wall shattered, a cloud of white mist spread out. In the sufficiently spacious library, this mist dissipated very quickly.
“The sound of a heavy weapon attack… what could it be…” The moment the white mist cleared, Will saw… a gleam of cold light, a colossal axe, half as tall as a person. Various golden, brown, and black ‘enhancement runes’ were wrapped around the axe. The edge was even blood-red.
“What!?” A tremendous axe like this, when slammed onto the ground, carved a deep pit into the library’s wooden floor. Fortunately, this was the first floor; otherwise, Will suspected he might have fallen through. What Will found unbelievable was… at the other end of its handle, it was firmly grasped by Carver, who was wearing a neat, elegant white suit. He wielded this weapon as if breathing was as natural as breathing.
“It’s been a while since I’ve wielded it myself. That last strike was just to warm up.” With that, Carver, squinting with a smile, untied his tie, opened his collar, and discarded them aside. “Allow me to introduce it: the ‘Gobbling Axe’. A clumsy name. It retains unique abilities in some way for every BOSS it kills.” Carver showed no intention of hiding anything as he introduced the weapon in his hands to Will. The strange, murderous, and most importantly, the axe that was completely contrary to Carver’s image, was held by him, standing to the side.
What the hell? Huh? What’s going on? Will’s grip on his staff faltered for a few seconds.
Damn it, he’s a fighter?! His mind was consumed by this question. How could Carver, that slender, seemingly refined, shrewd merchant, be a suited thug wielding a giant axe?! Will had made countless guesses about Carver’s weapon and combat style. Based on a magic book at home, his biggest guess was that Carver had been a mage like himself. He had never imagined… that he was such a pure ‘warrior’.
He was even somewhat ‘classical’ for his era. Using a weapon like an axe, which was somewhat heavy and not agile, and seemingly without enchantments or other magical functions, was rare nowadays…
“I didn’t expect you to launch a preemptive strike? Then… what about the next one?” Carver opened his light blue eyes and, just like before, approached Will with the speed of white lightning.
Bang—
“Ah, that’s… I’m your ‘junior’ after all. What’s wrong with indulging a junior?” However, where Carver’s giant axe struck, there was only a deep crater.
“…” Speechless, he simply turned his head. Then, with a sidestep, he dodged a Extreme Flame Meteor that flashed from behind him.
“Illusion magic? Well, that makes sense, as your eye has already proven…” Carver deduced calmly and quickly. In this regard, his sensitivity was indeed that of an experienced adventurer. Then, he seemed to recall something. “Illusion magic… speaking of which, how did you know… that there was a lady in our conversation just now? You weren’t back then…”
“…” Ever since Carver began using his axe, Will had abandoned the idea of attacking, intending to… find an opportunity to achieve his true ‘objective’ while maneuvering. But from Carver’s tone, it seemed he had discovered how Will had lured him here. He had thought this matter, serving as a smokescreen, would buy him more time.
