When the one-horned Imp blocked Kinetic Shot, Wain once again felt that he was facing a serious opponent.

During his time in this world, he had fought only three strong enemies. The first was the black robot samurai, the second was Forgotten, the strongest of all, and the third was Linlea.

Wain was able to defeat Linlea relatively quickly because, at that moment, he used all his trump cards and his entire arsenal.

However, he knew that if he wasn't lucky enough to have the Cursed Swordsman's second form, he would have had a hard time defeating Linlea. Wain would surely have suffered severe wounds and injuries.

Wain understood that the one-horned Imp was not equal to Forgotten in strength, for this man was something out of place. But, Wain thought this monster might have been stronger than Linlea.

Roooaaaar!

The monster roared furiously and lunged at Wain again. Imp's one-horned strength was strong enough to leave a small crater on the ground after its tug. The monster was much faster this time than the last time, for Imp also realized that Wain was a deadly opponent.

Bam.historical

Their weapons made contact again, and sparks flew off to the sides. Imp stomped on the ground with force and struck the halberd again and then again.

Wain reacted with lightning speed and blocked each blow. During this brief exchange of blows, Wain noticed something.

'The plasma on the Destruction Sword is unable to freeze his halberd. That's disappointing, but I should have expected that from a fiery opponent.' Thought Wain and attacked back.

In fact, at that moment, Wain was not in the best position. He couldn't use Oblivion Thunder, which was his strongest skill aside from Nameless King's Forms.

But, Wain also wasn't sure if he should use his second form, Cursed Swordsman. He couldn't predict what the consequences would be if part of the lava lands suddenly froze over.

If the battle wasn't taking place under the city, Wain wouldn't have to worry about such things. But, he could not act recklessly.

After Wain attacked back, they crossed their weapons again. Neither of them was going to yield to the other. Wain blocked every Imp's attack perfectly, but the monster also had yet to receive a single wound.

For the next few seconds, their arms moved at a frantic speed, like a blur. Sparks flew off to the sides, and the massive halberd and plasma sword clashed with each other several times per second.

Thanks to his little experience and his additional soul - Black Thunder's Renegade - Wain's swordsmanship skills were at a reasonably high level. His mastery was comparable to the level of very skilled warriors.

However, Wain was still a long way from the level of mastery that Forgotten had, Wain was aware of this, and he wanted to become much better.

Wain and Imp fought equally, but Wain felt fine and was ready to fight at this pace for another hour or so. But, Imp's strength was going much faster.

The monster wasn't tired yet, but he would reach that state much quicker than Wain.

Imp realized that he would soon lose in this way, so he decided to put all his strength into every punch.

After a few seconds, Wain noticed that small cracks began to appear across the plasma sword. Wain was shocked. He didn't expect Imp's weapon to be stronger and sharper than his.

Wain was trying to figure out what to do in such a situation, but suddenly when he blocked another attack, his sword was destroyed.

Whoooosh.

He instantly turned into blue lightning and stepped back, but the one-horned Imp was not about to let him go. The monster wanted to take advantage of the fact that Wain was unarmed.

Wain could not summon the new Plasma Destruction Sword, as he did not have time to concentrate on the task, not even a fraction of a second.

However, this did not mean that Wain was defenseless and was about to receive mortal wounds. Besides the plasma sword, Wain had another weapon: his body and especially his hands.

Wain blocked and parried every Imp's blow with his fists and palms. Some blows he repulsed with great force, but sometimes he parried the blade with a smooth movement of his palm.

'Damn, he doesn't even give me a chance to retreat and regroup. I need to slow him down somehow.' Thought Wain, he blocked another attack, and his gaze fell on the Ring of Damned.

At that moment, Wain wanted to move Imp's Needle Bomb out of his ring and use it. But, he quickly changed his mind. Wain saw no point in wasting a weapon aimed at mass destruction on a single target.

Wain had another, more promising plan.

Bam.

Wain blocked another blow, and the soul of one of the Imps he had just killed appeared in his hand.

Wain had several abilities, but he also had some useful equipment: his Rare Rating - Soul Accumulator gauntlet.

With this gauntlet, Wain could create a beam of energy, a concentrated stream of torn particles of Soul Essence. But, Wain could insert a soul into a cell on the glove, thereby increasing the power of the ensuing beam.

Wain had to be distracted for a split second to do this, and Imp successfully took advantage of it. The monster swung its halberd and inflicted a deep wound on Wain's arm.

However, the monster could not make any more attacks as a massive white beam erupted from the Soul Accumulator.

The beam was much more powerful than the last time Wain had used it. What's more, he was using Common Rating Soul, and it was the weakest possible amplification.

The white ray flew through the monster instantly, piercing through its body. But, Imp managed to partially dodge, so instead of a through hole in his chest, Imp had part of his left side destroyed.

The beam traveled farther and crashed into the cave wall, causing a deafening explosion.

Blood gushed down, and the monster made the decision to retreat. It bounced back ten meters.

Wain smirked, and the plasma sword reappeared in his hand. He received a deep cut on his right arm, but this wound did not prevent him from fighting and caused only mild pain. On the other hand, his opponent had a large chunk of flesh destroyed.

It would have been difficult for anyone, human or monster, to fight with a wound like that.

'The beam came out pretty powerful, but I can only use this gauntlet once every three minutes. It's a little frustrating, but it can't be helped.' Thought Wain as he strolled toward Imp.

He didn't know what his opponent was going to do, but he tried, as always, to remain vigilant.

Suddenly Imp raised his halberd high above his head. Wain prepared to dodge or block the attack. He thought the monster was about to attack him, but suddenly a surprising scene occurred.

The flames on Imp's body lit up several times brighter, and his muscles began to contract rapidly. Wain tried to figure out what his opponent would do, and what he saw stunned him.

For instead of attacking Wain, the Imp thrust a massive halberd into his chest, and his aura began to rapidly intensify.