When Luar crushed the amulet, the white energy turned into hundreds of symbols that spread across the roof of the building like writing. It was like an arena of words and signs from which no one could escape.

[All your skills and effects are temporarily blocked]

[Your level is temporarily lowered to 1]

Wain was shocked. He was speechless for a second. He didn't understand what happened or how it was possible.

'My power is leaving me. Now I'm no different than I was before the apocalypse began...' thought Wain warily, looking at Luar.

"AHAHAHAH, surprised? I didn't spend three Void Souls on buying that amulet for nothing after all." Smiling Luar said.

"Void Souls...?" Wain muttered.historical

"Yeah, you have the Seal of Darkness too. You should know that you can buy some pretty interesting items from creatures in the neutral zones. This amulet cost quite a bit, but I knew it could save my life." Said Luar and prepared for battle.

At that moment, Wain realized that Luar's aura had also become much smaller and weaker.

"I see. This effect applies to you as well." Said Wain and got into a fighting stance.

"Yes, otherwise I'd be invincible with this item, but I don't regret that I decided to buy it. After all, otherwise, you would have killed me already, but now our strengths are equal!" Luar said loudly and stepped forward.

The amulet that Luar was using created a special field, people in which were stripped of all their powers that he got from souls or skills. However, Luar didn't tell Wain that this barrier would only last five minutes.

It was a relatively short time, and if Wain had known that, he would have tried to prolong the fight, and he probably would have been able to do so.

In that case, Luar would no longer have any chance of winning, but without information about the duration of the amulet, Wain would not try to prolong the fight.

"Our forces are back to where they were before the apocalypse. Do you really think you can beat me? Don't flatter yourself." Coldly said Wain.

"You're too confident," Luar said, and with a lightning bolt, he struck straight with his fist.

Wain took a step to the side and dodged the blow. He decided to retaliate, aiming for Luar's head, but the Black Pearl's leader reacted in time to bounce aside.

Wain smirked, and his Ring of Damned glowed brightly. He wanted to use his knife for this battle, but he couldn't get the weapon out of the ring, to his surprise.

'What, why isn't it working? Does this barrier of symbols block any change? Thought Wain looking at the ring in surprise.

"I wouldn't advise distraction," Luar said coldly and threw several lightning strikes.

Wain reacted swiftly and dodged each attack. Although his speed at the moment was much slower than a moment ago, that didn't mean he was defenseless.

On the contrary, Wain was certain that Luar had made a grave mistake. Since Wain was the best in his world in terms of melee combat skills. If their stats were equal, mastery would decide everything.

Whooosh.

Wain dashed forward and landed a powerful punch. Luar tried to dodge, but he didn't have time to react to such a quick and precise attack. Wain's fist sank like a hammer into Luar's stomach.

Luar threw out a mouthful of blood, but suddenly he saw Wain attack again. Luar put a block out in front of him, hoping to defend himself, but it didn't help him. Wain turned around and hit Luar in the face with the back of his palm.

Luar didn't expect such an attack. Wain's punch was strong enough to make Luar bleed again and knocked out one tooth. Luar bounced sharply to the side and wiped the blood from his face.

"This is a beating, not a fight. You wasted the amulet. The outcome will be the same either way." Proclaimed Wain slowly stepping toward Luar.

Wain completely dominated the battlefield. He knew how to punch, and he knew where to strike, so even after two missed attacks, Luar felt pretty bad.

Wain knew that if he threw a few more of those same powerful punches, Luar would pass out and lose.

"Not really. We've both lost skills, stats, and soul power, but we still have something left in that barrier." Said Luar. There was no fear or terror in his voice. Though he was at a disadvantage, there was no uncertainty or despair in his eyes.

Luar was ready to fight to the death, he had no intention of giving up. He wanted to win and rise to the top of the world more than anyone else.

This kind of reaction alarmed Wain. He knew that in only three cases could a man not feel fear in such a situation.

Either the person had to be incredibly brave or insane, or he had some reason to be confident of his victory.

"And what is that?" Wain asked.

"Good old-fashioned fighting spirit and a desire to reach new heights!" Luar said loudly, and his aura began to intensify.

Simultaneously, some of the symbols in the barrier glowed brightly, and like rays flew into Luar's body.

'What?! Wain was shocked. He felt that Luar had regained some of his powers. It was only a drop from the total amount, but it was already a huge step forward to victory.

'Because he's the one who used the amulet, does he have any advantage over me? No, that doesn't make any sense. In that case, he took advantage of it right away. The reason is something else.' Wain pondered but had to pause as Luar attacked him swiftly.

Luar became much faster and stronger. At this point, he outnumbered Wain in stats, but he could not inflict a severe single wound on Wain in the next minute.

The reason was that they were equal at this point. Luar had higher stats, but Wain's mastery exceeded Luar's.

Whoooosh.

Luar delivered a crushing blow, aiming for his opponent's stomach. Wain twisted sharply and grabbed Luar's wrist with one hand and his forearm with the other. Wain intended to throw Luar over himself and then deliver powerful blows from above.

However, to Wain's surprise, he could not move Luar from his position. He felt as if he was trying to move a mountain. This was a consequence of their physical strength not being equal and was at different levels.

Wain's eyes went wide, and at that moment, the world before his eyes tilted. Luar kicked him in the legs in that second, thereby throwing Wain off balance, then Luar himself grabbed Wain and threw him to the ground with all his might.

Whoooosh.

Luar swiftly launched a lightning fast fist aimed at his enemy's head, but Wain reacted at the last moment and dodged the attack.

Bam.

Luar's fist slammed into the ground, and the concrete floor cracked.

'Fuck, his strength increased again?! There's no way a common person could do that kind of damage with a simple fist attack. But why is it only happening to him?' Wain pondered.

He realized that his situation was only getting worse by the second. He could not use objects or skills. He, like Luar, had nothing but his fists.

"Judging by your confused look, you don't know what's going on. Honestly, I thought you could beat me easily, even when using the amulet. I thought a man with an aura like that would have an unshakable fighting spirit, but I guess I was wrong." Luar pronounced and dashed toward Wain.

'My fighting spirit is weaker than his? No, that's out of the question. It's something else.' Thought Wain dodging Luar's attack.

Luar attacked Wain furiously for the next thirty seconds, while he only blocked his attacks. Wain did not give up, he decided to get some bruises and wounds to buy time to think about the situation. He had to figure out what was the difference between them that caused him to lose.

Even though everything in the world was decided by force, this was not always the case. After all, the fight between Wain and Luar was not a contest of physical strength but of mental strength. Among them, the one whose mind was stronger would win. That was the true purpose of the amulet.

'He also spoke of wanting to reach new heights, moreover judging by his aura, burning eyes, and contented smile, this fight brings him pleasure. However, that pleasure doesn't come from dominating the battlefield... perhaps... is it all about ambition? Wain thought and blocked another punch.

However, Luar grabbed Wain's arm and delivered a powerful knee to the stomach at that moment. Wain tried to get out of that grip, but he didn't have the strength to do so.

It had been many years since Wain had been in a situation where his opponent outnumbered him in strength by that much.

Luar then began furiously attacking Wain, inflicting numerous wounds on him. Wain tried to block, but he was physically unable to do so when his enemy was moving three times as fast as he was. No mastery level could correct such a monstrous difference in physical strength.

Whooosh.

Luar punched Wain in the stomach with lightning speed and threw him aside a few meters.

Luar smirked and said, "You're finished. I've already regained 50 percent of my strength. Our stats are too different."

Wain didn't listen to him. He was immersed in thought. His mind had to find a way to win this difficult battle.