As Emilio dashed in, engulfing himself in azure flames like a fireball, the King of Spades backpedaled and swiped his hand, seeming fearful of the Dragonheart's rush.

"Slice!" The bleach-skinned man yelled out viscerally.

It came as fast as the sound of the word reached his ears, like a nefarious wind hissing towards him; Emilio immediately flipped to the side in an attempt to dodge, though found it ineffective as an unseen attack slashed across his chest.

"Nn!"

Though it impeded his course, fortunately his armor withstood the bladeless slash. It had penetrated the draconic scales, though failed to reach his skin.

"Fly: Swords!" The King of Spades commanded with a booming voice now, pointing an index finger towards the pillar.

He had no time to think about the attack as he rolled behind one of the colossal pillars just as the King of Spades followed up. Ethereal swords of black-and-white glows manifested in the space around the snow-skinned guardian before shooting towards the Dragonheart.

The blades constructed by words carved through the quartz pillar, crashing into the wall beyond where Emilio stayed put as he added an extra layer of protection.

'I'll outlast any battle of attrition!' He thought.

With a clasp of his hands, he rose barriers of dusty, pale stone around himself as the barrage of swords continued flying in. Though he quickly realized that simple walls reinforced with mana wouldn't stand much of a chance lasting against the rain of blades as he went for a higher form of magecraft: "Elder Encasing".

The walls morphed into blood-red stone, bearing the faces of monstrous, human faces with stoic expressions. It was a difficult spell that he had added to his arsenal some time ago, though it was one that demanded a heavy toll of mana and focus.

As the ethereal swords crashed against the man-faced walls, they were turned into splatters of blood-resembling liquid that was absorbed into the mystical barriers.

'Keep tossing those swords at me–just watch it bite you in the ass!' Emilio thought.

The King of Spades continued the relentless rain of swords, manifesting them in the dozens as they swarmed the crimson walls.

"You will fall, Dragonheart," the halberd-wielding man promised.

There was a pool of crimson liquid that had laid slick on the nebulous walls, which Emilio kept himself within with complete focus, holding his palms against their interior. He couldn't see where his enemy was nor where the swords were coming from as he sat behind the man-faced barriers.

'Just a bit more and..now!' He thought.

It was just then that the seemingly endless swarm of projectiles reached its end, seeming to fall in line with the theory Emilio held in his mind:

'There is a limit to the effects of his "power words"! I noticed it when I stopped flying upward,' he thought.

After enduring the barrage of swords, which forced him to drain through a hefty portion of his mana to sustain their form, he activated the true form of the spell as he used his sword to cut his own palm open.

"Activate, Elder Blood Payment!" Emilio invoked.

The blood rushed from his palm, levitating into the air before splitting apart and being fed to the crimson shields around him, causing the elder faces protruding from the walls to awaken as their dormant expression shifted into ones of anger with tears of blood streaming down their faces.

"What sort of magecraft is this?" The King of Spades questioned.

The activation of the blood-letting spell caused the three sets of crimson-stone walls to turn into humanoid golems that stood before the Dragonheart, obedient and ghastly in appearance.

"Get him," Emilio ordered.

Without needing any further command, the trio of crying, elder golems sprinted with their limbs flailing, moving without any semblance of elegance but in a completely unorthodox fashion.

The King of Spades raised a hand, "Crumble."

Though the order emitted, it failed to imbue any such effect into the wildly-approaching golems, who continued crying blood and gritting their stone teeth.

"What–?!" The royal guardian let out, audibly confused.

It was a gamble that had paid off for Emilio, who took a moment to gather himself before following behind the elder golems who fought for him.

'I had to make a bet that those "power words" were intrinsically imbued with a form of mana. The "Elder Blood Golems" feed on mana..The barriers convert that mana into blood then feed on it, and once they have enough..they awaken. Mana-based attacks won't work on them! Your words are powerless against them!' Emilio thought.

The crimson-stone golems flipped around, running along the pillars as they approached from odd angles around the snow-skinned figure.

"Tch," the King of Spades clicked his tongue before gripping the halberd in his hand, "Extend!"

Swiping the blackened weapon around, its range extended vastly, allowing for a sweeping strike that cut through multiple pillars, though the acrobatic golems evaded the attack perfectly. It was the first time that Emilio had successfully used the spell in battle, finding it to exceed his expectations as the golems surprisingly danced around the guardian's halberd.

From the mana they had consumed through the failed word, the trio of golems manifested blood from between the cracks in their bodies, unleashing crimson projectiles and forming swords of blood to fight against the King of Spades with.

'Get him!' Emilio thought.

The King of Spades seemed to grow frustrated through the elusiveness of the blood-manipulating golems as he swung his halberd around, once more unleashing another word: "Multiply!"

–It was only for a brief moment, but it made the Dragonheart leap back just before it had happened: the swing of the mystical halberd was multiplied dozens of times in that singular second, allowing for enough swipes that an entire circular area around the pale-haired man was obliterated.

The same was said for the golems; all three were reduced to powder by the all-encompassing strikes, leaving the King of Spades staring down Emilio as he wielded his halberd.

"Enough tricks, mage," the guardian said, "You will fall here."

"We'll see about that," Emilio responded.

Though he retained his confident demeanor, internally he was now cautious, keeping his distance as he watched the halberd-wielding guardian carefully.

'That last attack is definitely troublesome. It was fast–almost instantaneous, and it doesn't seem like it can be blocked or evaded once you're in his range. I'll need to be extra diligent about not letting those words happen–at the very least, I'll prevent them from directly affecting me,' he thought.

It was a difficult form of wind magecraft to passively uphold, but it was a direly needed effect: he conjured a nullifying bubble of air around himself that closed out any sound waves from reaching his ears. Sense of sound was discarded from anything outside of a one meter radius from himself.

'Alright–let's do this. I'll get close and disable his breathing, then strike him down with an all-out strike,' he decided.

Before he approached again, he heightened the level of his Dragonheart System, opting to maximize his physical capabilities as his azure armor of scales turned into a sturdy sable, sprouting a tail behind him.

[Current Stage: 4/10 | Dragon Elite]

The King of Spades stood near collapsed pillars, pointing his halberd towards the young man; the immaculate chamber had been made messy by the dust from fallen quartz that littered the floor.historical

"Fall."

–Though the word emitted with the intent of once more pinning the Dragonheart down, nothing met the ears of the young man as he dashed forward, catching the guardian off-guard by the lack of effect from the word.

'It seems like it worked,' he thought.

The sheer agility he possessed was put on display as he encircled the King of Spades, running behind the many pillars and sprinting on the walls as he left a trail of azure flames behind him. Each attack taken directly to the guardian had to be made thoughtfully and with utmost precision, lest he wanted to find himself turned into mincemeat.

'Have some of these,' he thought.

As he ran along the walls, jumping from pillar-to-pillar to keep the King of Spades on his toes, the swift Dragonheart tossed an array of blazing spheres towards his foe.

"Extinguish."

Poof.

"Extinguish."

Poof.

"Extinguish!"

Poof.

The patience of the bleached guardian was tested as he repeated the same word again and again, nullifying the fireballs as they sailed towards him, though unable to pinpoint the draconic, young man who continued running laps around him.

Emilio didn't let up on his planned assault, landing on one of the pillars as he stayed above and out of reach from his foe before invoking a high-grade spell: "Mountain Coffin".

A huge dome of stone erupted from the ground, taking up most of the width of the royal room and trapping the King of Spades within it. He knew it wouldn't hold the figure long at all, but he prepared a second layer to it–one that prioritized murderous intent.

"Mountain Coffin: Stone Maiden's Grudge."

More shapes of stone rose, this time sharpened into spears that stabbed through holes that opened around the dome, piercing through with the intent of skewering the guardian, yet–

"Blast outward!"

The King of Spades' powerful voice boomed along with the wind as a massive shock wave tore through the dome along with the projectiles, scattering debris in every direction before the angered figure set his sights on the Dragonheart.

"Do not mistake yourself into believing you'll make it to the Quandary Gate–time moves faster in my Checkered Keep!" The King of Spades revealed.

'What?...' Emilio thought.

The royal figure noticed the hesitance from the scaled figure now, "That's right. Those "days" you had are now minutes–less than an hour."

Things had certainly changed with this information, though he knew it could possibly be a lie to get into his head, there was undoubtedly a chance it was true.

"Then I'll just finish you before then–thanks for the heads up!" Emilio shouted, summoning spheres of water around him.

"Try and fail," the King of Spades said bitterly.