BOOM!

As the specially processed Qi that Basil's Technique had produced clashed against the fireball Cabalen had sent, an explosion that blinded the surrounding and deafened everyone occured.

Basil's Technique cut the fireball in half, but other than himself and Cabalen, no one saw that happened. The remaining processed Qi still kept advancing towards Cabalen afterwards, but he could easily slap it to the side.

While Lucilla and the Legion Commanders were busy with their own fight, the other people were too bewildered to properly register what was happening. They didn't see the attack was coming, so no one had anticipated something like this to happen.

It wasn't until the explosion died down did the people realize that Basil had saved hundreds of them by blocking Cabalen's sneak attack. They, of course, didn't know that Basil's reason for doing that wasn't them, but Iliana.

Nonetheless, all of them were very grateful of Basil for what he had done. They became even more considerate as they distanced themselves from him so they wouldn't disturb his fight.

"Basil... What has just happened?"

"Stay far away from here."

"Your hand is bleeding, let me—"

"Don't make me repeat my words, Iliana." Basil looked at Iliana from the corner of his eyes. "I can't lose the only person I know who comes from the same Clan as me."

Iliana frowned at Basil's words. She realized that she would never be able to help him in his fight against Cabalen, but the way he worded it as if she was so helpless, she couldn't last a second in the battlefield irked her.

Lacking as she was compared to Basil, she was still one of the best Fifth Circle Mages in the entirety of Arthean Empire. She stood above the majority of the existing Fifth Circle Mages!

Being seen like that by Basil didn't amuse her in the least bit, and it provoked her to prove how wrong Basil was. She was about to dash at Cabalen when Basil held her shoulder with his bleeding right hand.

"I have only injured myself due to using my Technique once—that was when I was merely a Yellow Core Knight." Basil looked at his hands. "I am a Blue Core Knight now, but I still got hurt by my own Technique."

Iliana looked at Basil's hand as she wondered about Basil was on about. She could see that his right hand was badly injured—she could the see torn muscles, the fissures in the bones, and the ruptured tendons—but it was rapidly healing.

Since it wasn't her first time seeing it—she had seen Basil did it on the Regional Tournament—she wasn't really surprised. Still, she was still amazed at the regeneration speed that was even faster than that time.

"For my own Technique to hurt me, you must have a rough idea about how much Qi I have overwhelmed myself with." Basil turned his head to Cabalen that was a kilometer away from them. "Despite that, do you spot any injury on his body?"

As Iliana looked at Cabalen, she noticed a deep crater with a diameter of 200 meters on the ground blow where Basil's Technique and the fireball had clashed earlier.

She could also see a 10 meters long trench beside Cabalen, but that was all; other than the visible destruction on the ground, Iliana couldn't see anything on Cabalen's body. He was just as fine as he had initially been.

"You are only going to drag me down, Iliana," Basil said softly. "You are my weakness, so I can't let you be anywhere near that bastard who will use you against me."

Iliana gritted her teeth in frustration as heard Basil's words and saw Cabalen's smirk that was directed at her. It wasn't embarrassing to admit her weakness, but she couldn't just accept the fact that she couldn't help.

"I... Call me when you need help," Iliana said through gritted teeth.

"I will, so take Deacon with you and stay as far away from here as possible ... Greet the others for me."

"Don't die."

"I won't."

No matter how bitter the reality was, Iliana still accepted it—even though with a heavy heart. She immediately took Deacon with her, and left the vicinity to look for her friends from Rehearsal Class—her family.

Basil briefly glanced at her disappearing back before gulping a Pill of Morning Dew to to accelerate his regeneration speed. Qi immediately filled his body; his hand was healed in 20 seconds.

"Getting rid of her is a smart choice, but useless nonetheless, Basil."historical

"You should only say that after you kill me." Basil smirked. "Sadly, that time will never come."

Even though they were 1 kilometer apart from each other, they could still converse with each other as if they were face to face. Their voice was loud enough to allow not only them, but also a quarter of the people in the battlefield to hear what they were talking about.

That being said though, they weren't shouting at each other—they were speaking normally. They were just using Wind Magic to amplify their voice.

"Being fearless is good, but overly confident is nothing but a stupid arrogance."

"Why don't we see?"

"Hmph! That's what I am about to do." Cabalen extended his hand. "[Pagyos kathósak arfóun]!"

The dreaded Dragon Language was finally used. It wasn't Basil's first time of hearing it, but he still trembled when he heard those words came out of Cabalen's mouth.

Basil could immediately see an ice spear materializing in Cabalen's hand right after he had uttered those words. The air—everything in Cabalen's surrounding seemed to freeze the moment the spear had perfectly materialized.

He was still 1 kilometer apart from said Demon, but he could feel the temperature around him dropping for a couple of degrees. That just showed what kind of a powerful Ice Magic Cabalen had used due to the Dragon Language.

Readying his Sealing Sword that was already in the brink of collapse, Basil infused a part of Asia's soul that hadn't finished Evolving yet into it. The sword shone in a bright blue light, and the pressure Basil was exuding was instantly amplified.

Rattle.

"Darn it! This sword won't hold for long." Basil clicked his tongue as he looked at the trembling Sealing Sword in his hand.

He had apparently forced it to its limit when he had used [Mountain Splitter], so it could no longer bear even 10% of Asia's soul. Luckily, it was still enough to fend Cabalen's incoming attack.

As he saw Cabalen raised his hand that was holding the ice spear in a throwing motion, Basil immediately dashed towards said Demon.

Whoosh!

The spear traveled in the air even faster than the fireball from earlier, but Basil was even faster than the spear as he was prepared this time, unlike the last time.

Clank!

Basil's sword clashed against the ice spear in a matter of seconds. He successfully slapped it to the side, sending it to the ground then froze it upon landing.

Basil didn't even release [Synchronization] to do that, but using it to fend the ice spear had never been his intention in the first place. He already knew it was nothing but a decoy for the real deal.

True to his expectation, Cabalen had another thing prepared for him. As he was just 3 meters away from Cabalen, Cabalen extended his hand and spoke in Dragon Language once again.

"[Diatyor]!"

Faster than one's eyes could blink, a 30 centimeters ice stake materialized in the air. It was quickly heading towards Basil just as fast as he was dashing towards Cabalen.

Although he had never learned Dragon Language in his past life—he couldn't, even if he had the chance to—he knew that there was something off with the words Cabalen had spoken.

Having killed 3 Dragons in his past life, his incredible comprehension had let him to understand a little bit of Dragon Language in the week he had spent killing them. Therefore, he could tell that the sentence Cabalen had spoken was incomplete.

He anticipated something like this would likely to happen, so he wasn't baffled in the least bit at the stake's sudden appearance. He could swing his sword to fend the stake and released [Synchronization] on time.

Boom!

The Qi and Mana that had been mixed inside the sword by the help of a fragment of Asia's soul burst out of it. The stake was disintegrated and the shockwave managed to push Cabalen for a couple of meters to the back.

Basil immediately took a step back instead of dashing forward this time. He could already see the Sealing Sword disintegrating, so he needed to find another sword for him to use.

As he had immediately rushed towards Iliana when Cabalen threw his fireball at her, Basil had left the bladed weapons he had controlled with his Aura Ability on the ground.

Now that he needed them, he controlled them once again and brought them in front of him. He knew Cabalen wouldn't stay still, so he was going to use them as a way to defend himself temporarily.

Stab! Stab!

Boom!

Just as the bladed weapons were planted in the ground—just as the Qi Barrier was about to finish forming, Cabalen delivered a solid kick to the weapons protecting Basil. Many of them were destroyed, and in result, the Barrier was cancelled.

Basil was also pushed to the back due to the shockwave that was produced by the clash between Cabalen's kick and his incomplete Barrier. He was fine luckily, however he wasn't given the time to breathe.

"This is our difference, human!"

Bam!

"Keugh..."

Cabalen delivered a kick to Basil's side while he was midair, and it successfully shattered his ribs. Basil silently groaned as he received the kick, but he was quick to counter it in spite of the pain he was feeling.

Of course, it could do nothing to hurt Cabalen—he managed to dodge Basil's kick by a hair's breadth—but hitting said Demon wasn't Basil's intention since the beginning. He just needed some time to prepare for his real counter attack.

Alas, Cabalen didn't give Basil a single second to prepare his counter attack. In each moment he was about to distance himself, Cabalen was always already there to attack him.

Basil always managed to avoid fatal injuries, but he still got injured quite badly nonetheless. For the first time in his second life, Basil was overwhelmed by his opponent.