An Antagonist's Revenge(Remake)

Metamorphosis Swordsman

Another panel pops up at the assistant.
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Fourth Star Magician

Skills:
-Appraisal
-Mana Overcharge
-Cancel Magic
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Interesting...a fourth-star magician with the perfect skills. Moreover, he looks younger than I am.

I get up and Kazuki follows. To get Kazuki off my back, I call out to the children and join in their games.

Later at night, two presence roam Yuki's cabin. It's Jona and the mysterious assistant.

Three minutes later, a magic circle appears below me. The inscription on it points to a teleportation spell.

*ding!*

A flash of light and my body on the bed disappears

...

!

Kazuki felt that mana fluctuation and woke up. He gets up, looking in the direction of Yuki's house.

...

"Am I being too paranoid...?" Kazuki mumbles.

My body appears in the middle of the forest near the village and two masked man walks up to me. Jona draws his sword and blue mana engulfs it. He then stabs it into my body. blood flows and soaks the tunic.

"Are we done?" The assistant asks.

"No...something feels-"

Thin mana strikes Jona from behind and he quickly ducks.

I appear out of the bush and shoot my mana-coated arm at his throat, aiming for his vessels. Yet, Jona reacted quickly and deflects my arm away.

"Tch. As expected it's not easy taking down the Eighth Stage." I mumble as I jump back.

His assistant widens his eye at the atmosphere. The mana dissipated from my arm has materialised into a blue mist that fades away.

The stronger one is, the stronger the layer of "protection" of their mana veins. I won't be able to ignite mana collision inside Jona. Igniting the mere mana in the atmosphere can also barely do anything to an eighth star.

In that case, I have no choice. I need to fight head-on.

Swirls of mana engulf my body and I ready a stance, placing my right foot behind and my left fist ahead.

"A battle mage...?" Jona says. "Zhuri, appraise his skills and cancel his mana."

"I know." Says the assistant.

Zhuri huh... I've heard of that name before.

I leap towards Jona and Jona guards with his sword. I throw a punch at the hilt.

*BOOOM!*

"Uck?!" Jona is caught off guard by the force as he is pushed back.

"Cancel magic!" Zhuri says and all mana attempt to leave my body.

Ha! Does this mere brat want to challenge my authority over mana?

His skill fails and all mana around my body stays intact.

Afterwards, I push all mana away from the atmosphere to prevent that magician from using magic.

"W-What?!" Zhuri exclaims.

"Fuck!" Jona curses and attempts to push me back. However, the mana enhancement on his sword disappears, making him lose his advantage.

Jona thrust at my after image and gets hit in his shin by a kick before I follow up with a quick uppercut. He dodges my uppercut and kicks my body away.

"Huff huff..."

Both of us stand apart at a stalemate. Jona grips his sword tightly. The moment mana disappeared from the atmosphere, Jona becomes as weak as a five-star normal swordsman since his attacks are heavily dependent on magic.

"Zhuri, how's the appraisal?" Jona asks.

"I-I don't know... My appraisal isn't working...H-He is stronger than me." Says Zhuri.

Jona widens his eyes. "What."

...

Jona grits his teeth and releases large killing intent. "Step back Zhuri. I'm no longer holding back."

Zhuri complies.

"Hup! Hah..." Jona breathes in and out to calm himself.
The air around him tenses up as he deviates from any other emotion except to kill.

Now that Jona is going all-out, I am forced to wait for him to move.

Jona is a prideful man. He won't use Fatal Strike to instantly end a match he is confident in.
Thus, he will start by cloaking.

Jona suddenly disappears from my sight, completely concealing his presence using his skill.

Next, he most likely will attack in my blind spot using his sword style.

I close my eyes.

*thump thump*

I hear nothing but my heartbeat.

*whoosh*

!!

Behind!

I turn around and put on my guard before Jona slashes.

*BOOOOOM!!!*

A blue explosion of butterflies erupts in my face, sending me back.

Jona gives me no time to recover and charge in, blue wings materialize behind him as the tip of his sword glows.

He pulls back his arm and thrust his sword, sending a beam of energy.

However, I snap and the energy bursts into an explosion in front of Jona.

"ARGH?! W-What??"

Jona jumps back in shock.

"Huff...bold of you to try using mana," I mumble.

As long as Jona channels his internal mana out, I will be able to manipulate it.
Metamorphosis was a sword technique I devoured a long time ago. I know that 5 out of 7 of its form uses mana.
In addition, I also know its flaw despite its intense power: It relies on and feeds on confidence.

Instantly, Jona appears before me and slashes down, an illusion of a butterfly diving down follows the path of his sword.
But, I propel myself away using mana and the place where I stood turns into a destructive eruption.

"Slippery bastard! Stop moving!" Says Jona.
"My pleasure," I reply.

He attempts to slash diagonally but I jump forward and throw a powerful jab to his chest when he lifts his arm.

*BOOM!*

"ARGK?!" He groans.

Jona's body is sent back tumbling and crashing through many trees.

I sigh. "Was I expecting too much?" I say.

Jona grits his teeth and glares at me. However, the wings behind him have started to dissipate. He is losing confidence.

I will admit that Jona can be considered a genius by many people to carve eight magic circles into his heart at such a young age. But he lacks practical experience.
It seems that fighting too many "monsters" in my previous life has greatly ramped up my expectation. I forget that ordinary geniuses exist.

I smirk at Jona.

!!!!!

That one expression causes Jona's wings to disappear.