’It’s so dark in here. Is it always dark in here?’

Aster couldn’t help but ask himself while using every ounce of strength he could muster as he kept slashing his sword down.

It had been bright earlier, but everything at this point was just bones and an abomination made by it, trying to kill him.

Anything that appeared as Captain before was gone, as he looked like a ghoul trying to eat Aster every time it opened its mouth and used its four long legs to touch him.

Arthur was already beyond exhausted. If it were other people at his age who were trying to fight the Berserk Captain, they might’ve already dropped dead.

Yet Aster held on.

He clenched the handle of his sword, gritting his teeth, as he continued to find ways to overcome challenges like he always did.

His mind tried to find a solution, such as focusing on the pillar walls by destroying them or finding gaps in the Berserk Captain.

But he wasn’t given an opportunity, as the Berserk Captain stopped any kind of attempt that he made.

Crunch—!

Even with his unwavering will not to give up, Aster’s perfect swordplay started to form cracks every time another bone pillar met his sword. It was already breaking when they started fighting.

His eyes started showing slight discomfort as his mind started to be filled with chaos from using the Sword of Wicked nonstop.

’Any more than this and I’ll lose control...’

Aster mused inwardly while stabilizing his breathing as veins showed from his neck and arm. His eyes flashed with danger, watching the Berserk Captain not stopping his even for a second.

"Damn it!"

Aster tried to back away to create distance between himself and the monster, but his back encountered the bone pillar, causing him to roll forward to avoid an incoming attack.

Aster then twisted his body and swung his sword around, preventing even one of the bone legs from touching him, knowing instinctively that a single hit was all it would take to kill him.

"Sword of Fury—"

Just as Aster was ready to call out his fourth Sword of Chaos, he coughed out a mouthful of blood, forcing him to stop before fully manifesting it and continue using his current sword.

"Fuck...!"

Aster knew that he was running out of breath. He was losing a chance to stabilize his core properly and felt his body becoming heavier.

He was ready to go all out, yet.

"Bluergh!"

His body didn’t allow it.

"Damn it!"

Even though there’s a high chance of him dying, Aster continued to fight the Berserk Captain alone with all of his might.

Crunch—!

Suddenly, as the fight continued to happen between the two of them, a long sword crashed through the pillar of bones above while being engulfed in flames.

"Aster!"

Ivy called out to him from the hole she had opened in the roof of the bone cocoon before Melissa and Willow followed her by staying at the entrance and cast their spells to help Aster out of his predicament.

Because of how loud their spells are, the Berserk Captain darted its attention towards the two sorcerers.

Seeing this opportunity to leave, Aster tried jumping from the bone pillars, using them as footholds to step on while Melissa and Willow distracted the Berserk Captain.

"Wait!"

But it seemed Ivy had other plans as she shouted right away, seeing that Aster was trying to escape.

"No! Stay there!"

Aster stopped halfway through climbing, beyond confused why Ivy was trying to stop her from going up.

"H-huh?! Why do you want me to stay here—!"

Baaaaaang—!

The answer to his question soon came in the form of a huge explosion as the bone cocoon was sliced in half. The Berserk Captain, who was standing in the exact spot, was sliced as well, leaving its upper body to fall along with the upper half of the bone cocoon.

Rumble—!

Melissa and Willow managed to jump outside, but Ivy was falling. She was unable to escape because she was still partially inside the cocoon of bones, and the attack had been too sudden and powerful for her to react in time.

She was surprised at how strong the impact was, that it cut the bone cocoon in half with the Berserk Captain in the middle... just as they planned.

’How the hell is that strong?!’

Ivy mused inwardly before feeling arms wrapped around her waist and between her legs as she was carried away. Her gaze fell on the culprit, Aster.

On the other hand, Aster kept his eyes glued on the culprit who destroyed that cocoon of bones, which was almost impossible to escape without external interference as strong as his sword in its prime form.

However, he was seeing something similar to it.

No, it wasn’t similar.

It was indeed his sword.

But it was being wielded by a different hand.

[Temporary mimicked activated: Swords of Chaos [Sword of Wrath] [Four]: 0:59]

[Warning: Faceless is being damaged by the "invasive creature" it had mimicked!]

[Warning: The mimicked [Sword of Wrath] is being withstood by Faceless!]

[Warning: Faceless is fighting off [Sword of Wrath]!]

[Faceless is evolving]

Cillian felt as if his mind were being fried by an unknown, sinister energy swirling inside him, trying to break it.

"Fuck!"

Even with that pain, Cillian gritted his teeth through with a smug smile as the horrendous face of the corpse he copied earlier started to wither away, as if his skin was peeling, revealing his true face in the mix.

[0:49]

’Motherfucker, I thought I would one-shot it with this busted ability, but it didn’t work. Maybe because I’m not the main character?’

Cillian gave a self-deprecating smile before raising his sword again in a slashing motion, mimicking what he had seen Aster do.

Even when he knew nothing about wielding a sword or properly slashing it down, Cillian brought his sword down again and targeted the Berserk Captain, who was somehow still alive, and ran towards him.

Baaaang—!

[0:40]

Cillian carried the sword upwards once more and swung it down.

Baaaang—!

Cillian kept swinging his Sword of Wrath, and each time it struck the Berserk Captain, the monster was still able to regenerate itself from the bones all around it.

Yet the strength of the Sword of Wrath was overpowering its regeneration, causing it to suffer more damage than it could recover from.

Far worse.

"Die!"

Cillian shouted and slashed his sword again, cleanly targeting the Berserk Captain for the twelfth time already.

[0:10]

Cillian raised his sword again, preparing to deliver another simple yet destructive downward slash, when three hands suddenly reached out toward him.

These three hands belonged to Phillip, Vin, and Aster, who forced him to stop doing it again.

"It’s done."

Aster said calmly.

"You killed it already. It’s done, Cillian."

Unable to hear any of his surroundings as everything seemed fuzzy due to the pain in his head and his vision slightly shaky, Cillian released his grip on the Sword of Chaos, his hand quivering from the aftermath.

Even though he was in a sorry state, Cillian still managed to smile as he managed to reply for a few seconds.

"Your fucking sword. How is it so hard to use? It’s frustrating. I-I couldn’t even use it properly as you did. And here I was acting so confident about it—"

Cillian stopped speaking halfway through as his eyes rolled before he lost consciousness.

Phillip, Vin, and Aster helped to prevent him from falling.

"He only told us to stay put and let him do the work... How could I know that it’s going to turn this?"

Phillip commented while becoming teary-eyed.

Vin clicked his tongue while recalling what happened a few minutes ago.

...

"I’ll kill the Berserk Captain."

Cillian declared confidently to the group as they swiftly discussed the plan together.