Invi-Blaze!

Wilder didn't see anything. He didn't even feel the attack until it was too late. The next thing he knew his torso had been inflicted with a bloody sword wound. It cut from the upper extremity of his right leg to his left shoulder.

The sword cut caused the wound to catch fire before the blood could make its presence known. Also, it cauterized the wound instantly, preventing the blood from escaping.

'Hmm. That's a negative side effect of using Invi Blaze. It would have been better if he had bled a bit. Then again, I can't control my attack after it gets delivered like Al. So it's not the blades' fault.'

Tuan thought while processing the details happening around him. Wilder, on the other hand, felt like super hot, high-pressure air had entered his system when the sword wound first hit him. And when the wound caught fire, his nervous system was overwhelmed with pain receptors working overtime.

"Aaargh!"

Wayne cried out with no restraints on his vocal cords. But then

"Aaaaaaaah! Aaaaaaaaaaa!

Hahahahahahaha! This is more like it. Hahahahaha!"

The barbarian yelled in pain at first. But then Tuan saw his yell turn into joyous laughter. As if he had learned to embrace his pain and found something worthwhile in it.

Tuan had forgotten the fact that just like berserkers taped into their madness to bring out 120 percent of themselves, barbarians would use their anger to fuel their attacks and defense. Some barbarians would also be able to boost their instant recovery the angrier they felt.

Each class had its advantages and disadvantages. No class would reign supreme all the time. But the barbarians were made for upfront battles. Because anger was one of the most primal emotions a ranker was subjected to in such battles, especially when they were on the losing end.

Tuan knew something was up. He could see Wilder's wound getting closed at a visible rate even in his near-stagnant world. He had maintained a safe distance from him because of the guy's overwhelming strength. But when he saw Wilder's healing spell doing more than it was supposed to do, the butcher knew the time to play defensive was over.

Invi Blaze!

Invi Blaze!

Invi Blaze!

Invi Blaze!

Tuan sent a bunch of flying slashes toward Wilder while he was encircling him with his movement spell. He then jumped high and cast his signature spell.

Fire Wings!

This time, Wilder was ready for the slashes. Similarly, his contract beast appeared right next to him at just the right moment to secure him inside its semi-transparent body.

The contract beast cried in pain and agony when the flying slashes hit its body. Just as it was about to look up to see the butcher's position, it was struck by a massive blow over its shield-like shell.

Boom!

Fire Wings and Invi Blaze!

The attack initiated by Tuan looked like the red-orange-looking meter was covered in white rings around it as it was crashing onto its intended target. The white rings were there because Tuan had used his blades' inscribed spell without releasing it. As a result, the rings formed as Tuan spun around himself to perform the meteor strike.

The shield broke.

The mana body of the contract beast was dispersed, revealing the Barbarian inside who was using a healing spell to try to heal himself. Still, there was no rest for the wicked.

Boom!

Tuan's enhanced meteor strike struck Wilder's back as soon as the first defense broke. A bunch of Invi Blaze attacks was released at the same time from Tuan's weapon set all at once.

There was no cry of pain this time. Tuan created a distance from the crater Wilder had now found himself in and raised his swords in front of him. A flame was burning in the middle of the crater that was also sending waves of heat haze in all directions.

Wilder's body caught on fire. It was enveloped in Tuan's overwhelming fire-element mana that acted as the flame's fuel.

"You you are one of a kind, Tuan Aag. Hehe. I'm glad I could fight you here.

But don't write me off just yet.

Let me show you what a barbarian can do when they lose themselves in their rage.

Receive me well with all you got, boy. Because this duel has just stopped being a part of the competition for me. Hehe! This would be fun."

Wilder stated while sounding utterly peaceful. He didn't sound this content within himself even while he was laughing before the battle began. Tuan could feel that Wilder too knew how to turn the switch of his sanity off.

A bunch of warning bells sounded in Tuan's head all at once. Before he could act on them, Wilder was already on his tail throwing his gauntlet-enhanced punch at him.

Sedated Perception

Stunning Speed

Fire Steps

All of Wilder's senses including his instincts were only tasked with one goal. Kill Tuan the guy who had become the reason for his uncontrollable rage. His rage had reduced his intelligence, which prevented him from performing the spells he wanted when he wanted. He couldn't formulate any plan or stick to one anymore.

Barbarians did not need to plan their rage mode anyway. It worked purely on instincts and the capabilities of rankers' bodies. The more well-endowed a barbarian's body was, the more time they would be able to sustain rage mode.

Wilder subconsciously sensed that Tuan was already getting away from its range of attacks even when he had caught him off guard. So he used his earth-element spells to prevent him from escaping.

In the next moment, Tuan found out that there were a bunch of earth-element walls rising all around him in various layers. Plus, there were spikes in the earth preventing him from fleeing in specific directions.

What's more? The ground on which the battle was fought had patches of large potholes and small dunes which could hinder his progress. Tuan's movement spell got less effective because his steps didn't get the footing needed for it to work the way it was supposed to work.

Not to mention the fact that Wilder's movement spell had also been bolstered by his rage mode. Tuan saw in slow motion as the guy caught up to him in what felt like a blink of an eye in a non-stagnant world.

'Oh fuck!'