"Let's see, at this level you're still stronger than me… I'll have to push, but only one percent left so it's fine."
Enrico placed his hand on his chest, right where his heart was, twisting his hand which made the third circle appear on him. An explosion sent Tilios backward, and he would have gone farther if not for being held back by Enrico with absurd strength.
"You—"
A fire punch hit Tilios's ribs, sending him to the right. Managing to stay on his feet, he couldn't understand what was happening. Even if that boy had evolved to the third circle, it didn't change that he was still weaker than him.
"You must be wondering how this is possible, right? Let's just say I'm not using only human strength here."
"What do you mean?"
"That's the only answer I'll give you, so let's continue because I'm running out of time."
Grabbing Tilios by the hood, he threw him toward the river, slamming into a rock. Inside Enrico's body, where his heart should have been, there was now a Nartheis core, as if its form had changed. Thanks to this, he had become partly Nartheis for a few seconds, at Phase Two level.
"Come on, entertain me."
That meant that temporarily, now that he had reached the third circle, in truth he had the power of a fourth circle, at the same level as Tilios, who had also just evolved.
Landing a kick, he sent Tilios further down into the river. Seeing several shadow blades, his body was pierced in various places, but now he was half Nartheis, so he could resist that kind of attack.
"Double Flaming Shot."
From his bow, more physical than before, two piercing arrows created holes in Tilios's shoulders, cutting off that shadow arm.
"Giant Shadow Claw."
A huge shadow claw rose from the water and tried to hit him with its open palm. Stepping on a rock, Enrico used the stored momentum to strike Tilios in the stomach.
[31]
'Looks like I've reached halfway, and the others seem to have woken up, so I'd better continue our plan.'
Enrico tore off that cross from his face and covered his left eye with his hair. Seeing Tilios trying to move out of the river, he summoned Kael with the hood on, who grabbed him from behind.
'That bastard.'
Being squeezed, Tilios noticed that Kael's strength seemed greater than before, which meant he must have evolved too. This made Tilios desperate, as he tried to break free and unleashed a shadow burst from his body, knocking Kael away.
'I have to get out of here.'
Climbing out of the water, he took a deep breath, regaining air. In front of him, Enrico appeared and kicked him backward. Kael appeared and struck his face with a water spear, cutting deeply.
"Aaahh, bastard!"
Now that Enrico had evolved to the third circle, his clone had received upgrades, able to last longer and even have a more physical appearance, even though it was still water.
'It wasn't just my clone that improved.'
His ring had also received an upgrade, and the water necklace that was on his clone as well. Now he had two percent more and had gained extra mana.
[23]
'Let's act like a perfect team.'
The two moved in sync, landing a spear in Tilios's back and a kick to his face. Tilios seemed to make a prayer, and his body healed a little. Then he grabbed both of them by the legs and threw them into the trees behind them.
'This guy is getting stronger, so he must be receiving help from his evil god… if I don't defeat him, Saul will have to do that thing.'
Kael quickly moved in front of Tilios, seeming like he would attack head-on. When Tilios created a shadow sphere in his hand to strike him, Kael used a spear created beneath his foot to leap over and kick his back forward.
Forced to continue his motion, Tilios hit the ground, causing a massive explosion that destroyed that whole part of the river. He couldn't see anything through the huge smoke, and just as he was about to disperse it, he received a kick to the chin that sent him upward out of the dust.
[16]
"Water Vortex."
Tilios began to be sucked down by the water below, losing control of his own body for a moment before being thrown into the air. From above, a rain of arrows hit him, sending him back to the ground.
'How do these two work together so well?'
"Stone Skin."
Casting a spell to defend himself, from that moment on he was thrown from side to side by attacks that aimed to kill him outright. With only seven seconds left, Enrico fired a flaming shot that, upon hitting him, made part of the river disappear.
'What a difficult guy to kill—'
"PLEASE MY GOD, GIVE ME MORE POWER SO I CAN KILL THEM, I BEG YOU WITH ALL MY HEART."
A shadow grew on Tilios's body and he began to take on a more monstrous form. His body turned completely dark, with spikes emerging all over it. His gaze looked insane.
"Thank you, my God."
He let out a scream, making all those spikes shoot out from his body, launching a rain of attacks that pierced Kael's body. But it was fine, and Enrico put as much magic as possible into his body, trying to resist.
'This guy thinks he received more power, but this is simply confirmation that he'll be used as a sacrifice. He hasn't even noticed that he's gotten a little weaker.'
Even so, that last attack was still strong, and because of it he was hurled toward the waterfall and ended up falling.
[3]
'Looks like my time is up… what a shame… but things are easier now for him to do what he was planning. It's a shame to lose this now, but we have to survive…'
Closing his eyes, a second later he reopened them, Enrico returning to normal.
"…What happened? I don't remember anything."
[I'M BACK. I don't know what happened, but an unknown Constellation interfered and we couldn't see anything for a while. You really don't remember?]
'No, I only remember being down and then everything went dark.'
Dark attacks were being launched above the waterfall, seeming to destroy everything. He then remembered he was in a battle and also noticed he had evolved to the third circle.
'Damn it, looks like he's at the point of being sacrificed, and that means that damn evil god will use him as a bomb to get more sacrifices.'
Quickly forming a plan, he began to accumulate mana in his fire bow. He had a trump card, and the only reason he hadn't used it was because he had been at the second circle and the attack wouldn't have been strong enough. But to be honest, he didn't want to use it and would try one last thing.