Suddenly, Lagos' aura rose. Mais immediately stepped back and looked at the boy with his eyes wide open as his aura continued to rise. Lagos' aura was rising at an incredible rate. Had he broken through to the Sage Realm? Had he seen the trace of the Tao? When he raised his sword, more than that was revealed. A rippling Tao appeared. Mais understood at that moment. The long wait was over. Lagos was ready to enter the Sage Realm. He had found the Tao he had been searching for.
The sword swung. The wind wave of the sword might have been weak for Lagos, but both Lagos and Mais knew that this attack was too strong for Mais. Even if Lagos had not done his best, this attack was enough to finish Mais.
"Stop!"
Mais swung his staff up and down, striking the center of the wind wave with all his strength. The point he hit showed signs of stopping with its power, but the rest of the wind wave hit him in the stomach.
SHIRRRTT...!!!
"ARGH!"
Small tears suddenly opened in Mais' stomach. He vomited blood in pain. He had been injured before and had not healed. Mais looked at Lagos in pain and tears. There was no trace of contempt or pity in Lagos' eyes. He acted as if he were fighting an enemy on his own level.
Yet his attacks were gentle.
He did not insult Mais. He knew that Mais had enormous pride as a prince. He knew that he wanted to be emperor one day, and he knew that many people thought it was impossible. But he believed Mais could do it.
He could have done it if he had lived.
He was not soft because he underestimated Mais. He knew his story.
He felt sorry for Mais.
"What are you doing, Lagos?! I thought you were my friend!"
Mais didn't believe that the Sword Emperor was behind this rebellion or anything else. The first thing that came to his mind was their friendship. Mais believed that if Lagos wanted to betray him, he would think of their friendship first.
All these things he was doing... it didn't make sense!
Lagos looked at Mais. He pursed his lips and then smiled with a sigh, but even his smile had a bitterness to it. It was a sad smile.
"I knew this would be the hardest part, but when you showed up, I couldn't stop my heart from pounding. I'm young and it should be normal to feel like I have to hold myself back. I have to kill my best friend."
Finally he said it.
Lagos picked up his sword in his left hand. Then he reached for the ring on his right finger and used the hilt of the sword to press his palm against the ring. Then he pulled his hand back. A red weapon appeared in his right hand. A pistol.
Mais looked at the pistol in shock. And then to the ring.
"This dimensional ring does not belong to you."
Lagos shook his head, then handed the gun to Mais.
"No, it's my father's."
The weapon fired, and terrible flames shot from the end of the barrel. Within seconds they reached Mais. The flames engulfed Mais. Lagos shook his head from side to side. Then he turned away. It was hard with his sword.
"You were my best friend. You always will be."
Lagos took a step forward, but at that moment he felt danger coming towards his face.
Lagos suddenly took a step aside, but even as he did so, he felt a pain in the tip of his ear and lost a few strands of hair.
He put his hand to his ear. The tip of his ear was slightly burned. Astonishment spread across his face. Mais was only in the Beginning Realm. And who was the attacker?
"What is this?!"
He turned his head to see the young man emerging from the flame. He suddenly realized that he was surrounded by a different aura, but he could not understand what it was. Then he realized something when he saw that the unattended flame he had thrown at him had returned to Mais and that Mais was unharmed. He should have noticed it before. But he had unintentionally underestimated him. He had forgotten that this little boy he pitied was not completely without talent.
"You have grasped the traces of the Fire Tao!"
Not only did he feel the cold, but he also saw the trace of the Fire Tao. At that moment, Lagos realized that Mais' aura was at the 10th Stage of the Beginning Realm.
Still not enough, but more than before.
"All this time, you had an understanding of the Tao beyond genius. You deceived us."
Mais paid no attention to these words. A few days ago, he had comprehended the first level of understanding the Tao, the Tao Traces, in the Fire Tao. Normally, Tao Traces could only be used to reach the Sage Realm from the Core Realm. That was the absolute boundary between the two realms. And this first step did not provide much additional power. It was just a conditioning, a necessity to reach the new realm.
But at that moment, Mais had unattended flames in his hands. Neither another human nor the laws of nature controlled this fire. That's why Sacred Fire Weapons were incredibly hard to find. Even though they weren't very powerful, they were a great help to people who had grasped the Tao's trace in order to obtain the Tao feeling. Because people with the Tao Trace could control unattended flames.
The Sword Emperor wanted to give it to his son so that he could feel the Fire Tao.
"You were my friend. But I won't let you kill me, I will prove that I am more than you think."
Mais bent his legs and made a straight cutting motion with his fingers together as if he was cutting the flames. As he did so, the flames rose several meters into the sky and shot out at Lagos.
Stepping into the Tao was beyond the sea of impossibility. Despite this, Mais had a tremendous understanding of martial arts. He could also imitate martial arts before reaching the stage of stepping in the Tao.
Lagos' face turned sour, but he showed no fear. Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet cracked.
" Not enough!"
With incredible force, he pushed himself in front of Mais before the flames could reach him. The ground shifted beneath his feet and he crashed right into Mais. Mais vomited another mouthful of blood, but at the same time, he clenched his hands together with all his might. Lagos was still in contact with him.
At that moment, the flames engulfed them.
Mais might not have been strong enough, but he could still do his best. He could do more than his best.
"Those aren't even real flames. Do you think they can stop me?!"
The strong wind of a sword suddenly scattered all the flames. They were still flying in the air, but at that moment, they were far away. Mais understood at that moment. Lagos was very powerful. Lagos might not be able to destroy the weak flames formed by this Tao, but they couldn't destroy him either. Of course, Mais was nothing more than an ant to Lagos.
"I cannot stop you."
Even though Mais had entered the 10th stage of the Beginning Realm, to Lagos, he had only changed from an ant to a fly. Even with all his strength, he could only bite him. It was not even possible to hurt him.
'Run!'
Taking advantage of Lagos being distracted by the surrounding flames, Mais put both hands together and stretched forward. Towards Lagos.
The flames below merged with Mais on the ground, and Lagos was on him before he could react. Mais pushed his staff into the flames and threw himself backwards, sending Lagos flying into the air.
Mais did not wait for Lagos to hit the ground. He turned and ran into the alleys of the city. He could survive on the streets with those flames. He just had to find a place with more people. People who could stop Lagos.
Mais took a step. At that moment, the sound waves from his foot reached the ears of Lagos, who was still in the air. At that moment, only someone at the end of the Beginning Realm really thought they could escape him. It was funny. But Lagos did not laugh. He drew his sword back and whispered as he stood upside down. He put all his good will in front of this sword. Mais would be cut in two by this goodwill.
"Permanent darkness!"
SWIIISH...!!!!!
A wave of energy from the sword suddenly cut through the sky and the flames, then sliced through the few buildings Mais had managed to get through like paper. Mais turned his head and looked back at the terrifying aura coming from behind him.
At that moment, the attack, only 50 centimeters long, collided with the seal protruding from his body. The old age of the seal showed that it was about to be destroyed. However, it destroyed the power behind the attack. Most of it. All that was left was the cursed effects of the technique and some power. The seal was broken. And then Mais' face was slashed.
The green stone he had kept in his pocket all this time shattered before the attack could go any further. A bright light immediately took effect, covering Mais' entire body.
Mais disappeared. The sword light continued, shattering the earth and shaking a kilometer radius.
Lagos' face turned white, but he had no choice but to lie now that Mais had escaped. Mais had escaped. And with him, the treasure ring. From now on, Lagos had to walk a fine line to survive, just like his old friend.