The knight stepped back twice, and on the third step, the ground responded to the command of the cage. Flowers rose, trying to trap Enrico. He jumped to the left and created another water clone, switching places with it before the thorns sprouting from the flowers closed around his foot.
'This trap is a pain, but I'm not letting it catch me again.'
"Advance… golden."
Nerfe dashed in a straight line, creating a golden trail as he passed; ignoring the clone, he went after Enrico, who began switching places non-stop with two other water clones. One of the clones ran behind him and exploded in a wave of water, cooling part of the armor. For the first time, that empty shell that was Nerfe seemed to make a small expression of surprise upon seeing Enrico adapt more and more to him.
'Who… is… he?'
Enrico used the steam to hide momentarily and appeared at the knight's side, striking again the same cracked spot he'd hit before. A metallic sound echoed as the joint opened a few more millimeters.
'My… armor.'
Each time, Nerfe's body seemed to react differently the more difficulty it faced. Nerfe decided to respond with a circular slash. Ducking down, Enrico let fire consume the ground ahead to propel himself under the strike.
'Charged impulse.'
He slipped between the knight's legs, spinning with a direct kick to the opponent's back, attacking from behind once more. With his knee still in the air, he made Nerfe lose balance and fall forward.
'More, I need more.'
Nerfe tried to stomp the ground hard to stop himself, but Enrico had already moved, disappearing behind him and leaving a trail of water behind.
Each second, the heat rose more, and the Golden Fire increased in intensity, so Enrico was using his water magic on his own body to protect himself from the heat and to enhance his abilities, as he had created a water spell capable of giving a temporary boost to his body, leaving a trail of water in his movements.
With an excited smile for achieving what he wanted, he felt the urge to start laughing even as Nerfe reflected every attack from his clones.
"Haha, you're really strong. I need a stronger attack."
He concentrated fire in one arm and water in the other. The contrast was intense, but he would endure. His mana expanded as much as it could, and then he advanced, leaving a red and blue streak behind.
'Damn… monster…'
Nerfe raised the sword for a final vertical cut. For the first time in his life since his soul had been taken, this body was feeling fear.
'Monster…'
Enrico ignored the movement and approached at high speed, dodging downward just in time before the very air was split in half by Nerfe's sword. Rising again, his water-covered arm struck the opening, deepening the crack. The fire arm struck right after, pushing the armor outward. The metal finally gave way, opening a visible gap.
"I did it haha."
In desperation, Nerfe reacted with a violent spin, trying to crush him with the flat of the blade.
"Golden… crush…"
Enrico fell onto his back, rolled across the ground, and summoned three more water clones while healing his small wounds. With one movement, they ran to surround Nerfe.
One tried to grab his leg, another tried to hold the sword, and the third aimed at the newly formed opening. Nerfe destroyed two quickly with a golden aura around his body, but the third managed to touch the breach.
'Nice opening.'
Enrico switched places with that clone and pushed his hand inside the armor, releasing concentrated water like an internal explosion. The water pressed against the inside of the armor and created enough resistance for him to strike it from the outside with concentrated fire. With a smile, he gave this new magic a name.
"Elemental Pressure Break."
The internal structure vibrated. The armor began to crack in thin lines. The Golden Fire tried to react, but the contrast between water and unstable heat left both Nerfe's and Enrico's magic unbalanced. The knight lifted the sword one last time to at least try to take his opponent with him.
"I… DON'T… LOSE… EASILY!"
The fire became more intense, and his body flickered with accumulated force. Enrico stepped back several meters, sliding his foot to release fire behind him, creating distance. A cut appeared on his chest, burning and healing at the same time as he received that blow. He evaluated the knight's condition, still with a smile on his face.
"Your armor still works, but the crack on your chest is big enough. Can you keep going? You're incredible."
"Shut… up… monster."
"Hey, that's rude."
Enrico charged one last time. Fire and water turned into a spiral around his right arm. The flowers on the ground tried to hold him, but he burned part of the path with pure momentum, without touching them directly.
"Looks like your mana is running out."
"…Shut up."
Nerfe swung the sword in a horizontal slash, and Enrico lowered his body, passed underneath, raised his arm, and the final punch struck the center of the crack.
"Elemental Pressure Break."
The armor opened like a broken shell, splitting into two parts. The golden energy that kept Nerfe's body active flickered irregularly, scattering sparks and tremors until it completely dissipated.
"I… I… have… to…"
The knight collapsed to his knees, the sword falling beside the motionless body. The Golden Fire vanished, and the golden cage dimmed, beginning to dissolve slowly. Enrico remained standing, breathing heavily, looking at the corrupted body that had stopped. Taking away that excited smile, he observed his opponent.
"Thank you. Thanks to you, I have new spells."
Deciding to show respect to his opponent, he began digging a hole with his hands, burying him. Enrico gave a bow, since he understood why Nerfe had been so determined. Immediately after, he ran to find his next opponent — he was truly becoming insane.
[Idiot lunatic, and here I am worried while I have problems of my own.]
Meanwhile, inside the system, a figure saw several bodies scattered across the floor. The whole place was dark, but it looked like a normal person's bedroom with several system screens around, where many others were also fighting. In the middle, that figure revealed itself to be a woman with red hair and green eyes. She wiped blood from her mouth and spit on one of the bodies on the ground.
"Great, now he has another reason to call me useless."
The smell was of someone from the modern era, but outside, through the window, that woman saw a destroyed world with debris floating in the air. She sat in the chair, a bit tired, while thanking a donation from the constellation of Leo.
"Thanks for the donation. Yes, I know you all got excited — just like that idiot, I did too."
She put a lollipop in her mouth, noticing that among all the system screens, the one with the highest number of constellations watching was Enrico's.
'Well, I have to take good care of my source of income.'