‎There was only silence for a few seconds, and Rasmus could see the brewing Mana inside Arandil that slowly turned into Aura. He watched how the Aura was being distributed all over Arandil's body, knowing that Arandil planned to fight him at that moment. He pretended to not know while at the same time did the same thing in his body, distributing the Mana within his heart and turning it into Aura.

‎Arandil took a slow deep breath and immediately all his disciples glanced at him. They knew when their master began to take a slow deep breath, it meant he was about to get serious. They stole glances at each other, thinking the same thing which was to move away as soon as Arandil made a move.

‎In just a split of a second, Arandil dashed forward and stopped right in front of Rasmus. He swung his sword down vertically at Rasmus, but to his surprise, all he saw were sparks in front of him. He was stunned at how Rasmus disappeared right in front of his eyes.

‎Arandil glanced left and right but didn't find Rasmus anywhere until he saw a shadow above him. He didn't need to look up to swing his sword because he knew where Rasmus was. The moment he swung his sword upward, the blade clashed with Rasmus' heel, creating a massive shockwave and a huge crater underneath Arandil's feet.

‎"(What a powerful blow...)" Arandil gritted his teeth as he tightened his grip on his sword and looked up at Rasmus, who still had a stoic and cold expression on his face.

‎Rasmus put more power and Aura down to his feet, surprised by Arandil's strength that could withstand his axe kick. He glanced at Aristoria's sword since it was the second time he had seen that sword, the first time it was when he was still a child. He wondered how it felt in his hands and if it would react to his just like how Aristoria's armor reacted to Aris when she wore it.

‎The ground began to crumble and Arandil lost his footing, unable to withstand Rasmus' kick any longer. He used the split second chance to dash to the side before the ground sank. He watched Rasmus land on the sinking ground as the thick dust covered the whole area.

‎Before Arandil could even catch a breath, Rasmus came out of the thick dust and threw a high kick toward Arandil's head. Arandil immediately raised his sword, using the razor-sharp edge of the blade to block Rasmus' kick and hoped it would cut off Rasmus' leg. However, he was surprised when Rasmus pulled his leg and bent his knee slightly, faking his kick. When Rasmus' foot barely missed the blade and passed the blade, his foot stopped right in front of Arandil's face, he pushed his leg and hit Arandil in the face with his heel.

‎If Arandil didn't coat his face with Aura and concentrated the Aura around his face, his face would explode into pieces. However, even with such Aura, Rasmus managed to break his nose and sent him flying faster than the speed of sound. All of his disciples couldn't even see when he got thrown past them and hit the castle wall. To see their master, the strongest man alive to get thrown like that, it made them realize how monstrous Rasmus' strength was.

‎A massive crack and dent in the castle wall had proven how strong Rasmus was. The soldiers could only watch as their lord stuck inside the wall from a single attack. They wanted to help him, but they didn't know how.

‎"You bastard..." Crestefan grunted as he glared at Rasmus and used his flame heart ability. He grabbed his spear on his back and charged toward Rasmus without a second thought.

‎"You fool! Stop!" Arnold screamed as he watched Crestefan close the distance between him and Rasmus.

‎Rasmus glanced at Crestefan with his burning glowing red hot spear in his hand. He turned the excessive Aura back into Mana and released it into the air, manipulating every molecule around him with it. Every moving particle suddenly stopped moving and immediately the air became extremely cold and released a thick fog of cold mist like an explosion.

‎Crestefan was startled by what had just happened and didn't know what was going on until he saw the grass around Rasmus froze. He stopped charging but his momentum prevented him from stopping completely. He stabbed his spear to the ground, forcing himself to stop as he watched the fog spread toward him. Luckily, he managed to stop before his body entered the fog.

Crestefan's body was like a running engine, producing immense heat that could make anyone drenched in sweat in just a matter of seconds. However, when he stood there in front of the mist, his body felt so cold. When the mist reached his burning steel spear, it made a high-pitched sound and in an instant the flame got extinguished and the spear cracked before it broke into pieces. He was shocked and immediately dashed away from the cold mist.

"You fool! Did you forget that he's a Blackheart! He's a mage, not a warrior!" Arnold glared at Crestefan, furious by Crestefan's stupidity. "Just get back here!" He shouted.

Crestefan ran back and got rid of the flames around his body, feeling ashamed and embarrassed for being a fool. He could see the anger and disappointment in Arnold and Reynard's eyes. He had forgotten that Rasmus was a Blackheart, a family with a history that produced genius sages.

"Do you even realize that he could kill you easily? He's sparing your life, you fool," Arnold stared at Crestefan with his fists clenched, holding himself back from punching Crestefan's face. "We are no match for him. He's barely showing his power, and the fact that Arandil got humiliated like that..." He paused as he looked back at Arandil, standing there after he freed himself from the wall. "There's a reason why he's being called a war hero in South Neva," he muttered as he looked at Rasmus, walking out of the thick mist.

"Sorry..." Crestefan muttered, hating to admit how wrong he was.

Suddenly, Arandil dashed past his disciples at such full-speed that they couldn't even feel his presence or see him. He swung his sword rapidly, releasing slash waves at Rasmus, splitting the ground as far as the eyes could reach. He expected Rasmus to block his attacks, but he didn't expect Rasmus to block his slash waves like a breeze of wind. He felt like he was being looked down on when Rasmus didn't even bother to take the fight seriously, not to mention Rasmus was a mage, not a swordsman or a warrior.

Arandil's disciples watched every move and technique that their master did that always overwhelmed them when they sparred with him. Rasmus on the other hand, he dodged everything flawlessly with his calm and collected expression as if he could see where the attacks were coming from. They couldn't believe their eyes, the difference in power and skill between their master, the strongest man alive and Rasmus Blackheart.

"Time is ticking. The demons should arrive soon," Rasmus dodged Arandil's attacks as he made eye contact with him, mocking and challenging him. "You're wasting your energy and your life here," he muttered as he grabbed Arandil's wrist, stopping him from swinging his sword.

Arandil released Aura from his body, manipulating it like his own limbs and blades, but to his surprise, Rasmus could do the same. The clash wasn't just from physical attacks but also from Aura that rarely happened. The Aura clash disintegrated everything around them, turning everything into fine dust. Even amidst the clash, Rasmus still communicated with Rullein who kept an eye on the surroundings for any sign of demons.

"They're coming..." A faint whisper reached Rasmus' ear.

Rasmus knew that he had to act fast, and so he took the fight seriously. He electrified and burned his muscles while at the same time letting the Aura run through his veins. Everything began to move very slowly including Arandil's movements that were at the speed of sound. He pushed Arandil away before he spun around and kicked Arandil away, throwing him to the castle wall, the same spot where he got stuck.

The castle wall crumbled by the impact, and Rasmus immediately flew up high into the sky. He created a massive magic formation with so many layers of Magic Circles above the castle, and all of Arandil's disciples immediately ran back to protect their master and the people. Rasmus watched them run into the castle gate as the layers of gasses appeared in between Magic Circles. He created a fireball on the first layer and slowly made it fall down to another layer and so forth until suddenly the fireball grew bigger and fiercer that the color of the fire turned almost invisible.

Arnold and Reynard looked at the massive magic formation above them, and they noticed something was off. They turned their attention to Rasmus, who was staring at them as if waiting for them to do something. They realized what Rasmus was trying to do, and so they commanded everyone to enter the castle.

As soon as Arandil and all the disciples walked into the castle with half of the knights, Rasmus released the fireball into the castle. The impact even melted the stones, but not powerful enough to destroy the castle. He watched as the knights who couldn't make it got burned alive and listened to their screams.

Not long after Rasmus released the magic, Kiel and all the demons came and watched Rasmus burn the whole castle and kill the knights from above. When Rasmus and Kiel's eyes met, Rasmus landed and Kiel followed him to where he was.

"This is the third time we've seen each other, Count Blackheart. Why do I feel like you're trying to get scheme behind my back here, preventing me from getting what I need," Kiel said, his eyes glowed red as he stared into Rasmus' blue eyes.

"You can read minds and tell lies, so tell me if I was scheming behind your back," Rasmus stared back into Kiel's glowing red eyes as Rullein appeared behind him to protect him.

Once again, Kiel found nothing but the truth and he could see that Rasmus did it for a reason.

"Then for what reason you're doing this..." Kiel glanced at the bright orange flame that was slowly devouring the castle.

"Because Arandil took something that belonged to me. He chose to not give it back, so I had to use force to take what's mine," Rasmus answered with a serious expression. "This is my business, Kiel. Go away," he said with a cold expression.

Kiel narrowed his eyes behind his porcelain mask, still thinking that something was amiss but he couldn't grasp it. He wanted to avenge his fallen army, but to have Rasmus there, he couldn't do it.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't kill them all. You can have your share, but for now, this moment is mine," Rasmus said, his eyes never leaving Kiel's. "Go away," he repeated.

Kiel exhaled deeply and looked at the castle and the melted bodies with the smell of burned meat filling the air. He signaled the demons to leave and waited for him. The demons flew away from the castle, far enough until they were dots in the sky.

"I hope we don't see each other again, Count Blackheart," Kiel said with a hint of warning in his words before he spread his wings and flew away.

Rasmus watched Kiel disappear into the sky before he snapped his fingers and extinguished the flame before it devoured the castle completely. He then glanced at the castle gate or at least the remaining of it before he walked through it and entered the castle to meet with Arandil, to take what was his.