Published at 8th of April 2026 6:54 am

Chapter 1658 Battle of Attrition

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Edward and Orion's fight had shifted several miles away from the military outpost.

The terrain showed it. The ground was torn apart, long trenches carved where attacks had struck. Entire sections of earth had been ripped and scattered.

Trees lay uprooted or split down the middle, their trunks shattered as if they had been in the way of something far stronger than them.

Rocks and boulders were no better. Some had been crushed into fragments, others hurled aside, leaving craters where they had landed.

The air carried the aftermath of heat, static, and the faint echo of lightning that hadn't fully faded. It looked less like a battlefield and more like a force of nature had passed through and broken everything in its path.

And yet… there was no clear winner. Both sides were still standing, injured and bloodied.

On one side stood Edward, his robes shredded and body littered with scars big and small. Unlike earlier, when his emotions had gotten the better of him and his face was twisted into a scowl, now he appeared cold and calm.

Despite fighting for nearly half an hour, he still had plenty of stamina. This could be seen by how stably his chest rose and fell. As for the matter of mana expenditure… the Storm King didn't need to worry about it at all.

His Innate Physique gifted him with vast mana reserves, the quantity so great that it eclipsed even the Dark King's!

But the same couldn't be said about his opponent…

Orion's expression was dark and ugly. Although his injuries weren't as grave as the Storm King's, he was still in quite a miserable state.

Not only had his stamina depleted rapidly after battling the blue-eyed youth, but his mana reserves were also quite low. The matter of him running out of stamina quicker than his opponent could be explained by his old age.

But what about mana?

He just couldn't understand how Edward, despite hurling dozens of Rank 4 Spells at him, still had so much mana left!

Meanwhile, Orion calculated that he would only be able to cast two or three more Rank 4 Spells before he completely ran out of mana.

He had found the youth to be quite difficult to deal with in this battle. And so, he decided that if there was a way for him to come out on top, it had to be through a battle of attrition.

But he was wrong. Terribly wrong.

"What's the matter, cunt?" Edward's lips curled into a bloody grin. "Running out of taunts?"

Orion's face twisted in rage and helplessness. But gradually, he calmed himself down. Or at least, tried to.

Slowly, he straightened himself despite the heavy rain pouring around him. His voice cut through the downpour.

"You think this is over, boy?"

Edward didn't reply. His answer was the faint crackle of lightning that coiled around his hands as he clenched them into tight fists.

"How long do you think this battle has been going on for?" Orion firmly gripped the whip in his hand. "More than enough time has passed for reinforcements to arrive!"

Edward's eyes narrowed. It was indeed as Orion had said. Half an hour was enough time for a Mana Core Magus to fly vast distances. If that was really true, then…

Lightning flickered in the depths of his blue eyes, and he prepared to attack.

However, Orion moved first.

His arm snapped forward, the whip cutting through the rain with a sharp crack. It came fast, its path hard to follow as it lashed toward Edward from an angle that shifted mid-strike.

Edward, however, didn't retreat. Lightning flickered around him as he stepped in, then out, his body moving just ahead of each strike. The whip grazed past him, close enough to sting the air, but never quite landing clean.

Orion gritted his teeth in frustration. He poured mana into the artifact and pressed harder. He only needed to survive the battle until reinforcements arrived. He had been wise enough to send a signal to the nearest military outpost before the battle began.

Although he had been supremely confident in dealing with a newly-advanced Mana Core Magus like Edward, his vast experience warned him not to look down on the enemy.

No Mana Core Magus, no matter how young, could ever truly be underestimated.

And Orion had been right. He had been right to call for reinforcements. For if he hadn't… he truly believed that he wouldn't be able to make it out of this battle alive!

This whip came again and again. Low, high, from the side, each strike faster than the last, each one carrying more force. It tore through the ground when it missed, splitting earth and snapping branches in its path.

Edward met it head-on, his temper now vastly settled. Once he got his emotions under control, mana flowed freely through him.

He deflected one strike with a surge of lightning, the energy pushing the whip off course. Another attack he dodged by a narrow step, his movements precise and controlled. A third clipped his shoulder, drawing a deep line of blood.

But he didn't slow down. He did not care. He felt like he was at the cusp of achieving something... understanding something. And so, he gnashed his teeth and suppressed the pain. He continued to move forward, one step at a time.

The rain fell harder. Steel, lightning, and whip moved through in constant motion. Attack, dodge, counter, repeat. Neither side gave ground.

After dozens of moves were exchanged, Edward finally capitalized on an opening and caught the whip mid-strike.

It bit into his palm and wrapped around his wrist, cutting deep as it tightened. Blood ran down his arm, mixing with the rain.

He grunted in agony, but didn't let go. Instead, his lips curled into a wicked grin, and he pulled.

Hard.

The sudden force dragged Orion forward, throwing off his footing and breaking his stance. That was all Edward needed.

Lightning flickered around his feet, and he moved forward like a blinding blue flash, closing the distance in the blink of an eye.

His free hand curled into a fist, and he wrapped it in fierce lightning. Then he drove it forward and slammed it into Orion's torso with full force.

Thunder! Bolts of lightning tore through Orion's body and burst out from his back. Blood and smoke spilled from his mouth as the force of the strike sent him flying, his body thrown into the distance.

The moment had finally arrived for the Storm King to finish his enemy. He knew Orion would be incapacitated for the next few seconds. This was the chance he had been waiting for!

Edward moved at once. His hands formed quick hand seals as he flew forward, lightning coiling around his bloody fist. In an instant, he closed the distance and caught sight of Orion's unmoving body.

He pulled his arm back and struck with all his might.

BAM!

But at the last moment, a mana barrier materialized in front of Orion's unconscious body, preventing Edward from landing the killing blow.

Lightning streaked through the sky, briefly illuminating the dark terrain.

A dark silhouette appeared behind Orion, coldly staring at Edward.

A new enemy had appeared!

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