Mordred made a roaring laugh, amplified by his [Bloody Rage], clearly pleased to have noticed the change in my demeanor. “HAHAHA, seems you’re more raring to go than ever, boss! Did you develop something interesting?!”

  I in return laughed with him, the pain in my stomach not even registering for me at the time. “Veehahahahaha!! You can say it was something like that! Why don’t I show you?”

  The intense Rage in his body concentrated around him as if to answer my question. “Bring it on, boss!”

  Rather than go on a full charge, Mordred chose to use his remaining [Tomahawk] and tossed it with an added spin to it, creating a raging tornado rather than a storm. The winds it created were enough to suck anyone in.

  I was worried that everyone else would be swept up but was grateful to see that Paimoth had taken initiative and had multiple shadow tentacles wrapped around every individual. It seemed no one objected to the help.

  As for me, I had no such protection. But rather than being discouraged, I tossed whatever caution I had left and threw myself right towards the tornado.

  “Is he crazy!!” I heard one of the Orcs question loudly.

  It was immediately answered by one of my fellow Kobolds with a simple. “Yes.”

  As the sight of the tornado drew near, I held my sword behind me with my arm stretched back as far as possible. So much so that the very tip was angled opposite to me in a back-facing position

  Paimoth noticed this and commented. “That is an interesting stance. With his sword behind him like that, he would have less reaction time with that much distance from his body. Master Vladimir, exactly what is it you are planning?”

  His question was soon answered as the moment the tornado was two feet away, I swung my sword.

  “[Dragon’s Domain: Tail Stance]!!”

  With that much distance, most would have merely seen me cut nothing but air. But an instant later, the raging tornado suddenly split apart, breaking away from itself as I flew past the opening in between it and headed straight for Mordred.

  Everyone was stunned, unable to believe what they had witnessed.

  “D-did…did he just CUT a tornado??!!” One Orc asked in bewilderment.

  One goblin could only nervously laugh before answering him. “Ehehehehe…. he sure did….”

  My shadow butler himself responded in a rare moment of surprise with what he said, shocking all those present. “Not only that, but Master Vladimir did it without any Mana…”

  He was right, this new ability of mine did not require Mana to utilize. Rather, similar to Damian’s own [Weapon Style], which uses his own emotions as fuel. It utilizes my own resolve and confidence. It was represented by an invisible feeling of pressure coming out of my body.

  And right here, right now. I was never more sure about attaining my goal. And part of that is to show everyone here why I will make this world mine!!!

  Mordred, unlike the others, showed no surprise. Instead, he seemed quite pleased with the result. He expressed his joy with a thunderous laugh. “HAHAHAHAHA!!! Not too shabby, boss!! Then how about this!!”

  My Minotaur readied his main Axe above his head, seemingly ready to cut me down from the air. Not wanting to lose my momentum, I switched my stance. Holding my own sword above my head with the tip pointing right at his Axe. The pressure around my body started to tighten, then concentrated on the sharp edges of my blade.

  “Straight head on! Just the way I like it!!” Mordred proclaimed as he tightened his grip, the bulges in his muscles tensed.

  I couldn’t let myself conserve my reserves, not when facing Mordred most of all.

  “Be careful! You just learned this new ability. Who knows how much we could even use it? Not only that, but don’t forget you have a huge cut on your stomach! We’re going to pass out any second now!!”

  I already suspected as much, as evidenced by the way the pressure was leaking out. Even I don’t have an infinite supply of resolve, I got maybe two hits max!

  But I’m not the only one exhausted here! Using [Bloody Rage] while trying to maintain his rationality must be especially draining for him! Though he’s doing quite a good job hiding it! But this was still all speculation on my part.

  Oh well, not like it was going to stop me either way! “Veehahahahaha!!! Take this! [Dragon’s Domain: Horn Stance]!!”

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  The moment our weapons clashed, a shock wave rang through the entire field like church bells signaling an end. It was strong enough even to shake the foundation of protection that Paimoth had set up for the audience, who he himself looked as baffled as his limited expression could give.

  The very ground, even the air around us as well shook before us in response.

  Even Mordred was starting to feel its effects. Yet he endured, even as his whole body trembled before me. He’s as tough as he should be as my first henchman!

  I was forced to use the tremor I caused to push myself back, barely able to land and stumbling on my footing. All the pain I was ignoring up to now was starting to come in all at once. Once more, everything around me was starting to darken.

  Though I did manage to see that Mordred himself was barely standing by himself, wobbling back and forth while he was breathing heavily. His arms were shaking as he tried his best to hold on to them.

  He must have reached the end of his own limits with his [Bloody Rage], with the rage he emanated dying down to nothing.

  I still had a chance! Even as more darkness surrounded me, I held my sword in front of me and below my body. I took a step forward as my vision started to blur.

  Mordred held his own blade in front as well, doing his best to take his next step, all while his body repeatedly bobbed side to side.

  Just one more push…. Just one more and…

  “[Dragon’s Domain: Claw Sta-]”

  Just as I was about to take another step to attack. I slipped, unable to keep my own body stable as darkness completely overtook my vision. But just as my consciousness slipped my mind, I could have sworn I saw Mordred…

  “I swear you get more reckless with each passing second!!” I heard from a familiar voice…

  It seemed I had returned to the inside of my mind once more, and with the other me that I refused to call by the name he chose.

  Right now, there was just one thing on my mind at the moment. “…Wait…. Did I win….?”

  “Of course, that’s what you focus on…. Well, you’ll find out when you wake up. Seems our body will be out of commission for some time, so maybe you could take the time to tell me what kind of new ability you managed to learn at the last second. Things were getting so intense, I never had the chance to even look at what it does.”

  Seeing as there isn’t much I could do until I wake up, I decided to explain all the details about [Weapon Style: Dragon’s Domain] to this other me.

  “You know you can make it easier by calling me the name I decided to go by. You know, Rob.” He pointed it out.

  …. He really won’t let this one go, will he…. Fine…. I began explaining to ‘Rob’ the details of my [Weapon Style].

  “Thank you. ~”

  Didn’t give me much of a choice… Anyway, I started by pulling out its description from my [Game Screen]. I was thankful that I was still able to do this in my own mind as well that…‘Rob’ was able to see it as well.

  “[Weapon Style: Dragon’s Domain] huh…Wait! Is this referring to the True Dragons!? Does…does that mean we Kobolds are more related to them than we originally thought?”

  I could only shrug in response to his question. I know even less than he does when it comes to our species. Just something else to add to the ever-growing list of things to figure out later. He seemed to understand as he urged me to expand on the details.

  When I willed the menu to expand on the ability, it opened three separate notifications, each detailing the different stances, while the initial one stayed in the background.

  When reading each stance, ‘Rob’ instinctively caressed each part of his body that they referred to. There was intrigue in his eyes, clearly showing his interest in learning more. He started to look at me, and I could already tell he wanted to get me to demonstrate each of the stances.

  Even if I wouldn’t get easily tired in my own mind, I already started to feel exhausted with the anticipation. Thankfully, I could feel myself starting to stir, and I immediately cut him off before he could ask.

  “Alright, guess I can study this thing in the meantime. Just uhm…don’t get too surprised when you wake up?”

  Wait..what?

  “Ok, have fun!!”

  Wait! What the inferno is he talking about!?

  Stop leaving me hanging like this every time you bastard!!

  …. I woke up with the first thing on my mind being how I was unable to move my entire body. I knew I was probably going to be sore after a fight like that, but this…. It felt like it wasn’t even responding to my thoughts at all….

  No…. more like…. I can’t even think of exerting my will at all….

  What the heck is going on?!