Is this really a Game?!

As the two combatants prepared to unleash their full power, the air around them crackled with energy, a palpable tension hanging in the air. Experience the unknown on m_vl-em,py-r

With a sudden burst of speed, the hooded leader lunged forward, his spiked gloves gleaming in the dim light. Wolf met him head-on, their weapons clashing with a resounding clang. The force of their impact sent shockwaves rippling through the air, shaking the ground beneath them.

The two warriors exchanged blow after blow, each strike resonating with the force of a thunderbolt. Wolf was impressed by the hooded leader's skill and strength, but he refused to be outmatched. He pushed himself further, matching the leader blow for blow with his skill and strength.

In terms of raw strength, Wolf was above the enemy leader, in terms of skill, he was slightly below, and when it came to their mana, the way they utilized it, and the power of their abilities, they were about equal.

They weren't equal because they were both as skillful with it, but because the weird ability that the leader used was capable of extinguishing Wolf's flames without too much effort from what he was able to notice.

Even when swinging his sword to the man, the distortion created by his ability would make it difficult to continue the slash as it was intended, many times making it move to the side and causing Wolf to expend effort into keeping it straight.

As for Shadow and Laura, they had their own problems to deal with right now.

The four opponents they were facing were not that strong, but the moment Wolf and the hooded leader went all out, something changed in them.

Dark green gas started coming out from inside their robes.

At first, both Laura and Shadow thought that was the ace in their sleeve, poisonous gas that would make them weaker, or one that might be powerful enough to even kill them in a large dose, but they quickly realized that they were wrong.

The gas was actually corruption, at least, it had the same aura that the corruption had, and even though it was not good to inhale it, it did little to either of them.

What the gas did was actually a mystery, but the four had become stronger, faster, and their bodies a bit more durable after it appeared.

They already knew that Wolf's theory about the four being Tier Vs that became this powerful thanks to some weird method that utilized corruption was right thanks to how the leader had acted, and this just further proved his point.

The gas was corrupt, and it might be leaking out of their bodies because they were using the corruption inside of them to reach their peak strength.

Perhaps, in some way, they were combusting the corruption, or using it in some way that was causing it to turn into a gas, but it didn't matter right now, the only thing that did matter was the fact that they were stronger than before and that Shadow and Laura were now struggling to fight them off.

One interesting thing about the four, as well as the one that Wolf and Shadow had taken down previously, was the lack of any ability.

They weren't using any abilities, just their weapons, physical prowess, and mana, that was all. Sometimes, they would use a skill or two, but even the skills they used were quite ordinary, and nothing connected them to any ability they might have.

That made Shadow believe that in turn to reaching a higher Tier, the people he was now going up against had lost the privilege of using their abilities, in turn, they were filled up with the energy of corruption.

That was not a good thing.

If the enemy could do that to any of their members, then that meant they could create a large group of fake Tier VI combatants. And if they could all do the same thing these guys did, then even if everybody was present, they might be in some trouble.

The power-up that the four had used, however, did seem to have a price.

Shadow noticed that their breathing had turned irregular, they were grunting in pain when attacking, and, even though he couldn't see their bodies thanks to the robes, it did seem as if their bodies were slowly breaking down from the excessive corruption inside of them.

The battle continued to rage on, with Wolf and the hooded leader locked in a fierce melee, and Shadow and Laura struggling against the powered-up foes. Despite their best efforts, the enemies seemed to gain the upper hand, their enhanced strength and speed pushing Shadow and Laura to their limits.

Laura, even after going through many battles, was still not really a melee fighter, she excelled at fighting from a distance, providing support, as well as healing the others as they fought.

She was an integral part of the team, but with how things were now, she was beginning to feel like she was a burden.

Shadow had teleported over to her a couple of times during the battle to help her out against their opponents, and they had nearly managed to get the chains off the first guy they captured.

Thanks to all of that, and noticing that if things continued this way, they would most likely lose, Shadow used the power of his mark.

The surroundings suddenly fell silent as a cloak of darkness fell over Shadow who stared at the four opponents who were now staring at him with vigilant gazes.

His aura had risen by quite a lot, eclipsing the auras of their leader and Wolf who was fighting him to a standstill.

Wolf, sensing what Shadow had done, redoubled his efforts against the hooded leader. The two combatants traded blows with incredible speed and precision, their weapons clashing with enough force to send shockwaves rippling through the air. Despite the leader's skill, Wolf managed to hold his own, matching him blow for blow.

Since Shadow had used his mark, Wolf was going to wait before using his own, after all, there was no need for both of them to go all out right now. Shadow would deal with the four opponents and then help Wolf out, and with any luck, they would finish this up before any more enemies arrived.

During this time, Wolf began to notice a pattern in the leader's attacks. The man was skilled, but he had a tendency to favor his right side, leaving his left flank slightly exposed.

Sensing an opportunity, Wolf adjusted his strategy, focusing his attacks on the leader's right side, getting him used to a pattern that Wolf was using so that when the time was right, he could strike the left flank with the most powerful blow he could muster.

And that time, in Wolf's mind, was coming soon.

Wolf started with a barrage of attacks, showing impatience and the desire to end the battle quickly, which didn't escape the leader's eyes.

The man even chuckled as he started defending against the attacks without breaking eye contact with Wolf, allowing him to see the slight disappointment he had in them. He was teasing Wolf, trying to get a response out of him, trying to get more anger, and more impatience out of him so that he would wear himself down.

He had to, after all, the immense power that Shadow was now showcasing made him very apprehensive about the battle, if their reinforcements, which were indeed coming, didn't arrive soon, he would be in a lot of trouble.

He noticed the mark that appeared on Shadow, and he knew what it was, which was why he was so apprehensive, and why he wanted to wear down Wolf and perhaps use him to slow down Shadow.

His tactic was seemingly working as Wolf increased the intensity of his attacks, his flames were raging everywhere around him, except for where the man was standing as his distortion was keeping the flames away.

He was also countering some attacks of Wolf's, sometimes creating a distortion right in front of the sword to make it difficult to swing, other times distorting the air in front of Wolf's face to make his sight much worse, as well as to make breathing more difficult for him.

Inside, he was all smug, only for his face to suddenly change as all the flames around them suddenly moved toward Wolf who swung his sword down, creating a giant sword of flames that was over 25 meters tall and bringing it down on the leader who immediately extended both of his hands up to block the attack, only to see that Wolf had stopped swinging his blade, but the fire was still coming down on him.

Suddenly, Wolf punched from the side, striking at the open left flank of the leader with full force, causing his body to twist as flames erupted from inside and sent the man flying.

It was just one strike, but it landed without the leader being able to do anything to stop it, dealing astonishing damage to him.