I regressed and became the Sword Ice King

"Out of the Way !".

The haggard breathing of a man with a scar on the left side of his face projected through the air as he pushed a female resident and her child away from his path.

Blinding light suffused his sight as he struggled to maintain momentum. He was running down a stony set of stairs within an alley, bending into a corner at every junction, and then another after running straight for a while.

Most of the residents who crossed his path were either pushed away or jumped out of his way, recognizing his fearsome persona. And yet, this fearsome individual was running madly, clinging to the body of a female werewolf on his shoulders.

He only had one destination in mind, and it wasn't as far as it was when he bolted out of the Bastion. Why wouldn't he run ? He was ready to attack them, Yes, but after witnessing the scene, he had to admit that even he was surprised.

They seemed like teenagers and yet they were that powerful ? It was either their level was higher, or they were from the Great families and he greatly suspected the latter.

It wasn't like he couldn't attempt to fend them off, but he feared what would happen if they were to purposefully prolong the battle. Wouldn't that mean he would have to face the monsters of the twelve great families ?

No, he wouldn't dare; he wasn't that mad. He was strong at level 80, and most of his peers at his level could hardly compete with him, thanks to his exclusive rare profession as a Shadow Berserker. But better safe than sorry.
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He would or may attempt facing them again when he reaches the level cap of 100 or if he's able to go through his fifth transformation to surpass that level cap.

Though, it was close to zero for him to get to that level.

Ignoring the frightened stares of the residents, he turned to a corner between two collapsing buildings, jumped over the wall and sprinted forward.

'This is insane ! Why did they decide to act now ?' He thought to himself, his thoughts muddled from overexertion when he heard a cackle.

He bit his lip, knowing who it was that dared to laugh at him. "Do you know who you're laughing at ?" He asked, his voice hoarse, deep and authoritative despite his predicament.

The werewolf on his shoulder cackled louder. "You think you can escape ? After what you did ?" She asked, looking upwards, her nose twitching.

Gonzalo's brows furrowed. He had decided to take this particular demi-human for two reasons.

One was that she seemed different. Even after the torturous experience from when she got captured, she had been resilient. Proud even, he needed to figure out her identity and find out whether or not she was worth something.

He beat the rest to death, hopefully, they were dead by now.

The second was her nose. The ability to smell death was a rather ominous skill, but he needed her for that.

He needed to know if death would come his way today and find a way to escape its grasp, but few actually escape it.

'I'm almost at the Port ! Just some more !'.

He thought, looking forward towards the rows of ships that had been anchored to the harbour.

He could see some of them already taking off, and he wanted to reach it soon, unbeknownst to him that the lady beastkin on his shoulder had other plans.

The werewolf cackled again, her eyes set on the individual that had caught up with them a few kilometers away, jumping from one building to another in a frenzied effort to reach them.

The girl's teeth grinned, and an evil glint appeared in her eyes.

"Looks like death has finally approached !" She cried out, forcing Gonzalo to halt as he turned around suddenly, nearly flinging the girl from his shoulder and summoned his weapon.

A dark claymore appeared in his right hand as he swung it around in anticipation.

He was in an alleyway, between two rows of stone walls and dead trees at intervals.

"It's just one brat !" He cried out, mad joy sparkling in his eyes as he flung the girl away from his shoulder.

She slammed into a nearby stone fence and yelped in pain while Gonzalo charged forward.

"if it's just one of you then I can win !".

He made a quick decision which was to kill his pursuer immediately to avoid complications along the way or more difficult opponents.

"Gonzalo Jean !!" Raph screamed in anger, his voice contorted with the air as his aura surged forward.

"Come to me ! Cold Steel !". A cold air rushed beside him as he jumped into the air, the hilt protruded as he grabbed it and pulled out a double–edged katana made of pristine snow and ice.

They charged at each other in a frenzy, their swords clashing against each other as a sonic boom exploded, due to the impact.

Gonzalo's eyes bulged, shock evident in his eyes. This young boy was on par with him and he did not expect that. What's more, He was blind.

"How dare a blind brat !" He imbued his strength into his arms, pushing Raph backwards.

He grunted as his body was sent flying towards a building, crashing into the roof and straight into the interior.

Raph coughed out, slowly getting up as he dusted himself from the debris.

The residents were in panic and shock as they fixed their gazes on the boy.

"Get all the locals and flee from here immediately !". He ordered the family of five as they hurriedly walked towards their door while Raph jumped out through the hole on the roof.

His gaze flickered until they caught sight of Gonzalo on the run, this time much faster than he had run all this time.

He cursed under his breath, constricting the muscles in his body as a cold breath exuded from his lips.

"You're not escaping my blade". He said with a cold aura suffusing around him as he flashed forward through the air towards the man, his body enveloped in a cold mist.

Gonzalo felt his presence, and flung the girl yet again. "Have you not had enough !" He cried out in annoyance. Indeed, he would have to kill him to get rid of him.

"Fine then !" His muscles contracted as a red aura surged out of his body.

Berserkers mostly made use of blunt or sharp weapons, including swords, and thus they made use of aura and not mana.

His eyes turned red, his muscles expanded in size, causing a crater to form, and the shadows that dwelled around him formed a larger presence behind him.

A giant gladiator formed from his shadows, two great swords attached to his back as he folded his hands, his eyes brimming with crimson danger.

Gonzalo jumped into the air with a roar as their swords clashed again, a greater force pulsating through the air.

The clash had left Gonzalo lost for words yet again. 'How ?! How can this mere brat ?!'.

The shadow gladiator suddenly swung its arms and pulled out its great swords with ease as it swung it down at Raph, but he noticed it.

He had noticed the strange armored shadow that followed Gonzalo like a parasite.

He twisted his sword, pulling forward, and slammed his forehead on Gonzalo's, causing a gruesome headache to form in Gonzalo's head. A startled yelp escaped his lips, but he remained steadfastly fixed in his position, the gladiator's sword falling down with great speed.

Raph did it again, and then again and the fourth time and on the fifth and last, he held his breath as cracking noises projected in their ears.

Raph headbutt him once more and sent a chilling sensation down to Gonzalo's very bones. Gonzalo screamed in pain, blood gushing out from his mouth and forehead as his body plunged downwards, narrowly avoiding the gladiator's sword.

He crashed into a building while Raph landed on another building, rushing towards the werewolf, his head throbbing as the stump of ice shard on his forehead crumbled into bits of ice particles.

He landed next to her, pulling her up and breaking the collar that bound her neck, then moved to the shackles and manacles.

The female werewolf watched in silence, her gaze fixed on the white haired boy, as an intense light flickered behind her eyes.

"Who are you ?" She asked, curiosity etched in her voice as Raph helped her up.

Her injuries began to self heal, faster than the others. Raph glanced at her for a moment and replied "Raffaelo Jun, now let's get you back for further treatment".

He turned to walk away when she suddenly flinched, her ears perking up, and pushed Raph away, screaming at the same time. "Watch out !".

An inconspicuous red ball landed between them, shining bright with white light piercing through its surface, as a large explosion occurred.

Raph crashed into a building due to the blast, but his body remained unscathed. This wasn't nearly enough to seriously damage the Jun Physique after all, but he worried about something else as heavy footsteps approached him.

The red smoke began to dissipate, his vision slowly returning, but even without that, he could see Gonzalo's energy approaching.

It had grown wild and red, a bizarre transformation. Both seemed to have been on equal footing at one point but this made it seem like Gonzalo had the upper hand now.

After all, his appearance was testament to the change in his energy.

The shadow gladiator had suffused him like a second skin, with two giant armored plated hands protruding from his back, armed with greatswords and a black claymore suffused with red aura on his right hand.

"You sought death the moment you decided to pursue me, and now you shall pay the consequences".

Raph chuckled as he rose up from the debris. If this was his abilities when he was merely level 80 then he wondered how strong he was during his prime in his past life.

His sword glowed in a bright white hue like the luminous moon as he took a stance.

Things may have taken a strange turn but his goal remained the same: Kill Gonzalo Jean.