I shoot forward from my position. I push my body to the limit right before it begins tearing itself apart from the strain. I want to see how he responds.
Prito gets into position as soon as he sees me charge. His stance is quite orthodox, with very few visible openings. Xinu moves slightly to the side. He hasn't done anything yet, but I can feel life mana gathering around him.
Xinu doesn't seem to be a close-combat fighter like me. He must be some kind of support. I'll keep an eye on him at all times. I can't underestimate any Diamond rank; doing so could cost me my life.
My sword descends toward Prito's body, and he places his spear in its path, stopping my strike without much effort. Hard and sturdy. Those are the two words that come to mind when my sword is abruptly stopped and the noble doesn't retreat a single step.
My left sword is already on its way toward his neck when two small constructs resembling golden spears appear and block my blade. The small constructs visibly crack, but they manage to withstand the strike.
My body moves at full speed as I try to find some pattern or opening in his defense. Prito is faster than me for now, and he's easily countering every attempt I've made so far. His strength is also superior to mine; I haven't managed to force him back through sheer power.
For an idiot, he's fairly decent at handling a weapon. I'm sure Arisa has more potential and talent, but he makes up for it with his previous experience, and at least he remains calm while analyzing me as much as possible.
I can keep up with him because of the enormous difference in our weapon skills. Every small attempt he makes with his spear is immediately stopped by one of my swords. Even though he's faster, I can read his movements.
A stupid smile appears on his face after a couple of minutes. Seeing him smile so maliciously makes me want to rip his throat out. An instant later, his spear moves even faster than before, and his sudden increase in speed catches me by surprise.
My body manages to react thanks to my calm mind and the electrical enhancement that increases my movement speed. I propel my body with even more gravity mana to defend myself in time. The spear crashes against my sword, and the force sends me flying dozens of meters backward.
I have to maneuver my body with gravity mana to keep myself from spinning and stop the momentum behind the blow. It isn't an increase in speed. His strength increased, making him faster, but I think it's an enhancement from the spear, or perhaps he's boosting his physical abilities.
A chuckle echoes through the air. I don't have time to look directly at his face because I have to unleash my Crushing Tempest to stop several spears the size of a leg. A dozen of them are coming from different directions.
Every time I destroy one, another appears. They're so fast that it feels as if I haven't destroyed any at all; another simply takes the previous construct's place.
Even using my Rank V ability, it's difficult to keep up with so many constructs trying to pierce my body from every direction. Gravity has slowed them slightly, and the electrical currents help destroy them, but the frost isn't very useful because the light spears are destroyed before it can affect them.
The more time passes, the stronger I can make my Crushing Tempest. I can weave the mana and Imra more delicately and make them much more resilient. Every construct is now slightly stronger, and black swords also appear beside me to intercept any light spear that slips through.
I can only control three black swords at the moment. If I try to create another construct this powerful, it'll become problematic. My Crushing Tempest could be affected and become less effective, or the pressure on my head will become too much.
The stupid smile on his face disappears. Something must have changed. The noble in front of me swings his spear, creating several constructs resembling yellow waves. They're all fast and sharp. When I stop the first wave with a black sword, I realize the waves have less power than his other constructs.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
The problem lies in the speed of his attacks. They're the fastest so far and seem to contain at least one Law of Sharpness. I'm being bombarded from every direction now.
I fly from side to side, dodging most of his attacks and blocking the ones that are impossible to evade. When I manage to get close enough, gravity affects him and several electrical serpents attempt to pierce his body.
Small yellow motes appear around his body, stopping every electrical serpent. I accelerate without thinking twice. This time I'm using much more gravity mana to propel my speed. I feel small tears forming across my skin and healing instantly.
I reach him, and his eyes widen like saucers because of my speed. My sword aims directly at his neck. He manages to block my first attempt with his spear; my right sword heads toward his stomach, while several motes of light and small light spears attempt to stop my strike.
A slight smile appears on my face when his constructs are destroyed in an instant. The force behind my strike is greater than he expected. His body manages to react, but it's a little too late. My sword has already left a small cut across his abdomen.
The noble retreats at full speed, his expression composed. His face changes when he notices something strange about the cut. Death mana is trying to devour everything around it; my death mana has become extremely dangerous, to the point that even I sometimes get hurt by it.
The effect doesn't last at all. In the blink of an eye, my death mana is eradicated from his body. It was expected. It was only a small cut, and I couldn't apply as much death mana as I wanted because of how quickly he escaped.
“I like that new expression.” I mock his face. Now the bastard looks furious and annoyed, like he wants to come over and beat me to death.
“You should be grateful for that lucky strike. It won't happen again.” Prito tries to maintain his majestic appearance, wanting to blame luck for that hit.
“Yeah, I'm a lucky man.” I answer indifferently. In reality, I do consider myself lucky for many things, but that strike isn't one of them.
The fight intensifies considerably after that blow. Prito stops caring about his mana consumption or stamina. Every one of his constructs contains much more mana and Imra, always supported by several Laws and his Jurisdiction.
I continue with the same strategy, only changing it slightly. Now I try to use the black swords more offensively whenever he's within range of my own swords. It has forced him to retreat constantly, and I can tell from his face that he doesn't like it at all.
The speed of every light spear receives another boost, and two of them have already pierced me. One went through my thigh and the other through the side of my stomach. I've healed the wounds enough to eliminate any trace of his power and stop the bleeding, but I haven't healed them completely.
I'm not the only one who's been injured. I'd say I've had it much easier. Prito has several wounds across his body, with small cuts appearing after the first one. The skin of Diamond ranks really is tough. I've managed to break through his defenses several times, but I lacked the strength to create any significant cuts.
The chest of the idiotic noble in front of me is heaving more and more, and his exhaustion is becoming much more noticeable. Not only has he consumed a considerable amount of stamina, but his mana must be below half. We've been fighting for a long time while using enormous amounts of mana.
I'm still doing quite well in terms of mana. I must have a greater capacity than him, and I can use it more efficiently. I don't need to spend as much defending myself in close combat. My armor is quite resilient, and the condensed mana woven throughout it makes it extremely durable.
The first time I tried it, maintaining this armor alongside so many constructs was a headache. Now I still feel a slight stabbing pain in my head, but I manage to ignore it thanks to my mental ability.
My sword aims toward his leg and is intercepted by several constructs. My left sword tries to stab into his chest, and his spear blocks my attempt, but he loses his balance slightly. I use a little more gravity mana for my next slash.
The right sword that was stopped near his leg suddenly surges upward with abnormal force. The power behind the movement is enough to dislocate my arm. Prito tries everything he can to stop the strike, but my slash carries too much power behind it.
Death mana breaks through his defenses faster, and thanks to the support of my Imra, Laws, and Dominion, I overcome everything in my path. In less than a second, the battle changes completely. My arm has been dislocated, and his left arm has been severed just below the shoulder.
I hear a scream, but I block out the sound without reacting to his pain. I spin on my axis to add speed and power to my slash, my left sword aiming directly for his neck. It's time to end this. I block his attempt to escape with my gravity mana. Half a second is enough; I don't think I can hold him any longer than that.
Desperation appears in his eyes. He understands that his spear won't make it in time and tries to stop my slash by constructing every possible defense between us. Every one of his attempts is destroyed by the force of my strike.
My sword stops a centimeter from his neck. I turn toward the person standing off to the side. “I thought you weren't going to interfere, Xinu.” My eyes are glacial and my killing intent is unleashed as I'm forced to retreat by several nearly invisible constructs. “So now it's two against one.”