...
It is no doubt that I got the upper hand in this battle against him...
...but why...?
Why do I have the feeling I'll lose if I let my guard down for a moment...?
As he strikes back at me, I parried back in his blind spots, to which he effortlessly blocked each one of them
I let myself calm down as I know that once I lost my cool, it will eventually lead to my demise
I wasn't struggling fighting against him at all but...
...something feels really odd...
...
Hikari kept attacking me from different directions, showing no signs of slowing down
It wasn't something that I couldn't keep up, but alongside with his buffed speed, his strength has also exponentially increased
I had to rely on my Spatial Awareness skill at all times because of it, but I haven't activated my Swordsmanship ability yet
I can cast Fatality skill on him now to end it but...
...somehow, I can't activate it
To be precise, I can only cast Fatality skill if I know where the "life source" of a target is. If I can cut the main flow, anything can be executed...
...In his case, I can't...because I can't find where his life source is...
Is he even human...?
"Then there's only one way!"
"...?"
Cutting his mana flow!
I looked to where the flow of his mana is gathering up, which is located at his right hand
"Fatality!"
An invisible matter slowly made it way to cut the flow of Hikari's mana...
...
...but his mana still kept on flowing, nothing happened right after
"What?!"
I dodged again and again from his attacks as I think of a reason why it didn't work
"Is there something blocking it?!"
I looked at his mana flow once again
"Nothings blocking it...just how-?!"
Another strike was about to hit me in my blind spot
Without any hesitation, I let out once of my aces up in my sleeve
"?!"
And fshed out from Hikari's range
"...That was close"
But now he knows I have some sort of dash skill...
He then swung his sword, strikes it down the ground after
"That's troublesome"
"..."
"But I'll just find a way to get to you!"
"!"
*THWANG*
Fortunately, I was able to set up my earth element to protect me
He then tries again, attacking me in the front this time
*THWANG*
"I already know what you're gonna do"
I quickly attack back with my earth and wind magic skill, he then tries to deflect it
...After a few seconds, he stop deflecting my attacks and went straight in another direction, closing the gap on us once more
*THWANG*
I was able to deflect it with my earth spell, but suddenly-
"?!"
*CRACK*
His attack was able to penetrate through my defense, making me vulnerable to his strike
*CLANG*
"?!"
His sword wasn't able to penetrate the barrier that I put myself earlier
He falls back, maintaining quite a distance between us
"The barrier...It should've break...but why...?"
"...?"
It should've been broken...? Was that something I should take note of?
...
...Wait...now that I think about it...
He keeps attacking me in every direction where he knows I can easily counterattack, and then surprises me by attacking quickly in my blind spots...
...I should be able to block his attacks easily, but for some reason I completely can't...
Thanks to my barrier that is infused with my Fatality skill, I was able to repel his attack completely but...will it work again the next time?
"...!"
"The barrier...It should've break...but why...?"
He keeps attacking me where I can react easily to counterattack him back, and after a few seconds of doing it, he goes back to striking me down in my blind spot...
...Could it be...?
"No matter, I should still be able to wear you down eventually"
Instead of waiting for him to make the move, I was the one who took the initiative
"?!"
*CLANG*
With the sword that I formed from my earth spell, I was able to strike back at Hikari
It wasn't a good sword of course, but it is something that I can repeatedly use if it breaks
Which is good enough for my pn!
I strike down multiple times at Hikari, to which Hikari parried
*CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG*
I hope I'm right about this because my life is on the line here!
I aimed for Hikari's blind spot, thrusting my earth sword at him
"Go through!"
Which Hikari effortlessly dodged
"Right where I want you!"
Hikari then swung his sword right at me
*CLANG*
...
...
...
...Which my pn became successful
"?! What?!"
With my earth sword infused with fire and wind spell, I strike down at Hikari's sword
*CLANG*...*CRACK*
Which finally shattered Hikari's sword
"!"
He then falls back after, looking at his broken sword
"..."
With frustration in his eyes, he silently sheathe his broken sword back while looking down on the ground
"I assume this means I won?"
"..."
"..."
...Seems like he's at a loss for words
"Did you already know?"
"...?"
"Did you?"
"I knew something was off when you keep trying to strike me down in my blind spots and breaking through my defenses easily. When you said that my barrier should've been broken, I got the gist of what you were trying to do"
"!"
"You...your st attacks on me were the damage I inflicted on you that you parried, right? A sort of counter skill that deflects the enemy's damage back, right?"
"..."
Its like that one fantasy anime where the main character has a skill called 'Full Counter'. I was starting to think earlier that was the case but to think that exists here in this world...
...if it wasn't for his st comment about it, I don't think I would've put two and two together...
As well as for my barrier, if my barrier infused with fatality skill didn't stopped the mana flow of his attacks, I wouldn't know that there was some accumuted mana on his sword
Since I can't target Hikari with my fatality skill myself, I thought of breaking his sword once he messes up. He can't use his counter skill if he doesn't have a weapon to infuse it with, right?
Also...was it because of his counter skill that I can't target him directly with my Fatality skill?
Was it because it will counter back my Fatality skill?
...
As I was about to get deep into my thoughts...
"So I slipped up"
Hikari said, seemingly accepting his defeat
"You're a swordsman, right? Surely you can't fight without a sword now"
"..."
Slowly, he pulls out something from his pocket, a diamond shaped crystal of some sort
"...? What's that?"
"I don't like relying on a power that's not something I worked hard on earning myself..."
He then held it up high
"...But if its for the sake of my people, I will gdly do it! Activate!"
It was then that the crystal started to glow brightly, blinding me in the process
"Ack! So bright!"
It spread throughout the area, turning everything it touches into white...
"...?"
A few seconds after, the effect wore off...but something was definitely odd
"...!"
Hikari can be seen from the distance, overflowing with a huge yellow aura
Because of that, I already know that it was that object's doing that empowered Hikari even more
"Haha...I might be in a bind now..."
I said to myself, seeing Hikari as some sort of a big wall that I need to overcome
Its at least good for me that he doesn't have a sword now...
...but even so, I don't think I have the advantage anymore...
"Its time to end this"
"..."
With silence as my reply, I braced myself for another round with Hikari...
...
