novelraw Chapter 83: Seris Vale [2]
Chapter 83: Seris Vale [2]
"Since you are using your best card, I will use mine as well."
The girl did not mind Cael’s words. She simply tilted her head and asked,
"How did you cancel out my skill?"
Cael smiled and answered with a question of his own.
"Curious, aren’t you? Then how about telling me your name, so I can tell you how I cance—"
He did not finish his words as he saw the girl move.
Black lightning surged beneath his feet as he moved away, this time more carefully than before.
He had learned from their previous exchanges. The girl was faster than him, stronger than him, and more experienced than him.
The only advantage he had was his unpredictability.
But the girl vanished yet again, arriving at the spot where he had just landed, her hands stretched forward, inches away from his face.
She had read his movement. She had anticipated where he would go.
With no time to use Black Lightning Step, Cael activated Teleportation.
The world twisted around him, bending and folding as space itself compressed.
When his vision cleared, he found himself a mile away from the girl, his back pressed against a tree trunk, his breath coming in short gasps.
"Cough, cough... she’s too strong."
He knew he was not a match for her. If he continued to fight recklessly, he might die from a single punch.
He just said he would use his best card, but none of his skills would work on her.
Except for Time Deceleration.
But Cael was not sure his body could withstand the continuous strain.
Even using Mana Sovereignty through a simple wind breeze had left him feeling strained.
The backlash had not been visible, but the pain was there, a dull ache deep in his bones.
Not to mention, he had used Time Deceleration just an hour ago against the [Platinum] rankers.
His mana was already on its last straw.
This was his weakness, and he was fully aware of it.
Even though he possessed great skills, they consumed huge amounts of mana.
All of his battles were relatively short and fast. He struck hard, struck fast, and ended things before his resources ran dry.
But against an opponent like her, someone who could take everything he threw at her and keep coming, that strategy was useless.
His second weakness was his body. It was barely able to keep up with the skills he was using.
Every time he pushed himself, every time he activated a powerful skill, he felt the strain.
His muscles ached. His bones protested. His mana channels burned. He was asking too much of a vessel that was not yet ready.
’The situation might have been different if I had my sword.’
Cael shook his head. There were no ’ifs’ in battle.
He had learned that lesson long ago. You fought with what you had, not with what you wished you had.
His sword was gone, lost somewhere in the forest along with his space pouch and all his supplies.
He had to make do with what remained.
He needed to change his plans. It would have been a lot easier if he knew her name.
But it was wishful thinking, after all, by knowing her name, he might have found her background and family. So, it’s only natural for her not to tell him.
He sighed and decided to rest and recover his mana before making any plans.
He leaned against the tree trunk, closed his eyes, and focused on his breathing.
The rain slowly started once again, but the air was still damp. Water dripped from the leaves above, each drop landing in a small puddle with a soft, hollow sound.
But little did he know...
This was not a place he could come and go as he pleased.
After all, every forest was the home for the Sovereign of the Beasts.
...
As soon as Cael vanished from the battlefield, the girl’s eyes turned cold.
She looked around to search for him but found nothing.
His mana was hidden, suppressed by some skill she did not recognize.
But he could not hide the scent of his own blood.
The cuts on his body, the ones he had received from crashing through the trees, were still fresh. The smell was faint, but she could track it.
The [Perfect Platinum] lightning eagle roared and moved across the sky.
The girl started to run, then leaped into the air and raised her hand.
With a powerful roar, the eagle caught her and moved toward Cael’s direction.
The wind rushed past her face as the eagle flew, its wings cutting through the air with powerful strokes.
The forest blurred beneath her, a sea of green and brown and gray. She kept her eyes forward; her senses stretched to their limit.
Within seconds, they reached his location.
The eagle shifted its body and threw the girl toward a large tree.
She did not resist. She let herself fall, let gravity pull her down, let her body become a weapon.
Cael, who had been concealing his presence and hiding among the branches, opened his eyes wide.
What he saw caught his breath.
The girl was launching at him from the sky, her dark green hair fluttering in the wind as her amber eyes turned gold.
Dark clouds behind her thundered with lightning, and the lightning eagle circling above created a visual impact that momentarily stole his focus.
The girl reached the tree. She gripped her fist and punched forward.
-BOOM
The large tree exploded into pieces. Wood splintered. Bark shattered. Leaves scattered into the air like confetti.
The force of the impact created a crater fifty meters wide, uprooting the surrounding trees and plants.
The ground shook as the air trembled. The beasts in the distance howled.
Cael had dodged at the last second, throwing himself sideways as her fist descended.
But the shockwave caught him, sending him flying backward.
His body crashed through one tree to another, then another.
Each impact sent a jolt of pain through his spine. Branches scratched his face. Splinters embedded themselves in his arms.
Finally, he stopped. Wet mud covered him from head to toe.
He had many cuts on his body, nothing vital, but he could not help but cough up blood.
"Cough, Cough..."
He pushed away a piece of a tree trunk that had fallen across his legs and stood up with a painful step.
His ribs ached, and his back was sore. His left arm hung limply at his side, numb from the last impact.
From the deep crater, the girl stepped forward.
Her steps were slow and deliberate.
Every step she took was a reminder of how outmatched he was. Every inch she closed was a countdown to his defeat.
Cael took quick breaths and activated ’Death Reaper’s Focus’.
But unlike before, the fear did not vanish completely, but it dulled, becoming a distant echo instead of a screaming voice.
A thin line of blood rolled out from his lips.
The girl paused ten meters before him and asked,
"Didn’t you say you were going to use your best card?"
Her voice was cold, mocking.
"Pfft, don’t tell me running away is your best card."
Cael said nothing. His thoughts were strangely calm.
Even he wondered how he could be so calm in this situation.
Was he confident that she would not kill him?
No, he had seen how ruthlessly she had killed those people. The bodies were still fresh. The blood was still wet.
Then why?
Was it because she had saved people in District Neva?
He had seen her fight there, seen her protect the civilians, seen her kill the wraiths without hesitation.
Looking at the girl’s cold eyes, he knew she was showing killing intent.
He knew very well that the last punch could have killed him ten times over.
The crater was proof. The uprooted trees were proof. The blood in his mouth was proof.
Then why?
Why had he not swapped places with his clone?
Why had he not escaped?
He could have been back at the academy by now, safe and warm, eating a proper meal.
Instead, he was here, bleeding in the mud, facing someone who could end him with a single hit.
Cael did not know.
He did not know why he was even questioning himself.
No...
He did know the answer very well.
Because...
It was exciting.
It was a thrill he had never known he needed until now.
The danger, the risk, the possibility of death. It made him feel alive in a way that nothing else did.
He wanted to copy her skills and make them his own. He wanted to understand her, to learn from her, to grow.
Call him selfish. He did not care.
A small smile slowly formed on Cael’s face, and he closed his eyes.
The girl frowned at his smile, but seeing him close his eyes, she charged forward, her fist aimed at his face.
She thought he might move away at the last second, using Black Lightning.
But to her surprise, he did not move.
Thinking he was unable to keep up with her speed, she smirked.
Just as her fist almost reached his face, Cael muttered,
"I see."
His violet eyes opened slowly, and they shone with cosmic purple.
-BANG.
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[A/N: Guys, select a name]
[1. Aurelyth Serane]
[2. Heliara Veyrion]
[3. Elunara Solis]
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