As fast as the blade enters my stomach, it leaves in the same manner, making me cough up blood and my vision go blurry while the outline of an armored man slowly steps away from me, pulling out his sword.

In the same moment, a tingling sensation starts to make waves over my body, all coming from the stab wound's source. My arms and legs grow slower while my senses also start to dull. Static fills my ears and white and grey wisps of energy completely cover my vision momentarily before I land on the solid ground, letting the dagger fall from my hand.

It's still covered in black and purple wisps, but grabbing my weapon is the least of my worries.

Blood pours from my midsection, and even worse, the man turns to face me from about 10 meters back. He towers over me and speaks again.

"This battle was one-sided from the start, but you still interest me... I'll give you one last chance to give me your name, I'll remember it every time I use that blade..."

His armored gaze turns to the dagger on the ground as I continue to cough up blood. My body is starting to freeze up. As much as I want to stand to my feet, it feels as if my arms and legs have become paralyzed and I can't move a muscle.

If this was any normal blade, I would have been right back in battle even with a mortal wound like the one I received. There must have been some kind of poison on that long sword he uses.

I begin to push out the remaining Demonic Energy overflow from my pathways and deactivate my manipulation skill. I don't bother to answer his final offer to give my name, because I don't plan on losing this battle.

Although he's overpowered me in this small clash so far, the test I managed to pull off has given me an idea of the nature of his defensive power. The aura that surrounds him is a feature of this suit. It's not limitless, but the only time I'll be able to break through it is when my speed and agility are severely lowered. So far, all mana based attacks have been useless, and that's the only time I'm able to access all my buffs.

Using Demonic Energy while my buffs are active or there is competing mana in my pathways can only end poorly. Doing so is how I got into this whole body double situation in the first place. Which has turned into quite the blessing, allowing me to fight without the fear of death, but also the curse of not being able to use my true power.

However, letting this Sector 2 leader defeat me or even get away to take on my teammates is an even worse option. I'll take him out here and now, whatever the cost.

He raises his sword up in the air, walking closer to me and speaking up again.

"The silent type, aren't you? Well-"

Before his long sword swings down, the passive poison resistance skill begins to clear the toxins from my bloodstream. I wait for the last moment to activate my stat-boosting buffs once more and dart out of the way, then zip into the air using wind magic.

He follows in an instant, cracking the ground and releasing a burst of static and white energy beneath his feet.

A shock wave of energy ripples through the town, and the remnants of demonic energy on my dagger that still rests on the sand below goes up in an eruption of sparks but leaves the solid black core of the blade perfectly intact.

Retrieving my weapon is the least of my worries right now.

The more important thing is getting high enough into the air and changing my direction erratically to lose the armored man on my tail.

Every fraction of a second that passes, I lose a few meters of ground. Every turn I make, he follows with incredible precision. The speed and accuracy of the Sector 2 leader's movements are on a whole different level than when he faced me in the town earlier.

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I have nowhere to go.

Especially up here in the sky. I assumed my air magic would give me the advantage, but my opponent uses a similar technique, stepping off of clouds from the grey mist that dissipate the moment his feet leave them.

There's no point in taking out my mana-imbued blades, they'll just give him more energy to hurl back at me. Still, I pull my flame-imbued sword from my item storage to prepare for the worst.

Using Demonic Energy seems to be out of the picture too, in the air would just leave me stranded like a sitting duck. Even with the capabilities it has of breaking through the first layer of defenses, he'll surely release a much more powerful strike than before, now that he's seen me get up so easily from what should have been a fatal injury.

There's only one logical option I have left to try.

"Red Hydra's Rage."

The sun fully rises above the horizon, casting its light upon the observatory, the burning town below, and the two of us soaring high into the sky above it all.

Red wisps of energy materialize around my arms and legs, then more dark crimson light surges from my chest.

In a moment, the battle scene around me feels very different.

The charging suit of armor air-stepping up my way seems much slower, and the flickering black flames on the town below crackle as each individual particle of sand tens of meters away shifts and churns from falling planks of charred wood and burnt brick hit the desert floor.

Closer to me, I get an actual close up look at the man trying to kill me.

The fluid flowing motion of the energy around him has intricate layers of mana shielding wrapped around each other so finely packed I still miss some even with my All-Seeing Eye now being boosted by the Red Hydra's aura.

I take a deep breath in and the air that fills my lungs invigorates me to charge my sword with mana. Pure pink and white energy courses through my veins, but the red aura around my arms combines with it as the two seep into my blade. It glows red hot, imbued with magic ready to strike.

I stop my upward trajectory and release an attack down on my enemy before zipping across the sky. My speed and awareness have more than doubled, and in the blink of an eye, the upper hand in this battle has shifted too.

A muffled static yell of surprise rings out as my black flaming mana blade, shrouded in a crimson aura, collides with the grey protective energy barrier.

The wisps of energy and light react differently to the red aura on impact, slicing through the shielding rather than just being engulfed.

A loud metallic clang rings out even as I air step away. Red Arua erupts from both sides, flowing out of the protective barrier, unable to be absorbed.

I curve around the man's opposite side to let out another charged attack of mana and Hydra's aura. This is more of a distraction for me to gather enough time to make a plan to use Demonic Energy against him, but the results of this distraction seem to be of much greater power than expected.

Metallic clangs that sound like mana on mana echo in my ears as the black and red blades of energy I've thrown make contact with the lower layer of the Black Armor the Sector 2 leader wears.

Seconds later, a black blade of flames comes erupting out.

I easily dodge and send in a few more from various angles.

It happens again. The clangs of my blade hitting his armor sound, the red arua flowing out unaffected by the odd grey energy, and then finally that static filled voice yells at me again.

"A soul bond too... And a powerful one at that... this must have been from at least a level 1000 beast to actually hit me..."

His tone is still unwavering, rippling through the air with confidence as he knows the attacks I'm throwing are severely weakened even if they make their way through his defenses. Still, I zip around the air, leaving crimson trails of energy behind me while swinging my sword almost a dozen more times and dodging the attacks that come flying back.

The clangs of my upgraded and imbued blade ring out over and over again as they hit the armor and some attacks are even countered with his sword.

However, even though the red streaks make their way through, the damage is negligible.

"The more you use that power of yours, the worse the after effects will be... No one has come up with attacks capable of breaking through my creation's defenses in years, and you've managed it twice. I commend you for that... Truly a fine fighter."

At these words, I realize he's right.

Every attack I throw barely damages his armor at all, and without Demonic Energy, the swirling mist around his body absorbs most of the power behind every one of my strikes. I grit my teeth and mutter under my breath while releasing two more blows from over 15 meters away.

"I need to get a clear strike on him without that defense up. There has to be a way to attack him while that shielding is inactive. A full powered strike without anything holding me back could do some serious damage."

While dodging the returning mana blades, a glimmer of my glossy black blade reflects the sun's light up at me. My Demonic Dagger.

"I need to use Demonic Energy and Mana at the same time..."