Well shit... I’m in quite a difficult situation right now. My back is against the wall and this Luci guy is now utilizing Qi, his forte. The pressure his Qi exudes is tremendous! It’s like my body has gotten heavier from some invisible force. Well, in this case, it is visible, and it’s this bastards Qi. I’ll have to do something about it, or else things will go south fast.
Luci said he’s sure that Solgacs [Gluttony] skill won’t work, but I’ll be the judge of that! In the [Dragon Tamer] mastery, it’s said that I can use Solgacs skill, which is both [Gluttony] and [Dragon Breath]. Verbally communicating with Solgac to use the skill will take too long. I’ll use the element of surprise and use the skill myself! Firstly, how the hell do I turn this thing on? Do I just think of using the [Gluttony] skill and it’ll magically-
[Gluttony Skill has been activated!]
“…?!”
Suddenly, I could feel my jaw unhinge itself without my permission. And then, out of my control, I automatically started to inhale at the man in front of me.
“I'm impressed! To think you and the dragons’ skills are shared! No matter, that skill of yours won’t be able to consume my Qi! It is impossible!”
With a wide grin on his face, the first pupil bent his knees low, and like the speed of a train, bolted straight at me. I clicked my tongue in annoyance as the skill I used earlier had no effect. I raised my rapier to my chest and charged at the unarmed man.
Though I was scared for a moment, that still doesn’t mean I won’t try my hardest! Succumbing to fear is a death wish, and I have no intent on dying here when I have someone waiting for me after I’m finished here. I have much to do once I return since I have collected enough information in this Tower of Strength. Sharing my knowledge with Joel and the others is something that must be done!
Stretching my right arm as far as I could, I lunged the Damastril rapier at Luci’s chest. With the nimbleness of a fox, Luci sidestepped away from the weapon's trajectory and lifted his knee upward. The kick landed right under my wrist, causing a spike of pain to envelop my hand, but I gritted my teeth and ignored it.
“Wow! Usually, people would’ve let go whenever I did this! You must’ve trained hard to always keep your weapon on you!” He shouted cheerfully. With a single thought, I manifested a katana in my left hand and swiped away at the man’s neck, but he also dodged it swiftly by twirling his body around me. Now that Luci was directly behind me, I conjured another set of blades instantly and threw them at him just before he could launch a punch my way.
“Hmph!”
Right as I turned my body around to face Luci, he delivered a series of acrobatic leaps with great speed, dodging every single one of my mana blades with ease. One by one, the mana blades would fly by and land directly under his feet, the blades fizzling into the air as I commanded them to disappear. While I had the weapons disappear after one use, I was already creating more above him.
“So this is your true power! Amazing! Your proficiency in mana is marvelous, challenger!” Luci yelled at the sight. In front of him were twenty mana blades at standby, each ocean-blue weapon glowing brightly in the darkness like a beacon of dazzling light.
“True power? You only know half of it…” I mumbled just so only Solgac could hear. The dragon quickly picked up on what I meant and gave Luci a short snarl, almost mocking him. The first pupil wasn’t paying attention to us, as his focus was solely on the looming blades of death above him. I didn’t waste any further time and dropped my hand down, the blades swiftly plummeting at the man.
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“Demonic Arts Fourth Skill: Redirection” Luci murmured. It was loud enough that I, who was far away, could hear clearly. I locked my eyes on the first pupil as I watched his every move. Luci faced the wave of mana blades darting straight at him with a tranquil expression and posture. His legs were slightly apart, and his upper body was hunched somewhat. Both arms were near his chest and his palms were open as he took a deep breath and waited until the blades reached his location.
Luci went to work right as the blades were mere inches from him. What happened next kind of surprised me! When one of the mana blades touched the palm of his hand, the first pupil would redirect the trajectory of the weapon elsewhere and have it collide with another mana blade, causing them to both vanish. He would continue to do the same to each blade that contacted his palm as a hailstorm of swords rained upon him. Watching him from afar, it was like I was watching a river’s current washing away an item to someplace elsewhere.
However, even a flowing river cannot wash everything away. Some of the blades touched the Qi wrapped around his body, and surprisingly it wasn’t as sturdy as I thought it would be. Luci was trying his hardest to hide his discomfort whenever one got into contact as the Qi couldn’t fully neutralize my magic. His left eye would twitch whenever one got through, and that one mishap had sparked an idea. Knowing what to do next, I quickly got to work just as he finished dealing with them all.
“Not even my Qi is enough to completely disregard her magic. Truly her mana is powerful…” Luci exhaled. He turned his head just in time to see a rapier a hairbreadth away from the middle of his eyes. In just a split second, Luci twisted his body backward, just narrowly avoiding his skull being pierced right through.
“Throwing away your weapon just like that? How bold of yo-" He stopped mid-sentence just to see another barrage of weapons heading his away, all of them appearing right above his face.
“Not enough time to use the fourth skill!” Luci yelped as he stumbled. He created an artificial sword from his own Qi and swung the blade at the volley while biting the corners of his lips. While he managed to destroy some of them in front of him, he wasn’t fast enough to vanquish the ones behind him. The attack was coming from all sides, while he was still unbalanced. Using one arm to steady himself on the ground and the other to slash away, the first pupil still managed to avoid a killing blow as he backflipped back on his feet.
There were multiple wounds leaking blood all over the demon's body. The gray Gi he was wearing was riddled with holes, and the name stitched on his breast was no longer legible. Though he still stood firm, the demon was getting exhausted from the flurry of mana blades that was hurled his way as his chest heaved. Luci looked around the vicinity, noticing quickly that I was nowhere to be seen. The man was quiet as he frantically glanced around the room, unmoving. It only took him a couple of seconds to spot me at the far end of the dark room due to his keen senses, but it was already too late. My preparations have already been completed.
“Found you!” He roared in delight. Not caring about his injuries, the demon ran toward my location, brandishing the Qi blade in his hand. I was in a crouched position as I watched him come closer.
“Your rapier is now gone, challenger! Use one of your mana blades again, if you can, but I’m sure your mana reservoir is depleted after all that! Low mana levels will make your mana blade weak against my Qi blade!”
“…What makes you so sure my mana reservoir is depleted?” I smiled. That action alone had the demon falter for a split second- time he would regret giving away. I reached behind my body and pulled out a large, ranged weapon only humans on Earth would recognize; the M24 sniper rifle with a built-in scope. The weapon looked just like the original, except it was blue and used mana to substitute bullets. A flash of bewilderment was visible in Luci’s large eyes, but he knew that what I had in my hand was dangerous.
Peering one eye into the sniper scope, the marker landing right at his heart, I speedily pulled the trigger without a moment's rest.