‘I can’t allow myself to get touched by that,’ Amira thought to herself as she studied the corrosive properties of the viscous black liquid.
As a member of the Pavilion whose comprehension had stepped past the impose stage, Amira had obviously read the basic introduction to each of the profound mysteries of the seven laws; as such, she already knew that the Profound Mystery of Evil was one that could be used to form a number of different types of poisons, both material and spiritual.
Although Maria’s comprehension of said mystery was still very much in the embryonic stages, only able to affect the material body, it was exceedingly dangerous for someone like Amira.
There were two factors that one had to take into account when talking about the strength when utilising a profound mystery.
The first was the user’s insights into said mystery. It went without saying that the deeper the insights, the more profound the effects.
The second factor was the realm of the user, the higher the realm, the more potent the poisonous nature.
The reason for Mira’s worry was obviously the latter. Although Amira was able to fight against a saint of the early stages like Maria, her body was only at the sixth rank. The effect of said poison would be disastrous.
Still, Amira didn’t seem fearful. Cautious, maybe, but not scared. To her, it just meant she had to stay focused that little bit more.
Maria, on the other hand, was still glaring venomously at her younger opponent.
She had just broken through to the saint realm a little over a month ago and had been on cloud nine ever since, but today had brought her crashing down to earth. Not just because of the inevitable death of her Granny Harriet but also because she was now being forced to face reality.
Not only was she inferior to two of the experts of her generation – Olivier Akerlund and Wukong – she was also inferior to two of the experts of the generation after hers.
Ace she could accept, barely. After all, he was the definition of a freak of nature. There was simply no point comparing oneself to him. But now there was also Amira. It was beyond frustrating!
Still, the insight she gained into the laws of darkness that allowed her to become a saint in the first place was her saving grace. Even though it wasn’t one that allowed her to directly increase her power, it did increase her combat efficiency.
“Today,” Maria growled as the inky black liquid spread, merging with her battle-qi, causing the ground beneath her feet to erode and disintegrate. “You will die today!”
Amira didn’t care much for her words; her eyes remained placid yet unwaveringly focused as she took a deep breath.
Maria’s eyes suddenly constricted as Amira moved at a speed that seemed to defy the laws of physics, suddenly appearing slightly to the left of the princess of darkness, the blade of her sword creating a faint whistling sound as it arced towards her neck.
Still, Maria ignored the blow as she too swung her sword, aiming to trade injury for injury.
Unfortunately, Amira was simply too fast. She moved like a spectre appearing and disappearing around her opponent, attacking before Maria could react and disappearing before her sword could near the hem of her clothes.
In terms of raw battle prowess, the superior of the two was clear as day. Unfortunately, battle prowess was far from the be-all and end-all.
Every time either of her swords made contact with the thick gooey black liquid-like battle-qi, Amira had to use even more of her mageforce to expunge the liquid before it made contact with either of her blades and even though when using her bloodline ability, her soul jumped to the seventh-rank and her soul to the ninth, because her opponent was a saint, the amount of mageforce she had to use was substantial.
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Within a minute, she was breathing harder and faster than ever, but still, her eyes remained focused as though she couldn’t feel the burning of her lungs with each breath from fatigue.
And to be fair, she couldn’t. During the fight, without her even realising, she had entered a miraculous state where her mind, body, and soul were all working in perfect harmony to deepen her connection with the laws of wind.
Without even realising it, she had stopped using the Profound Mystery of Lightspeed all together, but as a result, her comprehension of the Law of Wind’s Profound Mystery of Velocity deepened with every slash.
By that point, even Maria could see her very visible improvements. It was to the point where she no longer dared to try and counter, focusing solely on defending.
Amira’s raw power may not have improved directly, but the faster her strikes became, the more power she was able to generate, and Maria could sense that her battle-qi wouldn’t be able to withstand that onslaught on its own.
Even if Amira was to stop improving, Maria wouldn’t be able to last longer than another minute at most, but the most frustrating thing was that Amira continued to improve steadily, showing no signs of slowing anytime soon.
Maria desperately wanted to scream in frustration, but Amira refused to give her the time to do that.
“JUST DIE ALREADY!” Maria screamed hysterically as she used her free hand to claw at Amira’s eyes with her corrosive ‘Evil’ liquid coating her slender, claw-like fingers.
The overwhelming threat of death from Maria’s suicidal attack woke the little caramel-skinned Amazonian from her focused state just in time to jump out of the way. Unfortunately, as she awoke from her enlightened state, all the fatigue that had built up hit her at once.
She managed to dodge Maria’s poisoned claw, but with Amira’s weakened state, Maria would have to be a fool not to capitalise on it.
“DIE, YOU LITTLE BITCH!” Maria screeched as she swung her sword, focusing little on technique and more on raw power.
There was nothing she wanted more than to tear Amira apart limb from limb!
Amira barely had time to raise her swords. Still, between her growing fatigue and her low realm, the fact that she wasn’t sliced in two was a miracle in and of itself.
A grunt escaped Mira’s parched lips as she felt the webs of her hand split open as both swords were sent flying.
“MIRA!” Wukong roared as he wanted to go to her aid, but how could Harriet just let him leave?
“Where do you think you’re going?!” The old woman snarled venomously as she wielded her sabre to bombard Wukong, preventing him from escaping.
“DAMMIT YOU OLD HAG!” Wukong roared as his eyes reddened with an unbridled rage. “IF SEVENTH SISTER DIES, THIS KING SWEARS TO THE OVERGODS TO PERSONALLY SLAUGHTER EVERY MEMBER OF THE CULT!”
Harriet’s wrinkles wiggled around like snakes as she merely smirked, paying his threat no mind at all.
Wukong wasn’t the only one worried; both Faye and Lance desperately wanted to help, but not only were they too far away, but they were also in the middle of a brutal battle against the only remaining mortal fallen angel.
With no weapon to hold, Amira could only beg her body to move as she unwillingly watched the blade of Maria’s long sword pierce towards her heart.
“Ugh!” Mira grunted as she spat a mouthful of blood on the grass beneath her feet.
Just before being stabbed, Mira had moved just enough to avoid her heart being skewered. Unfortunately, Maria’s blade pierced right through her shoulder, exiting out the back, but the worst part was that the inky black liquid Mira had tried so hard to avoid had now seeped inside her and was ravaging her insides.
The pain was excruciating. She felt as though each cell in her body was being burnt, and yet, other than the initial grunt, she refused to make another sound as she silently glared at Maria, who stood over her body, sword still piercing the young Rohault’s shoulder. She refused to give Maria the satisfaction of knowing she hurt her.
“Don’t look at me like that; I hate your eyes!” Maria spat venomously.
“DIDN’T YOU HEAR ME?!” Maria screamed. “STOP STARING AT ME!”
The world seemed to come to a stop in that moment. Everyone watched as Maria’s hand shot forward, her index and middle fingers and thumb coming together to make a pincer as though she wanted to rip Amira’s eyes out of their sockets.
A myriad of different emotions was being displayed, from helplessness to shame, to unwillingness, to envy-filled happiness, but just as Maria’s talon-like hand was inches from Amira’s still tranquil eyes, a new emotion appeared among the mix overshadowing all others. It was pure, unbridled wrath.
“DON’T FUCKING TOUCH HER!” Ace roared from over a kilometre away as his [Conqueror’s Haki] exploded out, stunning the unexpecting Maria on the spot.
It was only for the briefest of moments, but for the Ace of today, a brief moment was all it took.
The sound of a deafening explosion sounded in the distance, but before the audience could even start to turn their heads, the dark-haired teen had already appeared beside Amira, his blackened fist slamming into the side of the face of the still-dazed princess of darkness, sending Maria flying across the air, her body easily breaking the sound barrier as it shot off.