I extended my sword reach with aura and slashed the black flame and gale that were rushing at me. The slash transformed both magic into particles of light that floated in place. I continued to slash more and more magic after that and filled my front area with light.

The black magician frowned, as if sensing my intentions. Dozens of magic circles appeared left and right, raining spells from every direction but behind. I slashed ice and fireballs left and right, bracing for the wind blast crashing from the front. The force pushed me back, skin tearing from the gale's sharp edge.

There seemed to be poison mixed in so I tried to heal myself, but he sent a scorching flame my way and I had to slash it instead.

He gave me no time to rest as I dealt with the barrage of incoming attacks. I could manage the attacks themselves, but he seemed to be focusing on more speedy but weak attacks as time went on.

The relentless barrage of spells battered my defenses without end. Each slash of my sword seemed to drain what little remained of my strength. My muscles screamed in protest with every movement, my labored breathing now a raw rattling in my lungs. Acrid smoke filled my senses as I brushed off another exploding spell, only for a new onslaught to immediately take its place.

The mage struck when I least expected it, poisoning magic piercing my skin before I could react. Pain coursed through my veins but I couldn't show weakness, not now.

"Aaah!"

I channeled my gift, urging my body to fight through the haze settling over my mind. With a roar, I slashed outward, cutting a swath through the oncoming spells. Light flared where black magic had been, buying me moments of respite.

Dozens of shadow knives flew from the front before long. I cut a lot and got cut by a few. As the poison began to take root in my bloodstream, I bit my lips and realized the danger I was in. How long could I hold on? I needed to do something, and fast.

However, before I could even think of a solution, black lightning fell from above and forced me to roll to the right. I slashed the incoming blackened ice and looked at the place I had been standing.

The ground was scorched and cracked. Unlike the speedy but weak attack until now, he seemed to be planning to mix strong attacks to kill me when the time was right.

I looked up at the dozens of magic circles above, raining black magic on the ground. I had to prevent being surrounded from all directions so I retreated and pushed my back to the dome’s wall as I continued to deal with the onslaught.

A flash of strong lightning crashed overhead, I launched my aura and slashed it but for an instant, my side was open. As if aiming for this, the mage threw black magic all around, all at once.

Stolen story; please report.

As I barely overcame the assault, I stumbled. A brief lull happened on the battlefield as the mage prepared his next series of spells.

My knees hit the dirt with a thud, jolting waves of pain through my body. Dealing with the endless barrage proved to be more exhausting than I thought. I had to combine both sword strikes at once.

There was no other choice if I wanted to survive. I gritted my teeth and began to dance.

[Quick Strike, Second Art - Blade Dance Stream, Infinite Consecutive Slash]

'Faster.'

I reduced lightning to light.

'Faster!'

I pierced through a storm with a stab.

'Faster!!'

I broke through an encirclement of death.

"AAAH!!"

With a spirited shout, I flung myself to my feet and swung my sword ahead. Every muscle screaming as I moved faster than ever before. Blade and aura became a whirling storm around me, slicing through spell after spell until the very air seemed alight.

I could feel the strain threatening to shatter my body with each pass of my sword...but I was starting to gain ground. Just a little longer...I had to push further!

Dozens of shadow knives flew from the front and unlike before, I managed to hit them all this time. However, the problem happened and everything went downhill after that.

The last knives I hit didn’t turn into light, but flew by my head and hit the dome as I tilted to the right. My counter strike had failed, so I gave it another try and resumed the dance.

‘Again.’

A blackened ice grazed my cheek.

‘Again!’

A wind blast blew me to the left.

‘Again!!’

Several lightning strikes took me by surprise this time. However, even if I failed the counter strike itself, my attack speed continued to increase so much that I was able to hit all if not most of his incoming attacks now.

He seemed to notice this too as he began to attack from below, making it harder for me to concentrate for the second counter strike. I could combine the sword strikes just fine if I used [Void Slash] instead, but, should I switch? Even if I'd lose all the light particles at once?

My breathing came in rasps as another volley of spells smashed into my sword. I glanced at the mage, staring at his domain's duration with my vision.

"Impressive speed. But everything ends here.", he smirked and seemed certain of my defeat.

No, I refused to end it like this. My hands tightened on my sword. There had to be another way, something I was missing.

Transforming attacks into another energy was the effect of the second counter strike. I was planning to combine this with [Blade Dances Stream] to quickly gather energy for a big strike, but the mental load was no joke.

The world spun as I fought to regain focus. Each counter strike took more out of me than the last, my body growing sluggish to obey my fading consciousness.

How many more hits could I take? Do I have enough strength to win this?

I grimaced at the reality I was seeing. I had to do better, before his infinite magic ended me.

Then, an idea popped up. If thinking gets hard, what if I stopped thinking instead?

Crazy idea, but it may be my only chance to win this fight. I laughed at the absurdity and implemented it at once.

‘The solution is a no-brainer. It’s simple and dumb, I like it.’

It was a strategy that ran contrary to my nature of overthinking and planning. However, this body had a beast-like fighting instinct in the first place. If it’s Raon, I could entrust my back to him like always.

‘Lend me your strength, Raon. Let’s overcome the impossible once more.’

I tightened my grip and moved my limbs. Trusting my body where my mind faltered, I dropped all conscious thought and gave in to pure instinct. My thoughts melted away as a new power rose from within.

[Your gift, ???, opened its eyes and gaze upon the world]

It was time for a comeback.