In an instant, both Lorien and Gojo vanished from their positions just to reemerge fractions of a second later in a whirlwind of motion as their fierce close-quarters combat commenced.
*Clash*
*Clash*
With each blow, the air itself seemed to tremble as if protesting against the sheer force exerted by their collisions.
With every powerful impact, miniature shockwaves could be seen rippling outwards causing the very ground beneath their feet to tremble in response and causing dust and small rocks to be launched away.
Throughout this confrontation, neither combatant utilized their abilities, save for Gojo maintaining his 'Infinity' technique.
However, this wasn't that useful against Lorien who was utilizing his ability to partially disrupt this technique.
Doing so, he ensured that his strikes would not be rendered ineffective because of 'Infinity' while also keeping the ability's defense useful enough so that Gojo doesn't decide to disable it.
And unsurprisingly, the reason he's doing this is actually to study the inner workings of Gojo's power as partially disrupting it allows him to better observe how this ability functions while also monitoring how it tries to stabilize itself and partition space.
Usually, if Lorien wanted to analyze something like this, it would take him a relatively long time, however, with his Divine Sense that has now reached a 1515 meters radius thanks to the improvement in the last period of time, and thanks to him using his power to accelerate the process, Lorien estimates that it would take him about 15 minutes to unravel the secrets of Gojo's ability.
You see, the great thing about Divine Sense is that it allows him to analyze and scan things in a comprehensive manner from all angles and allows him to detect things he wouldn't have been able to notice before.
And as everyone knows, more information and data equals a more accurate analysis.
However, while Lorien is using his Divine Sense to scan Gojo's ability, let's not forget that this isn't its only use.
Because if we take a closer look at the raging battle, we'll quickly spot how it's giving Lorien a great edge.
It, combined with Lorien's clairvoyance and his martial arts that were far above Gojo's made the outcome of this battle predictable.
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And as the fight heated up, this became more and more obvious as Lorien was quickly seizing control of the battle rhythm.
*Boom*
*Clash*
With each passing moment, Lorien's advantage over his opponent grew more noticeable as Gojo failed to land a significant hit on his elusive adversary.
Noticing this, Gojo strained his body to the limit and pushed his skills even further as he launched a relentless barrage of attacks.
However, this wasn't that useful as Lorien displayed exceptional defense, taking advantage of what he learned until now to the extreme.
He kept narrowly evading Gojo's attacks using the least movement possible in the process to conserve his energy, as for the attacks he couldn't evade, he brilliantly neutralized them by redirecting the force of the attacks which rendered them utterly ineffective.
However, Lorien didn't keep on the defensive for long as he soon began his counter-attack.
*Swish*
*Clash*
Punch after punch, Gojo soon found himself increasingly backed into a corner as Lorien's attacks kept raining down.
These strikes were masterful to say the least as Lorien exerted every ounce of his power effectively, maximizing the impact of each attack while maintaining his composure and physical strength as he wasted no energy.
*Boom*
*Clash*
Feeling increasingly frustrated with each passing moment, Gojo now realized that he was outclassed in this competition.
'How is this guy doing it? It's like he can see my attacks before I even think about them.'
'Moreover, his physical strength is incredible, even after enhancing my body with cursed energy, he still has the upper hand.'
'On top of that, he's disrupting my Infinity, It seems that I can't rely on it in the next battle.'
'Tsk, Hand-to-hand combat isn't going to cut it against him, defeating him this way seems nearly impossible.'
Realizing this, Gojo immediately gave up on this losing battle as he jumped back distancing himself from Lorien.
"Let the battle truly begin!"
Seeing this, Lorien couldn't help but feel at a loss, after all, he was truly enjoying the battle right now.
Ever since he reached this level, this is the first time someone fights him without him having to limit himself.
However, this is to be expected, after all, even though Gojo hasn't reached Lorien's level in martial arts, his years of combat experience and Six Eyes allowed him to fight Lorien for so long.
It's just that even with this, he still couldn't handle the 'cheating' combination that Lorien has.
'A pity, I was really enjoying this...'
'Sigh...'
It's just that Gojo didn't know or care about what Lorien was thinking right now as he activated his reverse cursed technique [Red] causing a small red orb to manifest which instantly unleashed an immense explosive force in Lorien's direction.
Seeing this, Lorien knew that this wasn't the time to daydream as the battle wasn't over yet.
'Well, It's all out now I guess, just not too over the top, I also want to have fun.'
Not hesitating any longer, Lorien touched his ring turning it back into its weapon form as he then slashed it forward toward the incoming attack.
*Swish*
As a consequence, a sword slash made of multicolored energy was unleashed from the blade.
*Ziiinggg*
Piercing through the air, this sharp energy carved the earth below it as it rushed towards Gojo's attack, interrupting it.
*Boom*
The moment the Red orb and the multicolored sword slash collided, the air was filled with a cacophony of sound, akin to a thousand thunderclaps.
The very fabric of space seemed to tremble and crack under the strain of their clashing energies as an awe-inspiring explosion erupted from the point of impact.
*Crack*
*Crack*