The large group of Ascended rushed at Sandro. He had no intention of remaining in their encirclement, as fighting in such a position would put him at a disadvantage. Sandro dashed toward the man with blond hair, reaching him in mere moments. The man, seemingly prepared for this, attacked first, unleashing a flurry of precise strikes.
Sandro pivoted his body, avoiding the first strike. He ducked under a punch and then backstepped to evade a kick. Without missing a beat, Sandro transitioned to the offensive. Turning his backstep into a back handspring, he launched a powerful kick aimed directly at the man's jaw.
The man didn’t seem to have his guard up, allowing Sandro’s kick to connect. As it landed, Sandro quipped, “Bullseye!” The man’s head snapped upward, and he was sent a few feet into the air. Before losing consciousness, a single shocked and confused thought passed through his mind: I trained my Vessel to focus on precision attacks. How did none of my strikes land?
The attacks would have connected, if not for an ability Sandro had been honing. Through rigorous training, he had developed a technique for manipulating his Soul to perform an incantation that tampered with the Souls of others. His Soul currently radiated as a faint, humming wave within a moderate area around him. This subtle interference disrupted his opponents’ Souls, throwing off their Vessels and Conscious Mind [mind] ever so slightly. This ability paired exceptionally well with Sandro’s speed, maneuverability, and reflexes, giving him a significant edge in battle.
Sandro then went on to break the encirclement, clashing with any Ascended within his vicinity. This time, his strikes were meant to incapacitate his opponents, and he delivered them with as much speed and power as possible. He knew that if the Ascended he was fighting had the opportunity to use their own techniques, the outcome of the battle would not be in his favor.
The success Sandro was currently having was not solely dependent on his raw combat skill. He cleverly used his current circumstances to his advantage. Even though he was outnumbered, the large crowd could not attack him all at once; only a small group could face him at any given time. He also made a point of utilizing his superior speed and maneuverability to ensure they could not encircle him again.
Sandro was experiencing great success against his opponents, as he was an exceptional new Ascendant. However, there were other extraordinary individuals he would still have to contend with.
A female Ascended, her hair tied in a messy bun, wearing a face mask, tank top, and baggy pants secured with a belt of knives around her waist. She leaped high into the air in an arc over Sandro's current position. After knocking out one Ascended with a punch followed by an elbow, Sandro noticed the woman in the air just as she hurled three knives at him. The knives flew toward him as fast as bullets.
Sandro dodged the first knife with ease. The second came at him even faster, flying in an arc aimed at his leg. The unexpected trajectory and speed caught him off guard, forcing him to deflect it with his hand rather than dodge. Though the knife was deflected, it still managed to leave a cut on his hand. The third knife was the fastest, and it seemed to carry a tremendous amount of power. Despite this, Sandro was ready. Instead of simply dodging the blade, he grabbed its hilt as it flew past and redirected it with equal force back at the Ascended who had thrown it. As he did so, he remarked, "This is yours, so you should have it back!"
The female Ascended was shocked by Sandro's ability to react to the speed of her knives. She had no time to deflect the returning blade due to its speed, nor could she dodge it because she was still in midair. Gritting her teeth, she braced herself as the blade dug into her shoulder, knocking her out of the air with its force.
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Sandro was about to block an incoming punch from a nearby Ascended when his arm suddenly became numb and unresponsive. This allowed the attack to connect squarely with his face. While it did hurt, Sandro recovered almost immediately, countering with a sidekick that sent the Ascended flying and bought him some space. He didn’t bother examining his arm—he already knew that the cut he had received earlier had caused the numbness. He wasn’t sure what technique the woman had used, but he was relieved it didn’t seem to be spreading to the rest of his body.
As he prepared to reengage with a different group of Ascended, another opponent suddenly appeared behind him. The man, tall and well-dressed with a muscular physique and hair cut rather short, loomed over Sandro.
The man roared, “Why don’t you just go to sleep!” as he launched a punch aimed at the back of Sandro’s head. His arm glowed with the energy of his soul.
Sandro glanced over his shoulder and mocked, “In your dreams!”
He ducked under the man’s punch while simultaneously hooking the back of the man’s knee with a sweeping kick, causing him to stumble. The man’s momentum and lack of balance sent his energy-charged fist crashing into the ground.
Although the energy within the strike was immensely powerful, it did not destroy the ground. Instead, it released a massive shockwave that knocked all the nearby Ascended off their feet.
Sandro was about to counterattack when a projectile made of soul energy hurtled toward him. He was fast enough to roll out of the way, causing the projectile to strike the man he had tripped instead. The projectile exploded immediately after impact, incapacitating Sandro's opponent and any nearby ascended.
Sandro looked up to see a female ascended in a tracksuit standing a distance away, four orbs of soul energy orbiting around her.
In a confused tone, he questioned her, "You do know those guys are trying to help you take me down, right?"
The woman answered arrogantly, "The main objective is to reduce our numbers. I'm just killing two birds with one stone."
Without another word, she launched all four projectiles at Sandro. He dashed and dodged out of the way, not wanting to be hit by their destructive force. While he managed to avoid the attacks, the other ascended were not so fortunate. The projectiles' devastating power incapacitated a large number of Sandro's opponents.
Still confident, the woman extended her arm and placed her other hand on it, firing a concentrated beam of soul energy.
Sandro, still running to evade the previous attacks, dodged the beam. However, he was forced to dodge again as the beam abruptly changed course and began chasing him. He tried weaving through the crowd to throw it off, but the beam simply maneuvered through the chaos, continuing its relentless pursuit.
Tired of the cat-and-mouse game, Sandro decided to end it. He stopped dead in his tracks and, just before the beam struck him, grabbed a nearby ascended to use as a human shield.
The resulting explosion was massive and powerful, leaving all the remaining ascended who had banded together against Sandro incapacitated.
The woman wore a smug expression, but as the dust settled, her confidence turned to shock. Sandro was still standing, despite having taken the brunt of the explosion. He was clearly injured—half his shirt was gone, and he bore visible damage—but he remained on his feet with a confident grin that bordered on arrogance.
Surveying the unconscious ascended around him, Sandro turned his gaze to the woman and spoke in an amused tone, "You know, if you’d left just a couple of them standing, you might’ve been able to beat me in the state I’m in. Oh well."
With blinding speed, Sandro moved as a blur toward her. She attempted to charge another soul projectile, but he was faster. Grabbing her outstretched arm, he delivered a flying knee strike to her chin, sending her crashing to the ground.
Sandro then surveyed the scene—a field of unconscious Ascended sprawled around him. Smiling, he mused that, from an aerial view, the carnage might resemble a abstract artwork, with human bodies as the materials.