Chapter 84: Seris Vale [3]
A few seconds before,
As Cael closed his eyes, he began to think about how to defeat the dark green-haired girl.
He did not want to escape; he wanted to see it through to the end.
Cael wanted to give this girl the experience of despair.
An unforgettable crushing defeat.
But... how?
Just then, Cael recalled his Monarch’s experiences in the second resonance.
In that resonance, he saw the Monarch fighting a person with mana.
Cael recalled how she was able to copy her opponent’s technique. She then outlasted her opponent in a battle of attrition and won.
She adapted to her opponent’s level.
She was a true copycat, unlike him, who relied on his skills.
Then what should he do?
The answer is so simple.
All he had to do was try his best without giving up; that was all.
The keyword was "His Best."
He even recalled the words that this girl told him in the District Neva.
’A True Monarch Never Hides.’
Just then, Cael sensed the girl charging toward him, and he muttered softly,
"I see."
As the girl’s fist reached Cael’s face, he opened his violet eyes, which shone with a cosmic purple hue.
A wind barrier started to materialize in front of him, but that was not all.
That small wind barrier contained a different kind of mana, constructing a white barrier supported by wind.
It was Cael’s Mana Sovereignty, a mana construct.
The application was the same as before, using wind as a medium.
The girl’s fist hit the barrier.
-BOOM
A shockwave swept across the area.
Fine fractures spread like a spiderweb across the white surface, each line pulsing faintly as conflicting mana clashed within.
The wind supporting the construct trembled under the strain, yet it held, just barely, refusing to collapse under her overwhelming force.
But Cael did not care.
He instantly jumped backward and moved his hands toward the girl.
Instantly, more than twenty wind spikes shot toward her.
As they reached her, those spikes turned into white needles.
The girl immediately stepped sideways and dodged, but the white needles turned and followed her.
They curved unnaturally through the air, adjusting their trajectory with precise intent, as if guided by an unseen will.
Each needle hummed softly, cutting through droplets of moisture and leaving faint ripples in the air behind them.
The surrounding air vibrated from the sudden clash, loose soil lifting slightly before settling again, while shattered bark and leaves drifted slowly downward, carried by unstable currents formed from their exchange.
Cael stretched his hand as moonlight mana began to take the shape of a sword, but ultimately, it formed into a mana construct created by Mana Sovereignty.
A small crack appeared on Cael’s right hand, but he did not mind it as he clenched the sword tightly and disappeared using Black Lightning Step.
The dark green-haired girl, while still dodging the white needles, instantly felt a presence behind her.
She immediately turned back and threw a punch, completely ignoring the white needles behind her.
Cael had just arrived in the girl’s shadow, only to see a punch moving toward him.
He immediately activated ’Time Deceleration’ to the maximum.
The world slowed down as the girl’s punch slowed considerably, moving at an almost snail-like pace.
Cael was amazed that even with Time Deceleration at its maximum, her hand was still moving.
But Cael knew he could not maintain this skill for long, so he had to deal as much damage as possible.
Just then, Cael noticed the white needles behind the girl and smirked.
"Sorry."
Cael did not hold back. This girl had almost killed him.
He slashed the girl’s arm, cutting her dominant hand in two.
But that was not all. The white needles, enhanced with rotational force, pierced into the girl’s other arm and legs.
They mainly targeted her joints while avoiding vital points.
The slowed world shimmered faintly, droplets of rain hanging suspended in the air like glass beads, while distant trees stood frozen mid-sway, their leaves caught in an unfinished motion.
Cael deactivated ’Time Deceleration’.
Then Cael’s heart started to beat loudly as he coughed up blood.
He fell to his knees, the crack on his hand widening as blood leaked continuously.
From the girl’s point of view, she had thrown a punch at the silver-haired boy, then felt something strange.
The next moment, she realized her right arm had been cut off. Three white needles pierced her left arm, and even her legs were struck by multiple needles.
Her legs gave out as she fell to the ground with a dull thud.
She did not understand what had just happened.
How?
How could she lose?
To a [Silver] ranker, while she was in the State of Resonant?
She knew her power was comparable to a [Diamond] ranker, and while battling the boy, she knew...
This boy did not even possess prowess comparable to [Platinum]. All he had were numerous skills and quick thinking.
She saw the boy on his knees, coughing blood, and assumed he had used an unmastered skill or technique and was suffering backlash.
In the sky, the [Perfect Platinum] lightning eagle immediately dashed toward Cael.
Cael gritted his teeth as the eagle neared him.
Cael immediately placed his hand on the girl’s back and began to envelop her with his wind mana.
The air grew sharp with tension, the distant rumble of thunder rolling faintly across the sky, while loose debris and scattered leaves trembled from the approaching force of the descending eagle.
Just as the eagle reached them, Cael spat out one word,
"Swap."
Instantly, his vision blurred, and he vanished along with the girl.
In the place where Cael stood moments before, a new figure appeared.
It was Cael’s training maniac clone.
"Hmm? What the! Where am I?"
Before he could think further, he saw the lightning eagle inches away from him.
Before his eyes could even widen, he was blown into pieces and died.
The eagle looked around for the girl, but there was nothing, not even the person it had just killed.
...
In the academy, Cael’s dormitory, in his training room.
Cael’s sudden appearance startled the other clones, but he did not mind, nor did he have time to explain.
Luckily, swapping places with his clones did not consume Cael’s mana.
Cael grabbed the girl and used teleportation directly to Seraphina’s house.
"Teleportation"
...
On the other side of the dormitory.
Inside Lucian Vayne’s dormitory room.
Luke was sparring with Mira.
As they fought, Mira asked softly,
"How will you get back your elements? Without them, you are very weak."
Luke smiled and dodged Mira’s mirror enclosure as he said,
"I won’t be able to use any elements ever again."
Mira stopped closing in and paused, looking into Luke’s eyes. She asked worriedly,
"Then, you..."
Luke shook his head and spoke before Mira could start imagining strange scenarios,
"Although I can’t use elements, that doesn’t mean I have none. And I have skills as well."
Mira lost interest in sparring and asked,
"Is there any way for you to get back those elements?"
Luke nodded lightly and said,
"Remember, I said before that I wanted to find Elowyn’s pathway of Sovereign."
Mira nodded but then paused,
"Now that you mention it, it was strange. You said Elowyn had the destiny of a Sovereign, but why do you want to find her pathway?"
Luke sat down on the floor and said,
"Don’t play dumb. Naturally, it’s as you guessed."
Mira tilted her head slightly, her eyes filled with curiosity,
"I don’t know what you are talking about."
Luke sighed,
"Fine, I’ll play along. I want to use that pathway for myself."
Mira took a step forward and asked,
"Luke... are you stealing her opportunity?"
Looking at Mira’s serious face, Luke laughed out loud and said,
"I am not. And don’t forget, even without that pathway, she will become a Sovereign. It’s her destiny."
Mira sighed in relief before asking,
"What is a pathway anyway? How does it give you back your elements?"
Luke turned his head toward the window and said,
"I don’t know much about pathways either, but what I do know is that it is some sort of trial."
"If one passes that trial, their limit of [Origin] will break, and they will also gain ’Affinity’."
Mira’s eyes immediately sparkled as she asked,
"What is Affinity? Tell me, can only one person participate in that trial? What do you mean the limit of [Origin] will break? Are there ranks above [Origin]?"
Before Luke could answer one question, Mira kept asking more and more.
Luke smiled helplessly and said,
"One question at a time."
Mira controlled her excitement and asked,
"What is Affinity?"
Just as Luke was about to answer Mira’s question, his eyes widened as he abruptly stood up, turning his head toward the west.
Mira was startled by Luke’s sudden movement and glared at him with innocent eyes.
Luke did not notice Mira’s expression as he muttered to himself,
"A destiny of Sovereign, but... It’s not Elowyn."