Chapter 333: Threshold
As Anos pulled away from him to observe, Vahn reached up to touch his neck, a look of confusion adorning his face as he tried to make sense of what had happened. He wasn’t using his Aura of Karmic Protection since it wouldn’t be fair to his opponents, but Anos’s imperceptibly fast attack had barely grazed him.
Undaunted by his failure, Anos extended his left hand to produce his peculiar Magic Circle before saying, "<Kurst>" in a deep, reverberating tone. Vahn felt his body being enveloped by Anos’s Magical Power, but as it attempted to seep in through his pores and invade his cells, the invasive energy was naturally repelled by his Source, failing to produce any visible results.
Forcing a smile, Vahn telepathically remarked, ’I’m not sure what you just tried to do, but my body naturally repulses foreign energies, regardless of their potency.’
"So it would appear..." responded Anos, raising his planet-formed blade and pointing it upward before slicing down. Strangely, even though what followed was one of the fastest attacks he had encountered, Vahn had no trouble following its trajectory. On the other hand, he wasn’t able to move so much as a Planck length before his body and pace itself were sliced in two from crown to crotch.
’Well done...’ stated Vahn, his body dispersing into golden motes as he simultaneously wondered what kind of principles enabled Anos’s casual-seeming, reality-splitting strike. Across from him, Anos looked confused, ostensibly not expecting his attack to be effective...
...
..
.
"That was a heck of a sword slash..." remarked Vahn, setting a whiskey glass with a spherical ball of ice and a spicy, cinnamon-based alcohol on the bar separating him and a thoughtful-looking Anos.
"It was nothing special..." countered Anos, accepting the glass and taking a sip of its contents before remarking, "What I don’t understand is why my first attack was ineffective. Do you possess an ability that blocks damage below a certain threshold?"
"I do," confirmed Vahn, smiling wryly as he revealed, "But I didn’t utilize it during our match. I thought I could at least dodge and tank a few attacks before I was defeated, but I couldn’t even process your first attack."
"I see..." muttered Anos, his red-and-black eyes narrowing slightly as he outwardly speculated, "For an attack to harm you, you need to be able to perceive and accordingly accept that you’ve been harmed. The Gods from my world enjoy a similar boon, but yours feels more complete and doesn’t appear to originate from a place of condescension."