Chapter 97: A Friendly Battle (2)
The barrage of electric claws rained down on William, who ran from side to side, trying to dodge as much as possible. While dodging, he sought to strategically approach Neri, who, in turn, seemed to be ice-skating across the floor with a faint blue glow beneath her feet, maintaining a safe distance and keeping up the relentless bombardment.
Neri’s mana capacity seemed endless, as for a full 5 minutes, she maintained a merciless assault, forcing William to run all over the battlefield. After so many attacks, during a moment Neri took to catch her breath, William found the opportunity he craved, managing to get close and land a punch directly to Neri’s abdomen with all his might. Neri moved to the side, skillfully dodging, but William didn’t let her get away again, launching a sweeping kick towards her leg. With a jump, Neri dodged once more while unleashing another "Freezing Breeze," using the recoil to gain a safe distance from William before continuing to run around the field, maintaining her range.
The situation didn’t look favorable for William, but he kept a smile on his face, looking quite happy.
"What’s wrong, rookie? Are you having fun punching the air?"
Neri kept trying to provoke him to distract him, but William didn’t respond; he just observed. The lightning bolts continued to appear in his position, forcing him to continuously dodge. The claws were becoming more predictable; the disturbance they made before appearing was very distinctive, and Angel would alert him where they would appear. During this combat, William remained calm and managed to improve his communication with Angel, using her as a prediction device to dodge and pursue his target. Despite no longer being able to receive her help as before, the speed at which they shared information through their souls was even faster than when she was just an implant in his brain.
As he thought about how to subdue her, Neri slowed down again, looking tired. So, with a deep breath, he once again closed the distance, launching a high kick. Neri dodged by ducking, to which William responded with a second punch that Neri also easily dodged. Calculating the timing of the blows, he didn’t throw another kick; instead, he felt himself jumping backward, creating a fireball in his right hand, which shot out at Neri at close range. Neri, for her part, tried to counterattack with another Freezing Breeze. The fireball and the breeze collided, causing an explosion that unbalanced Neri. Enduring the impact of the explosion, William decided to seize the moment, launching himself like a hawk hunting its prey, determined not to let the opportunity pass.
The first thing he did was throw a high kick, but he missed again; Neri’s reflexes were supernatural, making her very difficult to subdue.
In that same movement, he took the opportunity to throw a backward kick, but Neri once again dodged it, leaving William completely exposed in the air. Neri, seeing William defenseless, summoned her lightning bolts into her right hand, placing her 4 fingers like a spear as she directly attacked William’s abdomen, who could no longer move while suspended in the air. The sound of the clash was thunderous, causing a terrifying explosion. Neri’s expression changed to one of fear when she felt her hand hit something very hard and saw a blue sphere stopping her hand, causing a violent explosion.
The impact sent Neri flying, tumbling violently across the ground until she stopped tens of meters from William, her clothes completely torn, her left arm bleeding, and her right arm hanging at an odd angle. That impeccable dress that made her look like an ice fairy was now completely covered in dust, showing her pathetic state. William, for his part, remained standing and serious as he always had been; his shield waved slightly but had not collapsed, showing that the mana shield spell had effectively withstood the impact.