Chapter 487: Ninety-Ninth Floor, Overcoming (5)
Chapter 487: Ninety-Ninth Floor, Overcoming (5)
[Defeat your future self from fifty years later. Time remaining: 8 years 58 days.]Didn’t he? Was I mistaken?
For an instant, I wondered whether my mind had gone awry, creating a fleeting hallucination that had slipped into my awareness. My eyes flew open in shock, but the other version of myself still wore the same cold, unreadable expression he always had. Not a single line of that face had changed.
No. That couldn’t be the case.
I told myself not to dwell on it. Unfortunately, that brief smile had caused me to slip from the realm of no-self I was barely maintaining. At such a pivotal moment, perhaps he had intended for that to happen. Truth be told, it had unsettled me for quite the simple reason—I had faced that unchanging expression for more than fifteen years.
Whatever.
Still feeling at ease, I allowed myself to sink back into my inner world. My realization wasn’t some sort of fleeting spark, and I could return to it as often as needed. Also, I hadn’t fallen completely out of the state of no-self. My inner world still emitted a steady glow born from the realization embedded deep within me. I exhaled, clearing my thoughts and focusing back on the task at hand. The blue-gold radiance that faintly illuminated the darkness surrounding my consciousness gradually drew inward.
Battle resumed the moment my last thought faded. We closed the distance between us in an instant, and he swung his slightly worn Soulbound at my side. The flowing air shifted sharply, as if cut apart by concentrated force—his wrist had moved in a precise, almost imperceptible twist. The horizontal strike turned out to be a feint, quickly transitioning into a diagonal strike.
I had anticipated that from the beginning, however, and intercepted it along an opposing trajectory.
Clang!
The recoil from the Soulbounds clashing echoed between us, and a dull shock traveled through my fingertips. His weapon deflected outward, while mine rebounded inward. With a slight flick, I angled the flying blade toward his chest. Lightning flickered across its edge.
His worn weapon traced an unusual arc in an attempt to defend, but I guided my Cloak of Dominion to wrap around it. It extended cleanly without fluttering and caught the weapon. Although it began to disintegrate immediately, it bought a brief but sufficient moment.