Descent of a God

Deicide II

|Arthur|

As I faced off against the asura, I felt a sense of inadequacy wash over me. I knew I couldn't match his strength or mana, but I was determined to best him with my skills.

Drawing another sword, I took a deep breath and focused on Jude's movements. I needed to copy them perfectly if I had any chance of winning.

I charged towards the asura, surrounded by black lightning and green wind mana. Fire and ice mana crackled at my sides.

I swung my blade, mimicking Jude's movements, but the asura easily deflected my attack. I kept going, determined to find a weakness.

Despite having reached a new level while fighting Nico, I felt stuck at a bottleneck. No matter how much I trained, I couldn't seem to advance further.

The asura punched at me, but I ducked to dodge the force-type mana released from his fist. I tried to strike back with my wind-clad sword, but he dodged using Mirage Walk.

Frustrated, I pressed him with hand-to-hand combat, but his superior mana and martial arts easily countered me.

'I'm missing something,' I thought as I deflected his kick.

Without thinking, I instinctively cast Absolute Zero, freezing the asura for a few milliseconds. I followed up with a lightning-imbued kick, but he barely took any damage.

Gritting my teeth, I focused on the sensation of the sword horizon. It was what I had felt while fighting Nico, and I knew it was the key to breaking through my bottleneck.

'I understand now,' I thought. 'I need to connect my movements and bring order to what I'm doing.'

Wrapping myself in aether, I launched myself towards the asura, striking him with all four elements simultaneously. He countered me, and our movements met perfectly. My sword clashed with his fist, and his sword struck my stomach. I countered with gravity magic, and the battle raged on.

I was determined to beat the asura and, as I fought, I realized that my sword movements were becoming more refined and accurate. I could feel the faults in my technique and was correcting them on the fly.

Suddenly, I found myself in the sword horizon once again, but this time it felt different. It wasn't just a dream or a vision, it was a destination I could reach. It was within my grasp, and I knew that I could achieve it with hard work and practice.

Coming back to reality, I felt a newfound confidence within myself, just like Jude always did. I took a step forward, commanding aether to connect and form a bridge guiding me towards my opponent.

Using his Mirage Walk, the asura tried to counter me, but I was different now. I could see the world in a completely new light.

I could sense the tensing of his muscles, the flow of his blood and mana, even his breathing was laid bare before me.

'His technique has so many holes,' I thought to myself, as I struck my sword down on his foot. I saw that Jude's world was completely different from mine, and that was one of the reasons why I could never surpass him.

As I swung my sword, I felt myself drawing closer and closer to the sword horizon. I could see the world unfolding in front of me, every detail in sharp focus. I relentlessly attacked the asura, bathed him in blow after blow, until his wounds leaked out ichor.

I could see the asura's movements before he made them, and I could exploit the weaknesses in his martial arts system. Finally, I plunged my sword into his heart, killing him instantly.

Exhaustion washed over me, and I collapsed to the ground, barely able to move. "Incredible," I muttered before losing consciousness.