Vexion nodded apprehensively. Excitement coursed through her veins at the prospect of testing her skills, but fear lingered—she had never truly seen her master fight, only dominate.
Dante looked at her smiling at her nervous demeanour 'Let's just use Martial Apex, no Mythical skills and leave only abyss veil on'. Saying this he opened a pocket in space , a blade black hand grip and the blade black all around , the only silver part being the non blunt side of it , the bladed part of it being silver.
She could only hope to live up to his expectations. Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself, focusing her senses on him.
However, to her shock, she felt nothing.
Instead, a sharp headache wracked her mind as an overwhelming sensation consumed her—an abyss of eternal darkness filled with wisps of white fog. Her instincts screamed at her to dodge, but she had no idea from where.
Dante chuckled, already moving with blinding speed as she faltered. He circled beyond her field of view and appeared at her right, his sword slicing toward her neck. In a desperate act, Vexion unleashed a forceful push out in all direction with her at the centre, sending him flying backward. Dante merely flipped midair and landed gracefully on his feet.
Fear gripped Vexion. She had underestimated her master's speed, she had never really taken him as the physical combat type of fighter, and worse—she couldn't rely on her senses.
An oppressive aura crashing down in the room and on Dante like a tidal wave.
Yet, in an instant, he was behind her.
A blade bore down on her throat, but before it could land a powerful force erupted in defiance. A force pushed outward, yet Dante had already anticipated it. Putting more force into hands seeking to cut through the force and take her head with it.
His blade cleaved through the mirage she had left behind as she escaped, swapping places with a mirage. Reappearing elsewhere, she attempted an offensive move, but as she raised her hand to strike, a sharp agony shot through her body—her forearm, severed cleanly at the elbow.
Horror dawned on her—he had predicted her use of "Mirage Step," moving in advance to where she would reappear. Dante stood a few feet away from her. Enough for his blade to reach her.
Pain lanced through her as she instinctively lashed out with another forceful push. But Dante had already disappeared again.
From a short distance, Dante shook his head and sighed. "You're being predictable. You can't use the same game plan every round"
With those words, his speed doubled. He was right in front of her, his blade swinging down toward her remaining arm. Desperate, Vexion manifested dozens of mirages, each lifting their hands to grasp at him with invisible force.
Dante found himself yanked back and forth, the shifting tugs throwing off his balance. Each time he neared a mirage, it vanished before his eyes. Cursing, he unleashed a burst of haunting energy to clear the illusions, but the real Vexion remained hidden among them.
Well, he let her think that. As his perversive aura spread it out negated the pushing, and pulling forces. He reigned the aura in again and landed on his feet.
Dante chuckled, stabilizing himself. "Good. Skills—even offensive ones—shouldn't just be used on others. Control, direction, and application matter just as much."
He took a breath and slowly things started appearing as if they moved slower, and his speed of thought increased.
Inwardly, he mused, 'I only have one legendary-tier skill for both offense and defense.
Even if my skills are stacked, I need a way to defeat someone whose skill is on a higher level. Her new skill is comparable to level 10 or even a bit more, while Martial Apex is at best a match or slightly superior. I would have preferred to dominate with just one skill but, its fine.
Dante sprinted forward, seeing everything in slow motion. "System, conceal and crush her mirages with Abyss Veil. Also, if there's a better way to use my legendary-tier skills to break through, tell me."
[Understood, Master.]
With "Abyss Veil" active, Dante became nearly undetectable—only barely visible to the naked eye and sound. Vexion, despite her bleeding wound, tried to distance herself by propelling herself away with "Push."
She cursed under her breath. She was in trouble.
Her hand was gone, her body was weakening, and she was using up a ton of mana. Her control was abysmal too.
Worse, Dante hadn't even used his mythical tier skills yet.
'Of course, Master is amazing,' she thought. 'His skills perfectly complement each other. Close combat, mid-range, long-range—he excels at all of them. Even debuffs don't work against him. Either his mythical skill resists them, or his legendary-tier skill is at a level beyond mine. But, what if I can do that too? …. !'
Having a moment of epiphany, she used up a bit more mana, trying to find more ways to use her other sub skills. Dark energy seeped from her mirages, each executing different effects—some pulled, some pushed, some did all that while exuding a deterrent aura that disrupted Dante's movements As a result, Abyss Veil's eroding effect slowed.
Hidden among them, she waited for the right moment.
Dante, meanwhile, found himself being tossed like a ragdoll between opposing forces. Smirking, he asked, "System, any ideas? My cool first lesson isn't going as planned."
[Master, thanks to Martial Apex, you're gradually adapting to her strategy. There are multiple ways to handle this: you could wait until blood loss weakens her—she's only holding her severed hand in place using 'Push,' essentially propping it up. She's also burning through mana faster than she's used to. The prolonged stress of battle is taking a mental toll on her.]
Dante nodded. He had already noticed these things. He decided to let the fight continue a bit longer, testing her adaptability. Then, suddenly, he felt a vice grip around his throat—an invisible force threatening to snap his neck. Reacting instantly, he twisted midair, using one of the mirages "Push" against himself to spin out of danger.
In that instant, he saw the real Vexion in the corner of his eye.
With pinpoint precision, he hurled his sword—not at her directly, but toward a mirage using "Push." The moment the blade neared the "push" force its momentum increased. It spun back opposite direction he flew it in and launched the blade forward at terrifying speed, straight at Vexion's forehead. She barely sensed it in time. Her instincts screamed at her to dodge, but instead, she reached out, activating "pull" with a "mirage" on the opposite side to pull back the sword. The invisible force halted the sword mere inches from her face.
She sighed in relief.
Then realization struck her like thunder—because she had lost sight of her master, so had her mirages. They weren't clones after all, just programmed illusions that "felt" real.
And in the moment she lost focus, her mirages had lost their target as well.
Before she could react, a brutal kick shattered her spine, sending her crashing into the wall. Darkness consumed her as she lost consciousness...
Dante chuckled, walking over to her fallen form. "Would this be considered domestic violence?"
Shrugging, he knelt beside her and activated his healing skill.
It reshaped existing matter, reconstructing her severed hand perfectly.
Using telekinesis, he carried her to a secluded corner of the room and sat down to rest, his own muscles aching. He activated his skill, allowing it to erase his fatigue while trying to replenish his mana, something he was hoping would yield results, failing unfortunately. It eased fatigue but still took a bit of mana.
As the energy flowed through him, he narrowed his eyes in thought. The System… it was more than it seemed. Though he had previously simply set aside his considerations and questions about it, simply because he thought them unnecessary, he had realized that it was... growing. It took the initiative to question him and to speak when it wasn't prompted.
He shrugged, letting it go for now. "We'll deal with that later."