Lucas's eyes sharpened, his body was screaming for rest, the strain had been too much. He was just a lowly G- rank after all. But Lucas didn't let his weariness stop him from achieving his goals, his breath was calm as he circled the shadow.
His arm trembled ever so slightly from the fatigue, instantly the fight picked up.
The shadow's scimitars blurred, weaving together as a relentless storm, sparks burst against the odachi's steel, as their clashes echoed through the chamber.
'Five minutes tangibility, one minute cooldown,' Lucas replayed in his head.
The shadow pressed forward, both blades cutting arcs. Lucas barely caught each swing, his arms jarring with pain.
Sweat clung to his body, cooling it down as his wounds grew deeper—the shadow's attacks were slipping through.
A few cuts here, and a few slices there, but in the end Lucas was slowly faltering.
Clang!
Lucas ducked low, as the air split inches from his hair. The marble behind him cracked under the sheer force of the strike that the shadow unleashed.
Bellie growled, "You aren't a match for him in raw power, you'll have to gamble. The only way to win is to receive one of his attacks and in that split second, you need to counterattack." He advised.
"Tch…" Lucas spat a few drops of blood into the ground. His breath was laboured as he panted softly.
Clang!
A flare of sparks emerged, as Lucas's eyes widened, 'Tangible!' He shouted in his mind. His eyes twinkled with hope—he twisted instantly, driving his blade across its ribs.
The odachi scraped clean through with….
Nothing!
Lucas's eyes widened once again, 'The bastards faking feints now?'
The shadow hissed, as ichor dripped from its shoulder wound. Its head cocked unnaturally, as if mocking his understanding of patterns.
Belphegor snarled, "A shadow which slowly learns from its opponents. This trial is definitely a death trap."
Lucas silently nodded, his eyes drifting towards the haughty shadow.
'If that bastard is copying and learning from me, then I can do the same.' He thought with a grin.
The shadow vanished into a blur—both scimitars carving parallel arcs. Lucas didn't dodge. Instead, he stepped in, ignoring the pain that would come.
The steel pierced into his shoulder, it was shallow but it burned. He met the attack head-on, his odachi plunging upward.
Shrkk!
This time Lucas faced unknown resistance, it was quite hard. The rascal's flesh was rubberry—it was absorbing the impact of his attack.
But Lucas didn't frighten easily, his eyes steeled unconsciously, as he spun around the shadow.
Lucas instantly faced the shadows back, and immediately sliced the shadow. The odachi tore a savage line across the shadow's back.
Black ichor spilled outward, sizzling violently on the floor.
The figure shrieked, as Lucas cupped his ears in pain, 'Argh! Damn bastard.' He muttered with agony.
The shadow staggered, and for the first time… retreated.
Lucas pushed forward, ignoring the blood leaking heavily from his own side. His voice cracked, but his eyes burned bright.
"No more running…"
He raised his odachi high, legs trembling, sweat and blood mingling on his skin.
Then suddenly he collapsed, his eyes grew dim as he fell forward.
"Lu!" Bellie called out, but his voice was drowned out as Lucas fell unconscious.
".."
"Lu! What are you doing?!" Bellie called out, as Lucas's head spun slightly, his body slowly swaying side to side. He blinked his eyes slowly.
"Wh—what the." He uttered slowly and caught himself from falling back.
Lucas shook his head, and looked in front of him.
The shadow laid on the ground—dead, dozens of spikes made from eyes pierced his body and his sinister odachi was struck against his chest.
"Di—did I do that? B—but how?" Lucas muttered softly, "What just happened?" Lucas asked with confusion as Bellie sighed.
"Good you're back." He exhaled shakily, before pausing.
"You blanked out and then you paused, before your eyes turned frighteningly cold. After that your power increased, it was terrifying!
"I think E- rank at the very least, then you went all John Wick on the shadow. You didn't even respond to me when I called out to you.
"And you know the five star cryomancy art you have but you can't use, yeah you were able to use that, and your skills with it were monstrous. You butchered that shadow."
Bellie said with a mixture of awe, and reverence?
'What the fuck happened to me?' Lucas questioned, he clenched his hand tightly and let out a breath. 'No way they're back.' He thought, his mind alarmed.
Lucas sighed, before turning his head around. 'Isn't the trial over? Shouldn't I be transported somewhere.'
He thought while taking his odachi from the shadow, the shadow quickly vanished soon after. Lucas soon dissipated his sword as the ground slightly rumbled.
Lucas quickly disappeared from the hall.
Almost immediately, Lucas found himself in a small room, overlooking the hall he was in. At the height, the hall looked more like a large arena.
"Your fight was quite interesting, kid." A weak voice drawled out from his back as Lucas quickly snapped to the voice.
A withered old man sat leisurely across him, his legs were laid on a glass table, his arms crossed. His hair was long, reaching close to his waist and was unkempt. A long beard adorned his face, falling to his chest.
He wore simple purple robes, his nose was low and slightly curved at the tip. The old man had sharp eyes which were black in colour, he looked European. As a fearsome aura radiated from his surroundings.
Lucas instinctively understood who this was—this geezer was Grandmaster Gravar.
____
A/N - Not what you expected? Anticlimactic end to the fight right. Well I am sorry, but this is a cannon event, I need this to happen to explain another part of the story. I should've probably made him struggle more in the fight to better explain the blackout but sometimes people are petty and think you can't do something so they steal your kill.