Caelrisu staggered back, her breath ragged. The backlash from halting Coiling the Vine's Embrace midway tore through her body like ripples of fire.
Her thoughts accelerated as her Analyst Ability swept through her body.
The results were grim.
Her forearm muscles suffered from overextension, leading to slight muscle tears.
Her wrist joints were damaged too. Suffering from severe ligament sprains.
There was also significant strain on the biceps and triceps muscles, having a low chance of even tears.
Her shoulder was also at risk of being dislocated, especially in the rotator cuff muscles.
And finally, muscles on the lower back were also strained.
She clicked her tongue.
'Damn, although there is no bleeding or rupture in the muscles or ligaments thanks to this Penumbral Body. There would be still hindrance in the movement.'
She took a deep breath and tightened her grip around her broadsword, the pain pulsing through her arms. She employed a light, rapid "scissor step" footwork, constantly shifting angles and height as she rushed towards Namgoong Gyo.
When she reached sufficiently close, Namgoong Gyo also performed the Fifth Step of the Sword Art of Unbounded Sky.
'You've come far, Young Lady.'
And he started utilizing Sword Qi as well.
He performed a low, sweeping spin aimed at her legs. His blade moved parallel to the ground, with the intent to "uproot" anyone in its path.
Fifth Step: Cyclone's Embrace
Caelrisu's pupils contracted.
She used the width of her broadsword as a shield and, using it as leverage, jumped upward.
And as she expected, her broadsword was split cleanly from where her broadsword and his sword connected.
She landed on her feet using the Creeping Hunger Movement Technique.
Using her broken broadsword, which had once reached all the way to her ankle but was now only slightly longer than her knees, she unleashed a flurry of rapid, precise movements. With a series of half-cuts, feints, and shallow slashes delivered from all directions, her sword never completed a full swing. Instead, it created a constant, piercing whine of steel cutting through the air, a symphony of tension and speed.
Namgoong Gyo hadn't expected her to use his Sword Qi against him in such a way.
Stunned for a bit, he couldn't block properly, leaving seven cuts on his body.
Three on his arm, two on his shoulder, and one each on his thigh and waist, respectively.
Then he jumped back, drawing some distance. He tucked the legs and aligned the body horizontally in mid-air to form a single, deadly line from head to blade tip. He held his sword with two hands, holding his sword like a spear, aiming to pierce through her with the full momentum of his fall, descending like a meteor.
Sixth Step: Sky-Dragon's Descent
Seeing this, she crouched into her stance, her legs driving forward like a piston. Her back foot planted firmly as her hips and shoulders snapped forward in unison, transferring all kinetic energy through her sword.
She executed a pushing slash at close range, aiming to drive the blade through his lowered guard.
Sixth Step: Breathing the Scent of Cold Steel
Dust rose and covered both of them for a moment.
Then, Caelrisu jumped back from the cloud of dust, her neck bleeding as a deep cut was drawn, severing her jugular vein.
She quickly utilized her Creeping Shadow Essence Technique to control her bleeding and supplied blood from her brain to her heart.
By now the dust had settled; Namgoong Gyo was standing there with a one-inch-deep cut across his chest.
"You reached full mastery in the Creeping Shadow Lotus Dance and Creeping Shadow Essence Technique, didn't you?"
Caelrisu replied with a small bow.
"Yes, the near-life-and-death situation just now allowed me to reach it."
Then, they rushed towards each other again.
By now, the time has long since passed the one-minute mark. But neither of them cared.
Caelrisu's broken broadsword was pulled fully back, elbow high, as her front knee bent to a 90-degree angle while her back leg remained straight, forming a powerful, grounded line from the back foot to the sword's tip, and then shot forward in a perfectly straight line like an arrow.
7th Step: Piercing the Heart with Moonlight
Namgoong Gyo responded with a leap in the air.
Landing from the leap, he immediately channeled the impact into a series of short, heavy, and brutally powerful diagonal chops, like consecutive peals of thunder.
Seventh Step: Rolling Thunder Cut
The first chop redirected Caelrisu's blow towards the ground as he performed eight more chops with a stable, low stance, with his weight shifting forcefully from one leg to the other with each chop. His shoulders and hips worked in unison, delivering raw, concussive force with each swing.
Eight one-inch-deep cuts appeared on Caelrisu's chest and waist, shredding her clothes apart in that area, and streaks of blood flowed from the wounds.
Caelrisu quickly analyzed her injuries.
'Subcutaneous fat, internal mammary arteries, lateral thoracic arteries and abdominal wall muscles.'
Caelrisu decided to ignore the injuries for a while.
She performed a deep low-to-high diagonal cut aimed at the legs. It was a full-powered, committed swing to cleave his legs while she dropped her center of gravity dramatically, sinking into a full kneeling slide.
Eighth Step: Plucking the Darkened Bloom
But because of her injuries, her attacks were slow and feeble. Namgoong Gyo easily parried them, his Sword Qi shattering her broken blade.
Caelrisu lost.
Namgoong Gyo looked at her for a long moment, then slowly traced a finger along the wound on his own body. His face had a small smile as he asked.
"Young lady… do you know how many times you've died by my hands today?"
Caelrisu met his gaze before her legs gave out, and she plopped down onto the ground, breathing heavily.
"Ten times," she whispered.
"Correct. You died the first time when I used Sky-Dragon's Descent but purposely left your neck intact, leaving only a shallow wound when I could have beheaded you."
"Then," Caelrisu muttered, "I died eight times to your Rolling Thunder Cut, each strike strong enough to split me apart."
Namgoong Gyo's lips curled into a faint, almost amused smile. "And the last one… was just now."
Without hesitation, he crouched down and lifted her effortlessly onto his back, giving her a piggyback ride.
"Let's get you to the hospital again. I'm sure the doctors will be thrilled to see you back," he said dryly, though there was a hint of affection beneath his words.
Caelrisu let out a soft laugh, her voice weak but steady. "Yeah, I'll probably need to ask Clan Head for a new set of body-fitted black clothes, a flowing white robe with multiple hidden pockets, a new broadsword… and other essentials."
Namgoong Gyo raised an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued. "Everything makes sense... but why those colors?"
Caelrisu chuckled, her tone almost teasing. "Fashion, Uncle. Fashion."