As the fight went on, Karna started getting more and more confident due to the increase in wounds on Acnalogia's body. But just as he was about to land a strike on the dragon's eye, every instinct that Karna had built up all throughout the years told him to move. In the next instant, he figured out why.
Karna immediately willed his armor's wings to move backward while using his death energy to create a shield for whatever was coming toward him.
But it was no use, as the next thing he knew, his newly reconstructed arms shattered along with his chest plate, leaving his chest with a few wounds that started bleeding.
But Karna did not have any time to wonder about his wounds as he moved immediately. He realized that the black dragon had stopped holding back and had considered Karna an opponent to defeat instead of prey to play with. The next moment, he noticed something that stunned him even more.
"Goddamn it, it can heal!!" Karna cursed out loud as he realized what was happening. Even though his body was not faster than the attacks now thrown by the dragon, Incursio's wings were able to keep up with his perception and move in different directions before he was turned to mincemeat by Acnologia's attacks.
Acnologia had stopped holding back, and Karna's earlier speeds were not enough to attack him anymore. The only thing he was capable of doing was escaping his clutches by increasing the distance between them. Karna made sure not to get too close, as he could see Acnologia's speed increasing gradually.
'Is it because I reduced his power to fifty percent? Is he using some kind of technique to increase his total power or something?' Karna thought as he dodged each and every attempt made by the dragon to kill him.
He understood that he was only barely dodging the current attacks as he recreated his arms once more.
'Wait a minute, my armour wings are connected to my mind. What if my whole armour can do the same?' Karna thought as he got a great idea to bridge the gap between the current Acnologia and himself — at least when it comes to the matter of speed.
'My perception is still many times faster than Acnologia's speed, but my physical body has not reached the same speed, and even more problematic, my body's reaction speed is lesser than that as well. The only way I can move forward is to make sure that my body moves just as I think about that move.
A way I can negate the delay between a body's thought and its action.
I already have a method to do that, don't I?' Karna thought as he looked deep into his armour. 'If I do it, I can survive like the system says….'
Karna's mind slowed down as he thought about this. The next moment, anger rushed through his mind.
'Survive, system limits, waiting till the spell gets completed. Shit!! What the hell was I thinking?' Karna felt like hitting himself in anger.
'I am planning on facing the god of death. I am planning on reaching a level that surpasses anything the system has theorized, and more importantly, I'm planning on making sure all my family survives. Am I seriously thinking about not giving my all in this fight?' he roared in anger in his mind. The moment he did, his vision went dark.
When he was finally able to see, he realized he was standing in a void. All around him, there existed only never-ending darkness and nothing more. But within a few moments, he realized he was not alone there.
A four-eyed silver-grey dragon appeared in front of him. Its majesty did not lose out to the dragons Karna had met till then. Its blood-red eyes were calm, but Karna was able to feel an unrestrained anger hidden within them.
There was silence for a few moments as the dragon did not speak a word after appearing in front of him. But even without it, Karna understood everything that it wanted to convey.
"I see, you don't want to lose to that dragon so easily as well, huh," Karna muttered as he went near the dragon while moving through the void.
"So be it, let's make sure to leave a mark so deep that it will never heal from it," Karna vowed with a grin, and the dragon roared back as if agreeing with him.
At that time in the outside world, not even a second had passed while Karna was talking with the dragon.
But suddenly, everybody in the vicinity began to feel something happening.
While the battle was going on, it had attracted the attention of beings that could only be considered as those who had reached the highest levels when it comes to power in the world.
Irene Belserion, who came to see what was happening at this location; Selen, the goddess of the moon, who came to see the interesting human she had seen on the other continent; and Hades, who at a distance was witnessing the battle happening on Tenrou Island.
The battle had already reached a level where all three of them were not even strong enough to endure being on the periphery of it, so they had stayed away for safety. As the battle progressed to this moment, they all believed that the boy would fall by the dragon's hands.
But all of them felt a change at the same time.
At the same time, on Karna's side—
'If my body's not fast enough to move at my command, I just need to use my armour to move my body.' With his meeting with the dragon spirit within Incursio, Karna was able to control the entire workings of the armour with just a thought.
His armour began to regrow the same spikes that had absorbed his blood all those months ago while fighting Phantom Lord. But instead of just creating surface wounds, it began to grow even thinner spikes that pierced into every single part of Karna's body.
Karna was able to feel the pain of the armour connecting to his flesh, nerves, and bones.
The next moment, Acnologia roared as a slash opened up on his chest.
A/N — hope you like it.