POV: Arthur Kojiro
Resting against the tree in a daze, I eventually recollected myself as my eyes fell upon Rai, who watched me from afar with a nonchalant gaze as I felt my lips curl into a grin.
I really wanted to defeat him by beating him at his own game, but as frustrating as it is to admit this…
There's no way I can defeat Rai without the use of my own Aspect.
In most cases, everyone has a certain fighting style that they never deviate from unless they trained with the intent of becoming proficient in multiple ones, but as for Rai, he doesn't have a specific fighting style or any repeating patterns that I'm aware of.
In terms of raw strength, we're fairly equal, but his prowess for hand-to-hand combat is far greater than my own.
Paired with his calculative sense for combat, his body moves as if it's completely free, creating an environment of unpredictability that I'm unable to grasp at the moment.
This is good.
I'm glad I got the chance to fight him.
After recuperating, I stood up from the ground and massaged my trapezius before preparing myself to engage into combat with Rai once more as I positioned myself into a stance to sprint, planting my back foot against the tree I had laid against as Rai left his guard open, welcoming me as I found his arrogance thrilling.
I want to win and in order for me to do that…
As a draft of wind blew throughout the forest, a loose leaf descending onto the ground sprung me into action as I sprinted towards Rai amidst using my body to feint my direction, sidestepping left and right upon approaching him in order to prevent Rai from being able to properly dodge as for me to take control of this fight, Rai must be forced to block instead of having the opportunity of dodging.
Naturally, this shouldn't be possible unless I'm using my Aspect as throughout the entirety of our fight so far, I was unable to even land a proper hit on him with the exception of one instance and in that instance alone, I was able to discover a weakness of Rai's in which could pave the road to my victory.
He's arrogant.
Appearing before Rai, he remained still and raised his guard to block as I predicted, allowing me to take advantage of the opportunity I long desired as within the split-second before my fist made contact, I activated my Aspect, releasing my Aspectual Force in the midst as I smashed my fist through his guard and into his chest, arising a disconcerting expression from Rai, who was winded from the unexpected impact as he flew backwards, crashing through multiple trees until his tumbling ended his momentum.
I just have to use my Aspect.
Surprisingly, Rai recovered within seconds as he emerged from a thicket of trees with a casual stroll before sprinting towards me with a spinning double high kick aimed towards my temple and chin, but despite the lethal precision of his kicks, he lacked the speed and power necessary to land an effective attack as I was blessed with the advantage of having a superior body due to my Aspect, allowing me to anticipate his once erratic movements with ease as I parried his leg away with my forearm, disrupting his balance within the air and amidst stepping forward, I countered with a clean heavy overhand punch into his face, sending him crashing backwards into the earth below.
Partially buried beneath the rubble of the earth, I waited for him to recover, using my patience as a provocation for him looking down on me earlier, but surprisingly, Rai recovered faster than I expected as he attempted to knock me from off of my feet with what I assumed was a low sweep, encouraging me to evade his sweep by casually stepping back, although my assumption couldn't have been more wrong.
What in the-
Using his momentum as a catalyst, Rai continued to follow through his initial motion by twisting his body upwards, using the palm of his hand to pivot as he smashed the back of his heel into my jaw from an unbelievable angel, causing me to only stagger backwards as the effectiveness of his attack was reduced by the natural defenses of my empowered body.
I was lucky.
Without my Aspect, I would have been knocked unconscious.
Adjusting himself to land onto the ground, we then dashed towards each other and initiated and exchange of hand-to-hand combat, but despite Rai's exceptional grasp over combat, it was worthless in the face of overwhelming power as I weaved through every attack and stepped forward, rousing a dissatisfying reaction from Rai, whose eyes narrowed out of annoyance from me invading his personal space.
Narrowing his eyes out of annoyance, Rai tried to shove me away with his arm, prompting me to parry it into the air as I aimed towards his chin with a sharp uppercut, but in the nick of time, Rai was able to use his other hand to cushion the impact as I sent him upwards into the air, encouraging me to prepare myself to jump after him.
Arrogance is one thing, but why is he still refusing to use his Aspect?
As I was about to jump towards him, Rai managed to grab onto a nearby branch of a tree amidst his flight as he then used the momentum to spin himself around the branch before launching himself towards me with a spinning high kick, rousing a grin from me as I evaded his attack with a side step, allowing his momentum to carry him across the grass until he turned around and faced me as our eyes locked with one another.
I'm sure he's aware that without his Aspect, he doesn't stand a chance winning against me, so what could be possibly be thinking-
Ah, so that's what he's doing.
"Trying to gauge my power?" I asked, offended, yet electrified from his arrogance as we both dashed towards each other and clashed fists, but as expected, I overpowered him with relative ease as he stumbled backwards, his guard open as his head was susceptible to yet another attack, inspiring me to rush towards him as I tried to capitalize on my opportunity to win this fight by smashing my fist into his chin with a decisive uppercut, although Rai had already anticipated my next move as with a nimble maneuver, Rai leapt onto my fist with his foot and used the momentum of my heavy swing to propel himself towards the ceiling of the dome as the refulgent moonlight shone over him, bringing forth a sense of unease as I was unable to imagine what he had planned.
What is he doing?
Bewildered, I watched him reach the apex of his ascent and in that instance, Rai activated his Aspect as his Aspectual Force overwhelmed my senses by surprise, conquering my own Aspectual Force in the midst as his brilliant, yet ferocious lightning began to surge around his hand.
You've got to be kidding me-
"Asunder." Rai uttered, hurling a bolt of lightning towards my chest as it exploded on contact, sending me crashing into the earth beneath me as the area around me was unable to evade the wrath of his attack.
POV: Rai Shinsei
I underestimated him.
I didn't expect him to be this strong without the use of a sword.
Descending from the air, I was ambushed as soon as I had landed onto the ground by none other than Arthur, who emerged from within the cloud of dust as he slid past me in the blink of an eye, using his tensed hand as a makeshift sword as he landed two shallow slashes across my chest, which overlapped one another as his sudden actions left me baffled.
What?
"Trinity." Arthur uttered as I staggered backwards with blood seeping through my shirt.
"I know you're strong, but I refuse to believe that you were able to endure my attack without suffering any damage." I remarked as Arthur turned to face me with a cheerful grin.
"Of course not." Arthur answered as lightning engulfed the entirety of his body, electrocuting him relentlessly until he collapsed onto his knees with blood trickling from his mouth and nose.
For a moment, I was beginning to doubt my own strength until I remembered the special effect of his Aspect.
Since he delayed receiving damage from my attack, he was able to attack me without any immediate repercussions.
Although it's a double-edged sword, it's a very strong Aspect and an annoying one to deal with at that, but there's something that's been bothering me ever since our mission.
Arthur stated his Aspect allows him to delay any impact, but if that's true, then how is it that he's able to delay his opponent's attacks before he receives the impact of them?
I would understand if he had delayed my attack upon impact, but considering how fast my lightning is, Arthur would have to calculate the exact moment before the lightning bolt made contact with his chest in order to delay the impact of my attack, but to pull that off, you would be required to possess near instant reflexes.
Unlike Normal-Type or Elemental-Type Aspectors, Unique-Type Aspectors have the hardest time discovering what their Aspect is as there is no clear indicator upon manifesting your Aspect for the first time.
Elemental-Type Aspectors will always have their own element circulating around their body as the aura of a Normal-Type Aspector will always be gray, but as for a Unique-Type Aspector, they have to go through trial and error in order to determine what their Aspect truly is as you're only given the insight to the base of your Aspect upon manifestation, which begs the question…
What if Aspect isn't the ability to delay any impact, but to delay someone or something entirely?
I'm sure he understands the limits of his Aspect better than I could ever imagine, but theoretically, if it was possible and he desired it, could he potentially delay me?
What about time itself?
No, maybe I'm just overthinking it.
After my lightning soon dispersed from his body, Arthur picked himself up from the ground and wiped the blood trickling from the corners of his mouth as when our eyes locked with one another, a subtle laugh of joy was brought forth from Arthur as I couldn't help but smile at his excitement.
"You know, I could have ended this fight three times already. Are you a masochist or is it your passionate desire to become the strongest that continues to push you forward?" I questioned as Arthur stretched out his body with a grin.
"When we first met, there was an ambition within your eyes that I wasn't able to decipher at the time, but as of now, I think I may have a faint idea of what it could be, so to answer your question…"
"I want nothing more than to win." Arthur answered, his grin widening as his aura began to surge, alerting me as I sharpened my focus, but in the instance that I blinked, Arthur vanished from my sight and appeared before me as he tried to strike my face.
He's faster than before.
Ducking under his attack, I lunged towards him and tried to grapple him onto the ground, but with my first step, my chest began throbbing with pain as I was urged to clutch it, buckling onto a knee as I noticed a deep slash appear across my chest, which overlapped the initial two slashes Arthur had marked previously.
Huh?
When did he-
His Aspect.
I was unable to perceive his third attack because he delayed it amidst my confusion.
Amidst picking myself up from the ground in a swift manner, Arthur rushed towards me and tried to smash his knee into my face, but despite my unfavorable position, I managed to catch his knee with my hand as I shoved his leg away, breaking his balance as I immediately followed up my attack by smashing my fist into his liver with an uppercut, seizing his breath as I ended my counter-attack with a sharp palm strike into his chest, sending him tumbling backwards through the grass as I stood from the ground.
Arthur, your intuition is terrifying.
As for what you said before, you are correct.
In order to avenge my parents, I have to become the strongest as my enemy has already reached the highest echelon in terms of power.
Although our ambitions may be similar, the difference between us which will lead to your defeat is that you don't have to become the strongest.
As time passes, you'll soon find out that your mere desire will shackle your growth as there is no backbone in your ambition to become the strongest, so for your sake…
"I can't allow you to win, Arthur." I said as my lightning crackled fiercely while I watched Arthur, who picked himself up from the ground with an ear-to-ear grin as I braced myself for the inevitable defeat of Arthur, wishing that his spirit can survive the harsh trial waiting for him.