POV: Selene Korisuki
I was presumptuous.
I can't even begin to fathom the precision one must require in order to demonstrate the technique that Rai is currently utilizing.
By absorbing his own lightning and manipulating it within his body, Rai is able to tremendously boost his physical prowess while his senses are sharpened to a frightening degree.
Awakening from his moment of unconsciousness, Arthur began climbing out from being buried within the cliff as he looked down at Rai, who waited patiently for Arthur to recover as his confident demeanor roused a burst of laughter from Arthur.
"You're actually crazier than I thought!" Arthur remarked, jumping down from the manmade cavity within the cliff as he landed onto the ground, matching Rai's gaze as the only thing separating them was the serene ribbon of water flowing from the waterfall.
"I would have never expected you to discard your own Aspect in order to increase your physical strength tremendously." Arthur said, massaging his trapezius as he activated his Aspect and released his Aspectual Force, which was the complete opposite of Rai's as I found myself at ease from the warmth of Arthur's Aspectual Force.
"You were even able to knock me out, but instead of finishing the fight, you waited for me to recover, so I want to ask you…"
"Don't you think you're underestimating me?" Arthur questioned as his grin immediately faded away, his once playful demeanor replaced with one of resoluteness as with an expeditious motion, he aimed two fingers towards Rai, who was alarmed by his sudden action as Rai swiftly stepped to the side, barely evading Arthur's near imperceptible slash of air as it grazed his chest.
I was aware that Arthur was a genius when it came to swordsmanship, but being able to use his father's infamous technique at the age of sixteen is startling.
Repositioning his stance, Arthur flicked his hand in a rapid motion, sending several near-imperceptible slashes of air towards Rai, who was forced to raise a cross guard in order to block the incoming slashes, but to his unexpectancy, the slashes had never landed as Arthur sprinted towards Rai amidst his confusion.
Upon his arrival, Arthur forced an exchange of hand-to-hand combat with Rai, who seemed uncomfortable as instead of engaging, he was more focused on weaving and parrying away Arthur's attacks as in the moment he tried to break away, Rai's focus was disrupted from several deep slashes suddenly appearing across his forearms, causing him to wince in pain as his momentum faltered, allowing Arthur to capitalize on the opportunity that he had long awaited for.
Seizing the moment of vulnerability from Rai, Arthur struck Rai's face cleanly with his fist, but sending Rai further into confusion was Arthur, who nullified his own attack as Rai's body tensed with the anticipation pain, allowing Arthur to follow up with a bemusing combination of attacks before ending their exchange with a back kick into Rai's abdomen, sending him sliding backwards across the rocky bank of the river as visible annoyance began to grow along Rai's expression, rousing an exulting grin from Arthur.
Provoked, Rai sprinted towards Arthur, immediately repositioned his stance as he aimed two fingers towards Rai and sent a near-imperceptible slash of air, but despite Rai evading it with fleet footwork, Arthur tensed his fingers amidst sharpening his focus and flicked his hand in a rapid motion once more, sending several near-imperceptible slashes of air towards Rai, who was unable to evade all of them as his torso was forced to endure the blunt force of a few slashes.
Arthur's Aspect paired with his father's technique is giving him the advantage over Rai, who is struggling to even comprehend Arthur's next move, despite having complete control over the fight previously, but I'm not surprised as this crafty style of fighting is what allowed Arthur to reign as one of the strongest among our generation.
I'm sure that even Avery himself would have a hard time against him.
Aiming to dominate the fight, Arthur continued his aggression as he rushed towards Rai, who was in the midst of assessing his situation as he attempted to space himself away, but Arthur was well aware of Rai's intentions as one of Arthur's previously delayed slashes appeared across Rai's chest, disrupting his momentum as he began stumbling backwards until he nearly buckled onto a knee.
Taking advantage of Rai's adverse position, Arthur continued his advance towards Rai and grappled him onto the ground, attempting to thrash Rai's head into the earth, but what I witnessed next was nothing less than an unfathomable display of dexterity.
The moment Arthur had grappled Rai onto the ground marked the beginning of his downfall as Arthur's fleeting success clouded his judgement.
Every strike of Arthur's had struck the earth cleanly as Rai weaved through the onslaught of punches with unbelievable agility, prompting a sense of urgency within Arthur as upon striking his fist with too much force, he accidentally had buried it within the ground, allowing Rai to suddenly twist his lower body with a forceful jerk, flipping the positions to his favor as Rai stood over Arthur, who was in dismay from Rai's deft maneuver.
Unable to react in time, Rai struck Arthur's face with tremendous force, nearly knocking Arthur unconscious once again until he sunk his teeth into the bottom of his lip with the sole purpose of staying conscious as his unexpected resilience had taken Rai aback, allowing Arthur to free his trapped leg as he kicked Rai away, separating the two of them as Rai slid backwards into the riverbed while Arthur struggled to get a grasp of his senses.
Noticing Arthur's disoriented state, Rai didn't hesitate to advance towards him as he appeared before Arthur within an instant, initiating an exchange of hand-to-hand combat as Arthur was forced on the defensive until Rai broke through his guard with a sharp crescent kick, sending Arthur staggering backwards as he was unable to correct his stance in time, allowing Rai to follow up with a spinning roundhouse kick into Arthur's jaw, but despite the force of Rai's attack, Arthur managed to endure it as he stepped forward and aimed a lethal overhand punch towards Rai, who should have been unable to move, nonetheless, react as he was in an awkward position with his foot resting against Arthur's jaw and yet, Rai had defied my imagination once again.
Using Arthur's head as leverage, Rai locked the bridge of his foot around Arthur's neck and pulled himself upwards, twisting himself amidst the motion as he kicked off the back of Arthur, who was baffled by Rai's masterly escape as he immediately turned around to face him, but Rai was nowhere to be found as he vanished from our sight, prompting Arthur to scour the area anxiously as a nervous grin began to take place within his expression.
He's too fast.
Although I don't have my Aspect active, I'm certain that I still wouldn't be able to perceive his movement even with it.
With several seconds of what felt like an eternity passing, breaking the daunting silence was none other than Rai, who suddenly appeared beside Arthur as he smashed his knee into Arthur's temple, disorienting him as Arthur stumbled sideways with his brain disconnected from commanding his bodily functions while Rai vanished once more, reappearing on the other side of Arthur within a split-second as he struck his fist into Arthur's liver with a heavy uppercut, forcing a grimace of displeasure from Arthur as within a blink of an eye, Rai had appeared in front of Arthur with a devastating spinning high kick directly into his face, sending Arthur crashing backwards into the earth below as his body bounced upwards from the recoil, begging to be released from the brutal aggression of Rai.
Amidst Arthur's body descending towards the ground, Rai slid under him and with an angled back kick, Rai smashed his foot into Arthur's abdomen, causing Arthur to vomit saliva as the impact launched him towards the tempered glass ceiling of the facility, but before Arthur could reach the apex of ascent, Rai was already waiting for his arrival as he suddenly released his Aspectual Force, bringing forth an uncomfortable sensation within me as his splendent blue lightning oddly resonated with the ethereal glow of the moon.
Flexing his hand, Rai effortlessly manipulated the lightning surging around his body into his palm as he placed his hand onto the chest of Arthur, whose consciousness was on the verge of slipping away from him.
"Rend." Rai uttered as he released a violent mass of lightning through Arthur's chest, rupturing his organs as he spewed out a concerning amount of blood amidst his rapid descension until he crashed into the crest of the waterfall, destroying the structure itself as water began ravaging through the lower grounds of the facility, spreading in a brisk manner as Rai landed gracefully onto the ground while Arthur's unconscious body flowed gently along the flooding riverbed.
Noticing Arthur, whose body was laced with faint traces of lightning that dispersed among the water, Rai began walking towards him as I was left astounded by the results of what I assumed was the ending of their commendable fight.
Is it finally over?
Amidst Rai's approach, Arthur miraculously regained consciousness within the minute as he slowly picked himself up from the water, enervated with a variety of grave injuries marked across his body and yet, the everlasting light within his eyes continued to grow as he was enraptured by their fight, despite the overwhelming adversity that stood before him.
He's still able to stand?
His resilience is praiseworthy, but Rai may be the absolute worst matchup for Arthur.
With the exception of swordsmanship, Rai excels at everything else compared to Arthur.
Arthur doesn't stand a chance against Rai in an exchange of hand-to-hand combat and his Aspect is practically useless now as Rai is just too fast for Arthur to perceive.
Even if he were to use his Aspect defensively, it wouldn't even matter as the accumulated damage will be too detrimental to his body in a battle of attrition and what's even worse is that despite Rai discarding his Aspect for raw power, that's not even the most efficient way to use his Aspect as he's basically handicapping himself.
Had Rai actually been using his Aspect in their fight, Arthur would theoretically be rendered useless as Rai's aptitude for hand-to-hand combat paired with his lightning would be too much for Arthur to handle, but the most frightening thing about Rai isn't even his Aspect or his combat prowess.
It's his adaptability.
I don't know how many thoughts he's processing at once, but for him to adapt as fast as he did in the face of unpredictability itself is absurd.
With his unnatural adaptation, seemingly omnipotent reflexes along with his aptitude for hand-to-hand combat, I want to say that this fight is over, however…
Arthur still has something left.