I had been running for the past fifteen seconds.
I could hear some commotion behind me, but I paid no mind to it.
At the end of the hall, many people suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
They didn't resemble soldiers or guards at all.
As soon as they saw me, they started throwing spears and javelins.
I am so dead.
I started running backwards.
Why the hell does this always happen to me?
With a damn burst, I disappeared.
I was running blindly.
Wait...
What was my mission again?
Agh, I forgot.
No, wait.
My mission was to beat the high-ranking members here.
That's right.
But how do I find them?
[Pratik]: Not that hard.
I said while charging my fists with Dark Energy Reserves.
I threw a punch at the floor, demolishing a great chunk of the supplementary halls.
Before anybody calls me irresponsible, my senses detected no presence within a 200-metre radius.
This stunt was made to attract threats.
Kids, do not try this at home.
When the dust settled, someone was standing before me.
Seems like we're finally getting started.
But something shocked me.
The hallway behind this person was stained blue with monster blood.
Many monsters had been killed.
The one standing before me was a woman.
She smirked as she looked at me.
[Grishwari]: You look quite powerful. This might be fun.
I saw her holding another monster.
That monster was most probably dead.
They were the ones chasing me before.
Now they were all silent.
I felt anger.
Sadness for whatever had happened to them.
[Grishwari]: My name is Grishwari. I hope you will play a little with me.
She said as she threw the corpse of the monster away.
This enraged me further.
Disrespecting someone like that...
This is bad.
She lunged towards me.
[Pratik]: Trigger 1, Acc—
My heart suddenly began to ache.
I couldn't activate my Trigger.
Moreover, her punch sent me flying, destroying the walls and halls in my path.
What was that?
My chest hurt badly.
My heart felt as if it would burst.
[Haidoro]: I won't allow that little trick, brat.
I heard the voice from within me.
I recognised it very well.
Haidoro...
That damn dragon...
So he's interfering with my Trigger.
This is bad...
I stood up, sensed another attack, and jumped away.
The attack I dodged escaped the palace and struck the royal garden, burning it to ashes.
This woman isn't a pushover.
If only I could use my Triggers...
I think I'll have to rely on my instincts more.
The woman appeared right in front of me.
We both made similar hand signs.
Damn...
A large burst of destructive energy vaporised everything within a 30-metre radius, with its effects stretching even farther.
This has become a game of wits.
She shares many techniques similar to mine.
She has a counter for many of my techniques.
She is my natural enemy, I assume.
[Grishwari]: Nine Point Circle Magic.
I didn't realise I was already within a dangerous radius.
She used the nine points created by our clashes to form a circle around us.
That's insane.
Obviously, Discrete isn't a perfect counter.
It merely ensures that the output of an enemy's attack on my body is minimised to a certain limit.
If I wanted to properly counter her technique, I would have to be exposed to its effects first.
I don't know anything about it.
So I don't know if I even have a counter against it.
The magic circle didn't have any immediate effect.
Huh?
Distraction, most probably.
That was one of the best things I did.
Bending slightly saved my neck from her surprise attack.
[Grishwari]: You are quite a fast one.
If I had been even a microsecond late, I wouldn't have been speaking with my neck intact.
She is trying to use deception against me.
Her blade...
It isn't made of any normal metal either.
It is something being reinforced by her Dark Energy Reserves.
[Pratik]: How about we settle this peacefully?
I said with a small smile while already performing several hand signs behind my back.
[Grishwari]: Isn't that a bit of sweet talk?
She said while destroying the floor beneath us.
The spells I was activating through the hand signs were only partially activated.
[Pratik]: Range Shiftling, Convergence.
Grishwari smirked as she ran away from me.
She realised that there was a specific range for my techniques, especially Convergence.
I made an irritated face.
This fight will lead us nowhere.
That was what my face was saying.
Though, obviously, it was all part of my deception.
She didn't even realise that I had drawn her back towards the place where she had used Nine Point Circle Magic.
That bright technique had been used as a distraction.
However, it had also burned the floor badly, while the nine clash points had left deep holes in the ground.
It's time to actually join them.
She realised something was off.
But it was too late.
My Convergence was never directed at her.
It was directed towards the holes.
One of the holes was near my feet, while its other end was beneath her feet.
The distance between the two holes was originally great.
However, Convergence reduced the spatial distance between them drastically.
Now...
It's time for the final move.
[Pratik]: Range Shiftling, Shadow Lord.
Its effective radius was twenty metres.
Normally, the distance between us would have been too great once she started fleeing.
But now, she was standing directly above the hole connected to mine.
Thanks to Convergence, the spatial distance between us was now less than a centimetre.
In a way she never anticipated.
Before she could flee, my Range Shiftling engulfed her in Darkness.
The Voidal World.
A world of endless darkness with no way to return...
Unless she beats me.
She looked at me with a smile.
[Grishwari]: My, my... This is the first time someone has beaten me at this game after Lord Lohit.
She said, laughing with a pleased expression.
[Grishwari]: However, I am undefeated as long as I am alive.
She said while looking at me with intrigued eyes.
I took my fighting stance.
I will deal with her.
I need to clean things up quickly.
To be continued...