Chapter 201: I Had No Business Fighting

Raven had already found the rhythm. Now he had to survive long enough to use it.

Elise’s Halo didn’t weaken continuously. That would have been too easy. After every major technique, the sacred structure suffered a brief, almost imperceptible drop. It didn’t lose all its layers or disappear. It simply redistributed mana, rebuilt channels, and stabilized the outer rings before returning to full strength.

Less than a second. For a normal person, nothing. For Raven, enough to start thinking.

Elise raised Mercy again. Raven saw the change before the sword finished moving. Predator’s Instinct didn’t tell him which technique was coming, but it gave him something more useful: tension in the shoulders, turn of the hips, breathing pattern, mana concentration, and the tiny contraction that came before every decision.

Elise was about to change targets.

"Roland, down."

The arrow flew before he finished speaking, not at Elise, but at one of the sacred focuses still glowing on the side wall.

CRACK.

The crystal shattered, and one section of Halo faltered. Elise turned toward the sound.

That was what Raven wanted.

Valeria attacked from the opposite side. Three blood lances struck the barrier, not trying to penetrate it, only forcing Elise to reinforce the left flank. The White Saint understood the intention and shifted mana toward the center before Raven could fire.

Too fast.

Raven didn’t waste the round.

Elise smiled faintly. "Now you wait."

"I’m learning."

"That is precisely what concerns me."

Mercy moved.

Raven used Burst Step. The sacred line cut through the air behind him and sliced through a column. The stone fell apart in two clean halves, and Raven landed badly enough for his right leg to protest.

Radiant Metabolism was still processing residue from Divine Judgment. Every movement left a burning sensation beneath his skin, as if a second fever were running through his muscles.

It didn’t matter. They still worked.

Valeria saw the way he planted his foot. "You’re losing mobility."

"I still have enough."

"You said that before she nearly cooked you alive."

Elise heard her. "For once, Lady Valeria is correct."

Raven shifted the Mk.I to his other shoulder. "That was unnecessarily offensive."

Valeria gave a dry laugh. "I’m going to let her kill you."

"You wouldn’t."

"Don’t tempt me."

Elise advanced, this time without a major technique.

Better.

More dangerous.

Raven was beginning to understand that Elise was harder to fight when she stopped trying to solve the battle with miracles.

The sword was enough.

Mercy descended. Raven blocked with Stonehide over his forearm. The impact punched through the mineralization. It didn’t fully break it, but the force continued anyway, vibrating through the bone from wrist to shoulder.

Elise changed the angle and attacked again.

Raven stepped in.

Not back.

That surprised her, only slightly, but slightly was enough.

Kinetic Acceleration surged through his left leg, and Raven threw a low kick toward her knee. Elise turned, causing the kick to strike the side of her leg instead of the joint. It didn’t drop her, but it forced her to adjust her footing.

Raven used the instant to strike her wrist with the pommel of his sword. Mercy shifted several centimeters.

Elise answered with an elbow.

Raven turned his head just in time. The blow landed behind his ear, and the world flashed white for a fraction of a second. He dropped on instinct as Mercy passed overhead, rolled, used a short Burst Step, and recovered distance.

Elise followed.

Too fast.

Raven barely raised Stonehide again before a kick slammed into his chest.

CRACK.

This time, he heard a rib break.

He flew backward, hit the ground, and rolled twice. The air disappeared from his lungs.

[Fracture Detected.]

[Internal Bleeding: MINOR.]

[Repair Priority Adjusted.]

Raven coughed blood.

Elise stopped several meters away. "Enough."

Raven planted one hand against the ground. "You said that before."

"And you’re worse every time."

"So are you."

She glanced at her wounded shoulder.

Not much.

But yes.

The gunshot wound was still only half-healed, and Halo no longer looked perfectly clean. Two of the rings had irregularities. Elise was tiring too.

Not like Raven.

Not even close.

But enough that she no longer seemed infinite.

"Raven, you’re not going to win this."

He stood despite the pain spreading through his rib, lung, shoulder, and leg.

"I don’t need to win yet."

Elise frowned.

That was true.

He only needed to keep accumulating.

Roland found another focus.

The arrow struck.

CRACK.

Elise turned toward the sound, and Valeria attacked at the exact same moment, not with lances, but with a net of Blood Threads stretched across the floor.

Elise jumped to avoid it.

Raven had already expected that.

He fired.

BOOM.

The partial Black Mithril round struck one layer of Halo while Elise was still airborne.

CRACK.

The first layer opened. The second held, but the core remained embedded for an instant before being expelled.

Enough.

The channels surrounding the impact flickered, and Elise landed badly.

Raven saw it.

Not an injury.

An interruption.

"Now."

Valeria closed the threads. Elise’s ankle was caught for half a second.

Raven used Burst Step and closed the distance with his sword low. Elise blocked with Mercy.

Raven hadn’t been aiming for her.

He switched hands and struck with the pommel. Elise tilted her head, and the blow missed by centimeters.

Raven dropped the sword.

That surprised her.

He drew the knife with his free hand, not to cut her, but to drive the blade into a joint in the sacred bracer.

Metal.

Spark.

Elise responded with a burst of mana.

Raven was thrown backward again. This time, he didn’t land well. His shoulder hit stone, something shifted out of place, and Predatory Regeneration immediately began correcting it.

Elise tore the Blood Threads from her ankle.

Her expression changed.

Not anger.

Concentration.

He doesn’t fight like an Awakened.

The thought came to Elise with uncomfortable clarity.

Not in strength.

Not in speed.

Everything else about Raven was still inferior. But every time she responded to one threat, he was already using her response as part of the next movement.

He wasn’t trying to win exchanges.

He was building a sequence.

And that was exactly what forced her to spend more mana than necessary.

Elise tightened her grip on Mercy.

Stop following his rhythm.

That was the correct answer.

So she did.

Raven noticed the change too late.

Elise stopped chasing him. Stopped reacting to Valeria. Stopped looking toward Roland.

Halo closed in.

It didn’t expand its defense.

It compressed it.

All the mana concentrated around her body.

Raven understood.

"Separate."

Valeria looked at him. "What?"

"Now."

Elise raised Mercy.

"Sacred Edict."

Pressure struck the ruins.

Not a command.

A zone.

Raven felt his body become heavy. Roland dropped to one knee in the gallery, while Valeria raised a blood barrier and was still pushed backward.

Elise advanced directly toward Raven without reacting to either of them.

That was the problem.

She had decided he was the center.

Raven raised the rifle, but there was no angle. Elise entered too quickly.

Mercy struck the barrel. Raven felt the weapon knocked out of line, though he didn’t let go.

Kinetic Acceleration.

Knee strike.

Elise blocked with her thigh.

Raven used the stock as a weapon, throwing a short strike toward her jaw. Elise tilted her head, and it missed by centimeters.

She answered by driving Mercy’s pommel into his stomach.

Raven lost his breath.

Second strike.

Shoulder.

Third.

Side.

Raven started to fall.

Elise stopped the sword before it pierced him.

That gave him information.

She was still holding back.

Even now.

Raven used the pause.

Stonehide over his forehead.

Headbutt.

Elise took the impact across the cheekbone.

She hadn’t expected that.

She stepped back half a pace.

Raven followed with an elbow reinforced by Kinetic Acceleration. The strike caught her clavicle, and Elise blocked late enough for pain to flash across her expression.

Raven moved even closer.

Too close for a sword.

That was his territory.

Black Hound.

Narrow corridors.

Small rooms.

Fights where a long weapon became an obstacle.

Raven trapped Mercy’s arm, stepped on Elise’s foot, and pulled through the shoulder. He couldn’t throw her with strength, so he used her balance.

Elise turned.

Nearly fell.

Raven drove up a knee.

She blocked.

Then a sacred palm slammed into his chest.

Raven launched backward and hit a wall hard enough to cave the stone inward.

Blood filled his mouth.

Elise was breathing faster.

So was Raven.

Much faster.

He shouldn’t still be standing.

Elise thought it as she watched him rise again. She had hit Elite soldiers with less force. She had seen men lose mobility from far less.

Radiant Metabolism explained part of it.

Regeneration explained another.

Stonehide another.

But none of them explained why he kept advancing.

The answer was simpler.

Raven knew exactly which parts of his body he could temporarily lose and still keep fighting.

That was worse.

Raven spat blood. There were spots across the left side of his vision.

Didn’t matter.

Elise was breathing through her mouth.

That mattered.

Roland started moving again above. Valeria did too.

Raven raised two fingers.

Wait.

He didn’t need another attack yet.