Chapter 896: Stacking
Chapter 896: Stacking
Two golden streaks of light filled the entire battlefield, one a streak of crimson red, the other a streak of pure golden radiance, both clashing against each other ceaselessly. Their destructive range had risen to a whopping eighty-kilometer radius, buildings being torn to pieces in their wake as neither of them slowed for even a single second, their collisions releasing deafening shockwaves that rippled endlessly across the ruined landscape.
They appeared upon the roof of a building, Asher’s rapier thrusting forward with wicked ease as he aimed towards Arianna’s shoulder, intending to blow off her entire arm. But as the attack was about to land, Arianna moved at the very last second, her short swords becoming a blur of crimson as she met the incoming attack head-on.
With another blasting impact, violent shockwaves rampaged outwards, her body also shooting backwards as even with the augmentation of the crimson lightning cloaking her, it wasn’t enough to close the gap in raw power between herself and Asher.
Asher didn’t hesitate. He vanished from where he stood, his body flickering into existence beside Arianna as his rapier sang forward once more, aiming directly for her ribs while they were both suspended in midair.
Arianna’s senses screamed in warning. She didn’t hesitate. Her Genesis Ability activated, and the very next moment she vanished from where she had been standing as she teleported beyond his reach. The moment she disappeared, Asher’s Star Energy tore outwards in a crescent wave of madness, erasing everything in its path for over forty kilometers.
The moment Asher landed on his feet, he felt space flicker ever so subtly. In that instant, his Omni Perception notified him of Arianna’s new location; directly behind him.
Arianna thrust her twin short swords towards Asher’s back, her attack twisting space itself as crackling crimson lightning tore through the position she attacked. But Asher’s speed was fast, far too fast. He simply flickered to the side with a single step as though he possessed eyes at the back of his head.
The moment he dodged, the crackling lightning-infused thrust obliterated everything within the area where he had been standing. But Asher didn’t merely dodge. He was already moving. The instant he sidestepped, he had already turned to face Arianna in one impossibly smooth motion. His rapier rose towards the sky before descending in a beautiful slash as he aimed to cleave through both of Arianna’s hands from the elbows.
But as the attack was about to land, Arianna’s right eye shone as she activated yet another ability. The next moment, Asher’s rapier sliced cleanly through her arm, yet nothing happened. She had phased through the strike at the final possible instant. But she didn’t merely evade. She twisted her body mid-motion as she capitalized on the opening, crimson lightning concentrating upon her right foot with even greater power and madness as she kicked towards Asher’s head, glee dancing within her eyes and a confident smile resting upon her face.
Although she had caught Asher off guard for a brief moment, it didn’t mean he couldn’t still react. As Arianna’s attack closed in, he simply mirrored her own movement as he tapped into his Space Affinity. Arianna’s foot met nothing but empty air and vacant space.
Asher immediately leaped into the air, his body parallel to the ground as he drove both feet into Arianna’s chest. But as the attack closed in, Arianna seemed to have already anticipated such a move. Her right eye shone once more, Astra Energy surging through her veins as the surrounding air turned frigid and the temperature plummeted. A towering wall of ice erupted before her, meeting Asher’s attack head-on.
With a thunderous boom, the wall of ice trembled with maddening intensity, yet it remained firmly standing, which was surprising. After all, Asher was reinforcing his body with Star Energy at that very moment, his physical might having reached an absurd level.
Arianna’s body shot out from one side of the wall as she immediately abandoned her previous position, moving once again to engage him in close combat. Asher’s senses snapped towards her, but the moment they did, he noticed another attack tearing towards him from behind, emerging from the opposite side of the ice wall.
A beam of golden light that moved with astonishing speed.
Just as it was about to pierce through Asher’s body, he calmly tapped into his Space Affinity once more as a portal ripped open precisely at the point of impact, swallowing the beam whole. Another portal instantly manifested directly between him and Arianna as the same beam erupted from within it and screamed towards her forehead.
Arianna’s right eye shone once more. Since it was her own attack, she retained complete control over it. She forcefully redirected the beam to the side, effortlessly avoiding it without sacrificing even the slightest fraction of her speed. Her twin short swords slashed towards Asher’s chest, and he met them head-on, the resulting shockwave shattering everything around them, including the massive wall of ice standing nearby.
Asher’s eyes narrowed almost immediately as he sensed that Arianna’s strength had increased and was continuing to rise with every passing second. Her right eye glowed brilliantly as though she were utilizing yet another technique she had stolen sometime in the past.
But it wasn’t only that. Arianna burned even more Astra Energy. This time, she manipulated the wind itself as it coiled around her body like a living serpent, perfectly complementing the Lightning and Light Affinities already cloaking her figure. But she wasn’t finished. This time she tapped into something even more profound... wind resistance and spatial resistance.
Every single movement made by a living being, whether running, walking, or simply shifting position, was constantly opposed by the resistance of both wind and space, naturally reducing one’s speed to varying degrees. Yet now, Arianna had completely erased both forms of resistance from her own body.
But she still wasn’t done. Her Genesis Ability stacked yet another enhancement upon the previous ones as she activated Weightlessness upon herself, effectively doubling her speed yet again while simultaneously reducing the effects of gravity upon her body to the absolute minimum.
Blue flames coursed around her body, further amplifying both her speed and raw physical power.
At this very moment, Arianna’s speed and strength had reached an entirely different level as she continuously stacked elements, abilities, techniques, and applications upon one another with flawless precision.
The very air screamed around her while space itself trembled as though fearful of what she had become. Her eyes now blazed with immense power that remained perfectly under her control. They locked onto Asher like those of a predator that had finally cornered its prey within its own territory.
Before Asher could so much as blink, he experienced it in real time, pain, pure and unadulterated pain, as an indescribable impact slammed into his abdomen with overwhelming brutality. His body folded forward like a sheet of paper before he was launched backwards like a baseball struck by a colossal sledgehammer. His body became a streak of golden light as he tore through towering skyscrapers, obliterating everything within a sixty-kilometer radius in real time.
Asher felt as though every one of his internal organs had shifted from their proper positions. His vision became a complete blur as both lightning and blue flames continued to burn upon the point of impact where the distinct imprint of Arianna’s knee remained branded across his abdomen. Arianna appeared before him once again without slowing down in the slightest, her speed now resembling genuine time manipulation.
Even with the enhancement granted by Star Energy, Asher was no longer capable of keeping up.
The very instant she arrived before him, her twin short swords, now coated in multiple elemental powers, descended like a pair of falling comets towards Asher’s neck as she sought to decapitate him once and for all.
Perfect Muscle Memory, Optimal Movement Efficiency, and Battle Intuition ignited like three blazing supernovas.
Asher didn’t think. There wasn’t enough time for conscious thought. His body moved entirely on autopilot with flawless mechanical precision as he shot to the side with impossible speed, narrowly dodging the fatal strike at the very last instant.
But Battle Intuition, Optimal Movement Efficiency, and Perfect Muscle Memory were not reality-warping abilities. They had succeeded in saving Asher’s life, but they hadn’t allowed him to escape completely. His entire left arm was severed cleanly from his shoulder in one horrifyingly smooth motion.
But Arianna refused to let up. Her right eye shone once again as she immediately tapped into her Space Affinity. The next moment, she froze Asher in place as though time itself had come to a complete halt before thrusting directly towards his chest with a speed that even Asher’s perception could no longer follow.
The Absolute Physique came alive once more. But this time, Asher’s primal instincts and subconscious mind reacted before his conscious thoughts could even begin to form. His own Space Affinity answered his desperate will on an entirely subconscious level, causing his body to vanish instantly.
But even then, it was already too late. The moment he disappeared, his remaining arm had also been cleanly severed, landing upon the shattered ground with a heavy thud just a single meter away from the first.