Chapter 108: '..Brat..'
Amros soon snapped out of his shock, though, and he pushed back, his armor glowing light.
He brought his hand down above Vacuse, but he twisted away with nimble movement, his own hand snapping out in a punch that slammed into the side of his armor with a solid twack that snapped Amros's head back a little.
But Amros was not going to allow himself to be humiliated so easily. His armor ripped, and spikes jutted out, shooting forward like arrows.
Vacuse flinched back.
He released his void threads, and they whipped the air, cutting down the spikes.
Unfortunately, some of the spikes were shining with a silver glow and were difficult to cut down. Vacuse was forced to start twisting to avoid them.
"...ah... you've made a mistake..." Rith sounded smug.
Vacuse felt an intense moment of danger, but it was already too late.
Amros was already beside him, a punch aimed at his side. "You should never take your eyes off your enemy, my Lord!"
"...Fuck!..."
The punch caused ripples in the air, and it was far faster than what Vacuse could avoid. So he did not. His aura grew darker as he borrowed Amros's strategy.
Dozens of lances appeared around him, shoved straight at the Dragon Guard member.
Boom!
The two blows connected. Energy rippled among them as the lances exploded, sending Amros back. At the same time, Vacuse felt a flare of pain on his left side, and he was sent spinning sideways.
He cursed, but his healing was already hard at work, and he spun to face his opponent. "...I need some kind of defensive technique!..."
Amros grunted. His aura was turning more and more chilling by the second. He thought it would be a simple thing to train with Vacuse Vorrakyn, but things were not going as he imagined.
He was strong.
Amros was forced to acknowledge that. "I'm sorry, Captain, but I think I need to get serious with this."
Captain Mera's eyes flickered. "Don't go overboard."
He took her warning and nodded. "My Lord, I'm afraid playtime's over."
Vacuse smiled. "Well... let's see what you have for me!"
Amros did not say anything. The metal of his left arm flowed and solidified into something that resembled extra muscles that swelled and flexed.
His figure flickered, and the place he was standing on previously exploded. Dust churned up violently, and in a blink, he was in front of Vacuse, his left hand shaped into a blade, coming down in a downward arc.
A feeling of deadly danger filled Vacuse. His purple eyes glowed brightly, and his brain went into instant overdrive.
What should I do!
The rippling energy that surrounded him seemed to bend downward, and Vacuse exploded the air in front of him. He sent a wave of raw energy out that detonated and sent him hurling back like a ball.
Amros's blade passed through where he was, inches from his face, the force of the attack swaying his hair.
Amros snorted his dissatisfaction and jumped after him, intent on not giving him any breathing space at all.
"...Rith!..." Vacuse shouted.
He could feel the deadly intent on Amros. It was locked on him tightly.
This fight... it was now serious.
Those watching could feel the shift, and they swallowed, their eyes glued to it. Captain Mera tensed, but in the end, she was still a Soulbearer.
This time, Rith did not come back with a comeback. He knew that Vacuse was the type to learn and evolve through battles, and he intended to take advantage of that.
Instead of speaking, he projected his thoughts directly into Vacuse's head, and he understood immediately.
"...Brat, listen up. When I called the projection of my body over the other time, I was able to snatch back something. Since me, the Void Dragon, is getting back his powers, some things that should have been yours since the beginning are being returned... if you don't notice, your eyes have been turning purple when you use the power of the Void...
"...you can now draw from the perception of the Void Dragon. It'll let your brain keep up with the power that's flowing in you. But be careful not to fry your brain..."
Vacuse understood immediately.
His eyes shone even brighter, and now, slitted. Not only that, the dominance around him exploded into a higher level that made the space around him vibrate.
As Amros was coming to him with impossible speed, so much so that those in the Awakened Harmonic that could keep up knew the fight was going to end. Amros was that fast.
Even Captain Mera was ready to jump in to stop things.
But then.
Vacuse did something they all did not expect.
He turned toward Amros, and then he ran straight at the coming blade.
Wait... what!
Everyone was shocked, and Captain Mera was already glowing with purple light.
But... in a flash, Vacuse passed underneath the blade sideways, some of his hair cut away, but nothing touched his flesh. He came up and hurled a lance at Amros.
It was shrugged away, but Amros was still shocked by what just happened, that he did not even notice the attack. "How...?"
Vacuse himself was so caught up in the fighting that he did not realize that his attack had little power behind it.
The two of them stared at each other for the briefest moment.
It was then, finally, that Amros felt danger. He realized... that Vacuse was dangerous.
Vacuse frowned. "Rith, that attack... I should have an upgrade by now, right...!!"
Amros was already attacking again.
This time, liquid metal appeared all around him and formed into spikes. His armor formed into pikes.
All of them faced Vacuse. All of them glowed with silver light that would not be easily cut by Vacuse's threads. Amros was not holding back. His killing intent surged.
Even Rith could feel the danger.
"...Brat..."
All the spikes shot forward.
And Vacuse flung himself toward it as well.
The light in his eyes reached a higher shine. The veins beside his eyes blackened.
And... he almost turned into an almost streak of light, translucent and there at the same time.
He twisted among the spikes and avoided everything without taking a single hit.