Chapter 186: 186 - Monarch of solitude 2
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I sent arrows of dense water from a safe distance, due to the odd nature of its chemical bonds, water can be denser than ice. Even without packing it to the brim with magic, I could make water magic that overpowered ice like a pressure washer.
De Lan dodges the arrows with relative ease, her movements were hard to follow as they blurred her silhouette before my very eyes. Her afterimages were confusing to time my movements with, but if I do it intuitively it was easier to predict the trajectory of her attacks before they hit. Moreover I don't have to match to the enemy's pace, I can dodge before hand and go outside their reach. Shifting my entire body back with my trained footwork, she sliced everything apart violently with her legs. It tore through the air, sending rushing gale around as remnants of shock waves from her physical movements alone.
"[That which rule will see]" (De Lan)
For a moment my entire field of view had been engulfed by utter darkness and my body lost all sensation. When the light had returned to my eyes, there was a hand lodged into my chest where my heart was. When my sense of touch returned, I felt the viscous blood of my insides spill over my lips and leak down the sides, an urge to throw up welled up in my chest as I pondered about all the changes.
De Lan stood right in front of me, her arm had destroyed my heart and impaled my sternum, if not for being a magical girl the blood loss would have sent me into a state of shock. Nevertheless, it felt like my entire body was convulsing to the maximum. If it had been anyone else, they would be so engulfed by pain that they instantly broke down... But well... It's fine. Not only have I trained against pain, I have also forged this body to diminish pain.
In an instant, I arrived at the optimal answer. I had predicted such a scene numerous times, just what if there was someone who was able to bypass my time stop and surpass my speed? Rather than using the physical law of time to stop the entire world, my second skill actually continued to revolve around my main theme. Water, what if everything was to imitate the crystal lattice structure of unmoving water... Or ice.
It is rather questionable and would make more sense for Garion whose powers revolve around ice to have, but she got something completely different. Generally skills revolve around a single theme, but deviating from the theme isn't exactly uncommon either... Since my second skill is closer to ice than it is to water, I guess mine deviated halfway? How troublesome, using a theme to predict the skills of others is quite unreliable after all...
I am the perfect magical girl. Or I will be. I may be arrogant, overbearing or foolish. But as the perfect magical girl, I won't neglect battle. Devising a way to fight an opponent stronger than myself... And accounting for the event in which the enemy can bypass time stop or negate all my attacks... Ever since I fought Richovik Urstl Frena, one of 8 great generals of Illnoia administration. The giant mass of pressure, the world ending power that endlessly poured out of her, and her expression of utter coldness and calculating composure.
I won't ever forsake my experience and training. I'll always bring out my all! AND EVEN MOREE!!!!! Taking advantage of her ldoged arm, I grabbed it with both arms and harnessed blades of water out my palms, cutting into her skin. Then I swung my knee against her torso, but she was one step ahead and had already kicked my torso by the time I lifted my leg. It sent her arm out of my chest as my body was sent flying and tumbling on the ground behind.
The hole she made in my torso gaped wide open, blood profusely spilling into a sea of red around my body. For any normal human being, they would have been a corpse by now. I slam my left forearm into the ground and bent my knees, desperately struggling to get onto my legs...
But she intercepted it with a simple kick to my ribs. I rolled on the ground, practically a toy to her at this point, glaring at her as I jumped and somersaulted back onto my feet. It took a lot of energy and effort to pull that off, so I didn't bother at the start. But it seems I need to take risks if I wanted to win. Forming a blade of ice, I leaped in with a practiced stance. I swung straight for the neck.
De Lan uses her fingers of her left hand to block the blade and pulled back her right fist. At the last moment I formed a barrier of water, but she punches straight through it. It shatters apart and crunches like glass, her fist still ominously pure and fair as it received absolutely no damage from punching through the barrier. It reaches my kidney, obliterating my entire lower waist area as the internal damage spread across the surrounding organs like a plague.
Her fingers gleam under the zero light environment, no matter what I did she simply had more strength and speed. She wasn't letting her guard down either as she anticipated any surprise attacks and countered with very punishing attacks. No matter what I did... It was useless.
I've switched between a few water weapons, but no matter how proficient I was in these weapons, she seemed to have experience in dealing with all of them. Compared to her wealth of experience, my proficiency and training was but a tiny drop in the bucket. I've tried to resume time and only freeze her, but she continued moving as if nothing had happened.
I ran and ran, my legs continued to carry me as long as they had strength. I formed twin daggers of water, this was what I most proficient with. Despite constantly training with other weapons as well, the twin daggers have always stood out to me. I... I neglected them since they didn't fit my image as the perfect magical girl... If only I had trained them, then I would be more confident wielding them...
But... This was exactly the risk I needed. They're small, light, easy to handle. They're also quick and adaptable, their only weakness is their small reach and stature. So they may not be able to penetrate tougher barriers or reach deep enough into a magical girl's flesh to deal significant damage. I crossed my arms as I ran, I ran low as if I was ready to dive into the ground at any point.
De Lan stood calmly, not even bothering to move. She laid one hand on her hip, letting it rest as she planned on only using one hand to guard against my all out charge. It was an insult that irritated me to no end, but I calmed myself down, drowned myself in artificial composure. Steeling my heart and mind, I prepared to cut her down as I arrived closer. When I finally approach close enough to cut her...
De Lan slides her foot across the ground to switch her posture in an instant, the force of the switch easily forms a deep crater in the ground as she clenched both her fist without hesitation. She only swings her right hand, ready to strike my lowered chest. My entire body was lowered due to my posture... So it was impossible to dodge in an instant... It felt like I staring death straight in the eye as I watch the fist approach me faster than I can move. The only way to avoid someone who is faster than me is if they missed....
Hahah! Steam illusion, I accelerate the water beyond its normal threshold, causing it to gain so much energy it changes into its gas state. I can do this you know?! Why? Because I am the perfect magical girl! I won't yield!! Just because all my attack methods were useless, didn't mean I had nothing else up my sleeves. Techniques unrelated to offensive power, defensive techniques, evasive techniques, there are a myriad of other things that will let me defeat Kaori.
[First step to perfection], first refined technique, steam explosion. I bent my back over, lowering my entire body. My hands sweat as they grip even more tightly on the daggers, my knuckles and finger joints had already gone creamy white due to the tension exerted. Using the explosion, I launched myself into the air sideways before landing my feet onto the ground to continue running with the gathered momentum.
I curved my trajectory, gradually closing the distance between us. Usually one would expect slash attacks with daggers since they are small and can't do much with thrusts... But if I aim perfectly... I eye at her neck, my wrists bones creak heavily in anticipation as I ran closer. Finally, now that I was a metre away, she will attack me with her superior speed from this distance. I have to withstand this one attack, I locked my left elbow as she lifted her foot, receiving a destructive blow that shook my skull.
I hardened the water in my body much like how liquid armour reacts to high forces, the harden more as more force is applied and cushion the blow. Then I detonated a steam explosion behind my right elbow, thrusting it straight at... Her eye...
All while eyeing her neck. I had successfully deceived her and landed the blow... But.... The dagger shattered as it landed on her skin. Even her skin was tougher than one of my strongest weapons. I have to figure out how to solve this problem before being able to do anything. I shouldn't reveal any more of my cards if I can't even damage her. I immediately retreated at once.
First, I have to decipher why she can move in stopped time. I can either assume that she has resistance to my power due to a passive, a skill that acts in complete opposition to mine or a skill that does the exact same thing as mine. For now, I send a large beam of water, enough to create a large wave at her.as I threw water from every direction, she couldn't escape. Ordinarily, magical girls would have their combat dresses get drenched because of that, unless their passiv emakes them waterproof like mine.
However De Lan stayed completely dry. Her gaze remained unchanging but there was a different glint to her eyes that made me feel something had changed. But what was even more visible was the unnatural amount of light gleaming off her body, they were the droplets of waters left after I threw the large wave of water at her. They were floating in mid air, meaning that she was applying some force to keep the water away from her body, or maybe it was some type of barrier that could even ward off my dagger.
How do I break through this barrier? Are there any gaps? No, it seemed there were no gaps. She doesn't even seem to be sweating let alone drenched, none of the water or steam got in. Yet she was somehow maintaining the same level of oxygen inside her barrier, as if she was in a different world. Rushing in blindly won't change the situation I need to break through somehow.
I rush up to her with my daggers in hand, leaving a small crack on the ground where I leaped off of. Using steam explosion and steam mirage, a rain of slashes struck against her barrier, carving and carving like a ravenous beast. Rather than harming her like it's suppose to, the water daggers begin to crack starting from the edges. She takes a step back before swiping me down from under my feet. Spreading my arms, I landed on my palms and pushed myself further as I thought she would counterattack.
But she simply stands in place, observing my moves with interest. I heard that she was a great martial artist before she became a magical girl, so her fighting skill was a notch above the rest. She had apparently been promoted to an ArcMaiden before she was even S grade. That was how tough she was, she governs the Western region and rumours around say that she had flawlessly warded off the Grundo Alliance. No loss was suffered from our side, but for the Grundo alliance, they had likely suffered enough casualties to warrant issuing a retreat to their entire army.
She was that same invincible existence and guardian of her city. The Eye God must have put her city on the line... I can only see an exceedingly troublesome time ahead, but it's fine. I'll defeat her, then I'll defeat the Eye God and release the city from her grasp.
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