Chapter 896 - A beautiful day

My vessel takes a step forward, and as it passes by me, I move in a blur and stab the sword I hold into its leg. Not taking my eyes off Nyssa, I send pulses of empyrean mana through it by constantly forming and breaking an [Empyrean Lance].

Now, instead of blue mana, a white and golden glow crackles inside the vessel. It begins to run, making the ground under it shake with each step.

Nyssa ignores it entirely, even as it passes by her and almost steps on her. Her black hair moves in the gust of wind caused by the vessel, and each beat of her heart sends a pulse of kinetic energy that raises her hair further.

The drake roars and moves, crashing against my vessel, and at the exact same time, Nyssa and I charge each other.

My sword breaks under a single hit from hers, so I turn the pieces into projectiles and shoot them at her. She dodges them by boosting herself with kinetic energy, but the projectiles turn in the air and follow her. After just one sling, she changes direction and charges directly at me again.

A moment before hitting me, her movements slow under my kinetic field, allowing me to absorb the impact of the kick that hits my side. Yet, her [Weapon] skill effect breaks through all these defensive layers I hold, leaving a deep blue bruise.

I duck and avoid her sword multiple times as she swings it through the air. I don't even bother trying to block it, focusing only on matching my speed with hers.

Once I gather enough mana, I imagine a rain of paper sheets that act as placeholders for my mana. As they slide by each other, the air screams and sends a dozen slashes across the horizon at Nyssa.

The albino demon parries every single one of them with the back of her left hand, which turns into a blur. The attacks rain behind or beside her, carving canyons into the mountains, with a few of them slamming against my vessel as it fights the drake.

Nyssa is currently faster than Tacita, and so am I, though neither of us possesses her incredible grace or fine control over our movements. We move in sudden bursts of speed, clashing violently against each other.

I hold my body together through the careful usage of both kinetic energy and mana, knowing a single mistake will tear me apart. Nyssa binds her body together, which is the only thing allowing her to unleash the full output of her kinetic heart.

Everything works in sync: her blood strengthens her body and kinetic energy while binding energy holds her together so she can push her strength even further and repeat the cycle.

Everyone with Primordial Blood is destined to die, and Nyssa is no exception. Still, with binding energy holding her together, I wonder how far she can push herself before her blood consumes her. Kindness’s interest in her suddenly makes total sense, especially as Nyssa starts using her binding energy to unbind, weaving it seamlessly into her [Weapon] skill.

My defensive layers break easily at the slightest touch of her body. The light turns much brighter as she channels it into her [Weapon]. Spikes grow from the ground to attack me, as even the earth under my feet obeys her command.

The entire time, I keep feeling the extremely rich ambient mana, but I don't pull it. Most of my focus and the constructs prepared through my new passive continue to deal with my Ignition Heart, which continues to beat with full force.

As my body breaks and takes damage, it restores just as quickly. I hold my blood inside the broken pieces, and due to my weak constitution, my body snaps back into place almost instantly. That leaves me to deal only with my circuits and pathways, which take longer to mend, but I reroute them just as quickly.

Where losing an arm would previously cause an imbalance from a missing chunk of circuits, now it is barely a bother.

I grab my severed arm from the air. Golden flames burst from my skin as I put it back, and it reattaches. I release a burst of mana at Nyssa, but she parries and deflects it away.

I move in a blur under the drake’s legs. My vessel snaps around, punching at Nyssa as she pursues me. The demon avoids the attack, and the drake charges, pushing my vessel away.

Reaching me with a massive output of kinetic energy, Nyssa throws her sword at me. Threads of black mana weave over my arm, forming a sleeve that I use to catch the weapon and slash back at Nyssa, who doesn't even bother to dodge.

The sword hits her neck and stops dead, as if I had hit an iron wall. There is not a single droplet of blood, nor a single sign of damage.

Looking into her eyes, I can't help but think that, of course, this demon believes her own [Weapon] shouldn't be able to damage her.

My black mana sleeve starts corroding, so I throw the sword high into the air, activating a [Weave] I placed up there. Threads manifest from thin air, catching and holding the sword in a web-like trap. Nyssa doesn't even try to pull it back toward her. Instead, she turns the entirety of her body into a [Weapon].

I dissolve the sleeve of black mana and let it boost my body, which breaks, heals, and avoids her attacks in a continuous cycle. I add kinetic energy to my movement, boosting myself lower to dodge under her high kick, then apply another burst to move to the side. I absorb my momentum so she can't predict my path, and then use one more boost to empower my attack.

As my fist slams against her bound-together body, she returns the blow with her own punch. It explodes my side, but before the droplets of blood can even scatter, my body heals, and I reroute my mana pathways.

In quick succession, I throw bursts of mana at her that evaporate everything in the area. The rain of paper slashes begins again as the air screams, but walking through it all, Nyssa deflects the assault with ease.

She lifts her hand to the sky to summon her sword, but I reconnect with my [Weave]. The colors drain from the area as my domain expands.

High in the air, the web holding the sword twitches and stretches, but it holds.

[Weave - lvl 49 > Weave - lvl 50]

A shockwave makes me stumble as I launch multiple projectiles at her. Each of them hits her directly, tearing holes into her clothes, but Nyssa doesn't even bother to dodge. She stands there, looking at her sword in the sky while the projectiles rain down against her. She only deflects [Empyrean Lance] and the especially powerful projectiles that I strengthen multiple times with [Manifestation].

The sword in the sky begins to bleed. Red blood flows down its white surface and drops to the ground, where it sizzles and gathers like mercury.

Nyssa moves in a blur and grabs the blade of the sword made of empyrean mana that I stab against her chest. Her fingers squeeze it, cracking the blade as a ridiculous amount of kinetic energy floods from her.

Her heart, which had slowed to a single beat per minute, now begins to ramp up in speed, and each beat rattles everything in the area. Yet, as the beats speed up, that gargantuan output of each heartbeat stays the same.

With bright red pupils, Nyssa looks at me, breaks the sword, and swings her arm. Seeing the strike coming, I don't even try to block it, choosing instead to teleport to the side.

Nyssa begins to walk forward, completely unbothered, and I look back at where I stood previously. The area has been erased from the surface of the world without leaving so much as a shockwave, rubble, or dust. It is simply, quietly gone.

Each of her steps sends a portion of the kinetic energy she generates through the ground like earthquakes. She begins to bleed from the corner of her lips as she reaches the blood pooled on the dirt. It rises into the air, forming a long, slim blade with a wide crossguard.

The halo over my head stops spinning and cracks. All the mana I gathered explodes into the area like a torrential wave, but it immediately gets pulled back toward me. It rests on my skin, sinks under it, and blinks once before turning black.

[Redistribution - lvl 82 > Redistribution - lvl 83]

The entirety of my mana disappears, turning black, and I continue to redistribute the generated thermal energy of my fully unleashed heart to feed it even more mana.

Then, I use all of it to power my movements while sliding as deep into thought acceleration as my new passive and abilities allow me.

[Selective Adaptation - lvl 39 > Selective Adaptation - lvl 40]

[Selective Adaptation - lvl 40 > Selective Adaptation - lvl 41]

[Selective Adaptation - lvl 41 > Selective Adaptation - lvl 42]

My vessel teleports, appearing right behind my back while missing pieces, and with part of its mana exhausted. It shrinks in size, and as it does, it places its hands on my shoulders. I absorb all of that crackling mana, further feeding the black mana inside of me.

The built-up thermal energy that I am unable to quickly redistribute or hold inside explodes out of my back and shoulders through my exhaust nodes. It sets the area behind me on fire, even as I pull these golden flames close to me, keeping them gathered and ready to be used. It keeps pouring out and resting on me like a mantle made of golden fire.

A sword made of black mana manifests in my hand. I concentrate further, strengthening it by remembering what Lissandra did to the mana I generated for her.

All of this unfolds inside the black and white domain of [Eclipse] surrounding us, and black mana fighting with me under my skin.

[Manifestation - lvl 64 > Manifestation - lvl 65]

[Manifestation - lvl 65 > Manifestation - lvl 66]

[Eclipse - lvl 77 > Eclipse - lvl 78]

The purity of your Empyrean Ichor has been increased!

26% > 28%

[Empyrean Lance - lvl 68 > Empyrean Lance - lvl 69]

Nyssa shoots ahead like a rocket, moving in a straight line, far too fast and with too much power for her to control. She breaks through my attacks and barriers, passing by me as I dodge.

Almost before I can even turn around, she boosts herself toward me with the same immense strength and speed, entirely ignoring the G-forces that should tear her to pieces.

This time, I stand my ground. My body breaks and heals as I strengthen it with kinetic energy and mana, and our swords meet at the exact moment I absorb and channel all the kinetic force of her impact.

Even then, Nyssa continues to generate more and more, pushing me as my legs slide against the ground.

Where her sword and mine collide, light flashes continuously in every hue. As her Primordial Blood reacts to my black mana, my sword seems to melt, parts of it heating up to a blinding white. Meanwhile, her white sword cracks, and red blood creates flashes of crimson light that mix with the golden bursts from my blade.

The excess thermal energy shooting from my back increases as I stop converting the heat generated by my Ignition Heart into mana. Instead, I allow more thermal energy to vent directly from the exhaust nodes on my back. Like two jet engines firing from my spine, the flames narrow and concentrate, unleashing a high-pitched scream as I stop being pushed back, bringing us to a complete standstill.

My eyes feel like they will melt in my skull as I watch my sword break in almost slow motion.

Nyssa moves to stab her sword through me, and for the first time, her binding energy reaches into the surrounding area, binding me to this space to stop me from teleporting away. It is much less elegant than Morwag’s use of binding energy, but it packs much more power. I feel it clinging to me through my defensive layers, binding down all my movements.

I watch her sword pierce into my chest, heading straight toward my heart, and in a final surge, I force my way through, leaving my bound flesh behind as I teleport away.

I reappear as far as I am able to, reduced to a mere skeleton with only my hearts, eyes, and brain remaining. After a single heartbeat and before I fell down, my nerves, veins, tendons, flesh, and skin form over me once more. I modify my mana cycling, adapting to the missing parts of myself as they continue to regenerate. My mind feels lightheaded because of my blood regenerating much more slowly.

As I take my second step, I use a portion of my mana to weave a pair of pants. By the time I take my third step, Nyssa crashes into the ground nearby like a meteor, having bulldozed through multiple mountains in her way.

Standing there and watching her fly through the air within my accelerated thoughts, I begin moving to face her attack, but at the same time, I feel a smile tugging at my lips.

Her black hair, red eyes, pale skin, and the sword she holds. The gray landscape, the gray sky, and that bright golden light framing her figure. All the heat I feel spreading through my chest and the tingling at the tips of my fingers. My ragged breaths, even though I don't need to breathe that often. The cold thrill of fear spreading through my skin and the moments when I almost begin to shake after each close brush with death.

What a beautiful day.

Before Nyssa reaches me, my kinetic energy shoots downward, breaking deep into the ground and opening up a cavern I located below. I boost myself toward it to avoid her attack, even as she spins around with the power of a supersonic engine strapped to her back.

Through the falling debris, I watch her follow me into the deep. One of my strongest stored arrays activates as I hit my triggers and supply it with all my mana.

Nyssa halts mid-air along with all the debris, while I fall and land on what appears to be a metallic bridge spanning over an enormous lake of lava.

Another array activates, draining all the heat from my heart and the surrounding area. And I concentrate it into a screaming golden flame that shoots directly toward Nyssa, turning everything around her to ash.