Chapter 640 - Day UNKNOWN: Versus Vazasse, Part III

He was the one to move first, and I have to admit, it was quite reckless. I immediately noticed several openings, but instead of using them, I just retreated. There was no way of him doing such a thing, not on purpose, which meant only one, he wanted to lure me into a trap.

- Don't play his game. Play your own - said Druoag.

- I know - I responded.

I started circling around Vazasse, who was just turning around to make sure I would be facing him. Then he suddenly leaped forward, bringing his cleaver down. The speed made it quite easy, but then his tail came to action. I finally noticed the three blades mounted to the very tip, shimmering slightly with energy. I ducked to avoid it, and then he finally showcased his fighting style.

His speed immediately increased. I had to avoid consecutive attacks with a shield, cleaver, and that nasty tail. But that was only the beginning of the trouble. He made sure to put me in an awkward position to run away with each attack, so I was actually pinned down forced to dodge and block.

Yet again I started missing the 'Shadow walk'. If I gad it, the fight would end with one move, but I didn't.

The dance continued accelerating slowly, which made the audience go crazy. Druoag was silent, not interrupting me as I kept up my tempo. The blades were whirring and whistling as they plowed the air, with rare collisions showering us both with sparks, and causing small explosions with shockwaves.

The more it continued the more I felt like he was holding back. there were moments when he could easily pressure me more, but he didn't. I started to have this strange feeling lurking at the back of my head that he was slowly directing me into a trap.

Druoag was not saying anything, and I was lacking confidence about that whole thing, so I decided to do something to find out if I'm not overreacting. I dodged a few incoming attacks, and timed my counter-attack, to switch into offense and shower him with a barrage of a few dozen consecutive blows.

In a split of a second, he matched my speed and blocked everything, to take over the initiative from me. I could swear he was smiling at that moment, but I'm not sure considering his strange physique.

This quite long moment of never-stopping action was broken when I used my feet to kick some sand in his eyes. He protected his eyes utilizing the shield, but I successfully created a small window to escape. He didn't even try to follow me.

The crowd immediately started booing.

- That was a good decision. Don't pay too much attention to the audience -  said Druoag.

- I know - I said. - He is fucking playing with me. He is way faster than he shows.

- I noticed. You should create your own trap. Now when you know what he is trying to achieve, you might use it against him.

- Easier said than done - I replied and charged to attack.

I showered him with a barrage of attacks at my top speed. He tried to dodge some of the attacks, and slowly back down to escape my reach, but he failed and had to start parrying. For a moment our heated exchange showered the whole arena with sparks and consecutive explosions created by energy blades crashing with one another, which overpowered even the audience who was screaming like crazy. 

I wanted to try and overwhelm him with all I've got, so I didn't slow down for a second. Maybe even accelerated a little bit, as I greeted my teeth and pushed my body to the limits. You couldn't even see the weapons, making it through the air. There was just a constant shower of sparks. If you had good eyes you could probably also see the blur surrounding us, and shimmering air because of all the heat we were generating.

The tempo was insane. To be frank I was very surprised that he could match it for such a long time. Minutes were passing, and the craziness was not stopping. I started to even think that I might lose it if this continues, as he was not showing any signs of fatigue.

Don't get me wrong, I had plenty of gas to continue this for much, much longer, but the fact that he was matching me was almost unbelievable.

Then briefly I noticed a small opening that would allow me to strike his arm and maybe even knock the cleaver out of his hand, but I didn't use it. The window was just too slim.

It appeared again, for a slightly longer time shortly after. It was like he was baiting me for striking him, and I actually hesitated because my instinct was to strike, while my rational mind was telling me to not get baited.

The window passed, and our exchange continued, just for the same thing to repeat itself. I decided to use the opportunity, but not all the way through, so if it was a trap, he wouldn't be able to count me as hard as if I went all in.

I slapped his hand with the back of my weapon, and to my surprise, the large cleaver got knocked out of his hand. The audience went silent, and Vazasse immediately retreated using the window created by my reaction.

- Don't even think of letting him pick that cleaver up - said Druoag. - It's your win. Just follow it through.

I didn't respond to that, and remained in my position, as the giant alien kept switching his attention from me and his weapon laying in the sand. The energy constantly moving across the blade was slowly liquifying the sand.

I couldn't clear my mind out of the confusion. I felt like he just gifted me this victory on purpose, which completely blocked me from figuring out what to do next.

Fortunately, the decision was made for me.