Chapter 243: Chaos in the Rustlands(3)

Point-of-View: Belia Lasmodeus 

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This is so much fun! This human is actually capable of defeating me, it's a small possibility, but very much a real one...if I don't fight at full strength, he's likely to get me at this rate...now, then, how do I get by all these spinning water blades? Heh, just kidding, avoiding attacks is my specialty... 

He swung his arms inwards, all the spinning water blades zipping in towards me simultaneously...very few could survive an attack like this, but fortunately, I was one of them. Now, them, time to activate my ultimate defensive ability, using my Dimensional Magic...hm, how to explain it...well, let's call it a portal armor, that's pretty accurate, kinda. 

The water blades then closed in on me, and as they got within millimeters of me...they disappeared. The air around me shimmered like a mirage, with a slightly dark hue. Oh, and the fact that both this and my Weathering Magic appear to shimmer...is a total coincidence, they're both completely different forms of Divine Magic. I bet he'll be all confused about what I just did and unable to tell the difference between this and Weathering Magic, and I'll use that confusion to-! 

"I can't feel the water I created...it's like all my water blades disappeared. I see, that must be the same Divine Magic teleportation you used before...except this time, instead of teleporting yourself, you teleported my attacks away."

Wow, he really is pretty smart. Technically, it's more like I opened portals that lead into my dimension and take the incoming attacks into the dimension...of course, I can't take mortal life forms into my dimension, I can only connect and let them through a portal that's linked between two points in this dimension. His assessment was technically inaccurate, but effectively-speaking as far as this fight is concerned, it's accurate enough. 

"Well, it doesn't matter whether you've figured it out or not, because you can't get past this defense!" I declared confidently. 

Not entirely true, this portal armor has a few weaknesses, but I won't admit that to him. 

"So you say...but I'll decide that for myself."

He then drove a spinning water spear towards me, which reached my midsection, before disappearing as I activated my portal defense. Heh, I think I'll let him use up some of his Mana with some futile attacks against me, I want to see his confidence weaken. 

And afterwards...hm, I haven't decided whether or not to kill him. On the one hand, it'd be a satisfying conclusion to what's been a fairly challenging fight...but on the other hand, if I spare him and save him for later, that's more fun for the future...hm, which should I go with, kill or not kill...?

Suddenly, he fired out another blast of water straight at me...come on, already run out of ideas, I expected more-...wait a sec...this is a continuous stream of water...uh-oh...he might have already figured out one of the weaknesses of my portal armor... 

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Point-of-View: Azyl Roake

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That felt...strange. When my water spear reached her and disappeared, it didn't feel like it disappeared all at once, it was more like it went into something, the edge disappeared first, followed by the length...that means her defense was like an invisible, shimmering doorway, not instant teleportation upon contact...that means if I get too close to her, I could get sent elsewhere too... 

I should keep fighting from a distance...well, I'm not great at close combat to begin with, so it's not like I have to do anything different. Hm, I wonder if that defense activates automatically, or if she has to do it manually...she's not shimmering constantly, only when an attack is launched at her, and only by the spot where the attack is about to strike...does that mean she can't maintain it constantly? 

Let's test it out... 

I fired our a massive jet stream of water straight at her, and sure enough, it disappeared into the air as it reached her...let's keep this up for a while longer and see if her defense can keep absorbing it. Additionally, I'll also-... 

"Okay, seriously, how do you have so much Mana!? I mean, this is way beyond the upper capacity limit that humans should have...hahaha, this is so much fun!" 

Her voice wavered just a bit...she's getting nervous. That means that this is working...it's been more than ten seconds so far. What's more, it looks like she can't move much with that defense active, she has to remain still for the most part...interesting...

"If you're having trouble, then why don't you teleport away?" I responded, taunting her, before forming a small ice shard behind her and firing it through her back and bursting out through her chest, eliciting a stifled cry of pain from her. 

Just as I thought, it doesn't activate automatically, she has to manually activate it, it's useless against attacks that she can't see...and it looks like she can't teleport herself while teleporting something else at the same time. 

"Ow, that hurts....I've lived over seventy times longer than you have, don't tell me how to fight!" 

She's definitely getting nervous, let's keep this up for a while longer and see what happens...suddenly, as twenty seconds passed, she flew up in a rush, her lower half getting torn off by the force of my attack, a cry of pain escaping her lips as her top half continued to fly up with a look of agony on her face. 

So, her continuous limit with that defense is twenty seconds...and I'm willing to bet that she won't be able to use it again for at least a little while. I don't sense anyone else close by...good. 

Now, then, take this...Absolute Zero...followed by Icicle Forest Bloom. 

Towering spikes of ice burst out all around me in an instant, as the entire area within a hundred meters of my position got frozen, pillars and shards of ice forming all over the area, before I had several spikes of ice rapidly grow and extend towards her, branching out at an immense speed. 

She quickly restored herself in a hurry, the hole in her chest disappearing and her lower half returning, as she narrowly evaded getting impaled, my ice gashing her right shoulder. 

She zipped around at a blinding speed, too fast for my eyes...but the air was heavy with droplets of my Water Magic, I could sense her perfectly well...and if I focus, I can form and extend my ice at a speed fast enough to match and keep up with her. 

The fact that she's evading means that she really can't use that teleportation defense right now...this is my chance...I took a deep breath to compose myself, before closing my eyes and focusing sharply on my Water Mapping and Ice Magic output...let's see how long she can keep evading me... 

My sharp pillars of ice rapidly extended and branched out, chasing after her in the air, grazing her several times, but she was just about able to keep avoiding any major hits, using both her Weathering Magic and evasion to do so...I've never fought such a fast-paced battle so far, it's only been two seconds so far but it's felt like I've already made dozens of moves within that time... 

Hm, she can't use Weathering Magic on any ice that appear in her blind spots, that's why she's evading the ice that she can't weather. And the effort she's putting into evading likely means that she really doesn't want to use that restoration power again...but so long as my anti-General Magic barrier spell is active, she can't use any regular healing spells, so if I can keep inflicting heavy damage, she won't have a choice but to use her Restoration Magic.

And she's so focused on evasion that she isn't paying attention to anything but my ice...she doesn't even realize that she's starting to slow down bit by bit...the water droplets in the air, I was having them cling to her and freeze slowly...since there's so much ice making the air cold, she doesn't realize that her body is slowly but surely getting frozen and stiff with every passing second. 

What's more...I've now trapped her within my pillars of ice. I wasn't simply chasing her around with my ice...I was also using it to form a cage around her, by forming my ice to chase after her in a way that kept her moving within a fixed area, diverting her path several times to keep her within my clutches...and now, she had no room left to dodge.

With a snap of my fingers, all the ice pillars and branches used to form the cage extended inwards with several ice spikes, all shooting towards, with no room to dodge... 

Right before they could impale her...the edges disappeared as they reached her...damn it, it's only been five seconds, she can already use that defense again? She then swiftly used Weathering Magic on the ice around her with a quick spin around and then...she seemed to sink into the air behind it, as it shimmered...I see, that must be the teleportation she used before. 

She then reappeared, well away from the tangled, towered mass of ice, before taking a deep breathe and exhaling slowly. She's really powerful, even though it's fairly apparent that she hasn't fought like this very much before, or at least not for a long time. If she polishes the rust off her fighting skills, she'll be a real handful to deal with... 

"Wow, I never thought that a human, one with no external power boosts at that, could ever push me this far...amazing, this is incredible! What a rush, my mind was in pure chaos when I was just barely dodging your ice earlier!" She exclaimed with an ecstatic laugh, her face slightly flushed as her eyes gleamed with excitement. 

What's it going to take to kill her? I don't yet have to worry about Mana, I've got plenty to spare yet, and I've also got a Mana Orb on me, just in case. 

"Fighting you is annoying, just die already," I remarked in response, as I slashed out several water blades at her, she evaded some and used her defense to absorb the rest, but was being careful not to solely rely on it like before...tch, she's being more careful now, what a pain. 

The instant I ceased my attack, she drew back her fist, wrapping flames, wind and lightning around it...that looks quite intense, I should keep my distance. 

"Let's see you dodge this!" She smirked, driving her fist forward...as the air in front of her shimmered, her fist and forearm disappearing into it. 

And the next thing I knew, I could sense her fist and arm to my right...I reacted as fast as I possibly could, pointing my hand towards it, as the powerful attack closed in on me... 

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Th-that...that was close...the split second before it could make contact, I managed to freeze her fist and forearm, though my right hand and arm were burnt and numb...this hurts a lot, but I can still move my arm just fine, my skin was burnt but the damage hadn't gone any deeper. 

Meanwhile, her arm upto her elbow was frozen solid, and before I could spread the ice any further, she tore her arm off from above the elbow, before using her restoration power to restore it, a grimace on her face. 

Suddenly she teleported right above me and pointed her hand down at me, I fired a blast of water up at her as I leapt away and formed a massive pool of water above her. She used her defense to absorb the water blast, and as I used the pool of water above her to rain down water needles at her, she fired out a large blast of flames above her with one hand, evaporating several of the water needles, though plenty of them managed to pierce her. 

Her other hand was still pointed at me...and she fired out a shimmering wave at me, cutting through the air. Is that her Weathering Magic? If that hits me, I'm finished, but I...don't need to dodge or block it. That magic is no threat to me. 

I calmly stood still as the attack reached and struck me...and had no effect on me. I'll admit, I got a bit nervous for a second there, but just as I thought, with the defensive measure I've taken, her Weathering Magic is completely useless against me. 

"No way...hey, how'd you do that!?" She inquired with a fascinated look, "That should have aged you by a few decades, at least!" 

...yeah, no thanks, I don't want to get older like that. As for how I countered her attack...I had formed a thin, practically invisible membrane of water around me, and I'd manipulated the surface tension to make it more durable...of course, against a blade or something, it's not much more effective than paper...but against her Weathering Magic, it's the perfect defense. 

I can definitely defeat her...her Elemental Magic pales in comparison to mine, the fact that she has all five types at her disposal is meaningless. I'm impervious to her Weathering Magic, and I know how her shimmering teleportation works, both as a defense and in transporting herself...I'll push her to that twenty second time limit again, and in the following five seconds...I'll finish her off. 

"This time for sure," I muttered to myself, as I began forming a heavy mist around the area.

I haven't yet tested this out in a fight, because it makes my eyes basically useless...but since I've been able to keep up with her movements just fine using Water Mapping, I shouldn't have a problem. 

"Uh-oh, this isn't looking good. Well, there's no way that I can defeat you without killing you or using more Divine Magic than I'm comfortable with...so get ready," She remarked with a smirk. 

The air in front of her then shimmered, and as she drove her fist through it, I sensed it behind me, and as I swiftly spun around, I realized my mistake...I fell for a decoy...and I knew that, because I could sense her other hand behind me...I formed a wave of icy shards behind me, right as her hand touched my back and pushed me forward, before getting impaled several times by the ice shards. 

As I lost my balance and fell forward, I formed a bed a water to break my landing, but suddenly, the air ahead of her fist that was in front of me shimmered, and I went through it before I could evade it, everything going dark for an instant as I felt a tug behind my waist, before finding myself on a patch of grass...

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Where am I? I stood up and looked around...is this the Goldlands? Yeah, it is...what am I doing here? And it looks deserted...I could see a few people here and there, but they were all just laying about aimlessly, their eyes dead...guess this was to be expected after they were attacked by Demons. I wonder where the rest of them all went. 

Wait, no, I don't have time to worry about this place, I need to get back already! I think I have a teleport spell on me, and if not, I should still have some spare blank parchment on me, I can make a new one in no time at al-...wait, where's my pouch? As I reached behind to my lower back, where I usually keep my Spell Cards, Mana Orbs and whatnot...I couldn't feel it, it was gone. 

My eyes then widened with realization...that tug I felt as I got transported here, that must have been her pulling the pouch off my back...yeah, the straps around the back of my waist are torn. 

The only spell I have on me is the General Magic nullification spell I made during the fight, since I put that one in my pocket instead of my pouch...but it's kinda useless in this situation. Damn it, I'm stuck here...what do I do now? 

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