Three seconds into the stalemate.
He ignored her blatant flaunting of her power, and focused more on the Way. He would need a lot of power if he were to contend with her like this. His radiant heart worked automatically, providing him with more essence than he should be capable of wielding under normal circumstances. .net
The complicated layers of scripts over the matrix spun to accommodate more of the power he pulled from the way. He didn't think he could overwhelm the Radiant Heart, but it only took a month and a few days for him to reach the ceiling of the ability.
For all it was worth, he was contending with a transcendent's one by two-thousand five-hundredth fractions of power. And she wasn't like her younger avatar, who had barely advanced to the fifth step recently.
No, the elder avatar had been transcendent for decades, cultivated all her abilities to a deeper realm of mastery, and who knew how far she went in the paths.
Eight seconds...
Seconds flew by, as he focused on two important things. The first was on restricting the spear from drilling into his body, or affecting his core, while the other task was to inflict whatever damage he could.
A nerve-wracking agony impaled his mind, only his quirky [Indomitable Will] keeping him conscious. His mind had become numb within a dozen or so seconds into the stalemate.
Yet he was not prepared to give her an inch. He glared at her with all his might, while she met his gaze with cold intensity. Her look was vacant as she studied him with a practised expression of coolness. Her eyes were ancient, as though he could feel the staggering amount of time she had existed.
Or it could be her depth of power.
Fourteen seconds... Halfway there... he thought, gritting his teeth. The scripts were worn out with each passing moment, burning away all their efficiency to withstand her attack.
[The Divider] had found purchase in her wings, wrung in them, as essence bubbled up. Even if she was feeling some distress, she didn't show it in her expression, which had been stoic since they fell into this stalemate.
Well, calling it a stalemate was giving him too much credit, as with each passing moment, she was gaining more advantage over him. He was running out of void light, along with how it had become to draw void essence, making it nearly impossible to go any further with his attack.
Ariha was still stuck to him, but he was giving her a run for her money. He even managed to withdraw the spearhead from his gut by a couple of inches.
Two more seconds... He ignored the annihilation ringing in his mind, zeroing down all his mental faculties.
They shot through the storm, lightning churning, thunder booming deafening roars. He hadn't been able to see the end of them before in his three months' stay here, but he reached for a way out of them.
One second. The balance tilted in his advantage for one slight moment.
He tried to capitalise on that...
The bell rang for the fourth time, announcing the passing of the fourth minute, and also an end to the thirty seconds of her challenge.
But he didn't end.
Ariha didn't push for further ground. But he didn't stop. His mind had centred around only one work task. One accomplishment. To see it to the end.
"You have amazed me," a voice transferred into his mind. Ariha's voice. "With your creativity, wild demeanour, the thrill, and most importantly, with your nihilistic idiocy."
It took a moment for his mind to resist what she told him, and even still, he was flabbergasted to make sure he interpreted them correctly.
"You did good, kid," she said in a soft voice. "Now leave the rest to me."
Then she drilled the spearhead into his gut.
[DOMAIN DECREE: MANDATE OF RENEWAL]