Point-of-View: Shiro Blanc

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  Okay, so I might have underestimated these people……the red-haired guy turned out to be stronger than I thought he was, and now my second fight was turning out to be much more of a challenge than I'd anticipated too. Lily, the green haired woman, had opted to go next.

  The weapon she wielded was called Poseidon's Trident, and it was crazy powerful. First off, she wielded it expertly, unlike Ren, her technique was a lot more complex and harder to read. And second, it can literally form water out of thin air, so it was equally useful in both long and close range combat.

  I was still fighting using just Vampire Mode, because while she is very, very strong, I should be able to take her in this form……that, and the fact that my Demon Mode only lasts for two minutes, while this form lasts twenty minutes.

  "What's the matter, is that all you've got?" She taunted, as she swung her trident across at me.

  "Don't get carried away, you haven't seen anything yet," I replied with a smirk, before using Teleport to slip behind while extending out a bone blade from my hand.

  She swiftly spun around and swung her trident up to counter the downswing of my bone blade, deflecting it away, before I countered with a fireball from my mouth. She responded instantly, swinging the trident straight back down, water swirling around the end of it and putting out the flames as it slashed through my fireball.

  I sprang back and fired out Repulsion at her, striking her midsection and sending her flying back, but before she could crash onto the wall of the barrier, she slammed her trident into the ground to halt herself, before easing the momentum and landing with a quick spin around the handle of the trident, returning to her stance in a swift, fluid motion.

  Okay, I have to admit, that was pretty smooth……she's good, she'll be alert to me using Repulsion again, so I should stop using it for a while. After all, I have plenty of other options to attack with up my sleeve. I fired out a barrage of wind-enhanced fireballs and lightning-coated water blasts at her from either hand, she either evaded and deflected the attacks with her trident, before dashing towards me at a rapid speed.

  I formed a second bone blade in my other hand and used Teleport to slip behind her, before driving my blades towards her. She swiftly responded by stomping on the ground with her heel, kicking up a chunk of earth towards my face, forcing me to deflect it, before she swung her trident towards me while spinning around fluidly.

  I began to form an Absolute Defense barrier since I couldn't yet use Teleport again, but it was too slow to form. The side of her trident struck one of my bone blades as I brought it up defensively to my side, shattering it and breaking my forearm and shoulder as I got sent flying off to my left, my left shoulder crashing onto the wall of the barrier and cracking it severely.

  Damn……she doesn't have as much brute strength as Ren did, but holy shit, does she pack a punch……my right arm was a mess, and even the right side of my ribcage was badly fractured……if she'd struck my left side instead of my right, I just might have been teleported out……these people have enough strength to overpower my reinforced skeleton, so the bone shield around my heart feels a lot less reassuring now.

  As I healed my broken arm, she shot towards me at top speed, her trident pointed towards me……I could get some distance with Teleport, but hey, this'll be some good training, if nothing else. She swiftly closed in and unleashed a barrage of thrusts at me, I narrowly avoided getting impaled, but got grazed several times.

  Suddenly, she angled the end of her trident down and swung it up and across towards the right side of my head……I tilted myself across to the left to avoid it, as the blade whizzed past my head……and then followed down after me.

  No way, she changed course way too quickly, that should have looked abrupt, and yet, it was perfectly smooth……she killed the momentum of her upward swing and then, in an instant, transferred the momentum into a downward swing at a mirrored angle to the initial swing……and given the way I was dodging, I was moving straight into the current trajectory of the swing.

  I gritted my teeth, forced my body to stop and then bent my knees to get lower while tilting my body back in the opposite direction, the side of the trident blade slicing through a few strands of my hair. Okay, I dodged it, somehow……as soon as I regain my balance, I'll jump off to the right and gain some dist……suddenly, my eyes widened as I realized that she wasn't done yet……

  "Gotcha, take this, Triangle Slash!" She exclaimed triumphantly, as the moment the line of her swing took the trident blade close to the ground, she flicked it straight across to the right with a wristy flick, slashing off my legs from below my knees before I could react.

  Not good, I need to get away! I quickly used Teleport to dart away, but as soon as I reappeared, she barely took a second to lock onto my position, before flinging the trident towards me like a javelin at an alarming speed, the weapon slicing through the air and kicking up dust clouds in its trail as it flew towards me.

  I can't defend in time! I began to try to put up an Absolute Defense barrier while also trying to deflect it away using Repulsion, but I couldn't get my hands in place in time……one of the prongs pierced my right wrist, pinning it to my chest, while the other two prongs went through my chest, cracking through my ribcage.

  My back slammed onto the wall of the barrier as I coughed out blood……that wasn't great for me, she's really good. Wrists like rubber and total precision control over them, she can generate full-powered swings from positions where most people would be too cramped or off-balance to even swing at all, and she generates a fair amount of power and momentum at that.

  She pointed her hand towards me, and as she did, the trident got wrenched out of me and flew back, she grabbed the handle as it reached her, swinging it around a couple of times and then pointing it at me with a confident look on her face. I let out a sigh as I grew back my legs and healed my fractured and broken bones. Defeating her in this state might be harder than I thought, she's powerful……

  "This has been fun, but it's time to end this!" She declared, raising her trident with both hands with the blade pointing downwards, "Have a taste of my finishing move, Poseidon's Wrath!"

  As she plunged the trident into the ground, a massive wave of water burst forth towards me, a literal tsunami rising up and poised to slam down on me……holy crap, she's got some serious power……though since she uses water, HE would probably be a terrible match for her……

  I stomped on the ground, using Earth Magic to kick up a dense dust cloud around me, as I entered Demon Mode. Okay, this is gonna be really, really tough, but it's definitely doable. She's right, it's time to end this……and now that I've entered my strongest form, it'll be over in a few seconds.

  Right as the mass of water began to crash down towards me, I raised my hands while channeling as much Mana as could as fast as possible……before activating Alchemic Magic as the water reached me……

  In an instant, most of the wave turned to steam, though enough was left to fill the barrier with an ankle-deep level of water. Right now, I'm grateful that Arturo Lagusa forced Kuro to get through a basic highschool level of education, I had just enough knowledge about molecules and physical states to turn water into steam……

  Now, then……before the dust around me fully cleared, I locked onto her position using Lightning Sensory Field and then fired out an Obliteration Magic blast at her, returning to my normal state as she vanished from my sensory ability. That didn't go too well……she injured me several times and forced me to go all out, even if it was just for a few seconds.

  Now that I've fought two of them, it seems a fair bet that these six are going to be useful assets against the Rustlands……the two I fought probably won't stand a chance against full powered Kuro or Azyl, but they can definitely go toe-to-toe with or even overpower most of the others. I'm down to about half in terms of both stamina and Mana, I think I'm good for one more fight before taking a break……

  "So, who wants to go next?"

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  Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

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