The skill-shrouded heart had been used, one that consumed all of the user's mana, regardless of their stage or the amount of mana they possessed. All of it flowed to one place, to safeguard the mana core surrounded by the heart.
It wasn't a final defensive move, per se, because the skill primarily protected a single location. If Feebie had chosen to launch a final attack towards his head or elsewhere on his body, he would still be injured, which explained the large wound on his back from the attack.
In most cases, it was easier for the target to move the head. The skull was also a good defensive measure and Raze had learned that in martial arts, in general the techniques learned weren't attack's aimed at the head.
Whether this was some type of honour code he really wasn't sure, but it meant with probability that Feebie was most likely going to aim for the heart if she wanted to kill him.
'I have to come to the conclusion that, with the way I am right now, I can't defeat the clan head in this state! If I was Healed it might be a different story, but I can't be stubborn about this!' Raze thought to himself.
Especially without his magic skills, his trump card. He soon noticed the rubble moving, and shortly after, Feebie had emerged from it. She had a few marks on her clothing and head from the rubble, but there were no serious wounds on her body.
"You seem to be full of surprises, don't you? Capable of blocking such a strong attack like that. The more I go against you, the more I realize that you are someone who needs to be eliminated!"
Feebie didn't charge straight in after her powerful attack was blocked and she suffered some of the blowback; she was now slightly cautious. That was exactly what Raze needed.
Looking into his hand, Raze could see the blue pill. 'Using the Shrouded heart, it has the same effect as taking the cursed pill, draining me of my mana. If I take a second pill, I'll be in an even worse amount of pain. Even with my body at its current stage, I doubt I could take more than three of these pills, especially with no time in between them.'
'Right now, I have no choice. I will just have to deal with the pain afterward.' Raze lifted his hand and swallowed the pill. It was a hard thing to do normally, but with his pain, it was even more difficult.
A few moments later, the energy surged within him once again. The magic core was ignited, but it would only last for one minute. 'For one minute, I have my magic powers back. That's all. In that time, I have to figure out a way out of this situation!'
Raze slammed his foot on the ground, and in response, the sand in front of him started to freeze over in the area. It appeared to be heading toward Feebie, and in response, she stepped back, jumping on top of one of the houses.
Immediately, Raze started to run to the side, firing several Dark pulses in the direction she was in. Pulse after pulse went her way, but instead of dodging them, she swung her arms, deflecting the Dark Magic attacks.
"You'll need to launch a much stronger attack than that!" Feebie shouted. "Is your power weakening after your last attack?"
Hearing this, Raze shifted to the side, bringing both of his hands together and started gathering more of his magic. Then, using the second stage, he sprinted forward with Qi and extended both of his hands.
'Dark Canon!'
Instead of a small beam of dark energy, this was a continuous beam of dark energy, much larger than the Dark pulse. The attack struck the building she was standing on, completely destroying it.
Feebie tumbled to the ground, and at first, she had braced herself, using her body, Qi, and hand wraps to take the hit. She placed her shoulder forward. The attack had hit her, and she instantly felt the Dark magic burning her Qi as well.
She tried to move, and the beam of energy followed her, pushing her back through the ground and skidding her across the floor.
'I have one minute with all my mana restored, that's all I have. After that minute, all of my mana will disappear anyway, so I don't have to worry about conserving it. I can just attack as much as I can!'
Raze wasn't just standing still while using the Dark Canon; he decided to push himself, continuing to move through the sand. His breathing was out of sync, and he could barely gather Qi to help him move fast, but it didn't matter.
Feebie eventually jumped in the air; the attack from the Dark Canon had stopped. When she was looking for somewhere to land, she could only see the ice on the floor, but it didn't seem to do much.
'Was the ice just a distraction, or was I wrong about his power weakening? Does he have a way to defeat me? It makes me wonder, should I just try to buy time until he runs out of power?'
Feebie second-guessed herself because the last attack was a strong one, and he wasn't slowing down in the abilities he was performing. Eventually, Feebie crashed into the ground, breaking the ice beneath her.
Upon landing, she expanded her Qi and cracked it all over the place. She turned her head to see where Raze was, and that's when she spotted him, next to the lifeless, dried-up body, the body of the person he had killed.
"What are you doing? Was this your plan all along?" Feebie said, confused.
'I just needed a bit of a helping hand,' Raze thought as he used his special Dark Magic spell.
'Recreate.'
Dark magic started to swirl around the body, and in response, it began creating a human figure. The Dark shades made a person of the same height as the man on the ground, with the same body structure and even the details of his clothing. Although not clear or colored in the same way, they were distinctive enough to tell it was the same person.
"Is that some type of demonic art, reanimating the dead?" Feebie asked, as it was the only explanation that made sense to her.
With the recreated Dark magic image of his attacker, Raze had an ally. In this situation, it would have been better to have the statue, but he needed to improvise. Because this was more for show in the first place. The strength of the Dark magic Recreate wouldn't be like the statue's, which could fight fully; it could only emulate the attacks but not use Qi or anything like that.
The recreated attacker charged forward, heading straight for Feebie. At the same time, Raze lifted both of his hands up and started to swirl them around. In doing so, the sand began moving at great speed throughout the entire area.
A sandstorm was forming, covering the entire area and making it difficult to see.
Feebie could see the dark figure coming toward her and had thrown a punch, which she had caught instantly.
"I thought as much; I don't really have a reason to be scared of you. All of this is just tricks, after all!" Feebie claimed.
With her other fist, she started to gather Qi in the wraps, spiraling it and hardening it like a drill. She then shoved it toward the center of the dark figure, creating a hole in its center.
"There's no blood... and this thing feels as if it's still alive."
The Dark figure then exploded right in front of her face, with pieces of Dark magic dispersing in all directions. Some parts of the Dark magic hit her, causing her Qi to take damage.
She covered her head. 'He's going to attack me again, hit me with that Dark Canon. I have to
be ready.'
Feebie looked around, trying to see where Raze was, but the sandstorm that had been created blocked her vision. However, after a short while, no follow-up attack came.
She looked around, and the sandstorm was dying down. Finally, the sand started to settle, and only then did she realize what had happened. Both of her fists were shaking, her jaw clenched hard.
"That little white-haired twerp, he ran away! He ran away!" Feebie shouted. "But... he couldn't have gone far. Even if he manages to escape through this portal, there will be more waiting for him. And besides, he has his friends to worry about as well."
Looking on the ground, Feebie saw something in the sand, and it was blood. She remembered the wound she had inflicted on Raze.
"He couldn't have gone far. All he's doing is delaying the inevitable. Raze, the White Dragon, you will meet your end no matter what, and you will learn the power of the Lethal Bite Clan."
