>BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!<
"Guark!"
The destructive blast of the Martial Blade God's attack was too much for even my shield. One hit was enough to send me crashing into the ground.
"U-urhh…" I groaned, rising from the massive crater which had formed as a result of my impact.
"When will you begin to fight earnestly?" A voice spoke from above me.
It belonged to the man who had kept me here all this time. Rather than searching for my allies, I was stuck engaging this person—nearing death many times already.
"Who said I'm not fighting earnestly?" I muttered, grunting as I glared at his looming figure.
The Martial Blade God—truly, he was worthy of his title.
A mere glance around revealed several craters—some ten times as large as the one I currently stood in. Whether on the ground or in the sky, this man remained unmatched. I tried various tactics to escape, but he always cornered me regardless.
'I understand why Neron said he wasn't sure who would win. Even I am not certain.'
I still hadn't seen the true depths of Neron's abilities, so I couldn't judge. But, from what I could see and also estimate… it seemed like the Martial Blade God was superior.
Not only did he have precognitive abilities, and speed which I hadn't seen Neron exhibit, but even when I used my Original Magic and supported the Arcana Abilities stored within with my Aether, he found a way to counter everything.
Time was ineffective against him—I tried!
Perhaps Neron's mastery over time would make a good difference, but the Martial Blade God could see through time. That was how he was able to decipher my identity. That was also why he could be so confident of my demise.
'Damnit…' I thought to myself.
Fortunately, with the few exchanges we had—mostly consisting of me fighting for my life—I was able to figure out something.
'He can see through time. But other than that one time he used it, he supposedly hasn't utilized it anymore. I can't be too sure, and this plan hinges on that assumption, but I'm running out of options!'
When the Martial Blade God supposedly looked through time, he would take in the information of the present, and it would split into the past and future.
'However, while the past is certain and fixed, the future can be malleable. He can't possibly see through all the versions of the future, so he simply takes in the present and it branches off to the more probable future—creating a more streamlined set of foreseeable events.'
Thankfully, the Martial Blade God was honest. It wasn't too difficult to extract enough information from him.
'Now, for my counter…' I watched as the Martial Blade God rushed at me with another strike.
To be honest, I couldn't evade his assault. Space wouldn't warp properly, so my teleportation wasn't going to function well. Displacing an object of mass, leaving a vacuum behind… that wouldn't work at all.
As I watched him get closer, barely able to move my body due to how fast my senses and his speed moved, I knew it was impossible to evade or block.
Even though my Familiars currently buffed me up, and my Elemental Chamber was active, and I was relying on my Arcana—something he wasn't doing—I could barely keep up with him.
He did tell me something amid our fight;
"You're making me exert full strength at base. Impressive."
Those were his words of praise, yet I couldn't help but feel insulted. Here I was, pouring out all I could—using all of my power—while he was simply relying on his normal strength. Despite all of that, the Martial Blade God was superior.
And now… he was ready to perform the execution.
Would I see my two lives flashing before my eyes? Would the images of those I cared about overlap in my head? Would regret and sorrow fill me up? Would I desperately cling for life despite all the hopelessness?
The only answer to these questions was simple—I wasn't going to die here!
'Thankfully… it's ready!'
*************
>WHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMM!!!!<
The Martial Blade God swooped down from above, well past the speed allowed to any mortal. Shockwaves and earth-shattering pressure surged form him as he sought to finally execute the young boy.
'He put up a good fight—more than the rest of them, apparently.' Truly, the Martial Blade God felt like Jared Leonard was worthy of the Nether Cult's attention and troubles.
However, what of it?
Ultimately, the boy was going to die by his blade… just as he had seen.
>BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!<
The attack connected, and the entire area suffered for it. For miles, the radiation of battle surged forth. Everything within that range was pulverized instantly.
It meant victory!
However…
"H-huh..?" The Martial Blade God whispered in shock.
He was usually composed, but the sight in front of him—what he held in his palm—was surprising, to say the least.
'This is…?'
A metallic odor tickled his nose as he held a scrap part of a supposedly artificial being. In one move, he crushed the metal object—most likely a heart—and inhaled deeply.
"He tricked me…" The Martial Blade muttered, staring far into the sky.
Jared was nowhere in sight, and the Martial Blade God even had trouble sensing him. It made him instantly realize what had just happened.
"Not bad." A smile formed on the swordsman's face.
"Not bad at all."
************
"Haa… I survived!"
It was no mean feat, escaping the clutches of such a powerful man. I actually thought I was going to die.
'Thankfully, I analyzed it right on time…'
What did I analyze, some might ask? Well, it was something even I did not expect to come in handy…
Damien Lawcroft's Original Magic!
As much as I didn't like the guy, and as simple as his Original was, it quite literally just saved my life.
'Damien's Original Magic allows him to switch places with any object he has marked—or to even switch the positions of two marked objects. Neron told me all about it during one of our conversations.'
I actually recorded his Magic during the Demon Incursion, even though I never really completed the process since I was busy with other matters. However, during that fight with the Martial Blade God, I had no choice but to resort to it.
'Damien's Original Magic worked because—unlike my Space Magic—it wouldn't leave a vacuum once I escaped.'
If I timed it perfectly, and chose an object with similar mass to replace me, nothing about the unstable nature of Space, at the time, could prevent the exchange from taking place.
So, I replaced my body with an automaton with a similar structure and Mass as me. The only limiting factor was the whole 'Mark' condition for Damien Lawcroft's Magic, so I had to replace it with a more convenient one.
It caused the process to take longer than it would have taken normally, but thanks to it, I was able to alter the Original Magic. I could swap places with objects I had control over—or objects connected to me.
All the Automatons I remotely controlled shared this connection with me, so it was convenient.
'Finally, to bypass the Martial Blade God's precognition…'
Since he could only see the present, which could branch out to the most probable future—and he didn't check again after the first time—I was able to develop a new Original Magic that escaped his future sight.
If he had been more careful, checking my future at every given moment, then it would have been my loss. Fortunately, his personality wouldn't allow that.
Putting all these factors into account, I was able to secure my escape.
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[A/N]
Mass Release off 10 chapters incoming!!!
Also, you can purchase the privilege chapters if you can. They've been made more affordable, so you can check out what happens 50 chapters ahead.
Things are reaching the climax.
Also, doing so supports me as the Author, and it also improves the publicity of this book.
Thank you all for reading this far. I appreciate the support.
