Damien's arm moved in a clean vertical slash. Mirage cleaved through the air, but with its nigh-translucent appearance, it almost looked as if Damien was attempting to sever Luo Sheng with his bare hand.
However, Mirage's delicate appearance said nothing of its strength.
When the sword came down, Luo Sheng moved rapidly to parry, crossing his daggers into an "X" to prevent Mirage from escaping their cage. His body twisted, his right hand sliding Mirage away while his left shot a quick stab into Damien's face.
Damien ducked immediately and pivoted his waist. His arm switched positions as if ignoring the laws of physics, escaping Luo Sheng's grasp and sending Mirage slashing diagonally across Luo Sheng's chest.
Haaaah!
Luo Sheng let out a war cry and gritted his teeth, pushing out both of his daggers to block. This was the only way he could offset Damien's fierce momentum.
His eyes shifted rapidly as he observed the scene. Before the collision of blades even occurred, Luo Sheng's foot lifted off the ground and snapped at Damien's ribcage.
'I need to end this quick!' He thought in panic. He couldn't afford to waste any more mana.
Knowing his enemy's situation, Damien grinned and followed through on his strike. Along with the sound of clashing metal, a large boom rang out from Luo Sheng's mana-infused kick impacting Damien's side.
But the result wasn't as he hoped at all. Luo Sheng felt pain like bolts of electricity traveling up his leg from the point of impact. Just from the wild reaction of his nerves alone, he knew that the bones in his leg were shattered.
'Is this guy made of steel?!' He panicked inwardly. His condition already wasn't good. Seven Stars Encircling the Moon left his body charred and flaking, and now that his leg was also shattered, his mobility had fiercely dropped. Even a single lapse in concentration would cost him his life.
The battle didn't pause to give Luo Sheng time to think. The entire time he did so, he was forced to fend off Damien's fierce barrage of sword strikes.
It was truly odd to have an enemy like this. Although his sword was brutish and lacking any sort of fundamentals or order, it was still a sword that struck true.
When it came to swordplay, this was Damien's advantage. His sword style was solely created for survival, and even after he left the dungeon, he never bothered to truly work on the fundamentals of his swordplay or its style.
The only thing he improved upon was the Void Sword Art, but this was an entirely different concept. If the Void Sword Art was subtracted from the equation, Damien would be left with scraps.
But these scraps were what he worked so hard in the dungeon to claw up. Even after reaching his current level, these scraps earned him many victories.
Damien's sword began to vibrate. While Luo Sheng attempted to recover from his barrage, he angled his sword parallel to the ground and stabbed out.
Luo Sheng's eyes widened as he sensed danger. His gaze hurriedly moved to see Damien preparing to unleash a skill. In that split second of time, he could no longer dodge.
The only thing he could do was rapidly push his mana to move his body, hoping he could change the attack trajectory to something less fatal.
'Void Sword Art Second Form: Horizon Break'
Bang!
"Keuk…!"
Luo Sheng coughed out a mouthful of blood. A hole roughly the size of a tennis ball appeared in his stomach.
"Tch." Damien clicked his tongue. Although he aimed for the heart, Luo Sheng barely realized what he was doing and moved his body. Otherwise, he would've directly won.
"Phew…" Damien let out a heavy breath, putting away Mirage. "It'd be nice if I could take your Sect Master, but I don't have that kind of power yet. A Vice Master's head should be enough to sate my hunger."
The battle thus far was truly intense. Although he didn't have to use his full strength, Damien certainly was pushed to the edge quite a few times. But even though Luo Sheng was at the peak of early 4th class, he wasn't at a level that could kill Damien.
It might not have been obvious, but the further Damien went to consolidate his strength, the more of his power he could truly utilize.
Even though what he used was just the regular Horizon Break that he'd long gotten used to, its power was enough to directly pierce a hole through the powerful body of a true 4th class.
This was far different than piercing through a pseudo-4th class like the 11th Elder of the Xue Clan.
While the Void Sword Art merely got strengthened because Damien's comprehension of space was further consolidated, space hadn't even been his main priority in these past months.
He'd already reached the peak of what he could do with space at his current power level. After he established his domain and understood the concepts related to it, he approached this step.
Of course, there was still plenty Damien didn't know about space. If he truly wanted to, he could go on and attempt to comprehend dozens or even hundreds of other concepts.
But that would make him similar to a jack of all trades, master of none. As he went further down the path of specialization, this kind of variety would become a hindrance rather than an asset.
Therefore, Damien only focused on the spatial concepts he was best at and the ones pertaining to Dimensional Magic. In this vein, the only way for him to continue was to pass his Baptism and gain access to the power of Laws.
Luckily for him, though, the starry sky wasn't just a chaotic void of space laws. There was another law that was just as prominent, being two sides of the same coin with space.
And this was where his time was mainly spent.
"Freeze."
The world obeyed his command. Within a 10-meter area that encompassed both Damien and Luo Sheng, everything froze.
The carnivorous plants growing out of the soil of the Outer Wilds were frozen mid-movement, one could even make out air currents that were forced to freeze by Damien's mana.
The only things that moved in this space were Damien and Luo Sheng.
Although Damien's skill in utilizing his Time Affinity was growing, it wasn't quite all-powerful yet. With Luo Sheng being a 4th class existence, he could still use brute force to move in the frozen space.
But that didn't mean his movements weren't hindered. Compared to when they fought in the Real Plane, Luo Sheng's speed was reduced by roughly 30%.
"Y-you…!" He strained to move his mouth. "What..is this madness?!"
If there was ever a time in his life when Luo Sheng was truly frightened, it'd have to be this very moment. His previous injuries already spelled out his death, but now he'd been shackled further?!
Even as he tried to be hopeful, he realized that the only path he had remaining was death.
The worst part was, he didn't even know his opponent. He didn't know what kind of existence Luo Tian had managed to offend.
Over the years, the pair of brothers had their fair share of adventures. Offending others was par for course when one competed for resources and lucky chances. But from all these perilous situations, the brothers rose and became stronger than they were before.
Never did Luo Sheng think…that his tenacious life would one day be taken by a mere brat!
