Chapter 354 - Full Power
"You have been holding back this whole time?" Kai gritted his teeth while looking at the track.
"I don't know what you are talking about…" Ria Ross looked away.
"It's a foolish question, I guess."
"There is only a winner and a loser. The one who is defeated is the loser, and you are going to be that." She smirked. Although she already knew that Kai could make a small magic circle, she didn't know he could control it to even place it between his thighs. However, it couldn't be called holding back like her since he had shown the potential.
Meanwhile, Ria never changed her track this whole time. And it wasn't like she could improve to something like this within days or weeks. She must have trained it for a long time, even before he came to this house.
"I am going to beat you today and shove those words to your mouth." Kai clenched his sword.
"Try it. I will prove you wrong." She pointed her sword toward him.
Kai created a few more Sound Blast magic circles, aiming at her. "Sound Bullet."
A few shock waves flew toward her.
Ria looked at Kai instead of the shock waves, finding whether Kai's body leaned to the left or right. As soon as she confirmed it, she leaped to the right, avoiding both the bullets and Kai.
However, Kai only smiled as his left hand was behind his body, and Ria couldn't see it because he had moved slightly to the left like she predicted.
When she saw two magic circles on Kai's ears, she realized everything was a trap. "Sh*t!"
Ding.
The high-pitched voice echoed in the room, and Ria felt her eardrums wanted to explode. Her grips were also loosening.
Kai used his Sound Blast again to cover the distance between them and slashed his swords.
Bam.
The sound of ground cracking as Kai just made a crater with that strike, pinning Ria on the ground.
He soon realized that Ria was not injured and found two pillars that stopped his swords.
"Such a powerful blow." Ria smiled. Before Kai pulled back his swords, she used her hand to send another two Sword Strikes that attacked him from two different sides.
Without having many choices, Kai directed both his swords to blow the attacks away before taking a few step backs. Ria would surely send another strike again if he stood there.
Seeing this, Ria rose from the ground and let out a long sigh. "I have never expected you to try to fool me."
"You always predicted my movement, so I have been thinking what your indicator is. After doing some research, it turns out to be my gesture." Kai smiled.
"That's why you used that to your advantage to hide the fact that you were using a magic circle…" She paused for a moment and summoned another pair of swords.
They both took a deep breath before leaping toward each other. Both of them were stressed due to the high pace fight, and the accumulation of all the fights from before really took a toll on their minds. So, they decided to clash with only their swords.
The clash continued for ten minutes to cool down until Ria made her move.
Ria pointed her hand on the ceiling as a magic circle appeared. "Sword Rain."
Three swords emerged and flew toward him.
Kai slashed those three swords without a problem.
Ria chose to use this opportunity to get close to him before slashing her sword toward his neck.
Kai smiled and released everything since the first fifteen minutes had passed. He wanted to finish this battle within the time limit, so he activated this instinct that he called Beast Intent. At the same time, he used this opportunity to activate his Sonic Boom for the first time.
"Sonic Sword." Kai struck her sword.
"Not good!" Ria widened her eyes and immediately created a shield in front of her. When the four swords clashed, the Sound Wave that the sonic boom generated flew to all directions other than Kai's direction. It was the result of his training.
He had managed to control the direction after fighting this long. With this kind of power, Ria was blown away, and her shield was broken, albeit she still didn't manage to cut her down.
"…" Ria took a few deep breaths while landing perfectly on the wall before launching herself toward Kai again. "This is annoying."
"It's good then." Kai smiled and clashed with her again.
Ria was blown away once again due to the accumulated force from his strength and shock wave. She wouldn't stand a chance against this, so she changed her strategy.
'What should I do? He has destroyed the Sword Rain and started using his full power, so I need a trick to wear him out first before defeating him…Or should I…' Ria thought for a moment before shaking her head. She slashed her swords to send the Sword Strikes again, confusing him.
Kai could see that both strikes went to the same path, so he didn't bother checking the lines and immediately struck with his left sword while maintaining his distance from it. Even if Ria changed the path again, he wouldn't get hit.
However, Ria shocked him once again because it was creating a straight vertical line using her white metal to climb the ceiling and struck him from above.
"!!!" Kai instinctively blocked it with his swords. "Seriously? You can even make the vertical one, not just a slope?"
The slope alone that slowly turned into a 360 degrees vertical turn was already shocking enough for him. But it turned out she could bend it even further like this.
"You're right." She appeared right in front of him while smiling. "Now, die."
Kai gritted his teeth and stopped the sword wave with his right sword alone while the other sword was heading straight to his front to stop Ria's swords.
Ria ducked down and slid her sword on Kai's sword.
Noticing this movement, Kai created two Sound Bullets to hit her sword's body, deflecting the swords. At the same time, another two Sound Bullets appeared next to her, trying to either launch or injure her.
Ria put on a shield to block the bullets, but Kai sent a kick instead of the Sound Bullet, blowing her away.
She sent another Sword Strike to him, but Kai was already fed up with all these lines on the ground.
"Since you can create every kind of track, I simply need to destroy the foundation first," Kai shouted as he slashed his sword to the ground. The Sound Wave coming from the Sonic Boom splashed all over the ground, creating cracks after cracks on the ground.
"!!!" Ria widened her eyes, never expecting Kai to ruin the entire pattern by destroying the foundation itself. However, Ria remained calm and said, "Do you think I can't do anything about it?"
Waving her swords once again, she sent another two Sword Strikes that were about to follow the tracks.
Due to the scale of the damage Kai inflicted to the ground, he still had half meters to react. If these Sword Strikes could continue despite not having the track, he should be able to get away before it hit him.
He used this measurement due to what Ria showed in the past. Her Sword Strike never flew off its track. Even if it was the momentum, it only leaned slightly to the front. This half-meter was enough for him to avoid the residual energy unless Ria was still holding back this whole time.
It turned out Ria didn't hold back as she appeared right after he turned around to destroy her attacks.
She suddenly felt a punch on her stomach that blew her to the ceiling.
Kai was acting this whole time. He never planned to destroy the two Sword Strikes because he believed these two wouldn't hit him.
That was why after she flew, Kai leaped toward her and waved his swords. The shock wave coming from the Sonic Boom tried to cut her too if she tried to escape while some destroyed the magic circle.
Unfortunately, Ria managed to get away while looking at him with a serious expression.
"Where are you going, Teacher?" Kai smiled with confidence. "Only ten minutes left from the time limit. I am going to end you before that."
"Since that is the case, I won't hold back anymore. It's not like we will fight for too long." Watching how Kai used his new power to the fullest, she should fight back with everything she had.
A few white swords suddenly appeared as she closed her eyes. Her grey hair slowly turned white and glowed.
"This might be the first time you have seen me in this form. This is the magic that I have been working for to kill an S rank magical beast, albeit I am not fast enough to complete this magic." She smiled.
"The magic is fluctuating?" Kai narrowed his eyes and couldn't help but ask. "What is that?"
"Sword Saint Form." She answered, and the swords began to swirl around her. Suddenly, she opened her eyes as a sword mark appeared on her eyes.
Kai got a shiver when she opened her eyes and instinctively raised both swords to block something. To his surprise, a shock wave flew toward him before turning into a sword.
It hit directly on both swords and blew him away.
Rolling on the ground, Kai used Oscillation Shield to block the incoming swords that had been swirling around her.
Clank.
Clank.
Clank.
The power behind these swords was beyond his imagination. He couldn't understand why the swords contained more power than usual, but he endured it all…Until one moment when his Oscillation broke, and one sword passed it, stabbing the side of his abdomen.
*Spat blood*