50% OFF Discount, offering up to 60 Chapters in advance, is active.
************************
Wooden splinters flew like compressed mini nuclear bombs, Kai and Mang Jian's figures blurring through the Cursed Vault of Fear, uncaring of both cabinets and Boggarts.
"To think that your greatest weapon wasn't these swords but your mind," the Blind Executioner praised, matching Kai's insane speed to the rhythms. "I know no Ability like this..."
Suddenly, with a massive SCREECH, the space between them split apart, creating a long scar of utter blackness as their Telekinesis Abilities struck each other.
With a BOOM, Kai and Mang Jian separated, the space tear sucking in all the nearby Boggarts before closing up.
Kai wielded the overwhelming Supreme Kanshou and Limitless Bakuya Overedge, strain building up in his wrists.
If he hadn't figured out the secret of Mang Jian's Shikai, then he wouldn't be Kai anymore.
Intent Severance… Kai contemplated. The Blade of Null—Sento—is nothing but a medium. His true Shikai is the severance of all intents…
Despite having the Ad Infinitum, Lucky Intuitions, and Advanced Observation Haki, it was nigh impossible to counter Mang Jian's Shikai.
Even if Kai had become a monster, there were things that he still couldn't do without.
Lucky Intuitions, combined with his Advanced Observation Haki, could generate millions of probable scenarios. The Ad Infinitum could then process all those probabilities, letting Kai know the scenario with the greatest chance of happening.
In 99.99% of the cases, the Advance Ad Infinitum with 85% Proficiency never failed to see the future for Kai, letting him conspire against Fate itself.
Yet, there was a caveat in all this; a caveat that hadn't mattered to Kai before.
Now, it had become the factor that could decide life and death for him.
The Ad Infinitum was an AI. Like all Artificial Intelligences, it worked best if it had a good set of data. For Ad Infinitum, this set of data contained information obtained by Kai's senses, Observation Haki, and Lucky Intuitions, which, further, depended on the senses, completing a loop.
So, if the data fed to the Ad Infinitum was tampered with, then…
Intent Severance was not only severing Kai's intent of sight, hearing, observation, and other concepts, but it was also severing Mana, Spirituality, and Natural Energy. Every random fluctuation in these three was nothing but data on which his Lucky Intuitions and Ad Infinitum worked.
With Mang Jian cutting those intents as he wished, Kai felt like all his actions were delayed.
As if that wasn't enough…
Mang Jian, surrounded by falling wooden debris, just disappeared from Kai's vision.
Ad Infinitum had been locked onto the enemy's body all this while, recording the tiniest movements—whether of clothes, the spatial fluctuations around the Blade of Null, or the tiniest disparity in the rhythms of his breathing.
Yet, as Mang Jian's blade tore through Kai's right shoulder, leaving behind a gaping wound, it was as if the man hadn't even moved.
Not only that, but the Blind Executioner's every attack also severed the intent to counter or dodge, delaying the signals from Kai's nervous system to his body.
The only reason Mang Jian failed to mutilate him beyond redemption was —
"… you did it again," the Blind Executioner remarked, appearing where he had been standing before. "Your Zanpakuto?"
Yes.
It was Ayin who had been letting Kai survive through the two released swords.
As the Zanpakuto was not tethered to his Intents, being an independent existence that remained within his Reality Marble, Mang Jian could not sever its directions.
This wouldn't have been possible without unleashing the full Limitless Blood Firmament before. That would have consumed Kai's Mana like a bucket with a hole in it, leaving him nothing to use for his other Skills, especially against Mang Jian.
With Gradation Blood and Crest Worms, however, not only could Ayin participate in battles more actively, but Kai could keep using his Shikai without worrying about MP, SP, and HP.
—Kekeke!— Ayin cackled. —You seem to have met your match, Kai. Anyone else in your place would have died a hundred times over by now…—
Kai didn't doubt Ayin's words.
At first, he had been having second thoughts about the rumor of Mang Jian killing a 12th Floor Glitched Contestant from Order's side, especially when the former was on the 11th Floor.
Now, seeing his Shikai, Kai knew what must have led to that incomprehensible event.
Yet, the question persisted.
How was Mang Jian moving so fast?
—No Spatial fluctuation,— Ayin worded Kai's thoughts. —No temporal ones, either. Between his positions, there's no Mana, Breath, or Natural Energy distortion. It's like…—
"… You are occupying the intent of motion…" Kai said.
Mang Jian finally expressed something more than shock. "… Commendable," he said, accepting the guess. "All intents create spiritual paths… You are full of them… It's like every second, you are creating a thousand scenarios to move, picking one at the end. I can enter these Spiritual Paths. As these paths already exist, I don't need to create one for myself. It gives an illusion of teleportation, but one couldn't have been more wrong. I call this — Path Severance."
Kai stared at the Blind Executioner.
There was a reason that the enemy had so openly accepted his guess.
Because even if Kai knew how it worked, there was no way he could counter it.
These scenarios, which generated a thousand paths for Mang Jian, were nothing but possibilities suggested by Ad Infinitum. As long as the AI kept preparing him for attacks, sooner or later that preparation itself would end up killing him.
Unless…
"… Can you see them now?" Kai asked, relaxing his shoulders.
For the first time, Calm overpowered everything, kicking Lucky Intuitions and Ad Infinitum to the back.
"Incredible…" Mang Jian took a step forward, stunned. "You have an Emotion-based Elite Ability…"
Kai smiled calmly. "Let's go for round two…"
A HISS tore through the millions of drawers as he shot himself forward.
"That… is not up to you…" Mang Jian said, lifting his right hand, his palm facing Kai.
Severance Style: Second Technique —
Mang Jian pulled his hand back and pushed with a jerk.
"Cough!" Kai coughed up blood as a handprint appeared on his body and soul, before he was flung back with even greater force, ripping apart everything.
— Reversal Step of a Thousand Paths!
****************
AN: Up to 60 more chapters are available in advance across three Tiers. [Use the link in my Webnovel profile to access all options.]
You can even subscribe to the Trial Tier for just 1 dollar to have an experience of exclusive chapters for an entire month. I hope a few of you will consider supporting the work.
100 Power Stones/day: +1 Bonus Chapter next day