"Life doesn't get easier or more forgiving; we get stronger and more resilient."
― Steve Maraboli
***
As the whistling sword swept towards the man's neck, his frozen facial features twitched ever so slightly, his pupils constricting..
And as the blade dug into the man's neck, about to pass all the way through and sever his head, a blast of force, along with a turbulent wave of rampaging mana erupted from the man's every pore.
It was the deployment of a dominion…, no, it was something else, something more …complete than a dominion.
I channelled all the accumulated mana and the force from my dash into the blade. The mana seeped through the blade into the half-open neck of the bastard, but my sword refused to move forward and sever his head completely..
Sensing the tidal wave of turbulent mana sweeping past my figure, I hurriedly pushed off the man by kicking off his torso and leaping back in a flurry of action.
Even while moving faster than the man could react, I missed the sudden whipcrack of his stinger-like tail. It slashed across my midsection, leaving a gruesome gash, which would have nearly split me in two if I didn't twist midair.
Grimacing and pressing the bloody wound with one hand while pumping mana into it, preventing blood loss and my guts from spilling, I unfurled my own dominion in turn.
My eyes shone yellowish-red, and my blade heart thrummed akin to a war drum; all my comprehension of the blade and speed was projected outwards in the area of the surrounding fifty meters.
The ground turned sandy, and an unnatural light shone from the tiny grains.
[Shores of everlasting sunset]
My soul, my essence, my everything was projected outwards, bending my surroundings into my image.
Beyond this range, the world remained the same; the cave was still being illuminated by the lingering fire alongside the pools of magma at the edges, but something was wrong with the ambience.
It felt like I was inside a dominion, and at the same time, not; it felt as if I was still in the huge and empty cave, but at the same time, it felt as if I was staring at the sun.
The temperature continued to rise, but the cave still didn't look any different from earlier.
With a sombre expression, I looked at the wounded man with a frown.
The dragonoid-human, who had his neck almost severed, was clutching at the wound tightly, his fingers firmly grabbing the severed flesh and pressing it back into its place.
Soon, his blood ignited, and flames danced across the torn flesh. Then, a torrent of mana, my mana, erupted from the grievous wounds, as if driven out by the fire. And as if time was reversing, the wounds began mending themselves faster than ever, even the mangled side of his face began regenerating at a maddening pace.
Seeing this, I pushed the dread creeping from the depths of my heart down, urging my weary body forward straight towards the man.
Seeing me approach again, the man growled with a maddened undertone, released his hand, and got into a stance while erupting forward.
Expending this much mana was draining, causing my reserves to be nearly empty; only the continuous torrent of mana and life force from the quintessence stones kept me going.
Looking at the man's features, his neck was nearly healed; that sight made my heart drop. But still, I pushed onwards.
As we again neared one another, the man raised his flattened hand, pointing ahead as if raising a spear to meet my attack head-on.
Inside a dominion, every attack was enhanced several-fold, and thus every technique deployed consumed more mana and, as a result, was more lethal.
I stabbed at the man; in return, he parried the blow and erupted with a roundhouse kick, which ignited with cyan-amethyst flames at the last moment.
I slashed ahead using [mana severance]. In return, he sidestepped the incoming blade light with effortless grace.
He then crouched low and swept a flurry of flaming claw strikes at my abdomen and vital organs. In turn, I split into several figures using [Illusiory sword], responding by hacking at him from several directions.
We both danced to the tune of battle and murder, filled with the drive to end each other's lives. Our figures flickered around the gigantic cave, leaving booming shockwaves and splitting the ground under us at several places; meanwhile, other areas were left fissured and cracked by the physical blows and the rampaging fire.
The dragonoid-human had a beastly grimace on his face during the confrontation, while his technique was the epitome of brutality, paired with inhuman instincts. He seemed to want to blast me to pieces using the fire or rip me apart using either his claws or the continuous barrage of knees, kicks, or even the stinger-like tail, which wanted to puncture me through.
All the while, I might have been slightly faster than him, but in terms of raw power, the man's every attack seemed to carry the weight of a mountain behind it. I had to make sure that the blows didn't connect, or I would be done for.
The contrasting looks on our faces during the clashes were evident, and as I continued to slash, stab, parry, dodge, and weave through the incoming attacks, my face was getting more and more grave by the passing moments, while a manic grin was spreading on the bastard's face.
It was because my blows were lagging slightly by the passing seconds, while the attacks coming at me were getting heavier, more difficult to dodge or parry.
'This!!...this is just like before!... Not only a limited area, but the entire space in sight seems to be working against me, trying to kill me!!'
It was definitely the work of this bastard's 'will'; this conjecture was further proven due to how his dominion didn't manifest, but seemed to be layered on top of the world. Making the inside of his dominion no different from the world itself.
'Damn it!!'
Seeing no other viable option for survival if it continued like this, I stepped on the air using [Phantom flicker] and darted to the ceiling of the cave.
During normal combat, the only directions you had to worry about were the four cardinal directions and sometimes up. But in an aerial battle, it became a more perilous undertaking due to the direction of movement.
Seeing me move, the man also leapt up, shattering the ground below. While moving up, he brought his palms together and launched a massive torrent of flames straight at my figure.
Sensing the flames about to engulf me, I dashed to the side and barely weaved out of the flames' path. Then, reaching the ceiling of the cave, which was also battered due to a barrage of attacks, I pushed nearly every drop of the inflowing mana into my sword and sheathed it back into the scabbard.
Taking a deep breath, I got into Iaijutsu stance and crouched low, preparing to unleash the next attack.
Seeing my actions, the man opened his maw, and emerging from his throat, five glassy balls of bluish white flames roared to life. They rotated, starting to whirr, sounding akin to volcanoes on the verge of eruption.
I opened my eyes and looked at the familiar scene before me. My heart calmed, and my body relaxed. In the next second, a ferocious expression appeared on my face as I swung forward with all of my might.
[Duskblade sixth form - Apollyon's onslaught]
My dominion glowed as a myriad of blades emerged from my slash and shot forward, tearing through every single obstacle in my path, honed straight towards the dragon's figure.
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[A/N]
No chapters for tomorrow or the day after that, cus' I've got exams.
PS- comment down below how the chapter felt, any faults in the fights or unnatural dialogue.
See ya'll.