âWhen he used miasma before, his entire body was giving off the aura similar to what a demonized person or a demon would give...â
âBut now that heâs using mana, his body is giving off the same aura that usually only awakeners untainted by miasma give off...â
âHow is this even possible?â
Rio felt truly shocked and baffled from the very bottom of his heart, but his face remained emotionless.
Even Rio himself, who can control both miasma and mana, canât simply erase the presence of miasma and mana from his body in such a short amount of time!
Whenever Rio uses mana or miasma, they both leave a lot of mana and miasmic fluctuations around him and in his body that stay there for a while.
But it was completely different with Raika.
It was as if he was a genuine mana user and a genuine miasma user both!!
When he used mana, he only had mana fluctuations! Rio could not detect any miasmic fluctuations from him, which was a sign that he hadnât used any miasma-related skills before at all!
âAre there two of them?â
This situation was so bizarre that Rio started to consider if there were two separate but similar-looking Raikaâs were attacking him and they both might have different types of powers.
âI will need to land at least one hit to understand what this weirdo actually is...â
Rioâs eyes narrowed as he immediately swung his sword at an incredible speed.
[Sword Intent!]
[Elemental Sword Art: Thunder Type: Thunder Cannon!]
Rio used Liaâs signature move of feinting and showing that he was about to do a slash but did a quick thrust attack with immense power!
"Ohhh~ I can feel it in my soul that you are getting serious now~"
[Echo of Paradise: Tigerâs Symphony: Echo of Redirection!]
To Rioâs shock, Raika used Liaâs skill of using a lion claw attack like slashes to parry Rioâs thrust attack, causing Rio to miss the target as his sword was redirected to the wrong side by those powerful shockwaves mimicking Liaâs skill.
*BOOOOM!*
Rioâs swordâs tip hit the ground after missing the target, and a massive explosion happened, blasting a huge crater in the ground as debris flew in all directions!
[Elementals Sword Art: Earth Type: Iron Spear Rain!]
Rio didnât waste a single millisecond and immediately used the earth elemental in the area to create massive iron spears the size of five-story buildings as he jumped in the sky and distanced himself from Raika.
Rio raised his sword in the sky and then swung it down towards Raika as dozens of gigantic iron spears launched at Raika with a speed faster than missiles!
*BOOOM!* *BOOOM!* *BOOOOM!*
[Sword Intent: Maximum Output!]
[Elemental Sword Art: Thunder Type: Golden Thunder Heavenly Bombardment!]
The giant metal spears were not Rioâs main attack weapons; Rio spread his sword intent to detect any mana or miasma fluctuation in the area in hopes of finding if Raika had âteleportedâ once again.
Then Rio used the âGolden Thunder,â unique to the dragon race, which he copied back in his trip to the dragon valley, and bombarded the entire area of dozens of kilometers with massive amounts of it.
Using the giant metal spears as mediums, Rio conducted those powerful, thick golden bolts of thunder and did a complete area-wide attack; he didnât spare a single inch of the area and blew apart everything in sight!
*BOOOOOOOM!!!!*
The entirety of the cage was shattered and broken beyond recognition.
A crater the size of dozens of kilometers was created in the ground as hundreds of tons of debris were blown in all directions and destroyed to the point that they turned into fine dust!
Only the giant sealed door and Ellie, who was standing near it, were left unharmed because of the powerful purification magic around that giant hill.
Except for that giant hill, every other place inside the giant cage was completely destroyed.
âItâs impossible to teleport near that hill due to the powerful purification magic, and Raika was still quite far away from it; thus, he couldnât have managed to physically walk there either...â
âThe only way to reach that safe zone would have been to rush there fast... but he didnât go there...â
Standing in the sky, Rio spread his sword intent and noticed that Raika was nowhere to be seen.
âItâs confirmed... heâs not using âTeleportationâ or any âspace-timeâ-related ability at all... this is something else...â
Rio used âGolden Thunderâ specifically to check if Raika was using any space-time-type ability to appear and reappear around him because the âGolden Thunderâ is a power that has the âlawâ of âthunderâ manifested in it.
When Rio copied this skill from the dragon princess, he already figured out that this skill was unique because it could manifest the power of a âlawâ of the âworldâ in itself!
Rio managed to trick the âlawâ of âthunderâ to manifest in his own skill because of his âLimitless (X)â talent and sword aptitude.
And when a âlawâ of the âworldâ manifests and is used in some place, it makes the use of teleportation and many other instant movement-type skills near impossible, as it creates a lot of instability in the spatial fluctuations of the area.
Rio used the golden thunder to block out any possibility of a teleportation or any other instantaneous movement art being used.
Rio obviously had other skills, like miasma and space-type skills, that were good at interfering with the spatial fluctuations, but they were slow, and their effect speed was also very slow.
Golden Thunder was one of the fastest and most efficient skills that Rio had in his arsenal, which could work at such a fast speed that it could even ignore the very âlawsâ of âphysicsâ and âcosmosâ sometimes.
"You really have a bit too many skills up your sleeve, donât you, Rio Flash?... I really donât understand why you are able to even copy othersâ abilities no matter if they involve the use of âLawsâ of the âworldâ..."
Just like Rio had expected, Raika was completely unscathed from that powerful attack and from the bombardment of the golden thunder.
He appeared right in front of Rio as if trying to mock him for not being able to land a single attack on him despite doing all that.
âItâs not illusion, itâs not teleportation, itâs not concealment or stealth and itâs not any kind of movement art either...â
Rio stared into Raikaâs eyes, unaffected by that mocking expression on Raikaâs face.
His face remained emotionless as he took his stance once again.
âI need to run a few more tests... I think I am starting to get it now...â
As if noticing the glare in Rioâs eyes, the smile on Raikaâs face disappeared as he clenched his lyre in his hands tightly.
"You are really fascinating, Rio Flash... The more I show you how powerless you are, the stronger you become and the faster you grow..."
"I really envy how unbound and free you are from the âlawsâ of this âworldâ... ah~ I must also get serious too, or it will be disrespectful to you, right?"
With a solemn look on his handsome face, Raika let go of the lyre he had been holding up until now.
The Lyre flew in the air all by itself as it started to glow with a soft white aura.
[Oh~ Great Holy Lyre of Eternal Faith~]
[Oh~ Relic of the forgotten past~]
[Bring Mercy on this lost Lamb~]
[Grant me the power of your blessing~]
Faint sounds of prayers and chanting rang out from the glowing Lyre, making Rio frown.
He noticed that the soft white aura of the lyre was transferring to Raika, and it was causing many alarms to ring out in Rioâs head, so Rio did not wait for even a single millisecond.
He shot towards Raika without giving him any time to strengthen or enhance himself and used a powerful skill.
[DarkWing Movement Art!]
[Sword Intent: Maximum Output!]
[Sword Sageâs Enlightenment: Soul Manipulation: Soul Fluctuation Disruptor!]
Using all of his might, Rio shot towards Raika with speed so fast it seemed as if he was teleporting.
He appeared right beside Raika in just a mere fraction of a second and swung his sword at Raik with immense speed and power.
The flow of mana and miasma got destabilized from the sheer force of Rioâs attack and speed; it was such a powerful attack that if it landed, it could instantly kill any peak S-ranker and even injure an early SS-ranker if caught off-guard!
*BOOOOOM!!!*
But to Rioâs shock, Raika raised his hand and caught Rioâs sword mid-swing with his two fingers!
A shockwave spread in all directions, creating a massive crack in the sky, but Rioâs sword was firmly held in between two fingers of Raikaâs right hand.
"Donât use soul-type abilities on me..."
[Echo of Paradise: Dragon Godâs Symphony: Echo Of The Heavenâs Equal!]
*BOOOOM!!!*
Before Rio could react, Raika punched him in the stomach while completely bypassing all of Rioâs defenses!
He completely ignored the sword intent and the shadow robeâs protection before blasting Rio off with such force that Rio hit the boundary of the giant cage!
*BOOOOM!* *CRACK!* *SHATTER!!!*
The space-time fabric collapsed, creating gigantic cracks that started spreading in all directions!
The entire giant cage confining Ellie collapsed on the spot!
Miasma rushed in from all directions as Rio flew out and fell dozens of kilometers away in a massive lake of miasma and corruption!
"Ugh!... cough! Cough!"
For a moment Rio lost his consciousness and barely managed to come back to his senses.
[Elemental Sword Art: Healing Type: Full-Body Basic Heal!]
Rio immediately used the miasma in the lake as power to heal himself as he coughed out several mouthfuls of blood.
Looking down, there was a fist-sized hole in his stomach, and blood was flowing out like a fountain.
âSuch physical strength... an upgraded version of ability that... Link uses!...â