Chapter 269: A Failed Attack
Chapter 269: A Failed Attack
What exactly was Emeris’s ability?
An ethereal blue light she could shape however she wanted, shields that absorb impacts and disperse them without getting scratched as long as the attack was within the range of her strength... ethereal threads that could cut the hardest things, restraints that couldn’t be broken... or a rain of swords and blades.
Everything she imagined was there.
And everything she wanted, formed out of nothing.
But what exactly was this ability, how deep did it go and where did it end... she didn’t know.
Because she’d only gained it a few months ago, and whatever the problem was, that system didn’t explain anything... it doesn’t explain anything anyway.
So, Emeris herself didn’t know what she could really do, whether because of the lack of time or the absence of guidance, but destruction didn’t need any of that.
When a vast web formed in front of her, hundreds of threads crossing together in an organized chaos rushing forward, Riven’s heart sank.
The threads passed through the few trees separating them with a smoothness beyond measure, like each one of them was made of clay, the view was still the same when the web reached the shocked girl.
For a moment Riven would have been caught in the weave of threads, if she hadn’t vanished from her place.
Only then, as if its hold on the place had been released, the wood fell in small pieces the size of a palm, chaotic pieces with no specific shape.
Everything the web passed through turned into debris that gathered on the ground, the trees and the rocks and the poor leaves.
Then Emeris closed her raised hand, and with it the web closed in on itself, gathering into a ball the size of a human head made of complex ethereal threads.
The ball moved and came back toward her, only for Riven to appear in its path, at that moment it burst into the same massive web again, a hair away from sweeping over the girl and turning her into pieces... if she hadn’t gotten away using her ability.
When Riven vanished again, Emeris frowned a little... she knew Riven was faster than her, and no matter how much she tried to predict where she’d appear her attack wouldn’t reach her in time, apparently.
So, with the release of her will, the web of blue threads faded into the air, and with it Riven appeared right behind her.
"You think you’re invincible?"
Like every time, her sword cut toward her opponent in silence, no vibrations in the air and no wasted energy... if there was a contest for whoever had the best cut, Riven would be the winner without a doubt.
But she wasn’t in a contest, she was in a battle.
And before the edge of her blade reached Emeris’s armor, the blue light glimmered again, blocking any harm without her even turning her head.
Behind her silver strands, Riven caught the corner of her mouth rising into a smile again. "Of course I’m not invincible, you idiot, if I were why would I be here with you."
While Riven’s sword was frozen in the air, Emeris spun with stunning speed, reaching out her hand to grab her opponent’s wrist, but it was too late.
Once again, Riven wasn’t there.
She almost clicked her tongue, her hand grabbing empty space. "Too bad."
It’s not that she didn’t want this fight to go on, but even though she doesn’t look like it... Emeris has some realism... some logical thinking.
She knew that if she didn’t hurry now her whole team would be eliminated back there, because it was obvious the arrogant Luminar girl wasn’t some fool who’d come with one or two people, she’d obviously bring a bigger number of her team at least.
Plus, the bracelet kept vibrating constantly on her wrist, but there was no time to check the messages of course... especially since Riven kept appearing around her constantly, over and over, her sword drawing a silver streak in the air before it stopped centimeters away from Emeris.
It didn’t touch her once, and Emeris never touched Riven.
It was a vicious circle between these two... a circle that only lasted a few minutes.
But at this level minutes meant a lot, and with them Riven changed her tactic from perfect sharpness to pure savagery.
She vanished and came back in a circle around Emeris, her sword carving arcs of essence that skipped the distance, and appeared right in front of her opponent.
With every second Riven unleashed many strikes, until the place around Emeris turned into a chain of shining explosions, the ground around her dug out into a trench that encircled her in 360 degrees, surrounding her from every side and stretching several whole meters wide and deep enough to swallow small monsters.
Every time Emeris’s threads stretched out and filled that same space, Riven vanished just as fast if not faster, to appear somewhere else with her short hair swaying.
And this whole time Emeris didn’t take a single step from her place, just standing on what was left of the ground under her.
A pillar of piled-up soil in the middle of the pit Riven’s destructive attacks had made... but it soon trembled under her feet, threatening to drop her from a height of more than four meters.
Not that falling from here would even scratch her.
And even when the ground under her disappeared and turned into rubble, she stayed standing in her place, a faint blue shimmer under her shoes holding her up in the air.
Then she stepped forward, her reinforced body speeding up and getting far away from the center of destruction in a moment, her feet landing on the ground again, and it’s not like Riven would let any opening go to waste.
In the distance her sword cut the air carving arcs of blinding light, cutting short the distance and appearing around Emeris without obstacles, and on both of her sides and behind her the place lit up in a chaos that devoured the ground under her.
Then while Emeris was blinded by the light, blocking those devastating attacks, the short-haired girl appeared in front of her without warning.
The sharp metal stabbing straight at her chest faster and steadier than ever before, like its wielder had reached the conclusion of her decisions and settled on the ending she wanted.
Because throughout the fight Riven hadn’t just been attacking blindly, no... she’d tried to analyze Emeris’s movements, how her ability works, her weak points... and her limits too.
Then she saw it... what was supposed to be her flaw.
This whole time, Emeris only used her defense at the moment Riven’s attack reached her... not before that, and it didn’t last after she pulled away.
Because if it was impenetrable and she could use it freely, then why not just wrap herself in it, instead of showing a small layer where the blow lands.
And she hadn’t used anything except those thin threads that don’t use up much of whatever her power is.
And now while the devastating attacks surrounded her from every direction and the sword from the front, Riven expected she’d sacrifice one of her sides.... and she did.
When she saw her sword keep going toward her chest without obstacles, and Emeris’s widened eyes, Riven smiled.
She smiled, and with the smile her sword plunged into the silver-haired girl’s chest... passing straight through and coming out the other side, like her body was made of air.
It was a smooth stab... perfect and fatal.
When the blinding light of the explosions faded, Riven opened her mouth, staring at where the blood was flowing down her blade.
Or that’s what she expected, what she wanted, and what would make sense.
But there was no blood, no wound, and no stab.
Read Novel Full