FWOOOOOMP!
The arena floor groaned as thin cracks spread outward from his feet. The qi did not stay close to the sword.
It spiraled into a cyclone, pressing down like a crushing tide.
Students near the arena edges staggered back.
"This pressure...!"
"It feels like my chest is being crushed!"
Ovrin exhaled slowly, shoulders rising and falling.
His sword trembled as the qi kept gathering, compressing tighter and tighter, until the light around the blade beca dense and sharp, almost solid.
"TAKE THIS!"
He stepped forward and directly swung his sword.
FWOOOSH!
The sword qi tore free, not as a simple slash, but as a massive crescent wall of pressure that ripped across the arena, shredding stone, lifting dust, cutting everything in its path.
Gray did not retreat.
His eyes narrowed.
[Spirit Eyes]
Mana surged through his eyes before travelling through his body, flooding his limbs, tightening his muscles, and sharpening every sense.
The qi wave arrived.
BOOOOOOM!
Gray kicked off the ground and shot upward at an angle, the slash tearing through the space beneath him.
The floor behind him exploded, chunks of stone flying into the air.
Before Gray even landed, Ovrin was already there waiting for him, swinging his sword straight for his waist.
CLANG!
Gray crossed both daggers and blocked, his feet skidding backward as he was pushed across the ground.
His arms trembled from the weight behind the strike, yet his stance stayed firm.
Ovrin pressed down harder.
"Stay down!"
Gray twisted his wrists, slid the sword aside, and ducked in close. His knee drove upward toward Ovrin’s ribs.
THUD!
"Tsk!" Ovrin grunted, qi flaring to soften the blow, then answered with a headbutt.
CRACK!
Gray snapped his head to the side at the last mont. Unfortunately, their forehead still t, causing pain to ring through his skull.
But quickly taking advantage of Ovrin’s montary weakness, Gray stepped inside Ovrin’s reach and punched him straight in the stomach.
BAM!
Mana burst outward as the impact landed. Ovrin slid back several steps, his boots carving lines into the stone.
"GAAH!"
He roared and thrust his sword forward, the sword qi condensing at the tip of his sword before detonating shortly after.
BOOM!
"[✧Swap✧]"
Gray vanished and reappeared above Ovrin, twisting midair, daggers flashing downward toward Ovrin’s shoulders.
CLANG, CLANG!
Ovrin barely raised his sword in ti, blocking both blades, but the force from Gray’s daggers drove him to one knee.
Gray landed and did not stop.
Fwip!
The left dagger slashed at the neck while the right dagger stabbed toward the thigh.
"Tsk!"
Ovrin twisted, sword qi flaring wildly as he spun, forcing Gray back with raw pressure, causing the two to separate.
"Huuff..." Ovrin’s breathing slowed.
The wild rage in his eyes did not fade, and instead, it seed to have gotten ever more sharper than before!
He lifted his sword and held it level with his chest, blade pointing straight at Gray.
Sword qi wrapped around him in steady waves now, no longer bursting out without shape. The pressure grew into a more refined manner.
"This is where you fall," Ovrin calmly spoke, almost solemn.
The sword trembled once, and then the qi sank into it.
FWOOOOOO!!!
The light around the blade collapsed inward, compressing until the sword looked thin and dark, as if swallowing everything around it.
Gasps exploded through the stands.
"That stance...!"
"He’s using his sword art!"
Seraph’s eyes narrowed, her fingers digging into the stone railing.
"So he reached that stage already..."
Above them, Aurora hovered in the air, arms crossed, his lips curved in a sharp smile. Her eyes never left Gray.
"Show ," she whispered.
Ovrin stepped forward, and each one of them caused the air to tremble.
"Sword That Swallows The Moon, First Move!"
He vanished without a sound, causing Gray’s pupils to shrink.
"Swallowing The Earth!"
The air scread as Ovrin appeared to Gray’s left, sword already mid-swing.
The blade did not cut outward. It pulled inward, dragging air, dust, and qi toward its edge like a whirl.
SHRIEEEEK!
Gray blurred.
[✧ Dream Mist ✧]
His body broke apart into dark smoke an instant before the blade passed through him.
The slash carved a deep groove through the arena floor instead, stone folding inward as if crushed by invisible hands.
Gray reford three steps back.
Ovrin did not pause.
He twisted his wrists and slashed again.
FWOOOM!
A second pull followed, stronger than the first. Gray felt his body dragged forward, feet sliding across the ground against his will.
"He’s pulling him in!"
"That sword art is forcing the space around him!"
Gray dissolved again.
Mist scattered low across the ground, slipping under the pressure, causing Ovrin’s blade to cut through empty air.
Gray reappeared behind him and punched.
BAM!
The blow landed square on Ovrin’s back, yet sword qi flared and softened it. Ovrin staggered only half a step before spinning around.
Fwip!
His sword stabbed forward.
"Fuck!" Gray twisted his body, leaning sideways, causing the blade only graze his clothes, leaving a faint warm feeling.
Then, Gray vanished again.
Mist flowed, coiling, spreading.
Ovrin planted his foot and swung in a wide arc.
FWOOOOOOOM!
The pull exploded outward, ripping chunks of stone from the ground and dragging the mist back toward the blade.
Gray’s form snapped back into place midair.
Ovrin’s eyes widened.
"Got you!"
He thrust upward.
CLANG!
Gray crossed his daggers just in ti, arms shaking as the force slamd into him. The shockwave burst outward, blasting dust into the stands.
Students scread.
So covered their faces.
Others leaned forward, their eyes shaking with excitent.
Seraph’s breath caught.
"He’s still not using a technique..."
Aurora laughed softly.
"That movent alone... filthy."
Gray pushed off the blade and flipped backward, landing lightly despite the pressure tearing at his body.
’...Fucking hell, this sword art is annoying...’ Gray cursed inwardly.
And just before he could do anything more, Ovrin raised his sword again, the sword qi roaring louder than before.
The blade darkened further, the space around it bending.
"Stay still!" Ovrin roared and charged.
[Spirit Eyes]
Gray narrowed his eyes and stepped forward instead of back.
Swish!
Mist burst from his feet.
One step.
Two.
Ovrin swung downward with everything he had.
The blade passed through Gray’s chest and cut through the air. At the sa ti, Gray reappeared at Ovrin’s side and drove his knee directly into his ribs.
CRACK!
"KUGH!"
Ovrin gasped, blood spraying from his mouth as he was thrown sideways.
The crowd exploded.
"HE DODGED IT AGAIN!"
"HOW IS HE STILL MOVING LIKE THAT?!"
Ovrin slamd into the ground, rolled, then forced himself up, shaking, sword still in hand. His eyes were filled with annoyance as he stared at Gray.
’HOW?! I used the first move of the Sword Art from the inheritance of the Heavenly Sword! I practically perfected it, and he was still able to dodge it?!’
His grip on his sword tightened as he looked at Gray, who was calmly staring at .
’Not to ntion that he isn’t using a sword, and even had plenty of opportunities to attack with the daggers, but used his knees or punches!’
’...Is he playing around with ?!’
Ovrin gritted his teeth.
Seeing this, Gray smiled lightly.
’...Just a little bit more~’ he grinned inwardly.
[Spirit Eye’s Proficiency: 92%]
The Spirit Eye’s proficiency was about to reach Master-level, and that was exactly why Gray didn’t want to finish the fight yet!
"DAMMMIIITTTT!!!"
Ovrin roared and surged forward again.
Sword qi burst out, flooding the blade as he slashed upward, then down, then across, each strike chained together with no pause between them.
FWOOSH!
CLANG!
BOOM!
Gray moved, taking a step forward before his body turned into mist.
The sword passed through afterimages again and again.
And suddenly, Gray slipped inside Ovrin’s guard and slamd his shoulder into Ovrin’s chest.
THUD!
Ovrin stumbled back, barely keeping his footing.
"Shit!"
With no other choice, he swung blindly.
Gray ducked low, mist spreading along the ground, then reappeared behind him and drove a punch into Ovrin’s kidney.
CRACK!
"ARGHH!" Ovrin scread, qi flaring wildly as he spun and thrust backward.
The sword went right through the mist as Gray’s figure vanished once again.
The audience had gone insane at this point.
"He is reading every move!"
"That timing is terrifying!"
Ovrin’s breathing slowly grew ragged.
Veins bulged along his neck as he forced more qi into his sword, ignoring the pain tearing through his body.
"STAY STILL!"
He suddenly gathered a large amount of sword qi into one strike, not even forming a move from his sword technique
The Sword Qi compressed as his sword darkened, causing the air to start shaking from the sheer pressure of the power.
Then, he lunged at Gray, directly swinging the sword above his head.
[Spirit Eyes]
Gray stepped forward.
For a split second, their eyes t... but what Ovrin saw next was none other than mist.
[✧ Dream Mist ✧]
The sword swept through Gray’s chest.
Nothing.
Gray reford at Ovrin’s side and slamd his knee into Ovrin’s ribs, then followed with a short punch to the jaw.
BAM!
CRACK!
Ovrin flew backward, skidding across the ground, sword almost slipping from his grasp.
At that instant, Gray’s vision sharpened.
The world slowed down as he looked at Ovrin’s body, and suddenly, he started seeing his mana ridians, the qi flow, and even a materialized killing intent...
All of it had beco clear to his eyes.
[Ding!]
[Spirit Eyes Proficiency: 100%]
[Spirit Eyes have reached Master-level mastery.]
Gray’s smile deepened slightly as the mist faded around his feet.
The fight had given him what he wanted.
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