"Fun fact. I can hear all of her thoughts!"
Lilith spoke over the clashing of metal.
"And right now, Alisax is just livid," she added with a grimace. "Can't believe a being of light can unleash such colorful profanity."
I ignored her crazy banter, I was too focused on not getting my head chopped off.
By the Incarni! Alisax is bloody quick!
When you think about it, each commander-level daemon is specialized in certain aspects.
Asphodel or Zygaxis or whatever his name is, uses his sheer power and aggressiveness to crush his opponents.
Genisix was tactical, using dirty tricks along with his chains and traps.
High Commander Naberiax is an all-rounder, the perfect combination of strength, speed, and intelligence.
Add his unbelievable level of sword mastery to this perfectly overpowered equation, and it makes sense why an Incarnus had to descend to confront him.
As for Alisax?
She was the commander of the Rangers of the Lux Incarnus, so she specializes in stealth, speed, and immediate lethality.
Something which I am very much experiencing right now.
Sure, Genisix and Asphodel were quick, but that was raw S rank speed.
As soon as I stepped into that realm, I was able to catch up to Genisix's unholy speed and quickly defeat him.
But Alisax is different. Her speed is utterly ridiculous, and her every strike is to kill.
Without entering my Triquetra state, I am barely keeping up with her.
So this is the speed of a Master S ranker! Despite my dire situation in this fight, I couldn't help but feel excited.
Sparks burst between us as our blades clashed violently every second, white meeting black in a flurry of high-speed strikes.
The air cracked with each contact, shockwaves rippling through the arena.
I shifted my head to the side, just as the thin blade of her sword went for my eye.
My skin stung as the frigid blade grazed my cheek, but I took the chance and activated Haema.
Blood erupted from my skin and twisted into jagged crimson appendages, their serrated tips of crystallized blood insidiously going for her heart.
Alisax quickly twisted her body to the right, weaving through the onslaught with terrifying grace.
However, I wasn't done.
In a split second, I twisted the appendages mid-flight, catching her exposed back.
Alisax immediately withdrew to the side, barely yet gracefully dodging the serrated crimson tips.
Still, she couldn't avoid everything.
My sword was already at her throat.
She reacted in the blink of an eye.
Like lightning, she quickly grabbed my sword arm and yanked me toward her.
I saw her sword pointed at my gut.
I tried to avoid it, but her grip was too strong.
No choice then, I guess.
With a sickening snap and tear, I ripped my left arm free from its socket and spun behind her.
Blood surged, and multiple spinning lances of crimson surrounded Alisax, their deadly tips aimed at her body.
When she let her guard down, I snatched away my arm with an appendage and launched the Vortex Bloodlances at her.
They converged toward Alisax, and just as she was about to escape, I detonated them.
The crimson explosion shook the arena. I landed clear and reattached my severed arm with a grunt.
Blood flowed down the stump on my right shoulder and morphed into the shape of an arm covered in jagged plates of crystallized blood.
I flexed my crystalline claws and grinned.
Manipulating blood like this has become as simple as breathing.
A black blur shot forward, and I immediately reacted.
A powerful shockwave spread, as I blocked Alisax's sword with my blood arm, the thin blade scraping against the crystallized blood plates.
I clenched my left fist and dealt a blow to her side, but she slid the blade along my blood arm and caught the strike with the flat of her blade.
Even so, the power behind my punch hurled her across the sand and toward the arena walls.
She twisted mid-air and plunged her sword into the srena floor, stopping just shy of the wall.
As if I'll give her any time.
I leaped forward and slammed my knee into her head. I expected my knee to sink in since she doesn't have a face, but I felt a significant contact.
I drove her head straight into the wall, shattering the stone.
Hearing the crumpling of metal and what sounded like the crack of bones, I couldn't help but smile. That is going to hurt like a bitch.
Holding out my hand, I used Haema to control the blood on my sword, and it flew into my hand.
However, just as my fingers closed around the hilt, I felt a slight push at first, and then a powerful shockwave slammed into my chest, launching me backward.
Mimicking Alisax, I plunged my sword into the black sand to slow myself.
I looked ahead and saw a jagged armored knee filling my vision.
Ah shit.
In a split second, my sword turned into the Fangs, and instinctively, I crossed the daggers in front of my face.
Just in time as Alisax's knee hit the blades with bone-shattering force, I felt the shock spread throughout my body.
I'm pretty sure I heard a few bones crack as well.
Alisax slammed her hands on my shoulders and pinned me to the ground on my knees.
Her darkness flared as numerous black blades materialized overhead, their jagged edges pointed at my face.
With a grunt, I unleashed my aura, shaking Alisax off me. But the black blades hurtled toward me as soon as she let go.
Clicking my tongue, I entered Triquetra.
A cool sensation spread over my body as ardor enhanced it, a rush of energy coursed through my body as my blood accelerated, and everything around me slowed down to a halt as transcendence kicked in.
I got to my feet and looked around; everyone and everything around me moved extremely slowly.
The black blades fell like snowflakes.
Alisax now moved as if she were underwater.
Asphodel was almost still, the only movement being the pulsing of the roots forming his body, slowed to such a degree that it was pretty disgusting.
I looked over at the stone seats. Naberiax moved normally, although only a little slowed down.
A Malakh, even a fallen one, sure is amazing.
And then there was that bitch.
My eyes fell on the sole spectator seated on the black stone, her purple eyes glowing with excitement and insanity as her sadistic grin widened.
"This never gets old, seeing you in this state," Lilith's smooth, velvety voice echoed all around me as she leaned forward, moving normally even under my enhanced perception.
I clenched my fist. "One day, I am going to stab your wretched heart."
She batted her eyelashes. "My heart is yours, my love. I look forward to that day."
Her eyes twinkled with unhinged mischief. "But don't you have a friend to kill?"
I frowned, turned around, and my blood ran cold..
Did she get faster?
No. Not just faster.
Is she catching up to my enhanced Triquetra state?
I heard Lilith's laughter behind me, and her honeyed words slithered into my eyes. "You really don't know, Alisax, do you?"
"What do you mean?" I asked, my eyes narrowing.
There was no mistaking it. Alisax is creeping toward me at a rather faster rate.
"Even as a Luminus, Alisax was a unique being," Lilith purred. "She was a Ranger, a Luminus raised by Phoebe herself to take on the harshest environments in this world."
"My 'sister' gave her a gift that is unique even among the other Lumini Commanders, something even her High Commander didn't have." Her eyes took on an excited glint as she leaned forward with a wicked smile.
"The ability to adapt."
Her words echoed in my head as Alisax showed signs of breaking through my transcendence.
Well. That's just bloody wonderful.
With a scowl, I leaned forward and rushed toward her, effortlessly, avoiding the black blades falling like snow.
In a blink, I was in front of her, the edges of my white daggers glowing green as I swung at her head.
And I missed.
What the fuck?
I tried again, aiming at her shoulder.
I missed again, my blade smoothly gliding barely over her armor.
This time, however, I noticed it.
A tiny shift, barely a twitch in her shoulder. Just enough to cause my blade to glide harmlessly past her armor by a mere centimeter.
She knows.
She knows that from my perspective, she had slowed down. But she read my movements and made just a minor adjustment of her body to avoid my attack.
She read not just my attack, but my perception of time.
To evade me in my Triquetra state…
What kind of insane speed is that?
But a more terrifying reality slammed into my face.
Literally.
The metallic taste of blood exploded in my mouth as an armored fist crashed into my jaw, almost dislocating it.
A shockwave ripped through the air, and I almost slammed into the ground as my head whipped sideways.
My vision shook, the whole world tilted as I staggered to the side, nearly collapsing onto the black sand.
I looked ahead and saw a black jagged boot coming for my head. Instinctively, I ducked low and jumped backward, my feet dragging through the sand as I created sufficient distance.
I wiped the blood pooling out of my mouth as the world stopped spinning and glanced ahead.
Everything still moved slowly, and I could feel the blood rushing in my blood vessels along with the cool sensation of ardor on my body, enhancing it.
Triquetra state is still active. A blow like that wouldn't break my focus.
The only ones not affected by my enhanced perception still remain.
However, there appears to be a new addition to them.
Alisax walked toward me, each step deliberate, now completely adapted to my Triquetra state.
Her black sword dematerialized into her arm. In its place, two jagged daggers formed from the darkness leaking off her body
As I saw the approaching living shadow encased in jagged armor, I felt my bloodied lips curl into a smile, and I felt exhilarated.
Lux Incarnus Phoebe. You truly raised an absolute monster.
A thin mist of blood escaped my lips as I exhaled deeply, steadying myself.
Let's take this up a notch.