Chapter 176: Chapter 176 - The Haven(Part 5)

Point-of-View: Argent Stryker

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"Uh...are you okay?" Inquired Prysm sheepishly.

"Y-yes, I’m...I’m fine," Nodded Tania, after taking a couple of deep breaths to compose herself.

"Huh, I was pretty sure that wouldn’t work...I mean, from what I know, Fairies reproduce asexually, so I didn’t think you could feel sexual arousal," Remarked Larrk with a look of fascination.

There he goes, with his seemingly encyclopedic knowledge.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Prysm asked him curiously.

"Fairies tend to have lifespans of about two hundred years or so. And when they die, they create a sort of clone of themselves, one that has a vague recollection of the original’s memories. That also means that it’s impossible for Fairies to increase their population," He explained in response.

"That’s correct, I’m surprised you’re aware of that," Replied Tania with a nod.

Oh, I didn’t know that either.

"Well, it’s hard to find information about non-human species, so I didn’t know if the little that I could find and read was accurate or not," Remarked Larrk with a shrug.

"Anyway, let’s continue, shall we? Which of you will be fighting next?" Inquired Oberr, glancing between Larrk and I.

"I’ll go. And as for my opponent, let’s see...how about you?" I suggested, as I turned to the Dark Elf leader, Arofri.

Of all the nine leaders of the Demi-Humans in this place, he’s looked the most suspicious of us.

"Hm? Very well, then, if you insist," He replied indifferently.

He had slicked back dark purple hair with a few strands falling over his forehead, dark blue eyes, and a tan skin complexion. He was a bit on the shorter side with a slender build.

"Good luck," Izzy smiled at me.

"Yeah, you better not lose, try to win and look cool for your girlfriend," Grinned Larrk teasingly.

"Wait, he and the Monster girl are lovers?" Responded Tania in bewilderment.

I suppose that’s an understandable reaction.

Anyway, as Arofri and I stepped onto the arena, which had been repaired using Elemental Earth after Prysm reduced the space to a crater during the previous duel, I chanted to manifest my Soul Weapon, as the barriers activated.

"If you’re anywhere near as powerful as the previous two, I suppose I ought to take this seriously," Remarked Arofri, as he held out his hand and a dark energy manifested, taking shape in the form of a spear.

Huh? Wait a second, this sensation, I know it...that’s Negative Energy.

"Hold on, I thought only Monsters possesses Negative Energy," I frowned warily.

"Dark Elves have a Skill unique to their species that allows them to convert their internal Mana into Negative Energy, and then manifest and control that energy!" Larrk called out to inform me.

He really is just like an encyclopedia or something...he reads a lot of books, and it seems like he remembers every detail without a problem. I’m kinda envious.

Alright, time to focus up, let’s kick this off.

I shot up into the air with Jet Soles before rapidly swooping down towards my opponent, who formed a small blade made of Negative Energy and flung it at me as I began to close in on him.

I swiftly chanted to activate Intangibility, the blade passing through me before I slashed at him as he got within the reach of my blades. He ducked to evade before driving his spear up towards me, which passed through my chest as I swung my other blade straight down at him.

He quickly sprang back while simultaneously firing out a powerful lightning Spell, a cut appearing down his forehead and the bridge of his nose as the tip of my blade grazed his skin.

He suddenly unleashed a black mist as his lightning passed right through me, before he shot straight out of the black cloud towards me-...hm? Something feels off about his movements, it’s like-...

Suddenly, as I felt something starting to pierce into my lower back, I quickly activated Intangibility, the Negative Energy spear poking out through my stomach as it passed through me and I felt a trickle of blood running down my lower back.

Damn it, I should’ve caught on faster...he used a Dark Attribute illusion Spell, and a very simple one at that. The more powerful Dark Attribute Spells that relate to mind control and stuff like that requires direct physical contact with the target in order to activate.

But things like simple illusions can still be cast from a distance...however, if you know what to look for, it’s not that convincing. When that illusion of him emerged from the black mist, the cloud didn’t get disturbed, plus the dust on the ground didn’t stir or move when he was sprinting towards me.

He must have used the illusion as a distraction to sneak out from the side of the black mist and then come up behind me...I didn’t hear any footsteps or anything, he might be on Larrk’s level when it comes to sneaking up on opponents.

I then quickly spun around, coating my blades with lightning as I slashed at him, but he shot back out of my reach using Jet Soles, once again only managing to graze him, this time around the neck. He’s not nearly as quick as Howll, the Werewolf leader, but he’s clearly experienced in combat.

He seems a bit rusty though...both times I managed to graze him with my blades, his reactions seemed a fraction of a second slower than his ability level would suggest.

"The Intangibility Skill, is it? How annoying...but you can’t use it indefinitely, can you?" He surmised, as he fired out a barrage of plasma blasts at me.

Maybe it’s time to use Limit Br-...huh? Suddenly, the incoming plasma projectiles multiples, spreading out all around me and converging in from every direction. What the...?

I turned almost fully intangible except for the soles of my feet, with no way to evade all these projectiles. As they converged in on me and blasted onto the ground beneath and all around me, grimacing as the bottom of my feet took some damage, my eyes widened as Arofri suddenly appeared to my left, spotting him in my peripheral.

I quickly leapt away in alarm, letting out a stifled gasp as he slashed at me with his spear, the tip slicing across the middle of my chest...w-woah, that was close, I almost lost a nipple.

But something feels off...I’m sure he slashed across from left to right, meaning that the wound should be lower on my right side, going diagonally down and across from left to right...but it’s the opposite. What’s more, I know I didn’t react in time to fully evade that slash, but it feels like it cut in deeper than it should have.

"When did you do it?" I frowned, as I raised a hand to my head and focused...sure enough, a black mist floated out from my head, indicating that I’d been under some mind control of some kind.

"Ah, you noticed it. When I almost stabbed you through the back, I also touched the back of your neck...when you reacted to the pain in your back, you overlooked my touch," He informed me.

So, that’s when he did it. Dark Attribute Spells of this kind are really difficult to master...I guess the longer lifespan of Dark Elves helps with that, huh?

We’re more or less evenly matched as things stand now...he’s keeping his distance and attacking with Spells, likely to make sure that I’m not allowed to deactivate my Intangibility.

If he runs out the clock of my time limit with that Skill, he’ll have the advantage...alright, then, time to take things up a notch. Initiate Skill: Limit Breaker!

His eyes widened in alarm as I then leapt forward and closed in on him in an instant, slashing one of my blades at the side of his neck. He began to raise his spear defensively, just barely getting it in the way of my blade, before I sliced right through the manifested Negative Energy.

He ducked just in the nick of time to avoid my blade, as I cut off a few strands of hair, before swinging my foot and and slamming it onto the middle of his chest, sending him flying back and crashing onto the barrier surrounding the arena with a pained grimace.

"S-some sort of power boosting Skill, huh? That really hurt...I should even the odds," He remarked as he got back onto his feet, Negative Energy absolutely exploding around him with a powerful shockwave.

As the force bursting out from him then settled down, I frowned warily at the change in appearance...the whites of his eyes had turned black, and a shadowy mist was surrounding his body.

"Fly up, quickly!" Yelled out Larrk urgently, but his warning came too late, as I felt my body freeze.

This is...it feels just like Ilex’s Shadow Bind!

"That one really is highly knowledgeable about us, isn’t he?" Came Arofri’s voice from behind me, as he disappeared into the ground and re-emerged from my shadow.

Whatever this transformation is, it lets him use powers similar to Shadow Bind and Larrk’s Shadow Phase Spell? That’s...that’s just unfair!

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