Lucian and Aura Nova didn't immediately tear toward one another like mortal enemies colliding in a frenzy of hatred. No, they stood with calm, almost unsettling ease as they stared at one another in silence, their hair dancing gently to the quiet rhythm of the wandering wind, the air between them heavy with restrained violence and anticipation that neither of them bothered to conceal.

Lucian's voice came first, the tone smooth and controlled, breaking the silence that had settled thickly between the both of them, "we finally meet, Aura Nova," he spoke, his voice low, composed, yet faintly expectant, as though this moment had been something he had foreseen for a long time.

"It seems so," Aura Nova replied with a battle smile on her face that never seemed to leave, the corners of her lips curved upward in excitement rather than fear, battle intent dancing wildly within her eyes as she stared at Lucian with predatory focus, as though carving his image directly into her mind.

"You already lost to Kingsley in close quarter combat, it will also be useless against me, I suggest you just go straight to using your Omniedit ability," Lucian suggested with a calm smile, but even as he said that, a small, knowing smile could be seen lingering on his lips, one that carried both challenge and quiet provocation.

"By that logic I could say the same thing for you since you lost to Anthony, no?" Aura Nova stated as she replied to Lucian using his own logic against him, her tone light yet sharp.

Lucian stayed silent, his black eyes meeting Aura Nova's sky-blue gaze without the slightest flicker of retreat. He smirked, the expression slow and deliberate, then spoke, "I suppose I would be showing you the difference between us then," he stated as he drew his katana ever so slowly, the blade sliding free with a metallic whisper, the air hissing and trembling around him and his katana as though space itself resisted its presence, his battle intent rising with each passing moment like an invisible tide swallowing the surroundings.

Aura Nova didn't speak anymore, her twin blades appearing in her hands as though they had always belonged there, metal glinting beneath the pale light. Within the False Reality Layer she had created after she lost to Kingsley in terms of close quarter combat, she had fought various weapons masters for years without rest, clashing endlessly against legends and perfected warriors, and although she didn't know the amount of experience Lucian had accumulated throughout his life, he would make a perfect test subject to measure the sharpness of her growth.

Besides, even if she lost again, she would simply go back and continue her training within the False Reality Layer, repeating the process as many times as necessary until her blades reached absolute perfection. Her confidence wasn't so fragile that she would give up on close quarter combat just because she lost a few times in that method of combat, it only meant she wasn't good enough... yet, and that word alone was enough to fuel her endlessly. And she would train, and fight, and sharpen herself until she stood at the very top where no one could ever win against her again.

Besides, she knew Lucian was judging her on the battle she had with Kingsley. Her combat experience and combat skill from then and now were literally light-years apart, the difference so vast it could not even be measured on the same scale.

With that thought, a flash of black light flickered around her body and her twin short swords fully manifested, their edges humming faintly with condensed power, her knees dipping forward as she entered a battle stance, her breathing slowing, her battle intent rising violently into the air as their battle intents slammed into each other midair, black and blue sparks rippling outwards as the invisible forces collided, both bearing wide smiles on their faces as though they had finally found something worth cutting down.

The ground shook with maddening intensity, the air screaming as if alive, space itself trembling under the sheer pressure of their presence, and the next moment the asphalt underneath their feet sank inwards as their muscles coiled like tightly wound springs ready to snap.

And with a thunderous boom, they shot forward like nuclear warheads launched from opposite ends of destruction, their bodies cutting through the air like scissors through cloth. With a titanic combustion of force and impact, they tore into one another, the air imploding outward like shattered glass thrown into a storm, but none of them took a single step back, their feet anchored as though rooted into the earth itself.

Both smirked at the same time, an almost identical expression of exhilaration, and they vanished in a flicker of movement as though they governed over reality instead of reality governing them, their speeds breaching the limits of normal perception.

Clang. Clang. Clang. Clang. Clang.

Their hands, feet, and bodies blurred as they shot through the streets of the battlefield like streaks of lightning given flesh, and the moment they crossed a building, it shattered instantly, then crumbled from above as the shockwave alone from the force of their motion was just that cataclysmic and overwhelmingly impactful, leaving destruction in their wake without either of them intentionally trying.

Attacks weaved through the air like spider webs woven from steel and death, precise and intricate, each strike aimed to kill. They stared into each other's eyes like lovers instead of enemies at this very moment, both seemingly having heavy expectations for the other, as though disappointment would be the greatest insult of all.

They appeared on top of a bungalow building, Aura Nova's short sword flashing toward him in a clean, horizontal arc, Lucian simply sidestepping with minimal effort, then vanishing from where he stood, dodging the attack completely. With a burst of motion and force, the building was immediately severed into a perfect half, then the next second, it collapsed inward upon itself. Dust rose into the air as though it wanted to cloak the entire battlefield, but the building was simply too small to have such an effect on such a battlefield of this scale.

Aura Nova was already gone, the moment Lucian left, she followed less than a split second later, the katana and the double short swords meeting yet again as they moved, sparks exploding outward like fireworks with every clash.

"If this is all you have Aura Nova, you might as well give up now," Lucian stated as he dodged another attack, but this time it was a double attack, yet still he slipped between them with effortless precision, as though the blades themselves avoided him.

Aura Nova hadn't exactly witnessed Lucian and Anthony's battle as her consciousness was within the False Reality Layer she created. But to her, it didn't matter, whether she witnessed it or not was useless, all life and death battles always hanged on the unknown, and certainty was merely an illusion warriors told themselves to sleep at night.

"I could say the same for you," Aura Nova replied, "if this is you have, then it seems I expected too much of you," she replied as she came to a stop atop a building, her body perfectly balanced and pristine, not a single scratch marking her skin.

Lucian stood on another distant building a few meters away from Aura Nova, the wind fluttering his coat softly, "is that so..." he murmured to himself, he seemed as though he wasn't interested in the battle, but he very much was, the quiet intensity in his eyes betraying him completely.

"I hope you don't lose so fast, after all, it will be a pity for you to lose without displaying your Omniedit, after all, I want to see it for myself," he stated with a calm smile, then his smile changed into a sharper smirk as he sheathed his katana with deliberate slowness.

He lowered himself into another stance, his hand placed firmly on the hilt of his katana as he spoke, "are you ready?" he asked genuinely as though he cared, though the air around him grew heavier by the second.

Aura Nova merely smirked, "come."

"Don't blink or you might miss it," Lucian stated.

"Back at you," Aura Nova replied as though unwilling to lose even in words, her eyes narrowing.

As those last words left her lips, Lucian was gone, the wind didn't scream, it didn't tear, it didn't crumble, nothing reacted at all, he was simply gone, as though he had never existed there to begin with, as though he had become the wind itself and slipped quietly between the cracks of the world.

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