Art of Lust, Second Stance: Ardent Pulse of Desire.

She reactivated her art, but this time she did not channel it into the spear. She concentrated the energy in her right foot and performed a horizontal sweep with all her strength.

swoooshh!

Her leg became a sharp blade, tracing a horizontal cut straight to Mitrass' side.

"¡...!"

But Mitrass reacted just as quickly. Using what seemed like the footwork of his own art, he stepped back and dodged the attack by the slimmest of margins.

Seraphina only sliced the air.

There was something odd here, she had seen it.

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Name: Mitrass Valcryn

Race: Sanguivorax

Rank: Divine Metamorphosis

Gender: Male

Stats:

Strength: 866

Mana: 820

Agility: 470

Defense: 510

Vitality: 662

Skill:

Hematic flame (Ω)

Affinity with bloody fire (Ex)

Heavy Weapons Mastery (A)

Tyrannical body (A)

Repulsion (B)

Vital surge (B)

Battle Flow Awareness (C)

----------------------------------

Mitrass specialized in strength, and his agility and speed-which, even with a movement technique, -shouldn't exceed the seventh metamorphosis, so here was something that didn't fit .

She watched him intently. Her blue eyes seemed to want to pierce him.

She followed Mitrass's flow of mana.

And she understood.

His gaze stopped on the peculiar black boots.

Some memories also came to his mind, these were definitely the culprits.

It was a common thing: if someone was talented, they would delve into that path, practice a proper art or breathing and become even stronger.

But that also created imbalances. Passive secondary stat boosts didn't always cover everything, and when talent in another area was too low, the weakness became obvious.

Especially in warriors.

Some tried to compensate by practicing arts for different purposes, taking care not to leave any too far behind, even if that slowed their ascent.

More common, however, was to resort to artifacts, weapons or equipment.

Mitrass's boots clearly covered his deficient speed stat. Upon closer inspection, Seraphina noticed that they were anything but simple: the aura they emitted was nothing to sneer at.

"Oh, what is that powerful technique? The spear was like a bright ray of light. I even felt a hint of danger. Interesting. Really fascinating… how capable is she? Mitrass, handle it yourself. Consider this your redemption, but make sure you don't kill her. There won't be any more chances."

"...I understand, Your Imperial Highness."

The exchange between Seraphina and Mitrass happened in an instant.

Noha appeared next to Oryx at another point in the room and surveyed the scene.

He warned Mitrass.

The latter was not pleased with the order, but also seemed to have no choice but to obey.

"Tsk. I really must be a fun game for you bastards. And if I am, why the hell are you dodging? Do you think you can't take a few hits from me? I only have six metamorphoses!"

"...Don't talk nonsense. No one of that level could even attempt to deflect my attack."

"Excuses! Take my blow head-on if you're a man."

"Senseless provocations..."

As she spoke and provoked him, Seraphina remained extremely alert.

Now she could not gauge Mitrass's level of mobility.

Luckily, the other two didn't seem to intervene not to mention that Mitrass was limited: he couldn't kill her. Still, that didn't make the situation any easier.

The difference was overwhelming. Even with that advantage, facing Mitrass would not be easy.

'Qetesh, you're going to cooperate, right? This is serious.'

[[In situations like this I have to comply, even if I don't want to.]¡

'right'

Seraphina analyzed him in the blink of an eye.

his strength was irrefutable; she had already tasted it and understood it.

She could not afford to take even a single direct hit or the consequences would be catastrophic.

Luckily, it worked in her favor that Mitrass could not kill her.

But that didn't make her situation any less precarious.

At that moment, Mitrass took a step forward.

his physical frame and strength made the weight felt immediately; the room shook.

His presence was not an easy thing to bear. In an instant, even with her enhanced perception, Seraphina could barely grasp how Mitrass was already approaching her.

She reacted immediately.

She flexed her legs and leaned back, dodging the attack.

Seraphina was not going to hold back or play solely on the ground where Mitrass was superior. Without warning or warning, the darkness began to move from her feet and advanced directly towards Mitrass.

They were dark vines emerged from the ground and curled around Mitrass' legs, clinging tenaciously.

"...simple tricks."

He didn't care.

He took another step forward and the vines began to snap almost as if they were made of paper.

"Vitis Tenebris Spinae."

Seraphina's voice echoed, and the vines responded.

The darkness thickened and they came more alive. Black thorns sprouted from them, seeking to pierce armor and flesh.

"They're still tricks that-"

Crask!.

Mitrass paused.

His armor was tough enough to ignore any attack below the power of ten metamorphosis, but this time he clearly heard the crack.

It was no trick.

It was true that the vines didn't hurt him, but mithras didn't stop because his armor creaked, he was forced to stop.

Seraphina was using a magical branch born from the fusion of darkness and plants: her most powerful affinities, reinforced with affinity for runes and a large portion of her mana.

Mitrass looked up.

He saw Seraphina who had taken some distance aiming her golden spear at him while whispering at high speed.

His skin prickled.

"Lumen quod tenebras frangit et viam purificat... Radius Caelestis."

The threat materialized even before he could fully process it.

His instinct screamed at him that he could not allow that to hit him head on.

But the flash was already there.

The thorns could not harm him directly, but it would take him more than a second to break free. And that second was decisive.

But he didn't let things happen so easily.

Still restrained, a crimson fire ignited in his arms. He forced the movement and barely managed to place his sword in front of him.

Broom!

Just in time to parry the attack capable of altering the course of the combat.

The beam of light impacted against the sword and forced it back even when it was held so tightly, the attack was no joke.

The power was such that Mitrass came to think that, if only he were as strong as his rank indicated, he would have lost senselessly against Seraphina.

"This is nothing, I-"

He was doing his best to resist. He was feeling overwhelmed, but he was confident that he could repel it. He just had to activate his repulsion Skill and-.

"Radius Caelestis."

Before he could do so, Seraphina appeared from a direct angle at his side, carrying on the tip of her spear the same dangerous spell.

This time, Mitrass was unable to react.

The beam of light pierced fiercely through his side.

Plack!

He felt the rupture of one of his defensive devices. Still, the attack didn't stop and hit his armor full on. He gritted his teeth.

Everything was happening too fast.

His rank should give him more clarity, more room to think, decide and act... but Seraphina was no slouch.

It was absurd and Incomprehensible that someone from the sixth metamorphosis was causing her so much trouble, it didn't make sense.

By that time, Mitrass understood something with absolute clarity:

Even if he activated his ability immediately and managed to deflect the first beam, the second one would have already hit .

Tukss!.

Trusting in his armor and in himself, Mitrass managed to control himself and deflected the first beam of light; even so, the second impact shattered part of his red gold armor and left him with a charred wound.

"Ugh... I won't let you-!"

He quickly rejoined, ignoring the pain, and saw how Seraphina was already preparing more spells.

He couldn't allow it.

He injected a large amount of mana into his boots and rushed towards her at high speed.

Clang!!

Weapons clashed. Mitrass sought to interrupt her spells and stay on top of her. Seraphina took advantage of the impact to propel herself backwards, using the collision to her advantage as she tried to regain distance.

Therein lay her greatest chances.

But Mitrass followed her relentlessly, leaving her no room to flee.

As he advanced, he thought that, had it not been for his Tyrannical body - which made him much more resilient and stronger against attacks - he would have been much more seriously injured.

That exchange puzzled him.

He could not understand how Seraphina was able to cast effective magic against him over and over again, and of different elements to boot.

He had been cautious before, mainly because he felt she might be hiding dangerous tricks; so he thought it best to eliminate her as soon as possible.

He had not expected her to be so proficient in personal combat.

He could only sense her aura, and didn't have a skill like Noha's, but still the combat made it clear:The aura Seraphina emitted corresponded to someone of the sixth metamorphosis.

Even the recent attack felt like genuine power of that rank, but concentrated, as if several mages of the same rank were casting a joint spell at the same time.

'What kind of skill is it, a blessing, what is its effect, does it also have a grace, what god does it belong to?'

As he stopped her from fleeing, Mitrass analyzed her quickly, trying to understand the origin of that unsettling power.

He thought that she must possess skill or blessings that greatly amplified her power, especially her light magic. He also considered that her spear functioned as a staff.

And he was right.

Although Seraphina's affinity for light was only A-ranked, her spear acted as a catalyst of the highest level by possessing Ex affinity for that element.

Moreover, she had taken the time to empower it through chanting and affinity for runes, making every light spell pose a real danger to Mitrass.

"Vitis Tenebris Spinae."

As he tried to back away from Mitrass Seraphina tried to repeat her earlier tactic, but he didn't fall for the same trick twice. He made sure not to get caught between the vines.

And, above all, he didn't allow her to walk away.

He forced combat at close range. His greatsword began to move masterfully, attacking relentlessly, looking for an opening to quickly end this anomalous confrontation.

Unfortunately, he could not use his full strength.

He feared killing her instantly.

CLANG!.

"Ugh... damn... your punches are heavy."

"You... who are you? I've never heard of someone like you. Where do you come from?"

Mitrass knew that, if he could exert his full power, the fight would be over by now. The problem was finding the exact point where he could incapacitate her without killing her.

Seraphina had already proven herself to be an extremely strong mage; it was likely that she was holding out thanks to physical reinforcement spells, and those always took a heavy toll later.

He didn't know when that support would fail... or if it would inadvertently end up killing her.

Fighting with that limitation was not easy.

And he had already paid the price in blood.

Frustration began to build up inside him, and he couldn't help complaining about her presence there.

"What's it to you, fucker? What, are you pissed off about the situation? Well let me tell you, there's nobody more pissed off about it than me. I still don't understand what the fuck you three assholes are doing together."

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