Another round of slashes and parries commenced, my Adamantite blade fast and agile as I kept the barrage of assaults coming. The Divine Knight was being pushed back. He leapt out of range to avoid the assault and dashed in quickly to gain the upperhand. However, I had also gotten faster. I used my elemental magic at its intermediate level to initiate an air glide. With this boost in speeds, I knocked him back once more.
The knight could not understand how such a young child had the skill to match his combat experience.
Even though what I was doing would be considered genius in this world, it was the lowest of sword talent in Japan.
I was still not ready to end this match. Earlier on I had used Analysis to check Sir Knoltlese's status. He was a level 600- Divine Sword Wielder. This meant, he stood no chance against me from the start.
Sir Knoltlese was deep in thought with his guard up, refusing to accept that he was on equal footing with a fourteen year old boy.
"[ In Sir Knoltlese's head ]: How?!!, I'm a divine knight! I've fought against demon beasts, dragons, fought wars and spilt blood. So how is it that I can't seem to win against this child?!!".
With a minute left in the dual, I decided to get a little dangerous. I stood upright from my slouched position and weakened my grip on the blade. I faked fatigue, intentionally leaning on my left foot to seem unbalanced. The crowd bought it, stating how I was finally running out of energy. The supervisors were impressed already with my feet of holding my ground, much longer any of the candidates who came before me.
I knew that my bait had worked once more, when Sir Knoltlese charged in, trying to suppress his killing intent as a means to fane an accident. When his dual blades came closer, reality suddenly vanished.
In a white void, I saw the frozen body of Sir Knoltlese. He was stuck in his striking position. This was an effect of the unlocked skill, "Halo Arts".
Specifics: the user once having activated Halo Arts, gets a hundred percent boost in magic type for a limited time in accordance to the user's mana pool. After which, the individual will feel weak to use any other magic types.
Having used my Halo Arts to boost my Alchemy class, I had evolved it temporarily to the Divine class known as Universe Sage.
This class allowed me to manipulate natural phenomenon within a certain radius.
With it, I cast an illusion spell that made me seem, older. Now with the stage set, I dawned a dark cloak and the Cheshire mask.
Walking over to Knoltlese's suspended body, I gave a gentle tap to allow him access into the suspended realm.
He was baffled, eyes darting from left to right in shock. He failed to notice my presence. Not because I had concealed it, but because he was in shock.
" [ In Sir Knoltlese's head ]:Where am I ?!
What is this place?!
Did the kid do this?!
No, it can't be he's a swordsman not a mage. Then it must be that voice I heard during our dual".
" Right you are Divine Knight, the child is no mage ... ...",
[ closes the distance without a sound]
"... ... But, I am. Pleasure to meet you, I'm the face behind the voice, the notorious Cheshire".
The knight was in no mood for chit-chat he cut right to be chase.
" Who sent you? Are you a member of The Night Cloak?"
His hands seem to tremble at the thought of the resistance having such a powerful ally just to protect their kids. He looked at me, pupils dilated as fear began to reveal itself in his demeanour.
" I am no Night Cloak. I assure you. However, I do owe them a rather grand debt. As such, I took it upon myself to protect their young. If you lay a finger on them, I don't care who sent you, I'll turn all of you to dust".
His hands quivered, eyes lifeless from fear as the sheer killing intent behind my words met him and took hold. To make matters far scarier, my demeanour suddenly shifted back to normality. From a viewer's eye, I seemed sadistic and somewhat insane. This was what I wanted, to instill fear. The fear of a being who saw bloodshed and subduing enemies as a normal day's work.
" I have a quest for you, Knoltlese Brave. You will be my informant. Under the guise of a sent assassin to kill the two children, you will actually be gathering intelligence for me and only me. Am I clear?".
He saw an opportunity to bargain, an opening to exploit and turn what he saw as my arrogance against me. He wanted to threaten with the information he thought he had confidential. Little did he know, the light touch I used on him not only gave him access into the suspension space, but allowed me access to his mind. I also put a tracking spell on him with it.
" Captain Jurielle sent you didn't he, the second in command of the Holy Knight's subordinates?".
The shock and fear were now unmistakable. In a trembling voice, he tried denial over admittance.
" You don't know if what you're saying is correct and I'm not about to disclose anything unless you agree to my terms you fool".
His words stung deep, a twinge of annoyance bubbling to the surface. With a simple pointing out of my finger, I tore off his right foot.
The knight tell, screaming and cursing in agony.
There were only roughly five minutes left before I ran out of mana.
" Alright take heed you idiot. This is not because I need you. I'm giving you an opportunity to stay alive. Try me again, you will be cut to shreds and left as a martyr to your superiors. So, are you ready, or not?"
His face showed pain, knashing his teeth together in clear protest.
" F~fine, just heal this wound already!!! I'll do it!!".
A sly smile was shown as I slid my mask up to reveal my excitement. With another hand wave, I had restored his torn off limb.
I walked in the distance and destroyed the suspension space, returning to my student uniform and childish body. Of course, Knoltlese was take back to his position of charge. I realized it was time to finish off my acting with a fake out and intentionally released the spell to loose consciousness.
In an unconscious state;
I had returned to the domain where I would visit each time I talked to Lumina. However, much like in my past dream, a being made of a black hole and dark matter appeared once more. This time, she took a smaller appearance, reminescent of a fourteen year old girl.
" I know who you are. You're Lumina's sister, Melanie".
" Ah! So my sister told you about me. That's good. When you see her again, tell her Melanie said, with what's coming, she will need my help. I'm willing to lend a hand if it means seeing what you'll do. You interest me, Ayato Ren".
I was shocked, a surprised expression on my face as I thought to myself,
" What's coming?!"