"Actually, I am quite surprised that you were able to defend yourself against me so easily; it's as if you have dealt with fast-paced fights like this before…"
Miki stared at Lia with the eyes of a predator and said it in an amused tone.
"If it were someone else, they would have already been heavily injured by so many agile and difficult-to-dodge attacks…"
Miki even used her talent to absorb Lia's attack and surprise her with an instantaneous counterattack, yet Lia still barely avoided injury.
This proved Lia's capability to fight fast-paced battles.
Hearing Miki's words, Lia smirked a bit and said, in a confident tone,
"This isn't the first time I am fighting someone fast and agile…"
Lia placed her sword around her shoulder and continued,
"In fact, I have fought someone who is much faster and more dangerous than you… His one move is enough to render the enemy powerless, so don't expect me to go down so easily…"
Miki stretched out her hand and took her stance in response to Lia's sword stance.
She smiled excitedly and said loudly,
"Then show me! Just how good you are at it!"
[Feline Style Martial Arts: Counter Pounce!]
Lia also swung her sword in a downward motion in response,
[Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Silver Claw's Might!]
Three massive arcs made of condensed silver mana fired from Lia's sword as she swung it in a downward motion. (That was a slice-type attack; Lia rarely uses them, but the silver lion swordsmanship has a lot of them too…)
Those condensed arcs resembled a claw strike from a lion; moreover, they carried the might of the apex predator.
Miki felt a lot of suppression from that attack, and she had to get serious as Lia was also becoming serious now.
Her nimble body jumped and deflected Lia's attack with her 'counter pounce' technique, but to her surprise, those silver arcs changed their trajectory and pursued her again.
'These are stronger ones; I can't dodge them… gotta 'absorb' it-'
Before Miki could come up with a counter, Lia slightly bent her knees and launched at her at an immense speed.
Two gigantic wings made of silver mana manifested behind her and enhanced her speed to an insane level.
[Divine Spirit's Blessing: Wings of Light!]
"I don't like using this power, but… I can't afford to lose either…"
[Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Obliterate Type: Compressed Thrust!]
Miki's eyes widened in shock when Lia reached such an insane speed in a matter of seconds; moreover, she could feel some kind of suppression on herself all of a sudden.
When Kai's aura appeared, it placed a suppression on Miki, as she is technically his descendant.
Lia didn't want to use this effect, as she knew that it would feel like she had cheated against Miki, but she couldn't afford to lose this match either.
In response to Lia's attack, Miki crossed her arms around her chest in order to defend herself.
In that moment, she decided to bet it all on her inborn talent called 'Shockwave Absorption'.
First, the three massive silver arcs landed on her and made shallow cuts on her body, and then Lia's thrust attack collided directly with her forearm.
*Booom!*
A massive shockwave spread, breaking the whole arena ground, and massive amounts of debris flew into the air.
Even with the help of the shockwave absorption ability, Miki wasn't able to fully absorb the damage, and her right forearm was blasted in smithereens in an instant.
Fortunately, she was finally able to dodge the attack by bending her spine backward in an instant and pushing it towards the ground.
[Feline Style Martial Arts: Leg Type: Pulsating Rebound!]
Miki kicked Lia in the stomach with all of the shockwave energy she had absorbed in her body, in an attempt to do some decent damage.
But before her attack could land, the two silver wings flapped in an instant, and Lia flew into the air with immense speed, easily dodging Miki's attack.
Miki bulged up her right hand's muscle and forcefully stopped her own bleeding to reduce blood loss.
[Feline Style Martial Arts: Skyward Jump!]
Miki stomped the ground and used mana to forcefully jump into the sky in order to chase Lia.
[Feline Style Martial Arts: Leg Type: Pulsating Rebound!]
By concentrating the residual shockwave energy, she kicked Lia in mid-air, and this time her attack landed as Lia wasn't expecting to be chased in mid-air.
The kick landed on Lia's shoulder, and she fell from the sky and hit the ground in an instant.
A massive crater was formed from that collision.
Ignoring the few broken bones in her body, Lia immediately got up and flew away from the spot.
*Boom*
Miki's fist hit the exact spot where Lia had fallen just now; if Lia hadn't dodged, she would have been hit directly in the face.
[Kiddo, stop holding back; if you keep this match dragging, you will lose....]
Kai's concern was obvious.
Miki's talent was much overpowered.
She was absorbing a slight amount of shockwave energy from all of the things happening on this battlefield.
Every time she hits something, may it be ground or Lia, she absorbs a massive amount of shockwave energy, which slowly builds up over time.
Now that nearly fifteen minutes have passed since the start of the match, Miki has built up a considerable amount of energy.
Lia wasn't able to sense it, but Kai obviously did, so he warned Lia beforehand.
'I see… If that's the case… then let's not drag it further… I should settle this match in one final move...'
A look of determination appeared in Lia's eyes.
Her pupils and hair turned silver after being covered in her silver aura, and Kai's blessing covered her whole body, including her sword.
Lia landed on the ground and opened her wings wide. She pointed her sword towards Miki and smiled a bit while taking her stance.
Seeing Lia's actions, Miki immediately understood what Lia was trying to do, and in response, Miki also took her stance.
She knew that the final moment of this battle had already come; now it was all or nothing.
"This is it; Lia Silver! I can see your hard work! That air-tight stance! That mental fortitude! It's all honed to perfection!!"
An excited look appeared on Miki's face as she said those words.
"Indeed! You are the best opponent I could ask for! Let us exchange blows once more; let's decide the victor now!"
[Miki Style: Unique Art: Destructive Shockwave!]
A person can create their own 'Unique Art' to suit their particular fighting style.
Developing this type of technique is a daunting task.
It takes immense hard work and relentless training to form a combat technique that is unique to your true self.
Miki was born with the rare talent to absorb shockwave energy.
This talent is so rare that there are barely any combat techniques related to it.
Thus, Miki had to create a style of her own; she worked day and night to form her own 'Unique Art', which is the 'Miki Style Martial Art'.
Miki used all of the reserved shockwave energy that she had collected in the past fifteen minutes in one single attack.
She pushed all of that energy into her punch and attacked Lia with immense momentum.
But Lia wasn't going to back down from this either; she smiled and condensed mana around her sword's tip.
"Good, let's go all out then…"
[Divine Spirit's Blessing: Maximum Enhancement!]
[Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Obliterate Type: Overload!]
Not only did Lia enhance herself with Kai's blessing, she also used her strongest attack in sync with it.
She flapped her silver wings and gained immense momentum in an instant.
Miki and Lia both launched at each other, and their attacks collided in an instant.
A massive shockwave was created, and the whole stadium ground cracked in an instant.
The flying debris would have affected a large number of people if it weren't for the SS-rank barrier that was shielding the audience.
Some people went temporarily deaf as a result of the collision's loud voice.
In the center of it all, Lia's sword's tip was pushing towards Miki's fist.
Both of them were at equal levels, and none of them was ready to back down.
Seeing that they were in a stalemate, Miki smiled and said,
"Is this all?"
Lia smirked at those words and said,
"Of course, not!"
Lia pushed even more of Kai's mana into that attack and slowly overpowered Miki, breaking the stalemate in an instant.
When Lia's growing power output declared all of Miki's stored energy to be useless, her eyes widened in surprise.
"T-this is!?"
But before she could figure out anything, Lia's momentum increased even further and blew Miki away at an immense speed.
Her body flew away like an arrow and hit the barrier before falling powerlessly to the ground.
She had exhausted all of her mana and energy in that one attack, but in the end, she still lost to Lia due to the difference in total output.
Kai's blessing significantly increased Lia's output.
Fighting Lia in that enhanced state was like fighting against some who have peak A rank-level mana output.
Lia walked over to Miki, who was sitting with the support of the barrier and an exhausted look on her face.
"I admit it… Lia, you are stronger than me… But I will keep working hard; let's fight again someday…"
Lia nodded her head and replied with a smile,
"Indeed… I look forward to that day…"
*After a long struggle! Finally, Lia Silver has emerged victorious in this intense battle!*
…
…
Author's Notes.
Yo! It's your beloved author here! Will this victory bring more trouble to Lia's mind, or will it become a catalyst for improvement? Let's see what happens…
Question of the day.
Do you think Lia cheated by using Kai's power?
(Tell me in the comments.)
By the way, don't forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.