Chapter 158 VS Great Completion Rank 5
This method of movement was beyond my expectations.
On the other hand, I at least foresaw that "he might try to get close to me suddenly later," and I had thought about how to deal with it. Despite feeling caught off guard, I still reflexively used my own methods.
I used fire teleportation to move a hundred meters away, and then I saw him rush out of the shadow portal. Then, the shadow portal behind him exploded.
Countless shadowy particles, resembling grains of sand, scattered and flew across the airspace like bullets, covering an area with a radius of one mile. One of these shadowy grains of sand rapidly unfolded behind me into a portal, large enough for one person to pass through and extremely thin. He disappeared again, emerging from the portal.
He is currently constantly surrounded by shadows, so he can skip the "infiltrate into the shadows" action and jump directly out of the shadow portal!
I used fire teleportation again, moving two hundred meters away. Needless to say, he then rapidly deployed a shadow portal near me once more. This area had become his domain, and it was expanding rapidly. No matter how I tried to escape, as long as I remained within his reach, I was destined to be caught.
I could teleport away from this airspace, but he could simply repeat the same steps and lock me back in. Of course, if that happened, I could just teleport to a farther place, somewhere he couldn't find me, but that wouldn't guarantee he wouldn't attack the Zhu family mansion again.
Moreover, from a personal emotional standpoint, I also wanted to settle things with him.
Countless teleportations occurred, and both of us had transcended the limits of speed, moving only point-to-point. Under the immense perception, like looking down on a chessboard, we appeared as two pairs of ghosts high in the sky, flashing frequently, one bright and one dark. I, transformed into a bright flame, clashed repeatedly with him, who was shrouded in shadow.
In close combat, I was completely at a disadvantage, and he would hit me every now and then. While I wasn't incapable of hitting him, his armor would always redirect my attacks to empty air.
If he had used his speed and agility to prevent me from hitting him, I could have at least tried a few more times. But he actually used this method, and I was completely stunned.
I unleashed a sea of fire in one go, attempting to annihilate all the shadowy sand in this airspace. However, even the sand was "portalized," becoming indestructible objects.
We must find a way to break this "teleportation defense mechanism".
I do have my own thoughts on this.
One approach is to use "attacks that do not require physical space," which are metaphysical attacks, such as "curses" or directly attacking the opponent's concept of cause and effect; another approach is to use spatial attribute attacks, since the opponent also has spatial defenses, so spatial attacks should also be effective.
However, neither of these methods is currently available to me. The concept of cause and effect in the surroundings is not distorted, so I cannot take the opportunity to perceive the metaphysical level; moreover, I do not possess spatial attribute skills. Although fire teleportation looks like spatial transfer, it is actually just decomposing myself and then reassembling at a distance.
Are there any other methods? A defensive skill that absorbs the power of others, being overwhelmed by a massive influx of external force and exploding is a classic scenario. However, his portal armor doesn't connect to a stingy spatial pocket; it connects to a truly separate dimension. Even if I became powerful enough to shatter the solar system with a single fireball, I probably couldn't possibly destroy another dimension.
The excruciating pain was accumulating in my soul with each attack he made.
I understood his thinking. Although his attacks hadn't caused me any significant damage each time—and so far, the impact he'd had on me was perhaps less than the damage I'd inflicted on him—I knew that if the attacks accumulated, I would eventually be defeated. This also confirmed my belief that the portal armor truly had no endurance limit; he thought he could withstand such prolonged combat.
As time went on, he hit me less and less.
He finally realized something was wrong.
"...My movements were seen through? No, this is..."
"What's wrong? Your movements seem sluggish. Are you tired?" I said. "Do you want me to give you some time to rest?"
"absurd!"
His attitude seemed hesitant, but his attacks were relentless, coming one after another like a storm.
Although I'd like to say that I gradually transformed from a clueless novice into a sharp-eyed veteran through frequent battles, unfortunately, that's not really the case. Of course, my experience fighting enemies is definitely accumulating little by little, but at this level, it's impossible to see through their movements.
The reason he's hitting fewer shots isn't because he's become duller, it's purely because I've become faster.
This is the first time I've encountered such an overwhelming opponent. Because of this, I can clearly feel my blood heating up and my heart racing. For the first time, I feel that this isn't the one-sided slaughter of the past; I'm truly fighting against someone.
As my spirits lifted, my passion burned even brighter.
My flame is my spirit.
Until now, this power has been like silt lying dormant in the lake, but under the stirring of this Great Perfection level enemy, the silt has begun to rise, slowly releasing its original power.
The amount of flame that makes up my elemental body determines my speed, strength, and mental processing capabilities. As the power surging within me increases, my reflexes also increase significantly.
Although we are moving point-to-point, we still have to perform the specific attack actions ourselves. His attack speed was barely keeping up with mine before, but with the addition of his skills, it became even more difficult for me to deal with. Now, I am gradually leaving him behind.
However, this level alone is not enough.
Even if I could evade all his attacks, I would only be on the same level as him. My inability to harm him would remain unchanged. At most, I would just be stuck in a stalemate.
My thinking ultimately veered back to "breaking the deadlock with force." Admittedly, I couldn't destroy the shadow dimension connected to the portal armor, but what I really needed to deal with wasn't the shadow world, but the portal armor itself.
With sufficient magical power, one can distort the laws of nature and even distort illogical supernatural mechanisms. This is both my personal experience and a fundamental theory that Zhu Shi also agrees with. Even if the portal armor is different from the shadow portals of ordinary monsters and cannot be destroyed by external offensive magical interference, there are still limits. If my attack is powerful enough, I might be able to brute-force my way through his armor.
I could feel his surging magical energy, like a powerful wind. Suddenly, I became curious. He should be able to sense my magical energy fluctuations too, so…
How does he perceive the fluctuations in my magical power?
In a brief moment of reflection, my power was also unleashed to a certain extent.
Finally, he couldn't even touch me anymore.
"This—" he exclaimed in surprise.
“You just said I have power but no substance, right?” I said. “But if I had this much power, what do you plan to do with it?”
Immediately, I stopped teleporting myself and instead hovered in the air with my palms facing each other, and a small fireball appeared in the middle.
Almost simultaneously, his fist struck again, shattering my skull.
I ignored it and focused on the fireball, pouring all my current power into it. Then I compressed, compressed, and compressed again. The fireball maintained its small size, but the power accumulating inside increased, making it resemble a miniature star.
He didn't just stand there watching; instead, he unleashed a spinning kick that shattered my upper body, causing my arms to lose their support and I to plummet downwards. Yet the fireball remained in place, relentlessly accumulating and compressing its power. His obstruction was futile. My spirit had already merged with the ambient heat; even if my outwardly manifested elemental body were completely pulverized, it wouldn't matter, nor would it hinder my power-building process.
Seeing this, he swung his fist again, intending to shatter the fireball that resembled a miniature star.
Just as his gauntlet was about to make contact with the target, he seemed to suddenly realize something, immediately pulled his hand away, and quickly retreated to a distance, watching the fireball with extreme vigilance.
"...Speaking of which, you seem to have a very strong sixth sense." I let my voice echo in the air. "So, can I interpret your movements as...this move really working on you?"
As I spoke, I once again conjured my own fire elemental body beside the fireball, cradling the small sun in my palm.
The light distorted around the fireball, making it seem as if even space itself was about to be burned through by this extremely dense flame.
"..."
He didn't speak, but instead cautiously adopted a confrontational stance.
Perhaps this tactic isn't actually effective; it's merely a warning of my unknown movements. We'll have to see how it works in practice.
I've compressed my power to this point, which is about my current limit. The problem is how to hit him now. If it weren't for that troublesome sixth sense, he might still be foolish enough to take this super fireball; and now that he's alert, it will be very difficult to hit him afterward.
I can't teleport my super fireball directly there either. Once the super fireball disintegrates, I have to start the charging process all over again.
Perhaps I should play it safe and unleash this super fireball on his face while he attacks me. If I can break through his portal armor, I can try to attack his soul directly. Next time, he certainly won't survive my incineration.
He stood at a distance, observing me, seemingly trying to figure out how to catch me off guard.
Suddenly, he vanished from the spot.
This is his shadow teleportation; he's about to attack!
I immediately focused my attention on my surroundings, preparing to fight back. However, I waited a long time, but he didn't reappear.
(End of this chapter)
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