MIGHT AS WELL BE OP

Chapter 953: Honest Mistake

Two different footsteps echoed within the storm of dust, slow and deliberate, their rhythm heavy yet controlled, then through it, two hazy figures that couldn’t be clearly made out stepped forward, their silhouettes cutting through the swirling debris like phantoms emerging from a battlefield long forgotten.

Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step.

The sound seemed to echo higher and higher as they walked, each step unnaturally loud, as though the world itself amplified their presence, and the next moment the two figures walked out side by side, the dust parting around them like a curtain being drawn back, revealing them clearly. They were Aura Nova and Lucian.

Lucian stood with his katana already sheathed, but his hand still resting firmly on the hilt, fingers loose yet ready, as the katana almost seemed to dance faintly within its scabbard, trembling for more of this clash and battle as though it couldn’t get enough, like a predator starved for blood.

Aura Nova held her twin short swords in her hands as she walked like an empress returning from conquest, every step elegant and measured, her posture straight and regal, her entire body cloaked in her Sword Intent. Now that she had called upon it, there was no need to recede it back, no reason to suppress something that was meant to dominate.

”It seems you didn’t train your Sword Intent using whatever method you used to train your battle experience,” Lucian stated calmly as he looked at Aura Nova with the exact same smile as before, casual yet piercing, the kind of smile that noticed everything.

As for how Lucian had come to this conclusion, well, Aura Nova’s Sword Intent was the same as it had been after her battle with Kingsley, it wasn’t denser, it wasn’t sharper, it hadn’t matured or deepened in any measurable way, it simply remained as it was, unchanged like stagnant water.

Aura Nova didn’t react... well, she didn’t react outwardly, her expression perfectly calm and unreadable, but within, her heart had skipped a beat as Lucian had identified something she herself had overlooked during her training within the False Reality Layer.

Sword Intent.

It wasn’t that she had purposely ignored it, but it was that she simply hadn’t remembered to focus on it because of one person... Sky Kingsley.

Sky Kingsley was a martial artist, a man who bore no form of energy whatsoever, so he hadn’t used Sword Intent or any form of Intent for that matter. This had made... or rather caused Aura Nova to subconsciously ignore Sword Intent during her training, focusing solely on technique, speed, and battle experience instead.

It was simply an honest mistake caused by the type of opponent she had first encountered in the beginning, a small oversight that now revealed itself as a massive flaw.

Although coming to this realization, she remained steady and calm, her breathing even, waiting quietly for Lucian to call upon his own Sword Intent, knowing fully well that what was about to happen would determine the true difference between them.

Lucian didn’t hesitate to call upon his Sword Intent, although Anthony had faced him without Sword Intent and won, he wasn’t Anthony, and he had no intention of handicapping himself, besides, he didn’t know what method Anthony had used to achieve such impossible feats.

His Sword Intent bloomed into reality like ink spilling into clear water, curling around him and his blade in total blackness, thick and oppressive, as that was the color of his own Sword Intent, a darkness that seemed to devour light itself.

The air rippled violently as a black, razor-sharp energy slashed through it, space bending faintly, and the next second it screamed as Aura Nova’s blue Sword Intent also rose sharply into the air, bright and fierce like lightning tearing across the sky. Sword Intent colliding against Sword Intent.

Then without any ceremonious wait or wasted movement, they shot forward yet again, space groaning under the force of their motion and strength. Like the clash of two heavenly behemoths, they collided head-on, and the moment they met, Aura Nova was thrown backward, her body skidding violently through the asphalt as her feet dug trenches into it like plows tearing through soil.

But Lucian followed up without a shred of hesitation, his katana descending from the sky like a comet given form, trailing black Sword Intent behind it like a tail of darkness. Aura Nova didn’t dare hesitate, her blades rose upward as she moved to meet the strike. And with an ear-splitting clang, reality itself seemed drowned beneath the sheer weight of the impact and attack.

Black and blue Sword Intents rippled outward, clashing together as they tore into one another for their masters, both loyal servants, loyal to the cause, loyal to the battle, neither willing to yield even a fraction.

Aura Nova felt the heavy tremor and jolt slam into her arms and body, her arms shaking violently, her legs threatening to give out as Lucian’s Sword Intent threatened to swallow her whole like an abyss. She didn’t need a genius to know it, Lucian’s Sword Intent eclipsed hers completely. But she didn’t allow herself to dwell on it for even a moment, she was in a precarious position where hesitation meant death.

The worse part, she couldn’t exactly learn through battle, even if she did, it would make little difference, although the foundation of the sword was the same, everyone’s understanding of the Sword wasn’t, and that difference in understanding created an unbridgeable gap.

Her body twisted as she deflected the weight of the attack to the side with a push of her twin short swords and a flicker of both wrists. Lucian didn’t hesitate or pause, he pressed relentlessly, the moment Aura Nova pushed his sword aside, he followed it with a vicious kick aimed directly at her temples.

Aura Nova’s instincts screamed violently, her arm rising as she positioned her forearm for a block. With the force of a dying star, both body parts and Sword Intent met, the force was anything but less than calamitous, Sword Intents bursting backward like an overfilled balloon ready to explode, as the battlefield became a stage of flashing Sword Intents that alternated black, then blue, over and over again.

Aura Nova felt the force slam into her once more, although she had blocked, the force behind the attack eclipsed her defense entirely. Her body tore sideways as she streaked through the air like a broken comet, her arm having broken for a brief moment even with the defense and enhancement of her Sword Intent, but it didn’t matter, her natural regeneration kicked in almost instantly, erasing the injury just as swiftly as it had formed.

The moment she regained control over her body and landed, Lucian’s blade was already there, his blade singing toward Aura Nova’s neck with merciless precision, but at this moment she was relying only on instincts, she had already been surpassed in terms of speed and strength.

With her instincts and reflexes guiding her, she blocked yet again, but she was thrown backward once more, her body tearing through buildings and concrete as she crossed kilometers in the blink of an eye, walls shattering and streets rupturing in her wake, her body finally coming to a stop as she slammed against another building.

Aura Nova stayed there for a moment, conscious and perfectly fine, dust settling slowly around her like falling snow. She couldn’t help but sigh softly.

She thought she could finally stand toe to toe with someone, but yet again she had been beaten in close quarter combat, all because she had overlooked her Sword Intent.

’Tsk... I will definitely win the close quarter combat of my next match,’ she thought to herself in frustration as she clicked her tongue. She would be using her False Reality Layer, but this time, it would be for Sword Intent, she would refine it, temper it and sharpen it.

But after this, her next opponents were Anthony and Aaaninja, men of immense strength and caliber, monsters among monsters, could she win against these two in close quarter combat, or would she have to rely on her Omniedit ability once again, just like she had done against Kingsley, and just like she was about to against Lucian.

_______

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Hey everyone, I missed yesterday’s Chapters, so as usual, I replaced them, so four Chapters today. And yeah, I still need your Golden tickets for the ranking. And also, just in case you’ve forgotten, I accept Super gifts and all types of gifts. Thanks for reading.