Storm Wolf: Tranquil waters - 44. Dance

Dance: The World is a stage, and life dances with all Its might.

The air roared, vibrating with the rise and fall of waves, punctuated by the sound of slicing wind and crackling static.

Every hair on my body stood on end as the gas molecules around us ionized under the pressure of our will, occasionally releasing visible arcs of electricity.

My crimson coat billowed with my movements, rustling in strange directions and angles. In this field shaped by such a powerful, fused consciousness, the gravitational forces had to obey our rules.

Millions of adamantine particles, ranging in size between dust and snowflakes, spun at supersonic speeds, their trajectories constantly shifting, ebbing and flowing with the density of our consciousness. Sometimes, they formed larger structures, but these quickly disintegrated, only to reform again in an endless cycle.

A flash of silver.

A leaf-shaped blade, no bigger than a thumb, sliced across my cheek, leaving a cut. The shockwave from its speed also severed nearby strands of hair. The blade moved so fast that blood only began to trickle out after the adamantine structure had dissolved. I didn't bother healing myself--such a minor injury wouldn't affect anything.

The mutt grinned at me triumphantly, baring his teeth. I seized the opening, twisted my sword, and stepped forward, aiming the tip of Gray Snow at his head. Luther barely managed to turn his head, dodging the thrust, but I pressed on, swinging the guard of my sword toward his face.

"Don't let down your guard!" I shouted, my voice cutting through the static noise surrounding us.

Luther answered with a powerful wave of energy, a wall surging toward me like a tsunami. I had no choice but to wrest control of the adamantine dust in front of me, using its resonance to neutralize his attack with an opposing wave.

Luther didn't need any additional gestures to assist him; even when I knocked him off balance, he could construct waves purely with his willpower, making it nearly impossible to predict his attacks.

The strength of his strike pushed me back slightly. The mutt took advantage of the moment to right himself, adopting a defensive stance in time to block my next slash.

I didn't waste energy trying to overpower him. If Luther had enough will left to push back, he'd easily break free of any force I applied. I withdrew Gray Snow immediately, spinning it and attacking at my top speed--a series of three slashes from different angles. Luther blocked all, even managing to dissipate the strikes I launched at him from all sides while using my Snow stance.

I have a feeling that once I age a bit more, I might have to give up my title as the Empire's Premier Swordsman.

Luther attempted a daring thrust at me, surrounded by a cloud of adamantine dust. I focused my consciousness on Gray Snow, knocking his attack aside and exposing an opening. But before I could capitalize on it, he unleashed a wave strong enough to shatter mountains, forcing me to retreat.

Even when his stance faltered, Luther's absurdly deep willpower made up for his flaws. Though my swordsmanship was still superior, it wasn't enough to easily breach his defenses. Each time I managed to create an opening, he pushed me back and regained his footing.

This mutt was nearing the point where I wouldn't be able to defeat him without awakening Gray Snow.

Amidst the high-speed storm of dust and debris, I lightly brushed the hilt of Gray Snow with my thumb, lost in thought.

Luther's big brown eyes watched me warily, his stance ready for Frost stance defense. At the same time, he tried to seize control of the countless adamantine fragments around us, preventing me from directly attacking him with consciousness.

He wasn't anywhere near ready to awaken Ether. If I awakened Gray Snow now, it would feel a bit unfair. Besides, he was only nearing that point.

I smirked at the mutt, leveling my sword, and launched my next attack.

Seizing control of a sufficient number of adamantine particles, I assembled six hexagonal plates and suspended them behind me as wave amplifiers.

I felt Luther gathered his consciousness, intending to break apart the structure I had just created. But he stumbled, letting out a pained yelp.

"How many times have I told you?" I called out as I wove new materials into the mix--titanium alloy, silicon crystals, high polymer compounds--forming blades that hovered in a slow orbit around me. "Don't let your guard down!"

I hurled all the blades at him. Luther grunted, yanking a sharp tungsten shard out of his shoulder and casually tossing it aside.

Luther summoned an even stronger wave of energy. The tidal force distorted and twisted my blades mid-air, shaking them until they lost cohesion and floated, weightless, in absurd directions.

At the same time, I raised Gray Snow high and brought it down in an Ice shove slash aimed at Luther. The existence circle encasing my blade forced Luther's waves to recede, compelling him to block with his own sword.

A metallic clang echoed as Luther lost his footing, falling to one knee. He tried his usual trick, sending another shockwave to push me back, but I synchronized Gray Snow's resonance with his attack, breaking both his wave and the stability of his field. I only slid back a few inches and still had enough focus to control the blades now floating aimlessly around us.

When the blades pierced Luther's arm and shoulder, he let out a groan before looking up, locking eyes with me. The mutt's lips curled into a grin, baring the tips of his fangs.

He orchestrated this!

I tried to pull Gray Snow back to defend, but Luther clamped down on the blade, blood pouring from his hand and dripping along the sword's edge.

Damn it, he must've used physical enhancement waves!

The blades embedded in his body flew free, turning and darting toward me along the shortest possible path. I strengthened Gray Snow with my will, trying to regain control of the blades, but Luther's blood had corrupted them, making it impossible.

I hadn't been pushed to this point, where we had to fight within existence circles, for so long. I got careless!

I barely managed to slow the blades, trying to retreat and buy time to form a new defensive wave. In desperation, I considered letting go of my sword, but Luther was faster--he abandoned Ether, grabbing my wrist instead.

His grin deepened, fully aware that I couldn't win in a contest of brute strength.

Frustrated, I poured all my consciousness into our contest of control, and red tinged my vision.

For a brief moment, the blades stopped. But in the next instant, Luther gathered even more power, his brown eyes glowing bright red. The blades shot toward me even faster than before.

I could feel the force of the impact rippling against my skin, shaking me to my core. Such power, enough to warp physical space itself...

I laughed. Time slowed to a crawl.

I raised my gaze and met Luther's red eyes, reading every thought behind them. Such exhilaration, giving everything I had, flowing across the universe, dancing in chaos with endless spirals--this was what a battle between truly powerful psychics looked like. I never imagined I'd enjoy it so much.

Luther responded with a sly grin, baring his fangs even whiter against his black fur.

I guess this is his first victory. And it's about time I stepped off the stage.

I relaxed my control over my consciousness, waiting for the blades to strike my defense circle and signal the end of the duel.

As the blades drew closer, I couldn't help but wonder: did Qana feel something similar when he trained me? That sense of knowing, one day, you'd pass the torch to a younger generation and let them explore the world for themselves, finding their own answers?

In any case, this is it. I exhaled through my nose, bidding a final farewell to my fading youth, ready to embrace the dawn of a new world.

It's all up to you now, you clumsy, yet surprisingly sharp mutt.

But something was wrong--too close.

Luther hadn't noticed, probably because he wasn't familiar with the size of my passive defense circle. After all, it was his first time successfully breaking through my guard. But I knew--something was off.

My passive defense circle didn't activate.

The bloodstained blades pierced into my body, sending me sprawling backward.

Luther realized something was wrong, but it was too late.

His existence circle followed the blades into my body, disrupting my control over my consciousness circle. Thousands of adamantine fragments, which had been swirling around me moments before, escaped my control and slammed into me with their inertial force. I could feel indescribable pain, along with thousands of tiny holes being punched through my body. Worse still, each fragment remained lodged within me, in both my flesh and blood. My existence circle was moments away from completely dissipating.

A mouthful of blood surged up, spilling from my lips and scattering strangely through the air. Clearly, gravity's rules hadn't yet reasserted themselves. The next instant, everything went dark, and I could only feel the cold creeping up my back.

"...Richter!"