Dark fragments melted back into ordinary shadow.
The blood greatswords crashed into empty ground.
Elric was gone.
Far across the battlefield...
He watched silently from another shadow.
His expression had grown considerably more serious.
'Those constructs...They don't weaken after impact. And her blood returns to her...'
His eyes narrowed. 'Destroying them isn't enough. I'll eventually lose a battle of attrition.'
Lexa stood exactly where she'd begun.
She hadn't advanced more than two steps since the duel started.
She simply watched the shadows.
"...Troublesome."
These mountains produced far too many places for him to hide.
Then—
The mountain itself moved.
A tidal wave of darkness surged outward.
Not toward her—
Around her.
Covering the battlefield like an incoming tsunami.
Amber inhaled sharply.
"The entire mountain..."
"He can manipulate all of that?"
Lexa understood instantly.
'Not manipulate...Expand. The shadow can only grow as large as the object casting it.'
She closed her eyes.
One slow breath.
The two colossal blood greatswords dissolved into streams of blood.
They spiraled around her blade.
Compressing.
Layer upon layer.
Until every drop disappeared into the sword's edge.
She stepped forward.
Only once.
Then thrust.
There was no explosion.
No grand display.
Only absolute penetration.
The point of her sword pierced the incoming sea of darkness.
A circular hole nearly half a meter wide erupted through the massive shadow.
The wave rippled violently.
Like a lake struck by a spear.
The enormous shadow collapsed back into the mountain's natural outline.
Far away—
Elric exhaled slowly. 'She broke the technique...with one thrust.'
Behind them, Vexion rested comfortably against Dante, barely watching the fight anymore. She tilted her head. "Master...They're starting to understand each other."
Dante nodded, "They're both probing. Neither one has shown their real hand."
Amber stared at the battlefield in disbelief.
She could barely follow either combatant anymore.
Every exchange happened faster than her eyes could properly process.
For the first time since entering Midvest Academy...
She truly understood what separated ordinary geniuses...
...from monsters.
Vexion who was on her Master lap, gently enjoying the attention of her master's arousal poking at her but asked hiding her own arousal, asked with a blush "Master, they seem to be...?"
Dante nodded "Could be a draw it this continues".
Elric frowned as he watched the aftermath of her thrust. 'She can still unleash that much power from a single strike?'
The mountain-sized shadow he had painstakingly created had been pierced clean through by a single attack. The amount of mana he had poured into it wasn't insignificant.
Lexa slowly turned her head, crimson eyes calmly sweeping across the battlefield. 'This cat-and-mouse game has gone on long enough.'
The instant the thought crossed her mind, instinct screamed.
Without hesitation she twisted her body to the right.
Whoosh!
A sharpened shadow tendril erupted from her own shadow, its dagger-like tip stabbing toward where her heart had been.
Before she had even completed the dodge—
Another one.
This time from behind.
A second shadow peeled away from the ground like a living serpent, thrusting toward her back.
Lexa's eyes narrowed.
Then a third appeared.
A fourth.
One after another, shadow spears erupted from every direction, each strike arriving with assassin-like precision, never wasting movement, never exposing the real Elric.
She danced between them.
One step.
Half turn.
Sword redirected.
Another sidestep.
Each attack missed by barely an inch.
Yet instead of slowing, the tendrils became increasingly aggressive, attacking in overlapping angles, attempting to herd rather than kill.
'He's testing my reactions...No. He's buying time.'
Without another thought, the blood surrounding her sword rapidly condensed.
A massive crimson broadsword formed beneath her feet.
She stepped onto it effortlessly.
The weapon shot upward.
Like a flying platform, it carried her higher and higher into the air.
The shadow tendrils chased for several seconds before finally slowing.
Once sunlight completely engulfed the area, they lost their reach and gradually retreated back toward the mountains below.
...
Several mountain peaks away...
Elric leaned against a rocky cliff, half concealed inside a shadow.
Seeing her calmly escape into open sunlight, he sighed.
"Of course she can do that."
...
Back where Dante and Amber observed the battle...
Vexian rested comfortably against Dante, enjoying the warmth of his embrace.
She watched the seemingly endless chase below before pouting.
"Master..."
"How long are they going to keep doing this?"
"It's becoming boring."
Dante smiled faintly.
"They're both waiting."
His fingers absentmindedly traced gentle circles across her waist while his eyes never left the battlefield.
"Lexa wants information. Elric wants to reveal as little information as possible while still proving he's worthy. They're fighting completely different battles."
Vexian blinked.
"So... neither of them is actually trying to win?"
"They are. But information is more valuable than victory right now."
He pointed toward the battlefield.
"Lexa refuses to chase him because she doesn't know the limits of Shadow Leap. Cooldown? Mana cost? Maximum consecutive uses? If she commits too early and he still has multiple jumps remaining, she'll simply waste stamina."
Vexian puffed out her cheeks as she thought.
Dante quietly smiled.
No matter how breathtaking she looked, moments like these reminded him why she stood beside him.
Beauty alone never made someone his right hand.
Her mind did.
A few moments later her eyes brightened.
"I see. She's waiting until she discovers whether Shadow Leap has a hidden limitation. Either mana...or cooldown."
Dante nodded approvingly. "Exactly."
His hand gently patted her butt. Vexian beamed proudly. Amber, sitting nearby, silently listened to every word.
The more Dante explained... The more frightening he became. He wasn't merely watching a battle. He was dissecting it.
Even Vexian wasn't simply someone sitting beside him because of her appearance. She understood battlefield analysis almost as naturally as he did.
'These people... They're terrifying.'