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Silence hung heavy between the armor and the metamorph.
Without warning, the armor surged forward with a thunderous burst — its blade cutting through the air in a swift arc.
Victor thought about what to do. He no longer used weapons, after all…
'Weapons are weak. Unless they're made from your own body, they're useless for us.'
Hearing that once from Niyx had changed how he thought. He couldn't form weapons from his body yet — Niyx didn't seem to use any either, not that she'd ever been trying to kill him anyway.
He figured that if he evolved further, maybe the act of creating one from his own body would become possible. But for now, it wasn't.
In an instant, the metamorph was behind the armor — using an extra skill he'd earned during his hunting missions: [Phantom Step].
That ability had manifested when he hunted multiple targets at once. Simple, functional, and efficient.
It allowed the user to move instantly to any point within their field of vision. No sound, no visible motion — it was like teleportation that erased one's existence and restored it somewhere else.
Its only limitation: the user's feet had to remain in contact with the ground, or something considered part of it.
'Its attacks are too simple… Is it holding back? Not wasting the mana it gathered? No… it's studying what kind of threat I am, then…'
The armor advanced again, faster this time.
Victor dodged elegantly, then spun and kicked its abdomen, launching the massive suit several meters away.
It stopped, motionless. Observing. Then, its sword began to emit a blue aura — a sharp contrast to the crimson blade.
'Just as I thought. It's starting to take this fight seriously now.'
With a horizontal slash, a beam of energy shot out. Victor simply teleported to the side.
He figured the armor might have noticed the secret behind his movements — trying to force him to jump, to cancel [Phantom Step].
But the problem was, Victor couldn't fight purely at range.
Using skills like [Fire Manipulation] or [IceManipulation] would be useless — both were mana-based, and would only feed the armor more energy.
So, he'd need another card to play.
The armor charged again, unleashing a relentless sequence of slashes that tore through the battlefield.
Without pause, Victor teleported between them with flawless precision — never lifting his feet from the ground even once.
Using his [AnalyticalAwareness], everything felt easy.
It synced perfectly with [Phantom Step].
The armor was just inches from Victor — but its attack was cut short when a massive boulder slammed into its chest, hurling it upward.
'[Environment Deformation] — that green spirit's ability really came in handy. It bends the terrain using mana, useful for both attack and defense… but since there's no mana in the deformation itself, it's pure physical force.'
He'd absorbed it from a lower-class nature spirit — so it wasn't in its full form. Victor could only make small terrain shifts within a limited range.
It wasn't particularly strong in combat — at least, not this Class (B) version. But Victor was clever enough to make it work in the right situation. Like now.
As the armor was flung upward, Victor teleported onto a rising stone pillar, ready to strike again — to send it even higher.
But when he reached the top, the armor was already waiting, sword raised high.
The blade began to glow an intense blue.
And as it descended — the space before it split open.
It wasn't a metaphor — the fabric of reality itself was cut.
Beyond the rift was a black sky dotted with stars, as if the strike had sliced through the world and exposed the void beyond it.
The fissure expanded, crossing the crater in a straight line that vanished into the horizon.
Merlin, watching from above, felt a wave of concern — but it quickly faded.
Victor had teleported again, appearing on the only solid ground left: the armor's back.
"That was way too close," he said with a faint grin. "You're pretty cool, you know that?"
He flexed his legs, leapt — and kicked with all his strength.
The impact was brutal. The armor shot through the air like a projectile and crashed into the ground.
The explosion sent a wave of dust and shattered stone into the air.
The stone pillar collapsed too, breaking apart into hundreds of fragments.
Victor landed a few meters ahead, his silhouette cloaked in dust.
Silence returned — heavy and tense.
Then, the metallic sound of movement echoed.
The armor rose once more.
Cracks now ran across its chest. One of its antennae was broken.
The red glow from its visor had turned blue — cold and steady.
Victor raised an eyebrow.
"Changed color…"
From above, Merlin frowned.
"That means it's close to awakening, Victor. The core is syncing with your mana."
He exhaled slowly. The dust still hung in the air, and the ground vibrated faintly beneath his feet.
"So… that was just the first phase."
Victor looked up, his crimson eyes gleaming under the blue light — and smiled.
"Alright then. Let's keep going."
The armor tilted its head, almost as if it understood.
The ground split once more.
The second round began.
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