Chapter 305 - Hunter X Assassin
Elyra wanted to help Seth in this difficult mission and that's why she immediately agreed with what that mysterious lady clad in a white rob had told her. Actually, Elyra and the Elf Queen, just like Lilian, received a mysterious guest some days ago. That guest had told them about the things pertaining Seth's situation and because of that, they were able to arrive there in time.
At the current moment, Elyra thought that if she were to finish this battle earlier, she might have the chance to help him a little bit more. That's why she decided on the second option and instead of playing this game of patience, she chose to cut Second Shadow's routes and slay him with her sword.
Second Shadow was observing Elyra while trying to find a pattern in her versatile behaviors, but suddenly, he noticed her changing her battle stance. As an assassin, he had always tried to find patterns in how his targets behaved, since it would help him formulating a better assassination plan, but after probing Elyra in the past fight, he already knew she couldn't be so easily labeled.
But her next course of actions, would subvert everything he expected she would be doing and would be presenting him a new concept. He was about to be hunted, experiencing the terror that a prey would feel when running away from a deadly predator.
The wind activity around Elyra suddenly stopped. It was like she had tamed the wind and turned one with it. But right after that, her hair moved upwards and her body abruptly acquired an aura of wind. The feeling she was passing at that moment; was like she had just turned into an elemental of the wind attribute.
A light green energy suddenly enveloped Elyra's body and changed the properties and rules of her physique. Her cells absorbed that energy and acquired the wind attribute, getting totally compatible with it.
Elyra didn't know, but this ability she had developed by herself, was very close to reaching the Domain level; but instead of being in control over an elemental area created with her own powers, she had developed a way to do it with her body. Actually, that area was in fact her body.
Second Shadow wasn't able to realize the danger that transformation posed to him yet, since there were no major changes in her aura, just that strange green light. Her cultivation continued to be at the Profound Mana Realm too, not that much different from earlier. But even though he couldn't measure her abilities, he was a cautious individual and at a time like this, he decided to hide in the shadows once more.
Elyra felt the air around her, interacting with it like it belonged to her body. After thoroughly feeling her connection with that element, she suddenly turned towards Second Shadow and vanished. Her body moved like a fierce gale, assaulting the area that her enemy was hiding into, completely uprooting everything.
Second Shadow was suddenly caught off guard and was forced to teleport away in a hurry.
At the area he was standing in, a mere second before he teleported, many deep cutting marks were marking the ground, showing him what would have happened to his body in case he chose to stay there. But unfortunately for Second Shadow, he wasn't even able to recompose himself, before that fierce gale assaulted the place that he had appeared in.
Even the distance of a kilometer seemed to be nothing for Elyra anymore. She could almost instantly cover that distance in that new form of hers.
"What the **...
" Second Shadow suddenly left his Shadow Walk and decided to use a defensive skill.
His body entered inside a cocoon made of darkness, where nothing was able to penetrate. He had used one of his few defensive abilities, stopping his body from being shredded by that fierce and sharp gale that was hazing that area.
However, even though he had protected himself, his heart was wildly beating inside his chest. That elf had discovered his position not once, but twice in a row. The skill he relied the most, was thoroughly countered by her and he had no clues on how she had done it. Other than that, he had teleported away twice in a row and now, at the perfect time for him to do it again, he was not able to access that ability due to many consecutive uses.
Although it seemed he was trapped, Second Shadow still had many other ways of leaving from that situation, but most of them would require him to waste a lot of Mana, completely throwing away his initial plans of wasting time in this battle.
Elyra's body suddenly appeared in the midst of that wild wind activity, already holding her sword and making an offensive stance. She didn't want to give her enemy any time to breathe, so her body radiated a sharp wind elemental strength and at the same time, she guided all that power to her blade.
Second Shadow felt a chill run down his spine, something an assassin like him had never felt before. Even though he wasn't able to see anything on the outside, he could feel the tremendous changes in the aura of his enemy. She had abruptly appeared there, radiating a killing instinct that left even him afraid.
Without thinking twice, he damaged his life essence to acquire more Mana and reduce the cooldown time of his skills. With that new strength, he forced a teleportation out of that cocoon.
While his ability was still being executed, in that small fraction of second, Elyra's sword suddenly emitted a sharp cutting light.
"Wind-Rend!
"
SWOOSH!
A green and sharp wind blade suddenly cut through everything, dividing the earth and the sky into two parts. Nothing was able to stop it, not even Second Shadow's dark cocoon. It was easily sliced apart and whatever was being hidden from Elyra's sight, had been sliced into two as well.
Three to four thousand meters away, Second Shadow's figure emerged from the darkness, with a shallow cut that was taking from the top of his head until his belly. A single second later and he would have been cut in half.
As he looked to his own blood, fear and rage swelled inside of his being. He swore to himself that he would find that elf one day and assassinate her with the cruelest method possible. His proud as an assassin had been broken, his disguises served as nothing and he felt inferior even though they had the same cultivation.
But just as he started dashing towards a place that was far away from there, a sharp gale passed through him, carrying Elyra's figure. She had practically accompanied him there, even though she hadn't teleported.
Her speed was in another level already, almost reaching the speed a Mana Sovereign could display. Her body felt light and the wind could carry it very quickly, surpassing the common restrictive knowledge that practitioners had regarding cultivation realms. However, even though she had access to those super strong powers, her Mana wouldn't be able to support it forever, so she had to finish this battle quickly.
Second Shadow was suddenly facing his most severe life crisis. He knew that if he didn't fight seriously now, he would perish there and because of that, in a single second, his entire being changed.
His always-avoiding stance turned into a cold and sharp-like stance, as if he had suddenly turned into a dark dagger. His eyes went dull and his killing intent soared to the heavens. I was do or die and he would certainly do it, like he had always done.
"Dark Assassination!
"
Suddenly, his figure blurred, but instead of turning invisible, sixteen other Second Shadow figures appeared on his place. One of them was his real body, but all of them were real. They were his ultimate technique, an ability that was putting together his dark elemental mastery and his lifelong experiences as an assassin.
Those figures were not clones or specters of him, like what Seth was able to do, but figures born from his own killing instinct. All of them were holding dark daggers on their hands, ready to pierce the vital point of the enemy that made their appearance be required there.
Elyra felt that her enemy was finally going all out and she did the same. Her blade started shining once more and the wind element activity in that area, rose once again.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
Second Shadow and his shadows abruptly accelerated towards Elyra, cutting even the wind apart as they moved forward.
Elyra saw those shadows approaching and instead of using her already readied blade, she suddenly chanted inside her mind: 'Storm Point!'
Out of nowhere, a tempest surged around of her, with many different wind currents clashing against each other and forming a path full of resistance till something could come closer to her body.. That area had just turned into an unapproachable place, increasing the difficulty of her enemy's copies reaching her and buying her some time for her finishing move.