Chapter 175: The Future She Saw
The gate closed behind them.
Silence settled over the valley.
Broken stone ruins stretched across the landscape, half swallowed by grass and time. Ancient pillars leaned at impossible angles, while scattered trees broke up the open terrain without ever offering complete cover. It was a battlefield with long sightlines, clear lanes of fire, and just enough obstacles to punish careless movement.
Kai looked across the valley.
Lily was already waiting.
Her silver hair drifted gently in the breeze as she stood atop a weathered stone platform overlooking the valley. One arrow rested against the bowstring.
She hadn’t drawn it to fire and was simply waiting.
Kai smiled. "So this is your battlefield."
Lily didn’t answer and only watched him.
Kai took a single step.
The arrow left the bow.
Kai jumped upwards but then his eyes widened when he saw an arrow rushing towards him. He realized she hadn’t shot at where he was but where he was going to. He slashed out with his sword and destroyed the spirit arrow.
Before his feet touched the ground, five more arrows appeared.
His eyes narrowed. "...Already?"
The arrows weren’t chasing him but they were waiting for his landing. Kai twisted sideways and the first arrow missed by inches and then he phased through the second. The Fractured Blade swept across the third, knocking it harmlessly into the dirt. He rolled beneath the fourth. The fifth scraped across his shoulder before embedding itself in a ruined pillar behind him.
Kai landed lightly.
A thin line of blood appeared beneath the tear in his armor.
He smiled. "Already troublesome."
Ghostly light gathered around Lily with one spirit archer appearing behind her. Then another, and then a third. Each one quietly drew a translucent bow.
Kai immediately changed direction just as the spirit archers fired. Three arrows crossed the battlefield and closed in one where he was going. Another volley intercepted the new angle.
He changed direction once more and a fifth spirit archer appeared. Its arrow was already waiting and then Kai stopped. The arrows buried themselves in the ground where he would have stepped next.
His smile widened. "So that’s how you’re doing it."
She wasn’t fully predicting but targeting places he hasn’t reached yet. It was similar to Elden approached but instead of setting up traps beforehand. She was doing it in real time with so much efficiency, you could easily think she came into this dungeon earlier.
Kai lifted one hand and stone pillars burst upward between them. Massive walls climbed into the air, blocking every clear line of sight. For a brief moment, Lily disappeared behind solid rock.
Kai advanced before then a second later. Blue-white light burst through the stone.
One arrow.
Then another.
Then five more.
Each one punched cleanly through the pillars as though the stone barely existed. The walls exploded into fragments.
Kai blinked. "Cover doesn’t matter."
Good to know.
He dashed forward again and silver threads shot from his fingertips. They anchored themselves around broken pillars and twisted trees. Kai pulled and his body changed direction instantly. But then an arrow was already waiting. He released the thread before reaching the predicted point.
The arrow passed harmlessly beneath him.
Pulse Fist.
The compressed shockwave burst outward. The three incoming arrows shattered into glowing fragments.
Before they touched the ground, three more had already replaced them.
Kai laughed quietly. "Persistent."
Across the battlefield, Lily calmly reached for another arrow. Her expression hadn’t changed. There was no frustration or excitement, only pure concentration with beads of sweat following down her face.
Kai accelerated.
Instead of following a smooth rhythm, he deliberately broke it. The movement became uneven, leading to the arrows to trail off course. Because now he is constantly changing the way he moves and deflecting her arrows.
Even volleys that came from his blindspot arrived a fraction too late. An arrow missed his shoulder by inches and another grazed his cloak.
Kai landed only thirty feet away.
For the first time, Lily’s eyes narrowed. She quietly adjusted the angle of her bow.
The next volley came immediately.
Kai repeated the unusual sequence. This time every arrow was waiting exactly where it needed to be and he stopped himself before entering the trap.
"You already adjusted?"
Lily lowered the bow slightly. "So did you."
Neither smiled.
The realization settled over both of them.
Every trick only worked once.
Kai studied the battlefield.
Every unusual movement disappeared after Lily saw it as she remembered it. Then adjust and take it into account as she kept on firing arrows after arrows.
But then at the same time, she realized something herself. At first she was catching Kai off guard but gradually he was reacting faster and better like he was now predicting the attacks. He dismantled it after experiencing it once.
Neither of them could rely on repetition. The battle quietly became something else.
Thread Caster.
Pulse Fist.
Earth Mage.
The transitions became smoother with every exchange.
Stone pillars erupted beneath his feet, becoming platforms instead of walls. And then he used threads to hurl himself forward while blasting out with his fist. Shockwaves destroyed incoming arrows while pushing him close towards Lily.
His rhythm constantly changed.
Lily answered by changing the battlefield instead.
More spirit archers appeared.
Six.
Eight.
Ten.
Each one took a different position among the ruins.
Some climbed broken towers, others stood atop fallen pillars and a few hid among the trees. Then a crossfire slowly formed. Kai suddenly found arrows arriving from every direction. One from above. Two from behind and another crossed horizontally through the ruins. Every movement carried him toward another firing lane and he couldn’t stop moving.
Earth platform.
Thread.
Pulse Fist.
The battlefield transformed into an endless dance. Kai cut apart another incoming arrow before he burst toward Lily again.
Twenty feet.
Fifteen.
Ten.
Finally when he was close enough, the Fractured Blade flashed. Lily didn’t block and instead vanished. In her place was one of the spirit archers who was cut through by the blade.
Kai’s eyes widened. "...Position swap."
He turned immediately to six arrows that were already flying. Each one came from a different angle. Each one arrived at a different moment.
Kai phased through the first.
Cut the second.
Slid beneath the third and fourth but the fifth forced him sideways. The sixth blocked his path forward. He Air Stepped away and by the time he landed, thirty yards separated them again.
Exactly where Lily wanted him. Kai let out a quiet breath. Every mistake disappeared after she saw it once.
Across the valley...
Lily slowly drew another arrow.
Every trap stopped working after he experienced it once. Neither had spoken for several minutes. Neither needed to as the battle had become strangely quiet. Every exchange happened through movement instead of words. Every attack was another question. Every defense was another answer.
Then...
Kai stopped while across the battlefield Lily lowered her bow.
Neither attacked as wind drifted through the valley. Spirit archers stood silently among the ruins.
Kai exhaled slowly. "You’re seeing too much."
A small smile appeared on Lily’s face. "You’re adapting too quickly."
Silence returned.
Kai tightened his grip around the Fractured Blade. Prediction alone wouldn’t win anymore.
Across the valley Lily slowly raised her bow again. Behind her, the spirit archers multiplied. More appeared across the battlefield. Then larger ones. Towering spectral archers emerged from glowing circles, their bows nearly twice Kai’s height as ancient mana gathered around them.
At the same time...
Lightning quietly spread across Kai’s armor.
The Storm Sovereign Cloak stirred behind him.
Wind circled his feet and the air itself began to hum.
Neither looked away.
Kai smiled. "So..."
Lily gave a small nod. "No more testing."
They moved at the exact same instant.
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