[Ruby's POV]
Swiish–
Zoooom–
BZOOOM!
As my <Ice Spears> collided with Raven's <Lightning Spears>...
Bam-
TIIING–!
Raven rushed at me and attacked me directly with his sword.
And as our swords are connected...
"<Vicious Lightning Sword Technique>"
"<Dance of the Lightning God>"
Raven uttered those words.
Swoosh-
Then he rotated his whole body to the right in an instant...
Swish-
And used that spin to perform a 360 horizontal slash.
He's aiming for my right shoulder.
'He's really great at utilizing his body weight to make his attack stronger.'
I thought as I calmly moved my sword to my right to block Raven's attack.
He might be fast, but I can still follow his movements.
Also adding the fact that he got significantly slower compared to his speed at the very start of our spar.
Anyway...
TIIING—
Raven's sword collided with mine once again.
'This attack isn't any special compared to his other attacks.'
I thought.
Bzzt-
'Hm?'
And that's when I heard something coming from Raven's sword.
And before I could even check what it was...
BOOM!
"?!"
An explosion occurred and I felt a pain on the right side of my whole torso!
It caught me off guard, it was like someone as strong as me punched me with their full strength!
And because of that, my right hand, along with my sword...
Shiing-
Got blown away by Raven's heavy attack!
I was surprised, so I unconsciously took a step back.
But as if he's expecting me to do so...
Tap-
Raven took a step forward at the same time, and brought the distance between us even closer!
And with both of his hands still at the hilt of his sword...
Swoosh-
Raven once again performed a soaring slash!
I still feel a tingling pain in my right hand, so I plan to use my left hand instead to stop Raven's attack this time.
So with an open palm, I moved my left hand to intercept Raven's sword.
Shhh~
Then I produced an ice shield in front of my palm...
TIIING–
Which stopped Raven's blade from reaching me.
But as soon as Raven's sword hit my small ice shield...
Bzzt-
"!"
I heard the buzzing noise once again!
And before I could even do something, I saw a flash of bright light...
BOOM!
And an explosion occurred right after!
"Ugh...!"
*****
The damage Ruby received this time was greater than before.
It made her left arm go numb for a second.
And during that second...
Swiish-
Raven followed up another attack!
It's a vertical downward slash this time.
"Seriously?"
Ruby mumbled as she saw that.
Then she placed her sword on top of her head to block Raven's incoming attack.
TIIING–
Their swords collided once more...
Bzzt-
And Ruby heard the same buzzing noise again!
And just like Raven's two previous attacks.
BOOM!
It was followed by an explosion!
Also, it was stronger than the other two!
"Krgh... Fuck."
Ruby cursed.
'So that's what's happening.'
Then she thought!
This time, Ruby saw it...
The cause of the explosion and the buzzing noise!
As soon as Raven's sword hit her sword, electric particles started swirling around it.
And not even a second after...
Ruby saw a strand of lightning coming out from the blade of Raven's sword, and it attacked her directly!
'Just blocking his sword is no good, I need to think of a way to deal with that attack.'
Ruby thought.
Though, there's a problem for her...
Raven's lightning attribute is rare, Ruby hadn't met anyone with the same attribute as him.
So she's not used to how to deal with it.
But one thing she knows about it is that...
'Raven's lightning can easily pierce through half-assed mana shields.'
So with that in mind.
Bam-
Ruby dashed back to get away from Raven and think about how to deal with his weird piercing attack.
"?!"
And that's when she finally saw Raven's whole figure.
"Wha..."
What entered Ruby's sight surprised her.
Drip- Drip-
Blood is coming out of Raven's eyes, ears, and nose.
"Haaa... Haaa...."
His breathing is uneven.
And the majestic wings on his back are now nowhere to be found!
Bzoom!
Boom!
Raven's <Lightning Spears> also decreased in number and power!
"Raven!"
Ruby called out for Raven as she cancelled out all of her <Ice Spears> and ran toward him.
"Haaa... Haaa..."
Raven didn't answer and just kept on breathing heavily.
It's unclear whether he's unable to talk or unable to hear at the moment.
Soon enough, Ruby reached Raven and supported him.
"Are you okay?"
She asked, you can hear how worried she is in her voice.
"Obviously, no."
And Raven bluntly answered, which made Ruby frown for a second.
Raven actually can't hear shit at the moment, he just read Ruby's lips to understand what she's saying.
"It feels like my head is cracked open and someone's punching my brain."
Raven then explained.
Even with his condition, Raven is still aware of what's happening around him and can still think rationally.
And that's because of his trait, <Calm Thinker>.
Anyway, after hearing Raven's words...
Ruby started scanning Raven's body using her mana by spreading it all over him.
'His whole body is pretty much beat up, especially his arms.'
'His mana is already depleted too, it's a surprise he's still conscious...'
Ruby thought, then she immediately sent an emergency message to one of the healers in the Lunar.
"Someone specialized in healing will come here soon, so you can rest now."
Ruby said to Raven.
And as a response.
Raven smiled...
"Thank you."
And said those words with sincerity.
Raven closed his eyes, then with a barely audible voice...
"Fuck rank limit... I wasn't even able to use... 1/4 of the potential of my strongest skill..."
Raven mumbled.
Then he lost consciousness right after.
"..."
Ruby, who heard him, was speechless.
'<Vicious Lightning Sword Technique>...'
"Where the hell did you learn this sword technique."
Ruby asked Raven as she thought about the technique's destructiveness.
But of course...
"..."
She didn't receive a reply from him.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel