Something That Would Turn The Tide

Boom!

After Isaac's blazing sword clashed with Nyx's body, something unexpected happened. The older man had expected the red-haired boy to cleave him in half, bringing this fight to an end. However, nothing of the sort happened.

Instead, Isaac's face twisted into a deep frown, then into pain and confusion as he saw a thin translucent barrier surrounding Nyx. Within the barrier, the red-haired boy appeared perfectly fine.

"What the heck—" Before Isaac could even comprehend what was happening, a deafening sound similar to a bomb detonating went off, and his eyes widened in disbelief as he was sent flying backward, crashing through the surrounding mountains with incredible force, leaving a trail of his impression.

"Dammit, what did this kid do to me? Why does it feel as if I'm the one receiving the brunt of the sword!" The earth trembled and rocks shattered as Isaac's body continued to burst through mountain after mountain, raising clouds of smoke and rocky debris into the air.

Isaac gritted his teeth as he tried to stop his unending momentum. Tapping into his energy cell, Isaac activated his teleportation-type ability, and his body flickered and disappeared just before colliding with a mountain with jagged stones jutting out.

Reappearing a bit far from the panting Nyx, Isaac stumbled back, but he didn't collapse as he used his blazing sword to stab the rocky ground to maintain his footing.

'That attack just now… I can feel it did a lot of damage. Did he somehow deflect my attack back at me?' Isaac thought as he felt his internal organs shake a little. That last sword strike was Isaac's most devastating attack in this fight; it was an attack that would leave even a tier 2 existence vulnerable, so one could only imagine the mind-boggling pain Isaac was going through.

Never, in Isaac's wildest dreams, did he think a 13-year-old could leave him this vulnerable, yet it was happening right before his eyes.

In the middle of the fight, for the first time, the older man felt a little fear. He had this nagging feeling that he might just lose his life if he didn't take this kid seriously.

'I never thought I'd use this against a kid, but I have no choice. If I don't do this, I might lose this fight for real.' Isaac thought, thinking back to the barrier that caused him this pain. He knew it was a super item and also knew that like all super items, there was a cooldown timer; if not, the boy would have been using it from the get-go.

Gambling on this thought, Isaac's body started to flicker, but unlike the previous times, there were slight black wisps revolving around his body.

'Even if the cooldown timer is faster, I'll just be faster than!' Isaac thought as he disappeared.

Although Nyx could feel he had done significant damage to Isaac, he knew the fight was far from over, so he kept up his guard. Seeing the sudden black wisp and his opponent disappearing before his eyes only solidified his defense.

'Where is he?' Nyx thought with heightened guard as he looked around. Five seconds had passed already, and there was no sign of Isaac, but Nyx could vaguely tell that the old man was still nearby.

Suddenly, just then, Nyx's hair stood on end as he felt a malicious presence behind him. Isaac, who had materialized behind him, had a determined expression as he slashed forward, the fiery blade coming fast.

Nyx was too slow to dodge, and the sword made a deep cut on his back, sending him staggering forward. Because the cloak was in a 3-hour cooldown and the one-minute period for deflection had ended, Nyx was back to being on the receiving end again.

Before he could regain his footing, Isaac flickered at his side as he struck with the sword again. Nyx brought his arms in a cross in an attempt to block the sword, and that was when the sword seemed to vanish before his eyes.

The red-haired boy was left confused, but that confusion turned into a horrifying scream when he felt Isaac's flaming sword pierce his skin again, burning off his tattered clothes, and the scent wafted through the air.

[Health 40/100]

"A child like you dares to challenge me!" Isaac roared in an angry voice that seemed to bounce from all directions. "With my Mirage Sword Slash technique, you're dead! This fight would be over!"

Nyx stumbled backward, his breath coming in ragged as Isaac continued his relentless onslaught of sword slashes. Isaac's form was constantly flickering and disappearing, and he would appear at Nyx's blind spot to attack. However, anytime the sword was about to hit its mark, it would suddenly vanish and change the trajectory of its attack, making it very difficult to predict where he would strike next.

At the same time, Nyx could even see countless sword strikes heading towards him at once, but only one was the real one. The rest were just to confuse him, and it was safe to say the confusion really worked.

This Mirage technique was broken!

"Hahahahahah!" Isaac laughed gleefully when he saw the panicked expression on Nyx's face. The reason Nyx was panicked was because of this screen!

[Health 30/100]

His health bar now showed red! The worst part was that he couldn't even use the Enchanted Cloak active skill again as it was on a 3-hour cooldown.

The situation was truly looking bleak.

'I need to do something!' The reality of the situation was a wake-up call to Nyx as he suddenly disappeared and appeared a bit further from Isaac. As he did that, a system message unlike anything he had seen before appeared in his retina.

[You have completed the hidden requirement to create a skill]

[You've created Flash Step]

Skill description: [A high-tier martial art technique that allows one to create the illusion of teleportation, but with the system, the host doesn't have to constantly exert himself to use the skill. A simple command and the skill would be effective]

[Cool down: 5 seconds]

"Hehehe, it seems the devil is really helping me here!" Nyx smiled evilly after seeing the message. The Flash Step was one of the numerous martial art techniques Nyx had learned during his days as Nightmare. Like the description said, it was a skill that made his opponents think he was teleporting, but in reality, it was just a series of calculated footsteps that depended a lot on speed.

The downside of this technique, however, was that it required a lot of stamina per use. This was the reason Nyx didn't depend on the skill too much in this fight, as it could leave him extremely weak.

But now things were changed, with the help of this system, that weakness was no more! He could now use the Flash Step with a single thought!

'System, what is the hidden requirement to create a skill?' Nyx suddenly had an idea that might just turn the tables in this fight. 'With the high-tier Death Dance, this fight would be over!'