Chapter 52:Echoes of Victory: Illusion

POV: Selena

With my sword, I struck heavily toward Kurn. The slash itself didn't seem to do much, but the golden flame burned and suppressed that living armor.

The flame, being the complete opposite of that abyssal liquid, held a slight advantage. My blows pushed Kurn back, though only slightly. This beast is such a pain.

And I still need to help my familiar... What should I do? I asked myself as I fought.

If I used my main moves, would he fall? Hardly. He'd probably absorb even the sword's intent.

Maybe a fire attack... fused with thunder? It's possible. But how? What combination?

Facing off against the false Dullahan, I kept thinking about what move to use. His form was extremely powerful, but this transformation was clearly putting immense strain on him. Wounds would appear here and there, but were quickly covered by that black liquid.

Zish.

My blade cut across the beast's body in a horizontal arc. But then it vanished, retreating.

The beast was showing signs of spiritual exhaustion. The black liquid stopped covering the minor wounds, focusing only on the deeper ones. The shallow cuts started to bleed again.

Looks like this is the moment.

Gathering my fingers together, vitae dropped onto them. A flame began to take shape between them.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

Small firebirds crackled into existence, turning into flaming birds laced with thunder energy. They flew toward Kurn.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

They soared and expanded, creating small explosions across Kurn's body. From a distance, I kept him under pressure.

With fluid movements of my fingers, I created a variety of smaller attacks: fire-thunder birds, flaming spheres, spiral elemental lances, arrows alternating between lightning and flame.

Curiously, the thunder seemed to have a strange effect on him. But my command over that element was still shallow — more of a support to the flames.

But what if I used blood? Could it...? I wondered.

Retreating, I raised two fingers. An aura of blood gathered at their tips, and vitae surged violently toward them.

Focusing, I began channeling my control over fire and thunder, while using nex to create a bubble capable of containing and linking the powers.

A sphere of blood, flames, and lightning formed, growing rapidly. This move was the Tri-Elemental Supernova — a magical orb that condensed massive amounts of vitae and could adapt to any element, needing only proper energy channeled.

It was a mid-high tier spell, with low requirements, ideal for specific situations.

The sphere grew to about three meters tall and five meters long.

"Tri-Elemental Supernova!" I shouted, launching it.

It wasn't very fast, but fast enough.

Vish!

A vibrant beam of energy sliced through the air — and hit me.

Boom!

An explosion echoed as it struck my armor. My body was thrown backward, blood spilling from my lips.

Repositioning midair, I prepared to strike back. But when I looked toward the attacker, I realized it wasn't Kurn who had dodged the supernova.

It was that damned illusory butterfly, staring at me as it flapped its wings.

Didn't I kill her...? No. It seems it was just an illusion.

The butterfly advanced, using strange illusory energy. Multicolored rays of energy came flying toward me.

"Not my specialty…" I thought, smirking.

Pouring all the vitae into my sword, I charged forward.

Quick thrusts and basic slashes — I assaulted the beast with sword techniques.

With the sword in hand, and against an enemy who wasn't nearly immune to my attacks, the blade danced.

With countless strikes, I kept the pressure. I killed her inside the illusion, and here will be no different.

Never backing down, I always pressed forward. The sword represents absolute sharpness. And I had an idea of how to deal with this creature.

"Since you took his form… surely you wouldn't mind if I used your crystal to make a weapon for him." I thought, grinning.

"Slash Heavy."

I lunged forward, delivering a powerful slash to its body. The sword struck with force, carving a visible cut into the creature.

It groaned in pain, but kept fighting. Strange. This beast is known for illusions, not direct confrontation.

There's no record of this... at least, not from any survivors.

Without overthinking it, I kept fighting head-on. My sword slashed, rays came at me, and we clashed continuously.

Neither of us gave in. But then something strange began to happen: it started to regenerate rapidly.

What the hell?! This creature is known for illusions and disguises. At most, there are rare reports of control over wind or sound insurgents.

But physical combat, regeneration, and this weird colored lightning...?

Could this creature be an extremely rare insurgent...?

Still locked in combat, she began firing multicolored rays more intensely.

Even repelling most of them, a few still hit me. How was that possible?

The battle went on for a while... until I saw something strange in the distance.

During one exchange, a beam of colorful energy hit my rib. But it didn't come from the beast in front of me — it came from a nearly invisible ripple several meters northwest.

The damn thing put me into an illusion! Probably, when I cut her wing, she hid and used a disguise, creating an identical illusion of herself.

That explained why I always "won" every confrontation. She deliberately gave me the feeling of victory while slowly hitting me.

"You damn butterfly… let me show you something."

Annoyed, I dropped my current style and fought with more intensity, soaring upward.

Vitae surged, pouring onto my sword. Nex surged with incredible sharpness. Flames assimilated into the blade instead of merely covering it. I channeled all my sword intent into it.

This was the limit of my intent manipulation. The black blade seemed to begin cracking under the pressure.

Raising the sword, I feinted an attack at the butterfly — but I knew where to aim.

Flapping my wings, I shot like a lightning bolt toward the ripple. As I neared, I unleashed an intense slash:

"Heaven-Searing Divider!"

The attack fell, tearing through space and everything around it, striking the real butterfly.

Zum! Splash!

As the slash passed, she became visible — split in two. Blood burst in all directions.

The sword in my hands broke right after the attack, but there was no time. I rushed to help my familiar, who was battling the dragon.

However, what I saw surprised me: the dragon lay dead at her feet.

"Took you long enough, Selena! Haha!"

Flávia said, smiling.

"Yes..." I nodded, smiling too.

We're getting closer to the climax of the first major arc!

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