MIGHT AS WELL BE OP Chapter 951: Maybe Another Time

Right after the words escaped Aura Nova's mouth, her awareness detected a fresh figure positioned right in front of her form, his palm resting on the sword's handle with silent certainty. It turned out to be Lucian, who had shifted at a velocity beyond any pace he or Aura Nova had ever shown, a velocity that resembled less actual movement and more like instant relocation, as if the surroundings had merely shifted to position him right there.

'How?' Aura Nova wondered, since she hadn't caught sight or felt his approach, the shift so seamless that it appeared as if existence had jumped a beat.

Seamlessly continuing, Lucian's katana slid free from its scabbard with a crisp, echoing ring while slicing toward Aura Nova's throat in a single fluid arc, the blow precise and unforgiving, like he had staked the whole fight and all previous clashes on this one critical strike, channeling every purpose and deadly power into that flawless pull.

Even though Aura Nova couldn't track his abrupt shift at first, that didn't imply she was unable to respond, her reflexes and responses weren't merely for appearance or pretense. With dazzling power and velocity, her limbs shot up in a blur, her paired short swords trailing in perfect harmony as she formed them into an X guard across her torso, the stance solid and unyielding like an impenetrable shield.

And accompanied by a booming explosion, the pair of steels clashed, the atmosphere freezing briefly as if unsure how to proceed amid these two titans smashing together. Would it rip? Would it wail? Would it crumble? It was clueless, having already endured everything. The following instant, the atmosphere at last chose, bursting apart in a devastating shockwave that ripped through all in its way like a hidden explosive going off right between them.

The impact and drive crashed into Aura Nova with savage force, her frame hurled rearward as her boots lifted off the rooftop she occupied, her figure launching away wildly while the gale howled after her like a pursuing predator. She remained composed, her form gracefully rotating in flight with refined mastery as she touched down lightly on a towering building's side wall, her feet adhering to the upright face as if gravity bent to her command.

She grasped right away that the backward fling stemmed from the disparity in drive and strength at the impact. Lucian had amassed his energy prior to the blow, whereas she had assembled hers in a rush, countering rather than starting, and that lone gap had robbed her of her footing.

Her gaze jerked upward, her azure eyes locking onto Lucian's figure, yet what met her view was a sword already whistling toward her throat with deadly delight. Aura Nova stayed silent, she didn't ponder, time allowed no reflections, her reflexes activated once more as her frame arched rearward with unbelievable suppleness, her spine now level with the skyscraper's glass panels.

The instant she arched back and evaded, it felt like duration had decelerated in her mind as she watched Lucian's sword rush by her visage in sluggish motion, her lovely features, complexion, and azure eyes mirroring distinctly on the sleek surface of its silvery edge, trailed by a slender silver trail as the sword sliced the breeze and the exact spot her head had occupied just a split second prior.

Had she hesitated by the tiniest sliver of duration, decapitation would have come without doubt, her skull detached neatly before she could even sense demise approaching.

Yet Aura Nova required no explanation, in this stretch where duration appeared to elongate and lag just for her, she comprehended fully that the reflexes directing her stemmed from those earned through countless years of relentless combat in the False Reality Layer. Its influences were surfacing in this clash, emerging as something nearer to foresight than simple response.

The subsequent moment, duration jerked sharply back to normal, and right away the panes they perched upon shattered outward as the repercussion from Lucian's failed strike hammered the structure like a massive shell. Lucian and Aura Nova showed no response, their forms far exceeded the level where shards could harm them, even if these broken fragments were sturdier than standard glass, fortified and hardened, it changed nothing for fighters of their rank.

Aura Nova surged ahead on this turn, her velocity surging like a vehicle shifting to a higher gear, buildup layering over buildup, her dual short swords advancing from dual directions at once, each targeting a fatal spot on Lucian's frame with unsparing accuracy.

Lucian merely regarded both assaults with his dark gaze, he offered no deflection or obstruction, his limbs merely glided softly across the building's concrete as he sidestepped both with the simplicity of someone grabbing sweets from a kid, and while avoiding both blows, he narrowed the gap to Aura Nova in that identical fluid step and maneuver. He ended up directly opposite her, a grin lingering on his features, his katana already slashing upward from underneath in a brutal angled cut designed to split her apart.

Aura Nova felt no agitation at Lucian's nearness, on the contrary, she advanced a partial step as if drawing near for a smooch... yes, a smooch from her edge. Her initial short sword intercepted Lucian's katana, stopping it halfway and canceling the assault entirely, steel scraping steel, and simultaneously her right weapon ripped upward toward Lucian's throat at zero distance with murderous purpose.

Lucian found himself forced to retreat a step to evade since he couldn't counter with his katana that Aura Nova's other sword had already locked down. He evaded with the smoothness of an expert guiding a novice, fluid and restrained, but Aura Nova was no novice from the start.

The second Lucian evaded, her short sword that had snagged his katana promptly shifted, its action resembling a serpent lunging at quarry as her wrist snapped abruptly and with that lone, seemingly basic flick, Lucian's katana slipped from his grasp, the blade twirling powerlessly as it dropped through the sky and hurtled toward the pavement deep below.

Lucian's gaze flashed with astonishment for a fleeting second as he hadn't anticipated such advanced hand-to-hand fighting skill and tactical smarts from Aura Nova, the exactness of her disarming move sharp and beyond reproach.

But Aura Nova paid no mind to the brief shock in Lucian's gaze, she merely seized her edge without pause by closing the space between them, a space Lucian had opened moments before by stepping away. Her short swords lashed toward his throat and his core with fatal quickness and pitiless aim, edges tracing fatal curves through the atmosphere.

Forgiveness? Kindness? Pity? Spare me, perhaps later, not this instant.

Lucian showed no alarm despite forfeiting his katana, he observed the incoming strikes with a serene look as if he were a feline with endless lives and boundless assurance. As Aura Nova's edges neared embedding into his frame and sealing his fate, his katana—which she had stripped away—gleamed abruptly as it spun in the air and rematerialized in his grip like the void had handed it back, and with a single elegant sweep, he parried both strikes with the poise of a blade expert at the supreme height of his art and realm.