MIGHT AS WELL BE OP Chapter 973: Infinitesimal Instant

Aaaninja materialized several kilometers distant, having spanned that vast stretch in a mere instant, the terrain under his boots fracturing softly from the sudden relocation. His gaze fixed intensely on Lucian's spot, where the man remained rooted with a broad, unchecked grin spread across his features, meeting the stare with poised certainty.

In quiet composure, Lucian carried the relaxed poise of one truly savoring the moment, and he absolutely was. He poured out every bit of his arsenal in homage to the blade, baring all his technique, purpose, and raw sense without holding back, while Aaaninja confronted it squarely without wavering or pulling away once, and Lucian couldn't deny to himself that he relished this clash more than any in years, possibly even decades, the rush of battling a true match sparking a deep, instinctual fire within.

Aaaninja showed no letdown, and his growth since their prior clash was evident, his actions keener, his rhythm smoother, his focus much more polished than earlier, yet no matter the progress, no matter his heightened edge, Lucian already discerned the subtle shape of his triumph woven into the battle's unyielding course.

With just a fleeting notion, his Sword Intent took form.

It thundered and surged through him like a furious flood, overwhelming his frame and his katana as an unrelenting surge, infusing each sinew and fiber with crushing power, his Sword Intent dark as an endless void bereft of illumination while Aaaninja’s gleamed pure white like untouched snowfall, the opposing powers embodying utter contrasts, darkness and light brought to life.

The atmosphere wailed as the two figures held in utter quiet, their Sword Intents not yet colliding in the open air, no flares or impacts emerging between them, rather they regarded each other from afar like timeless rulers gauging one another's value, their mere auras sufficient to shake the realm.

Aaaninja uttered nothing, no sound escaping his mouth, but his eyes grew keener as he abruptly chose to quicken the fight's pace and beat, as if eager to wrap it up swiftly and turn toward Anthony, his subtle haste plain to see.

In the following moment, Time particles swirled about him, heeding his command and summons like eager offspring rushing to their maker, clustering and spinning around his form in glittering warps that twisted sight.

Lucian, having mimicked a grasp of Time through his familiar techniques and approaches, detected the abrupt change right away, and he wasted not a single pulse. Instantly, dark bolts erupted across his body, crackling over his shape in wild, booming streaks. They growled fiercely through the heavens and winds, the noise low and smothering, as if the breeze shattered like brittle crystal.

Lucian’s Sword Intent amplified his Lightning element's potency even more, making him appear as a shadowy thunder deity gracing the field of strife, endless vigor, velocity, and ruin channeling into him, his aura warping the surroundings as if the natural world recoiled from nearness.

Neither Aaaninja nor he uttered a word, both having wordlessly shifted the fight's cadence and flow, both aware that the upcoming clash would transcend mere blade work into something vastly greater, and now they recommenced.

Existence flickered briefly, yet in that tiny fraction they had vanished, gliding past veils of reality like specters beyond human grasp.

Amid a realm-shaking bellow and a doomsday blast, they crashed together in total frenzy, their swords meeting with such colossal impact that the isolated realm of their duel teetered on obliteration, fissures racing through the firmament like shattered panes, though it endured somehow.

In their initial colossal impact, Aaaninja's form was flung rearward, Lucian's strike propelling him over the field with relentless drive as Lucian's onslaught had evidently breached a whole new level.

Aaaninja's soles carved into the soil instantly, furrows ripping behind until he skidded to a stop. Lucian remained silent, seizing the upper hand ruthlessly, materializing before Aaaninja amid a haze of thunder flashes, his katana plunging downward like heavenly retribution.

This round, Aaaninja avoided a direct block, for while the Time element had vastly boosted his fundamental pace, awareness, and response, it hadn't bolstered his sheer power or bodily force, whereas Lucian's Lightning element elevated all those facets at once, sealing every gap and heightening his whole essence.

Aaaninja darted aside nimbly to evade the blow, but even with his streaking, impressive swiftness, Lucian pierced the feint and matched it without strain, his senses just as acute, his katana whistling toward Aaaninja’s throat as the gap between them dissolved once more.

Aaaninja triggered Temporal Acceleration without delay, the flow of time lagging around him as all else dragged to a halt, Lucian's velocity plummeting sharply, the bolts that once loomed menacing now drifting lazier than a floating petal in Aaaninja’s view, his Sword Intent elevating the ability past its base bounds.

Under this sharpened sense, Aaaninja’s sword streaked in a hazy silver curve, and with a mighty ring he deflected Lucian's strike aside. With Temporal Acceleration engaged, he advanced, his quickness outstripping what Lucian's Lightning and Sword Intent could rival in standard conditions.

His edge hurtled at Lucian's throat to finish it decisively, and with a crisp silver streak his blade cut smoothly across Lucian's neck. Yet the instant it connected, Aaaninja's brow furrowed slightly as he sensed no give, no feel of slicing meat or skeleton. His head whipped sideways, catching only the hazy form of Lucian's katana in motion.

Lucian had countered Aaaninja’s lunge at the final tick by phasing right through the strike, passing via space as if his form lacked solidity, thereby safeguarding his neck completely.

However, this time Lucian had ramped up his velocity anew, twisting gravity to nullify its pull on his mass, lending him the lightness of a plume, and moreover accelerating his motion further as he turned all but massless, every stride buoyant as vapor.

Aaaninja’s gut instincts blazed fiercely, for under usual terms he ought to have evaded or countered via Temporal Acceleration alone, but Lucian's fresh velocity stripped that sole edge, as Lucian had ascended to a plane where he could rival Temporal Acceleration headlong.

Yet he held further tricks in reserve, being a wielder of time nonetheless, and yielding was never a choice.

The very next beat saw him invoke another power, Temporal Deceleration, and at once the Time particles across the isolated realm dragged all nearby to a ponderous pace, Lucian's assault shedding momentum with each fleeting tick, the whole field mired in a torpid drag.

Aaaninja seized the opening right away, his Temporal Acceleration and Temporal Deceleration syncing flawlessly, the former surging his pace and insight to extreme heights while the latter curbed his surroundings, forging a vast gap that solely he could wield.

His sword lanced with savage might and unyielding accuracy as he sought to hack through Lucian's skull anew, at once the bite of steel into tissue surged as a gruesome rip resounded across the sky, crimson spraying in fierce sprays as a limb arced upward, lopped neatly at the joint.

It belonged to Aaaninja himself.

Bafflingly and against all odds, Lucian Darkheart had flipped the tide in that tiny sliver and struck the initial wound.