Rivers of the Night

Theron felt the shift in the air first, then the accumulation of Lightning Mana, and then the shocking, focused control.

Tendrils of gold quickly formed to fill in the gap in Raiden's armor.

It was too slow.

Theron's blade cut across, but while the filled-in Mana didn't have enough time to fully form, it stopped his blade from cutting as deep as Raiden's heart, being stopped short a few millimeters within his ribcage instead—a long distance from the fragile organ.

This gave Raiden enough time to recover, his body flickering as he activated a movement spell. In a flash, he became akin to a bolt of lightning, flashing to the side and out of the way of Theron's next counterattack.

The speed of activation could have only been bolstered by Veinsong, a conclusion Theron came to immediately.

But there wasn't the slightest hint of surprise on Theron's face at all. He had already long expected this. In fact, he was ready for much more.

Veinsong was something that was taught to every assassin in the guild. It was another matter entirely whether they could enter it in the middle of a battle, though. And that was something Raiden was clearly capable of.

However, what Theron was truly prepared for wasn't this, but rather all the techniques the old man must have taught Raiden.

DENG! DENG! DENG!

Exchanges of spear and short blades echoed, Raiden having formed a violent counter the instant he was out of range of Theron's combination attack.

With the [Water Clones] used up, there was no longer anything capable of attacking him from the back, and if Theron happened to form any spells back there, Raiden would surely sense it.

He didn't know how Theron could have possibly trapped his lightning like he had, but he had learned his lesson. If ranged attacks were useless against Theron, then he would just have to use close combat ones.

He would take advantage of his cultivation, his superior speed, and his suffocating attack strength to crush Theron.

However, by the third exchange, Raiden realized that he had overestimated himself.

His Resonance wasn't like Theron's at all. Theron's Manaborn Resonance could be applied to his spells, it could dictate his movement, he could use it to bolster his attack and defense, or even apply it to his blades to mimic a Weapon Resonance.

By comparison, Raiden's could only do one thing…

Help him control his lightning better and bolster its output.

Normally, this was more than enough. But locked in close combat with Theron, while he found that his power was greater, his skill was severely lacking.

The way one of Theron's attacks flowed smoothly into the next. The way his feet moved and his body glided. The way he seamlessly carried the momentum of one feint into a true strike, or one strike into an explosive retreat.

He moved across the battlefield like a spring of water directed by the trenches of his own mind. Slipping in and out of Raiden's guard, he chipped away at him, streaks of a gorgeous blue hanging in the air like circulating currents descending from the skies themselves.

Gold and royal blue crisscrossed in the otherwise dark underground space, every clash causing sparks to fly and water droplets to sparkle.

Raiden took a heavy step back, bolts of lightning ejecting from his feet as though in an attempt to stabilize himself.

It was then Theron's ear twitched and his eyes narrowed.

Suddenly, Theron seemed to overextend himself, rushing to make it to the gap in Raiden's defenses. His short sword thrust out, aiming for the same vulnerability in Raiden's chest of armor. From the start, Theron had never let the Lightning Mancer have enough time to fill it in completely.

Raiden's eyes flashed as though this was precisely what he was waiting for. His body stabilized, his spear bracing against his side as he thrust forward to meet Theron's blow.

For a moment, it seemed as though he would meet Theron head-on. But right in the brief instant before their blades touched, a wild spark of light and lightning rushed out like a flashbang.

It was a common auxiliary skill, one used by both Lightning and Light Mancers alike to confuse the senses. Not only did it disrupt eyesight, but also the Third Eye itself.

Raiden's spear slightly shifted, the blade lengthening, and his grip slipping somewhat to move his own palm down its shaft. He already had the range advantage, but now he had upped it to another degree entirely.

However, just as he thought he would pierce right through Theron's chest, there was an odd shift behind him.

The spark of lightning he used to stabilize his foot suddenly spun out of control.

Pools of water had already begun to soak the ground of the dungeon through—Raiden was more than aware of this. He was cautious about them, but he also knew that he should be able to sense any movement to them when the time came.

What he didn't expect was for the pools of water from the previous [Water Clones] to not try to attack or obstruct him, but instead help amplify and spread his lightning out in all directions.

There was no danger involved for him at all. His instinct toward it hardly even flashed, and even now he didn't understand what Theron was even doing.

Until the ceiling rumbled.

Raiden's lightning crawled down the hallway and up the wall.

[Pressure Burst].

Theron's eyes opened wide as he used up half of his Mana in a single go.

In this battle against Raiden, he hadn't even touched on his 10% threshold. And yet, right now, he went all out.

Lightning and water bloomed into one another, pushing and pulling, and forcing each other to blossom.

BOOM!

Like the branches of a tree, the lightning spread out and collided with the ceiling of the dungeon just as a powerful aura rushed toward this location.

Theron's gaze became frighteningly cold as heavy stone after heavy stone fell from above. It looked like he was going to be crushed, and the long line of a spear running across his chest seared a line of blood into the air.

But he never flinched a single time, his gaze never leaving Raiden.

[Songful Blade].

Chi.