Succubi Chapter 143. Evolve
My eyes locked on him. Focused. Sharper than before.
Ares moved like a sword in human form, clean angles, tight footwork, perfect weight shifting, but something about the rhythm was off. No, not wrong. Just… evolving. Changing mid-fight.
I was the type who always analyzed mid-battle. Read movement patterns like sheet music. I looked for tells, gaps, tempo shifts. And right now?
Ares was adjusting.
Not by instinct. On purpose.
He wasn't just swinging faster or harder, he was adapting to me.
I parried another strike with my shadow blade, currently in longsword form, and let the friction sing against my armor.
He slid back, breathing steady, eyes still locked on mine. There was sweat along his jaw now. A thin line of blood on his forearm from one of my earlier orbs.
And yet… his aura?
Still pushing forward. Still steady.
I stepped to the left, letting the momentum carry me as I twisted and brought the blade low. He blocked. I stepped back. Re-centered.
My boots scraped over the mana-charged floor. The air between us shimmered.
Clang.
Flash.
Another exchange. Mana sparked like fireworks.
And still… neither of us dropped.
The Saint House healer standing on the edge was already muttering things into a crystal. Probably logging our vitals, or maybe just swearing creatively under his breath.
This wasn't a test anymore.
We both knew it.
We weren't just sparring.
We were fighting.
And I could feel it now, clear as hell.
He wanted to break me.
Not because of ego. Not even to humiliate me.
But because he had to.
Like something inside him screamed he couldn't walk away without winning this time.
And me?
Well.
I wasn't the type to let someone swing at me with that kind of desperation and not mirror it.
So I responded.
I let it in.
The pressure. The tension. The heat curling low in my gut that always came right before I stopped pretending to play nice.
He dashed again. Horizontal slice. Sharp. Too fast to dodge clean.
I tilted into the swing. Let it glance off my Devil Armor, chest plate ringing from the contact. I grinned. The force still rocked my shoulder, but he hadn't broken through.
He backed off.
Frustrated.
Not visibly. But I could feel it. His blade moved faster, tighter. Less flourish. More kill.
Yeah.
This wasn't a training match anymore.
This was about pride.
I reached deep.
Mana flared through my spine.
[Death Wave]
I stepped in. Closed the distance.
And from near point-blank, fired.
A black pulse exploded out from my body. Not a wide blast. No time for that.
This was a tight, razor-edged burst of corrupted mana. Dark, dense, with a screeching echo that cracked the very air between us.
Ares caught the edge of it. His shield came up just in time, light magic flickering against the force of the wave. But I saw it.
His foot skidded back.
His aura wavered.
My eyes narrowed.
I chased.
Shadow Blade reformed, scythe variant, swinging high, curved like a crescent moon made of nightmares.
He ducked low, slid across the arena floor with one hand trailing against the ground for balance, and launched upward with a vertical slash aimed for my ribs.
Clang!
[Infernal Barrier]
The moment his blade hit the barrier, light erupted around us. Mana crackled as the infernal glyphs rippled against his holy-type weapon.
He bounced off.
Stumbled back.
I stood tall.
My armor intact.
His jaw clenched.
I knew that look.
That grit your teeth and stop being impressed look.
He circled me now, a slow rotation. His eyes burned, not with rage, but with that stubborn Valor refusal to accept limits.
The healer raised a hand now, nervous. "That's enough. This duel is already exceeding safe mana thresholds. Stop now."
I nodded.
I really would've stopped.
But Ares?
He moved again.
Didn't hesitate.
He came at me, not with recklessness, but conviction.
Fast.
Precise.
He dropped low, blade tip scraping sparks from the stone as he swept for my leg.
I jumped, twisted mid-air, flipped my blade into dual-dagger form, and struck down. He rolled under, slashing up to intercept.
Clang. Snap. Burn.
Mana collided. Pressure spiked.
We were fully in it now.
Flashes of radiant light clashed with bursts of shadow. His sword glowed with holy edge while my own blades morphed and pulsed with infernal rhythm. Every strike was faster than the last. Our boots hammered the arena floor with speed that made the watching students gasp. I caught flashes of movement on the sidelines.
Evelyn.
Leon.
Some Valor girls clutching their boyfriends like it was a soap opera.
One of them whispered, "This isn't a duel anymore…"
And it wasn't.
It was a dance.
Violent.
Desperate.
He threw an overhead strike meant to break my defense. I bent under it, spun inside his guard, dagger flashing toward his shoulder.
He pivoted. His elbow nearly clipped my chin.
I slid back, panting now.
Sweat dripped down my temple.
He wasn't letting up.
But neither was I.
I flared my mana again, chest glowing faint red from the barrier pulse.
He came again, sword aimed straight at my center.
I deflected just enough.
Then countered with another orb, just one this time, summoned mid-air behind his back.
[Dark Orb: Single Mode]
It exploded behind him, pulling him back just half a step.
That was enough.
I slammed my boot forward, kicked his knee off balance, and sent him tumbling.
But he caught himself. Rolled. Recovered.
Leapt.
And slammed down with everything he had.
Boom!
The floor cracked.
We both bounced away, skidding across the marble in opposite directions.
My lungs burned.
My fingers trembled with residual mana.
We stared at each other.
Not blinking.
Breathing hard.
The healer stepped in now, full voice. "Enough! That's enough. I'm calling it."
Ares didn't move.
I looked at him.
Waited.
Let my blades drop into the shadows again. Still ready.
He exhaled slowly.
Then finally… lowered his sword.
His aura dimmed.
Mine too.
And in that breath?
In that silence?
We both knew.
This wasn't about victory anymore.
It never was.
It was about something else.
He straightened.
"I'm not the same," he said quietly.
I nodded once. "I noticed."
And yeah.
I thought it was the end.
But again… I was wrong.
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