Ghost Steps

All around the world, a similar scenario was happening.

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Northern Philippines. The municipality of Claveria.

"Is this it? Did we build our Nation only for it to fall?" A short, stocky man knelt down on the ground. From how he looked like, one could tell how exhausted he was. Tears ran down his face as he recalled his family and friends getting slaughtered by the Void army. His Nation was merely one of the few who refused to join the stronger ones.

The price for doing so was a burden he never thought he'd shoulder.

"Leader, it has been an honor fighting alongside you." Said one of the soldiers. He someone who was just a common foot soldier yet he managed to survive until now. He bowed towards the stocky-built man as a sign of his utmost respect.

Looking towards the young man, he replied. "What's your name, kid?"

"Stefan, sir."

"Stefan. You fought valiantly today. All of you did. It was my foolish decision as a leader that brought all of this upon you."

A woman who looked to be in her thirties beside him placed her hand on his shoulder and helped him up. "Akira, we all made this decision together. Do not put so much blame on yourself."

Hearing this, he held the woman's hand. "Chandni, my love, I'm glad we get to be together until the end."

Akira Sugihara and Chandni Patel, these two, before the apocalypse were merely co-workers. They later on developed feelings for each other during these trying times. Despite being foreigners, the Filipino people trusted them to be their leaders.

Just as Akira was preparing himself for the final clash, one of the soldiers noticed something unusual happen out of nowhere.

"Leader! The Void army is retreating!"

"What?" Akira was shocked. Not only him, but the rest of the citizens also couldn't believe it either. Why would they retreat?

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"Damn that Vizicsacsi! We could have been done with this Nation by the end of today. Why is he requesting immediate assistance now?!" A General complained. This was one of the level 70 Generals that was responsible for subjugating this area.

"General Lars, he has apparently encountered multiple enemies that could, at the very least, threaten him. He expressed that he needs assistance as soon as possible and that if he falls, all the other General-class beings for this invasion, including yourself will be picked off one by one." The messenger half-kneeled with his head down as he gave his message.

"Threaten a General-class? And there are multiple of them? Very well then. It's not like this Nation has much left to it. We proceed to assist Vizicsacsi right away!"

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Back in the <Sovereign Nation>'s Western front.

The Smiling Immortals. Finally, all of them now lived up to their name. Donning their masks, they mowed down the Void-army with renewed vigor. Inspired by the moves of Luna and the rest, their morale was at an all-time high.

When someone does what you think is daunting right in front of you, it makes it much easier to get over that hurdle of fear.

Following the lead of the Nation's veterans, they inched closer and closer to Luna's position.

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Vizicsacsi was trying to buy as much time as he could for the rest to arrive.

"Greetings, I am General Vizicsacsi. You are all quite bold. Are you that confident of going up against me?"

"Oh? He speaks our language?" Luna was quite surprised. This was the first time he had actually been spoken to by a being from the Void.

"Yes, Lord Luna. The languages of your world were inherited, after all," Elder Aran answered.

Luna nodded. He remembered the Elder's lessons. However, it was still quite a surprise to hear Vizicsacsi speak to him. This was normal, since all this time, he had seen the Void army as nothing more than sources of EXP.

He then stepped forward and replied. "Confident? I think so. If we were all to attack at once, I'm quite confident we'll annihilate you. But you see, this is quite a good opportunity for me to test out my strength. A pity there's only one of you right now, as my family here would have liked to test their strength out as well."

"Oh? You're treating me as if I'm some training dummy?" Vizicsacsi fumed.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Sura interjected.

"Impudence! You overestimate yourselves! Do you wish to fight with people of my caliber? Then wait a while, there are more beings of my level on their way right now. Let's see how confident you'll be then!" While he was wary of this bunch, he still had his pride. Especially being talked down to in front of his officials. Even though he had divulged information about reinforcements, it didn't matter too much as he was quite confident in stalling for time. With his Anito solely focused on Water, his defense was one of the highest among his peers. He was second only to the Generals who focused on the Earth Anito.

Hearing this, Luna's expression changed. He didn't know how many were coming and if they were truly level 70 beings, although he could take them on, if they decide to go after his men, they would be in dire straits.

Sura understood this as well as she stepped forward and said, "Well, we don't have to wait for them, do we? They can join in on the fun when they get here." She gave winked at Luna as she activated her <3-Headed 6-Armed Mode>, signaling that she was fighting first.

Luna sighed but in the end, he acquiesced to Sura's request.

"All of you, stand back!" Vizicsacsi warned. He knew that none of his officials could do anything to affect the outcome of this combat. In fact, they would only get in the way.

Sura wasted no time as she merely took one step then she instantly disappeared from her where she stood and reappeared right in front of Vizicsacsi

Luna's eyes widened as he was evidently surprised with Sura's speed as well.

"This girl. It seems she has regained quite an overpowered skill again," He thought.

This was a movement-technique passed down by the Asuran race.

<Ghost Steps>

Previously, Sura hadn't reached a level where she could fully utilize this skill in combat. However, after improving her cultivation and increasing her level further, she finally reached the sweet spot where she could utilize this skill effectively for combat.

With the initial three stages of this skill, she could cover great distances. It was named so due to how fast, yet silent this movement skill was. One would take a single step and appear at a location out of nowhere, just like a Ghost. The higher the skill level, the greater the distance she could cover with each step, as well as faster. This distance and speed increases along with her current strength and spiritual power as well.

This made it so improving both her Anito and her physical strength made this movement technique even better.

The middle three stages focused more on the Agility of the skill more than the speed. This made it so changing directions would have less delays/ in between, making it deadlier in close quarters combat.

The last three late stages have been lost even to the Asuran race, unfortunately. Nonetheless, the first six levels were enough to make them above and beyond the rest. At least, individually.

Vizicsacsi was instantly put on the defensive as the fight ensued.

"Damn! Ghost Steps?! That's the legendary movement skill of the Asura! What the hell is it doing here?! Could this woman be..." He found it hard to believe. One of the reasons why they didn't invade the Asuran race was due to the fact that their world played no part in the grand scheme of things.

The second reason was that an invasion against this race unless it was the Void's elite, would only serve as giving the Asurans something to kill. Even then, they would not risk losing their elites to a race that generally could care less about what was going on in the other worlds. Sura's father and her village being the exception.

"Asura's Wrath," Sura quietly applied the soul-damaging skill to her weapons. Each hit would attack the soul, albeit only to a small degree. Her next move made the General feel hopeless.

As soon as they clashed, Vizicsacsi felt the impact more and more as Sura's passive skills started ramping up as she was now considered to be in combat. Each hit made him feel like he was a church bell getting successively pounded by sledgehammers.

<Armor Break> - Fully stacked!

<Berserk> - Fully stacked!

DANG!

DANG!

DANG!

DANG!

DANG!

DANG!

Sura spun as her swords battered Vizicsacsi with continuous overhead slashes. The poor General was helpless against her relentless assault. He now understood what Luna meant earlier. They could, in fact, annihilate him instantly if they ganged up on him.