The Perfect Plan

|Alistair|

Gary's victory over Arthur was nothing short of dominating, leaving the audience stunned. Although Arthur had managed to disarm him, Gary had showcased an unparalleled level of mastery in bare-handed martial arts, completely suppressing his opponent.

But what had truly bewildered the crowd were their peculiar abilities. Both combatants were quadra-elementals with the ability to teleport and, astonishingly, pause time. Of course, I knew that the latter two abilities were a result of their manipulation of aether, but the audience had no idea, believing instead that a powerful beast will was at play. This theory was only bolstered by the ferocious transformation that occurred whenever they tapped into the power of aether.

As the dust settled, the Director made her way towards my vantage point, addressing the audience. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the second match of the semi-finals of this year's magical tournament! Please refer to the display artifact to view the upcoming match-up."

As I climbed the stairs to the stage, my heart was pounding with anticipation. Lancelot Orbel, my opponent, stood across from me, his eyes fixed on mine.

We had sparred a total of twenty-three times before, with me coming out victorious in nine of those bouts and losing the other fourteen. However, I knew that all of my losses were after he contracted with Sylph, the spirit of wind.

Since then, I had attained enlightenment in my fight against Gary, which had made me stronger. I was determined not to lose this battle.

The air in the arena was thick with tension as we took our positions.

"Get ready," the Director's voice echoed through the arena, "On your mark... Begin!"

Without hesitation, I reached into my spatial ring and summoned my trusted weapons: Faithkeeper and Argentum Fang. I infused them with a combination of lightning and wind magic before launching them towards Lancelot.

Lancelot's trump card was Sylph, the spirit of wind. With a wave of his hand, Sylph materialized beside him and conjured a massive tornado of wind mana that hurtled towards me.

I brandished my twin blades, Faithkeeper and Argentum Fang, and clashed against the powerful spell, breaking it apart. But the sheer force of the impact sent me tumbling backward.

Undeterred, Lancelot activated his Spirit Dive. Green mana surged around him, enveloping his left side and forming a half-crown on his head. While incomplete compared to Nicole's Spirit Dive, it was still formidable and had helped him defeat me in the past.

As he channeled his and Sylph's mana, a massive silver sword materialized before him. Unlike other mana constructs, this one seemed to have been transmuted into an actual sword, with each mote of mana forming a part of the blade itself.

With lightning speed, he closed the gap between us and swung his powerful weapon.

But with a siphon of aevum, time slowed down for me, and I could predict the trajectory of his sword with perfect accuracy.

Stepping back, I crossed my two swords to parry his attack just enough for it to miss me.

Without giving Lancelot a chance to retaliate, I swiftly swapped my wind mana for flames, preventing him from turning my own magic against me as he had done many times before.

As expected, the ambient wind mana surrounding him began to move according to his will, unleashing a barrage of attacks from all directions.

With a simple thought, I enveloped myself in streams of crackling lightning, forming a potent armor that shielded me from the onslaught of wind mana.

Digging his left foot into the ground, Lancelot once again swung his massive sword with incredible speed and force, making it nearly impossible to dodge.

To make matters worse, he conjured dozens of razor-sharp, spinning arrows of wind behind him before launching them straight at me.

With a quick manoeuver, I activated plant magic around Faithkeeper and intensified the fire magic on Argentum Fang, readying myself for his attack. As Lancelot swung his sword towards me, I brought down the emerald sword, stopping his attack in its tracks. At the same time, the flames from my other sword leapt forward, fiercely colliding against the arrows he had conjured, destroying them.

"Not bad," Lancelot complimented me, raising his eyebrows slightly.

"Same to you," I replied, feeling confident as I activated aether, augmenting my body.

Lancelot's eyes widened as he felt my enhanced strength.

"HAAA!" I yelled, swinging both swords towards him, with bolts of lightning crackling off them.

But suddenly, his body phased, allowing him to dodge my attack with a speed far greater than anything he had displayed before.

I observed as Lancelot's sword transformed into a giant halberd, the waves of power emanating from it far surpassing that of his previous weapon.

Reacting quickly, I bent my body down and dug my feet deep into the stage. Motes of aether surrounded my body as I took a deep breath, and I concentrated on predicting the future.

The black spots inside my scarlet eyes spun wildly as I analysed all possible ways Lancelot would respond to my attack. Four hundred and thirteen possible attack patterns presented themselves.

However, I quickly eliminated the ones that were implausible or too risky, and finally narrowed it down to a single plan that guaranteed victory. The odds were in my favor, with a 70% chance of success.

I was amazed at how powerful my future prediction ability had become. While slowing down time around me using aevum was already an incredible ability, being able to predict the near future using aevum was equally valuable.

I took a moment to reflect on the fact that my training had paid off, and then steeled myself for the upcoming battle.

The air around us grew dense with anticipation, as if even the wind itself was holding its breath for the final act of our battle. My gaze locked onto Lancelot's, each of us releasing a palpable aura that seemed to keep the audience and even the Director at bay.

In that moment, I focused solely on the task at hand, blocking out all external distractions. Every muscle in my body tensed with anticipation, every sense on high alert as I waited for the right moment to strike.

And then, it happened.

Without warning, we both charged towards each other with all the force we could muster. My body erupted off the ground at peak speed, the twin blades of my swords gleaming hungrily in the sunlight.

Lancelot moved slower than before, but his movements carried far more power than I had ever seen. Still, I remained calm, my mind sharpened to a razor's edge as I prepared for the final clash.

Mid-air, I paused for a split second, throwing Lancelot off guard before delivering a powerful kick with my right leg.

'He'll block with his left arm,' I calculated, even as Lancelot quickly moved his halberd to his right hand to block my attack.

He grunted as he blocked my attack, however, my kick didn't have the intention of causing any damage to him.

It was only so that he would change hands holding the halberd and for my foot to hook onto his left arm.

As I pulled myself towards Lancelot, his eyes widened with surprise, giving me the perfect opportunity to strike. Argentum Fang's hilt hurtled towards his face, and I hooked onto his arm with my foot, preventing him from using it to defend himself.

I knew Lancelot had only two options in this situation - either drop the halberd and block my attack with his right hand, or dodge my attack by moving his neck. In the end, he chose the latter, which left him vulnerable to another attack.

With lightning-fast reflexes, I lunged forward with Faithkeeper, its viridescent shade gleaming. Lancelot quickly condensed the air around him to form an armour, but the plant magic enveloping my sword cut through it, drawing blood.

I was impressed by his agility, as he managed to move his feet just enough to dodge my attack partially. However, his defensive stance left him open for a counterattack.

I rapidly swung in the air, my blades swinging for Lancelot.

'Time to end this,' I thought as I once again brought out the flames from inside me.

Black flames of destruction danced around my two swords as I quickly lunged down at him.

As I swung my swords at Lancelot, confident in my victory, he countered with a powerful swing of his halberd. Our attacks were about to clash when he suddenly activated his gravity magic, nullifying my momentum and evening out the playing field.

My mind raced as I realized I had not accounted for this possibility. 'Shit!' I cursed inwardly. 'I did not calculate his gravity magic!'

"Is that what you thought, Lancelot," I said in a quiet voice as all surprise vanished from my eyes, replaced with cold indifference.

My ability to see glimpses of the future was not infallible, but it was enough to give me an edge. I quickly processed the potential timelines and formulated a perfect plan.

Releasing more aether, I caused space itself to warp as I appeared behind Lancelot, my swords aimed at his neck. "I win," I declared confidently.

Lancelot let out a defeated sigh as he released his Spirit Dive, acknowledging his loss.