Ultra Instinct

|Jezebeth|

I reached for my left side, but my hand encountered only empty air.

My world shattered as I realized my right arm had been severed from my body.

An assault executed with such speed that my visceral instincts couldn't catch up. Lancelot's arrow had exceeded the bounds of imagination.

'This is utterly absurd!' I thought. At my current level, I could sense every move Lancelot made, even if he was kilometers away from me. Yet, despite anticipating the arrow's release, my body failed to react swiftly enough to evade it.

The projectile closed the distance and struck me before the smallest movement could be made.

Despite Lancelot's power, the spell had its limitations. He couldn't unleash it recklessly and frequently. There were constraints due to his limited mana and aether pool.

"I must concede," I admitted, observing him approach clad in his green spirit magic, "that attack surpassed me."

The spell wasn't flawless. Lancelot had missed his mark, even from a few kilometers away, due to the intricate nature of the spell.

I would have met my demise if not for that miscalculation.

The next time he unleashed that spell, without perfection, I would not survive. Unless I eliminated him first or devised a strategy to elude the impending attack.

"Are you simply going to engage in conversation?" Lancelot queried, pointing his sword towards me. In an instant, he seized control of all the wind mana in the vicinity, unleashing an attack.

A colossal wall of soulfire materialized before me, intercepting the assault as I deliberated on a strategy to overcome him.

Planting my foot firmly into the ground, I propelled myself forward at top speed, launching a powerful fist towards him.

Lancelot's form vanished suddenly, relocating to another of his star-like objects. An energy beam surged towards me from behind, but swift evasive maneuvers allowed me to dodge and obliterate those stellar entities.

Within that narrow window, Lancelot's sword aimed for my heart. I subtly shifted my body, allowing his blade to pierce my lungs, avoiding instant death.

My right fist struck into his abdomen, sending him soaring away.

Gradually, my arm regenerated during the course of the battle, alleviating concerns about balance.

Since losing my invincibility upon rebirth in this world, I dedicated considerable energy to honing my martial arts skills. Rather than rendering martial arts obsolete, magic enhanced their significance.

Technique always triumphed over raw strength. Strength, after all, was only valuable when wielded skillfully. Magic further heightened this dynamic, offering diverse applications that could mean the difference between success and failure.

Consider the contrast between a fireball and a fire lance, for instance. Both spells consumed the same amount of mana, with the non-creation type fire lance requiring slightly more concentration. Yet, their effects were markedly distinct.

A fireball caused widespread damage, while a fire lance was tailored for eliminating individuals. These vastly different spells were suited to specific tasks.

As mage power surged, spell complexity reached unprecedented heights. Lancelot's spell, which severed my arm, exemplified this complexity—utilizing mana and aether, blending star magic, wind magic, spatium, and creation vivum to synergistically amplify each element's strength, creating a formidable and monstrous spell.

Every spell I crafted harbored a singular concept—to amplify my power to its utmost potential for inflicting maximum damage.

Oppression and domination.

This philosophy governed my rule over demons in my past life, and it continued to shape my present, defining the path I tread here.

I held steadfast to this belief. Even Ren Dover, with his elaborate sword techniques, failed to breach the simple yet overwhelming force of my fists in my previous existence.

Yet, here in this world, I perceived another barrier. In my past life, I believed I had scaled the pinnacle after surpassing the <SSS+ > rank, but an unforeseen tier lay beyond.

This tier didn't hinge on the sheer quantity of mana and aether but on how adeptly one could wield them.

Having already attained the quasi-<SSS > rank, the inevitable progression toward <SSS+ > rank loomed on the horizon.

The battle with Lancelot persisted, my instincts guiding me through evasive maneuvers to dodge his relentless onslaught. The complexity introduced by his star magic posed a formidable challenge; even with foresight, his attacks would prove difficult to evade, and foresight was a luxury I did not possess.

I relied solely on my instincts.

Instincts.

An innate impulse to action, a reaction to stimuli. Simply put, reacting. While my instincts had reached a high level, they faltered against the unpredictability of Lancelot's attacks.

I struggled to keep pace with the barrage of his spells, as he seamlessly shifted between his sword, halberd, and shield, utilizing the stars to assail me.

The outcome was imminent.

Lancelot would inevitably deploy that spell again, sealing my fate.

'Lose? Again?' I ruminated.

I acknowledged my inadequacy.

The towering wall before me represented a realm that eluded my grasp. I recognised the vast distance separating me from it—the realm beyond, the true domain of gods who transcended the laws of the universe.

In my past life, I fell short of reaching such heights. The question now lingered: What could I do differently in this life?

No, not in this lifetime.

'I must attain it now,' I thought.

I understood that breaking into that realm entirely at my current level was an insurmountable challenge. However, if I could grasp even a single aspect that brought me closer to that towering wall, victory might become conceivable.

Desiring to attain this level was futile.

Gods were not bound by emotions, the mental biases that burden every decision made by mortals.

To reach this level, I needed not to desire it but to simply achieve it—a contradiction, yet the essence of ascending to the realm of gods.

Every living being shared the limitation of reaction. Regardless of one's strength, there remained a delay for the body to respond, for signals to traverse through the system. Most crucially, time was consumed within the mind—the consciousness that deliberated on which movements to execute by tapping into memories.

Too slow.

That pace was insufficient for me.

To evade the impending monstrous attack, I couldn't afford my consciousness to engage in thought.

No, it wasn't just that. My fundamental speed was lacking.

Faster.

Faster!

Faster!!

I needed to go faster!

I felt myself descending into a profound well. Above, a crystal screen displayed my ongoing battle against Lancelot, where attacks converged from all angles.

'He's incredibly formidable,' I thought, 'Very few demons from my past life would have been capable of defeating him.'

It was an onslaught that guaranteed significant damage to my body. Yet, in a moment of unforeseen clarity, I executed a counter perfectly.

Did I suddenly reach a completely new level?

Of course not.

My body reacted 10% faster and my movements were 5% faster.

This difference was enough for Lancelot's calculations to be off and for me to survive.

Lancelot's eyes narrowed, and his halberd arced toward me. Instead of resigning myself to sacrificing my left arm to absorb the blow, my body instinctively slithered around the attack, swiftly launching a counter assault on Lancelot. He teleported to evade, confronted with an unexpectedly optimal move.

It wasn't just optimal; it was the most optimal move, aligning seamlessly with my dominant ideology. While luring Lancelot in might have been a strategically sound approach, it contradicted my style of dominance.

My body executed the most optimal attack, and it did so with terrifying speed. Not only that, my body's velocity was escalating rapidly.

A bewildering sensation enveloped me, but I recognized that this was the sole opportunity to drive Lancelot back.

So, I seized it.

My movements surged in pace, my muscles straining under the intensified influx of mana particles and aether motes.

'My bodily limit has been reached, or rather, how much my body can currently evolve.'

My physique had undergone a metamorphosis, tailored to the utmost to complement my fighting style at the quasi-<SSS > rank.

The pinnacle of physical prowess.

My reactions sharpened progressively. Lancelot's attacks grew in complexity as he poured more mana and aether into them, but it proved futile.

He was now being pushed back.

Closer and closer, I approached that technique. The elation of pushing back Lancelot dissipated as I finally attained that level.

I opened my eyes, reclaiming control of the battle instead of sinking into the well.

"Got you, fool," Lancelot taunted, pointing his bow a few meters in front of me.

In the blink of an eye, his arrow was poised for release.

He capitalized on the fleeting moment I took back control, utilizing the tiniest of microseconds to instantly ready that spell.

Or had he been preparing for it all along? A premonition?

He released the arrow just as energy surged through my body. Could I evade it?

The attack closed in a thousand times faster than before. Even in my heightened state, evasion seemed impossible.

My left arm was once again blown away, but this time it was calculated. The tips of my right foot struck Lancelot in the stomach, hurling him to the ground.

Before I could charge at him, another arrow hurtled toward me.

Two?! How??

It didn't matter. I shifted my body, evading most of the arrow, but it gouged into my stomach. I retaliated with a punch from my right fist, collapsing the space between Lancelot and me as I countered.

The battle was far from over.

|Lancelot|

"Fucking monster," I cursed as his spatial attack bore down on me. Bell stepped forward, creating a green sanctuary to shield me.

"Are you okay, Lancelot?" she asked, her words dripping with concern.

"Not fatal," I responded as I healed my stomach.

'He's reached that level Gary talked about,' I thought, 'though his attacks are behind from the ones Gary used in our practice. Is he going to reach Gary during our battle?'

'But he's mastered Ultra Instinct so quickly; even my new spell isn't as effective against him anymore.'

"In the end, I have to resort to Gary's move to win," I sighed, a sense of helplessness washing over me.

I despised this situation.

I had created the spell Quantum Quiver with Gary's assistance. However, I wouldn't be able to complete the spell on my own for a long time, as doing so required overcoming the formidable wall before all of us and attaining godhood.

Gary suggested a modification to the spell, just in case I failed to eliminate an opponent due to their incredible speed. A modification that could work even against adversaries who reached the state that Jezebeth had achieved.

"How did he even conceive such a ludicrous move?" I muttered.

In Jezebeth's current state, landing an attack was exceptionally challenging. Even Quantum Quiver, just a few meters from him, failed to deliver a fatal blow.

His level surpassed expectations.

In that case, I needed to devise an attack he couldn't detect.

Or an attack that was impossible to dodge.

I readied three more arrows just as Jezebeth, having fully healed, launched another assault.

'Is he not afraid of this spell anymore?' I pondered, narrowing my eyes.

His reaction speed had elevated even further as he entered his completed state.

I took a measured step back, releasing all three arrows. Yet, they weren't aimed directly at Jezebeth.

He turned his head, a flicker of surprise in his eyes as he tried to comprehend my unorthodox move. Anticipating his reaction, I summoned the [Spirit of Notos] to shield against any counterattack while my spell unfolded.

Jezebeth harnessed [Ultra Instinct], endowing him with flawless reactions to all attacks. However, this perfection existed within the confines of a three-dimensional space.

What if my arrows transcended into the fourth dimension before striking Jezebeth? How could he possibly react to an assault unfolding beyond his perceptible realm?

The answer was clear—he couldn't.

His senses were bound to the spatial realities of our universe at his current level, confined to this three-dimensional space and his particular moment in time.

It was a circuitous yet effective method, a cost-effective emulation of godhood.

With the assurance that there was no immediate threat, Jezebeth retaliated, launching a relentless barrage of attacks. My shield began to crack as I was steadily pushed back.

But victory was imminent.

My three arrows pierced Jezebeth from various directions, skewering him.

I won.