Not One to Disappoint

GYAHHH!!"

Being hit by in all directions by a continuous stream of fiery blasts, Grim felt every inch of his body scream out in pain. Even with [Breath of Blue Flames] enhancing his fire resistance, Mereoleona's flames still managed to singe him. Not to mention the force created from the attack itself. Getting hit by one [Calidus Brachium] was already dangerous enough, but getting hit by her [Mana Zone: Calidus Brachium Barrage] was on an entirely different level.

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

Watching the orange lightshow from the comfort of their partly destroyed base, Asta and the others were unable to utter a word as their jaws had long since hit the ground. Even the usually positive Luck had nothing to say at the sight of his friend being pummelled.

"An omnidirectional attack that even the strongest magic knights would have trouble dealing with let alone someone whose never seen mana zone before. Being able to last this long is already an achievement... But this is your lim-

"DON'T FUCK WITH ME!!" Grim's voice rang out from inside the barrage.

"What?!" Mereoleona was taken aback by his voice. While she may not being using the full extent of her power, the fact that he was able to respond despite getting hit in every direction was not something she thought possible for someone at his level.

Being hit in every possible direction, Grim felt like his body was on the brink of collapse. But even so, there's no way he'd let himself lose to someone who wasn't using their full power!

"Mana zone?! Omnidirectional attack?! Achievement?! WHO GIVES A FUCK ABOUT THAT!!" He screamed. "You say that this is my limit! Then just watch me surpass it! And if that still isn't enough! THEN I'LL SURPASS IT AGAIN!!"

*BOOM!!*

"Just watch me Mereoleona Vermillion! I'll surpass my limits and wipe that smug smile off that face of yours!"

'This kid... That fire's still burning inside of him.'

"Ha...Ha...Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha EXCELLENT!!" She grinned. "But talks cheap! Show me that you have what it takes to stand on the same level as me!"

"Same level?" Grim's pained voice sounded out again. "Don't get it twisted bitch! When this is all over, I'll be above you!"

"Big words." Mereoleona smirked and crossed her arms. For some reason, whenever she ran into this boy she felt like he would break common sense.

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

Listening to the sound of the attacks land against Grim's defenseless body, the spectating black bulls couldn't help but cringe at the noise.

"ENOUGH!!" Noelle screamed. "His body won't last at this rate!"

*BOOM!!*

*BOOM!!*

"Won't last?" Mereoleona laughed without turning around. "You can't even tell what's going on and your telling me he won't last?"

*BOOM!!*

*BOOM!!*

*BOOM!!*

"Can't tell what's going on?" Confused by what she meant, Noelle couldn't help but ask for an explanation.

Hearing the question, our ever so loveable lioness showed off a devilish grin that showcased all her teeth.

"Listen closer."

*BOOM!!*

*BOOM!!*

*BOOM!!*

"Do you hear it?"

"I-

Now that she mentioned it, the blows against Grim's body sounded different from earlier.

"I don't know how he's doing it, but he's striking back."

"WHAT!! But didn't you say its a omnidirectional attack!!"

Shrugging her shoulders, Mereoleona spoke her thoughts while keeping her eyes trained on the fiery explosions going off in the air.

"Maybe its because I'm not using for my full strength and that's making my attack speed slower than it should be, but he's somehow matching my speed. Its almost like he knows when and where my attack will manifest and position himself there before it even arrives. Heh, he's truly something else."

[Ki]

[Transparent World]

[Mana Sensing]

[Demon Slaying Divination Magic]

With all four abilities used at once and Grim pushing his body to the absolute limit, his reaction speed, precision and overall level of concentration reached a whole new frontier. With his passive ability [Accelerated Growth] added on top of all this, a new ability was born from this combination. One that merged the best parts of [The Transparent World], [Ki], [Mana Sensing] and [Demon Slaying Divination Magic] into one.

By blocking out the world around him, Grim was able to achieve-

[Hyper Focus]

---

Just like Mereoleona had said, due to her holding back on using [Mana Zone] to its full extent, her attacks weren't coming at Grim all at once. While it was true that the attacks were omnidirectional in nature, there was a slight time lag between each blow. Although the lag wasn't exactly large, with Grim utilizing [Hyper Focus] he was able to take advantage of this small window in time to not only figure out where the next attack would come from, but to also accurately defend and counter back.

'I wonder if I should increase the speed?'

Looking on from the surface, Mereoleona was looking up at him with sparks in her eyes.

'Sharpening your fangs eh. Not bad.'

While she wanted to push him even further, she had come here for a reason. Sighing to herself, she gradually erased her [Mana Zone] and saw a sweaty looking Grim staring down at her with a massive grin on his face.

*Huff* *Huff*

"Told you, you can't beat me with some half hearted attack." He managed to gloat through his heavy breathing.

'Fuck! My lungs feel like they're on fire!'

"Congratulations, you're stronger than I thought."

"Hah, and don't you forget it..." Saying the last part of his sentence quietly, Grim's body started falling through as he lost consciousness.

Seeing him fall, Mereoleona jumped into the air and snatched him from the sky.

*BANG!!*

Landing heavily on the ground was an unconscious Grim sleeping in her arms, a look of tenderness briefly flashed across her face before vanishing just as quickly as it had arrived.

"What the hell happened here!!"

Walking out of the destroyed wall with his trousers looking a it loose, a dumbfounded Yami appeared behind Asta and the others.

But just as he was about to receive his answer, he saw Mereoleona clutching Grim's body and put two and two together.