Last Stand: Attack Vs Defence

A large explosion of water energy rampaged the grounds of the coliseum. Were it on earth, it would have caused a rumbling that would have shaken the crowd. A maelstrom of energy formed with Francis at the epicentre. Her figure was blasted into the shielded wall. The amount of mana in the spell was so great that her figure remained glued to the wall as she bore the brunt of the spells.

Will had not only created arrows amplified by Frozen Asgard Conversion, but he had also used Hydrolytic Fission on them.

From the initial Hydrolytic Fission till now had taken time to describe, but everything had occurred within a matter of a few seconds. This was the essence of a high-speed battle, striking before one's enemy could settle. The crowd was thoroughly pleased by Will's display as they eagerly cheered.

'I made it!'

Within the storm, Francis felt happy as her Frozen Asgard Armour Membrane had held up. Her figure had barely suffered as she was empowered by the power of the Doors. If Francis had realised the fact that she had felt relief from fighting a water mage at her level, she would have been more cautious in her approach, but she was now lost in the moment. 

"Ha!"

With a shout, she cleared the area around her. Her mana was bursting through her pathways and had strengthened her presence greatly.

'Now the chances of winning this tournament are gone. I have wasted too much mana. And it's because of him.'

Francis' eyes held a chilling light as she focused on the figure closing in on her. She pushed herself off the wall and evaporated the water around her, blowing it up to clear visibility. Instead of maintaining her defence and closing her gates, she opted for attacking. Little did she know that this was within her opponents plans…

Will's figure was already a few dozen metres away from her when a matrix formed and passed through the length of her wand, from top to bottom. Without a pause in her actions, she shifted from a landing stand to a throwing stance. Her shields had been blown away, and all she had near her was the wand, but that was enough for her purposes. The wand morphed into a spear as mana was greedily placed into the spear.

With a loud shout, Francis hurled the morphing want at her opponent. The wand finished morphing mid-flight into the shape of a spear. The imposing spear was imbued with a large chunk of Francis' mana. She could not imbue any Truth in it and could only place as much Killing Intent as she could to strengthen it.

'Gungnir Throw!'

Will knew the spell that was thrown at him. It was one of the more powerful attack spells. It was an attack one only made in desperate straits as it drained the user greatly.

'During the blast, she gathered mana into her wand for this last ditch attack while her membrane bore the brunt of the explosion.'

Will seemed to glide desperately as he shifted sideways with a spin, dodging the spear by a hair's breadth. Francis' mental state was poor but she still had her faculties and had not totally panicked. She used Bifrost Shift and appeared to Will's side. Will, carried forward by momentum, reached her previous position. The moment he tried to turn, a spear pierced through his back.

'I got you!' murmured Francis in her heart.

Gungnir Throw was a complex high-level spell that few Frozen Agard Practitioners knew of, and even fewer could use it. Will was disgusted by how well she was able to cast it.

It was a spell that had a homing function. Once it was thrown it would not stop until dispelled by the caster or destroyed by the enemy. It was almost as fast as a bullet and created a sonic boom when thrown at full power. Francis had cast it in a rush so all it did was cause turbulent winds and carry great force, but that was enough for her purposes.

'Did I get him?'

Francis was hoping that Will was not aware of the spell due to its rarity, but on the off-hand, he did, she had prepared a backup attack in case Will could block it, but to her surprise something she did not expect happened. Small Ice Needles attacked her from blind angles she wasn't aware of. The needles impacted her membrane and caused multiple cracks. They each had potent spatial rend applied.

'Where?'

Desperately backing away from the needle barrage that she couldn't dodge, she looked for the source of the attack, turning her head everywhere. She saw needles leaving a misty area by the wall on the opposite end of the arena. This was Will's original position.

'This is where he launched the three arrows from.'

Francis had been unable to clear the entire stadium of water as there were still areas covered in mist here and there. Will's figure escaped the mist and sped toward Francis.

'If that's him then…'

Feeling an ominous premonition, Francis turned around and saw that her spear was falling to the ground surrounded by ice fragments

Frozen Agard: Loki's Substitution

'I fell for it again!'

By the time she had refocused on Will, he was already closing in on her, putting her under immense pressure. Her concentration started to wane as her heartbeat became irregular. She used Bifrost Shift to change her position many times but it all seemed useless against Will's persistent chase. Her mana levels were now approaching dangerous levels and her calm state of mind was disappearing.

'He keeps hitting vital points only, if I lose concentration I'm done for!'

Francis was frightened. Frozen Asgard Arts needed a calm mind to execute. The moment her state of mind fell into disarray, she lost her ability to launch high-level spells. She could only respond by defending herself with movements. She could not even recall her shields properly as they could not keep up with her movements. Over time she could only pick up one every few seconds.

'Both of us have three doors open, are using Frozen Asgard Mask at high levels and have used high-level spells. How does he still have so much mana?'

Will also had not used any Intent or Truth, meaning he was still holding back. Francis started to feel fear and realised that she had been reduced to being prey.

'This girl has a strong mind, but she hasn't suffered enough. She probably hasn't been in many dangerous situations often in her training. She can maintain a calm mind when in a position of control, but faced against the unknown in a disadvantageous situation, her true colours show.'

At the beginning of the match, Will had long ago determined the weakness of his opponent.

The fear of death.

This was a fear any sane creature had, and Will was no different, at least not at first. But the SSS manual had changed his mind and fortified it. Death was no longer something he feared as much. This was not due to mental strength or talent, but a side effect of cultivating the Dao of Solitude. Cultivators of the SSS manual embraced death, to the point that they could empathise with necromancers and many death-type cultivators. Since Will had managed to successfully cultivate the manual, he had long since reached a state of mind that did not fear death as much as he used to.