Chapter 989 Loki’s Struggle part 6

No one could understand what'd just happened, no matter how many times they replayed the brief battle in their heads. They couldn't even confidently call it a battle since it looked like a game of tag for Kisuke and he wasn't even hit a single time. It's as if he had eyes on the back of his head that allowed him to dodge perfectly, even if he was completely besieged on all sides.

But while they were silenced by his performance, a single drop of sweat ran down Kisuke's forehead, 'Fuck... That was hard and tiring. I had to exert myself more than normal since I'm holding back. I'd rather fight Apollo or Ares again rather than do this.' Dodging physical attacks from Tione and Filvis and Magic attacks from Lefiya proved to be harder than he expected, 'Oh well, it's a good training method for practicing control.'

"...This is ridiculous." Finn could only force a smile, "...If we're limited to the same specs, even if all the top executives of our Familia gang up on him, we might not be able to win."

Gareth has the same sentiment but didn't say anything about it.

"Yo~ Look at how you're enjoying yourselves here! A shame I don't have some good wine in my hand though." Finn and Gareth turned around and saw Loki and Riveria walk around to approach them.

Gareth grinned at Riveria and said, "Strangely enough, I don't remember much details of when you separated from us seven years ago, but I do remember our promise. To be honest, I'm a little bit disappointed when I heard you could only hold back a Level 8, but if you're remotely anywhere near him, I think you're underselling yourself quite a bit."

Riveria sighed, "Don't compare me to him. Even from where he came from, he's an absolute abnormality."

"...We should stop here." Finn turned to Loki, "I think they already get what you want to say."

"I would like that as well," Loki pointed to Ais who was intently staring at Kisuke's figure while wholly ignoring them, "But do you think you could stop her?"

Finn, Gareth, and Riveria looked at each other before displaying a wry smile.

Finn then turned to the audience and called out a few people, "Anakitty, Raul. Take care of Tione, Lefiya, and Filvis. Alicia, Elfy, Narvi. Activate the tower's barrier. The rest of you, take some distance if you don't want to get hurt."

At his command, the entire Familia started moving. Since the [Twilight Tower] was constructed like the Babel Tower with the addition of various protective and strengthening Magics embedded into it, it's very wide and durable. Just enough to contain Ais for some time.

"Good thing Bete isn't here. He's more uncontrollable than Ais in this sort of thing." Gareth muttered to himself.

"Ais... Do what you want but be mindful of the space you're allowed to use," Finn instructed.

Ais smiled slightly and grabbed Lysa nested on her head before passing her to Riveria, "How much should I hold back?"

"I don't even know what you can do now..." Riveria replied while receiving the small Dragon, "But all I can say is the answer to that question, whoever asks, is always a big 'No'."

Ais didn't say anything else and directly pulled out her sword.

"I think you're underestimating her too much," Gareth commented, "We hadn't not mentioned it last night, but she's already the strongest in the Loki Familia. Along with the [Heaven Defier] and [King], they made up the 'Three Gigantis'."

Gareth and Finn peeked at Riveria to see her reaction but saw that nothing changed.

Riveria was curious about Ais' current ability and was more worried about these 'magnificent' Aliases and Kisuke not being able to hold back.

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.

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"Will you be the last one?" Kisuke asked after seeing the changes in arrangement.

Ais nodded, "...Riveria said not to hold back, but only Bell Cranel could really keep up with me."

"Is that so? Good. I'll be able to see a part of Bell Cranel's ability. Don't let me down, alright?"

Ais didn't reply. Instead, she instantly disappeared from Kisuke's sights, "!?"

Without hesitation, Kisuke pulled his blade out of his cane and placed it behind him with one swift motion. At that moment, something heavy struck Kisuke's blade and he was sent tumbling forward.

Kisuke managed to regain his footing after spinning a few times in the air and looked at his former spot. There he saw Ais who'd thrusted her sword and was retaking her stance, "Did I let you down?"

Kisuke stood up while chuckling, "Nope. You surprised me."

Even Riveria was surprised, 'That's comparable to a Flash Step... But compared to the latter, it looks a lot more flexible.'

"That's how much Ais' [Ariel] has improved. Her speed can't be caught by eye anymore and the only one who could keep up with her is Bell Cranel with his [Lightning Shift]." Finn explained.

Even with Riveria's eyes, she could easily see its weakness, 'It has too much 'noise'. Even though she could turn mid-flight, she was leaving too much of a trail that it became too easy to tell where she would go.'

"You're not as surprised as I thought you would be.", muttered Finn.

"Hmmm... Well, I'm surprised for sure. But to be honest, it's only a little bit special."

Finn, Gareth, and the defeated girls who just arrived beside them were confused and skeptical of her words.

Riveria smiled, a little bit proud, and said, "Just watch."

Ais disappeared from her spot once again and instantly reappeared beside Kisuke while thrusting her sword. Ais was ready to continue attacking and pursuing after her attack was blocked. However, as the world slowed down in her eyes, Ais saw that Kisuke wasn't doing anything, 'A trap?', she thought. But there were no movements from him and the surroundings were clear of Magic Power.

There was nothing but Ais still didn't fully commit and aimed for his arm instead. Ais was fully prepared to pull out when something went wrong but her sword continued on its path without any interception from her enemy. She was confused until the tip of her blade reached his right arm, then was shocked when Kisuke suddenly disappeared in front of her.

"How kind of you." Ais' eyes widened as she suddenly heard Kisuke's voice behind her. She immediately reacted by rotating her body and changing the direction of her wind. What she saw then was a flash of the blade striking down where she was just standing.

Ais moved a few meters to the side to get a better view of her opponent, but she was once again shocked that he was not there, 'Where!?'

"Behind you, again," Kisuke whispered with an amused tone.

"!?"

Ais hurriedly turned her head and saw his blade coming down at her once again, this time, with very heavy killing intent. She could change her direction once again, but it was already too late. Without much choice, the combination of Ki and Magic Power erupted from her body in the form of a strong wind that pushed everything around him.

Kisuke's blade clashed with the wind that Ais just released but was surprised to find it as hard as armor. Due to the limit he had placed on himself, Kisuke was pushed away once again, 'Yep... There's no point in continuing this.'

Kisuke landed on his feet more than ten meters away and sheathed his blade.

Ais, on the other hand, was wheezing for air and cold sweat drenched her back. She had just hurt herself by that uncontrolled mass release of power to protect herself. But more than that, she was fully woken up by the 'whisper of death' and became scared for the first time in a while.

"There's no way for me to hurt you. I surrender." Kisuke immediately declared.