It wasn’t teleportation.
It was a simple movement.
His legs moved forward, step by step, yet it was insanely fast, almost as if his sleek form had become one with space itself.
Achylles tried to raise his sword in guard, but,
GRRRRAAAAAAABBB!!!
Ryuk’s sleek, metallic hand clamped down on his face.
Running across the battlefield, he leapt into the air,
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The ground split open like butter as Achylles’s head was driven through it, dragged along in a violent streak.
They traveled nearly a hundred kilometers in less than a split second before Ryuk flung him upward.
Achylles gripped his sword, raising it high into the air, preparing to slash down, only to watch as a metallic leg appeared and crashed into his wide-open chest.
KAAAAAABOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
A massive shockwave erupted outward, mountain peaks disintegrating into dust as his figure was sent tumbling through them before splintering into a sea of lava and coming to a stop.
"Hmmm..."
A low hum was all that left Achylles’s lips as he rose to one knee, his sword stabbing into the lava
WHIIIR
WHIIIR
WHIIIR
The peculiar sound reached his ears, and he looked forward, finding Ryuk already running toward him.
"Ahhhh..."
He exhaled, a breath of darkness escaping his lips as a pitch-black horn suddenly extended from his forehead.
It glowed with a dark light, sending forth lines of cracks across his face, quickly spreading to cover his entire body.
His hands tightened on his sword, his body leaning forward, and in the next moment, he took a step and cleaved outward.
Ryuk’s eyes spun like black holes, flashing as he ran forward.
Unending streams of data flowed through his mind:
"0.1 second: sword cleaves to the navel.""0.2 second: phantom behind, strike: to the left shoulder.""0.3 second: phantom to the left, strike: to the neck.""0.5 second: strike from below, target: the ankle.""2.1 seconds: strike from the front, target the neck."
_____
As Achylles stepped forward, shadowy lines of pitch black spun rapidly from beneath his foot, and in an instant, three more versions of himself appeared, surrounding Ryuk from behind and both sides.
In the next moment, all four cleaved their swords.
WHIIIRR!!!
Ryuk’s ankle emitted a strange whirring sound as he took a step back and suddenly rolled into the air.
Achylles’ sword missed his navel, an inch away from grazing his back.
BAAAAAANG!!!
A leg smashed down onto Achylles’ clone head, as it missed his shoulder and got nailed into the lava instead.
"Influence change, sword art from the right, target: the shoulder."
"Another from the side, target: the ribs."
"Achylles moves, new sword art: massive shadow strike from above."
_____
Taking a single step, Ryuk’s shoulder shifted just as a cleave swept past.
In the same instant, his arm sliced upwards, cleaving through the clones’ neck and cutting through like a sharp blade as the end flew into the air, disappearing into the lava.
Another sword slipped from the Void, stabbing towards his ribs, only to freeze as two sleek fingers locked onto it.
CREAAAAK!!!
SHAAATTTTEERRR!!!
The sword shattered into fragments, and Ryuk’s hand morphed into a drill, tearing straight through the clone’s face, leaving a gaping hole.
He flung the clone aside, his hand shifting back from drill to palm, then instantly raised both arms above his head,
CLAAAAASSSSP!!!
KAAABOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
A thunderous shockwave surged outward as a gigantic phantom sword came crashing down on Ryuk.
However, it suddenly halted mid-strike as his mechanical arms curved upward, gripping the blade with open palms.
Both remained locked in a deadlock while Ryuk was forced down into the lava.
STEP
STEP
STEP
The echo of footsteps boomed as Achylles blurred forward with terrifying speed.
In the next instant, he became a shadow, appearing before the crouched Ryuk.
His sword cleaved down, a moon arc of darkness, slashing toward his neck, but it met nothing as Ryuk vanished.
The falling blade cut through Ryuk’s right arm, but it was a shallow graze.
Achylles was still stuck in his motion of slashing down when his eyes widened in disbelief as he felt Ryuk’s figure looming behind him,
"How,"
Those successive strikes he had planned to end Ryuk once and for all, yet his opponent now stood behind him.
As he turned, his sword slashed out at his neck, only to meet air again, for Ryuk was already crouched, as if he already expected the move.
His fingertips touched Achylles’s chest, who paused, and in the next instant,
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
A one-inch punch!
Achylles was thrown backward, flipping five times before dragging his sword into the lava to stop himself.
WHIIIR
WHIIIR
WHIIIR
The familiar sound of approaching steps echoed again as Achylles thrust his sword forward toward Ryuk.
It appeared before him in a deadly strike, only for it to be narrowly dodged once more, as he slipped to the side.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
A punch slammed into Achylles’s jaw from beneath, lifting him a meter into the air.
His teeth clenched hard as he brought his sword down toward Ryuk’s head, but then,
CRAAACCCCK!!!
The sound of bone snapping rang out as a mechanical elbow crashed into his jaw, forcing him to stumble three steps back.
BAAAAAANG!!!
BAAAAAANG!!!
BAAAAAAANG!!!
For the next five minutes, only afterimages filled the lava field, phantoms flashing, strikes and counters blurring into chaos.
All of them showed a single thing: a knight being battered, overwhelmed, strike after strike.
"How...?"
"How...?"
Those were the only thoughts echoing in Achylles’s head as he slashed in fury, every blow dodged, countered, and rendered useless.
Lacerations and cracks covered his shadowed body, yet not a single mark lay upon his opponent.
The creature’s reaction speed was beyond insane.
Achylles had spent centuries perfecting his swordsmanship.
His shadow element further makes his strikes unseen and almost impossible to react to, yet before this being, it was all for nothing.
BOOOOOM!!!
BOOOOOOM!!!
BOOOOOOOM!!!
Three consecutive strikes landed on Achylles, two to the shoulder, one to the face, driving him backward once more.
He stepped forward, sword clashing down, but it missed, only slicing a strand of Ryuk’s hair.
His face was grabbed, and again
BAAAAAAAAANG!!!
A powerful shockwave erupted.
The molten ground burst into crimson light as dark blood splashed out into the air from Achylle’s lips.
But that was only the beginning.
"Jaw. Third shoulder bone. Seventh rib."
"All weakness points identified."
"Initiating Barrage Mode."
WHHHHIIIIIIR!