Chapter 474 Sherlock's True Power [Pt 2]
Noah's three Exclusive Skills didn't seem so special at first glance.
[Phase], [Shadow Magic], and [Projection].
With the exception of some moves that could be done with [Shadow Magic], they were mostly useful for defense and evasion.
However, after honing his abilities and properly practicing with these Skills, Noah could properly use them for offensive moves.
When he started his fight with Britta, he used his [Shadow Magic] to defend himself, while using [Phase] and a bit of propulsion to slip through the ground and appear behind her.
Then, he used his voice to call her attention to him. This, along with the effects of her [Greater Full Sense], allowed her to locate his position, even though she never saw him leave his black cocoon.
Even if she suspended disbelief for that moment, due to the directive of her senses, Britta encountered another dilemma when there was no visual representation of what she was sensing.
This was thanks to [Projection]. It was only a visual illusion, but it worked wonders to confuse Britta's senses for a moment.
—Enough for him to attack her and send her flying.
Of course, the only reason he could land a hit on her despite her senses—even with her confusion—was due to his impressive Stats.
If he was much slower than her, she would have reacted and evaded his blow.
However, since they seemed to be pretty much on the same level of power and speed, he was able to dominate her by imposing a delayed reaction on her end.
But, that wasn't all!
Taking advantage of his visual illusions, he created a bright and noticeable light show that easily caught her attention and distracted her—even if only for a few moments—from his brewing attack below her.
Thanks to this, he was able to hit her a second time.
It was very easy to confuse a person by providing different information to their respective senses.
Even such a person would eventually recover, damage could already be done.
That was Noah's special advantage—his true power!
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The shadow tendrils charged at Britta with immense speeds, but she quickly moved, swinging her blade to cut down everything in sight.
Several tendrils passed through her slash and neared her face—threatening to blow it away—which caused her to hesitate for a moment again.
This move gave Sherlock the window to strike her a second time with the dull side of his blade, sending her crashing to the ground.
~BOOOOM!~
Smoke rose from the ground, and with several shattered pieces of rocks and marble occupying the area around Britta, she bitterly stared at the ground in confusion.
'What the hell is happening?!'
At first she thought he turned himself invisible, but then he had teleportation, or was it duplication? What was he doing to her?
She saw something and sensed something else, so perhaps he was messing with her sensory capabilities.
Even though the answer was pretty simple—Visual Illusions—Britta could not arrive at such a conclusion with the limited information she had.
It was indeed one of the options, but there were so many others.
'I could close my eyes to escape the illusions, but what if it is my senses that are being affected, and not my eyes?'
That would mean that her [Greater Full Sense] was unreliable, since the Skill merely improved her sensory abilities to several degrees.
'He could have a duplication Skill, as well as teleportation, which explains how he can switch so quickly and also move very fast. Or is that just an illusion?'
Britta was confused to the core, but before she could properly address the confusion, Sherlock charged at her once again.
'I'll do it! I'll follow my senses this time and see where that leads me.' Britta tightly gripped her blade and readied herself for the assault.
Several shadow constructs charged forth, but Britta decided to ignore them.
'My senses aren't picking up anything!'
The shadows slipped through her, confirming one of her many theories, that they were mere physical illusions.
Then, she went ahead to strike him.
He easily parried her strike and went for a counter, which she was also prepared for.
As she watched his blurry blade descend upon her in a downward vertical strike, though… something felt off.
The pressure of the strike was real, and she could indeed sense the presence of something.
But… it felt off.
Still, Britta blocked the attack, only for her wrist to be sliced through almost instantly.
"E-eh…?"
Her blade fell out of her hand immediately, with blood spurting out of her open wounds.
'What just happened…?!' Her eyes widened as she saw Sherlock's kick nearing her face.
Despite the pain from her wounds, Britta quickly responded and moved her body so she could dodge the kick by pulling away, leaving his reach.
It worked… but!
~BAM!~
His heel was planted on her face, sending her crashing to the ground yet again.
At this point, Britta couldn't explain anything.
She was just too confused, as well as tired.
"Can you still stand?" Sherlock's voice echoed as he stood right in front of her.
Britta tried, but her body felt weakened. Even if she could, her blade was far away, and several shadow tendrils surrounded her, threatening to drill holes into her.
Some were real. Some weren't. However, it was difficult for her to really tell between the two since the shadows keep moving and overlapping with one another.
It was at this moment that Britta had an epiphany.
She realized her mistake.
"Your blade… it was invisible from the start, wasn't it?" She muttered, covering her face in shame. "You merely made it look visible using that illusion of yours."
Back then, when she parried his blade, yet felt something was off, that was because it wasn't his blade she parried.
Perhaps it was a shadow construct or something, but it wasn't the Night Blade.
Sherlock then swung the blade in quick motion, while she was still disoriented and in a fixed position, to cut through her wrist.
"The kick too. Your real body and the illusion slightly overlapped, making it seem like your reach was only so far when it was probably a meter longer.
These were small differences, tint details that seemed inconsequential compared to flashy moves, but in their fight, those were the determinants of victory.
"I've lost, Sherlock…" Britta sighed, tears falling from the hands that she covered with her bleeding hand.
"It's your victory."
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[A/N]
Thanks for reading!
That was quite a ride, right? I hope you enjoyed the chapter and the fight.
Looks like Noah was superior, after all.