Litori tried to move closer to him now that she doesn't have to worry too much about the phantom weapons which means it is his turn to run and evade. He can't let her breach the distance between them to 100 meters or she will be able to attack him.
"This is a disgrace. I am the one-man army damn it." Salvin said through gritted teeth as he ran.
He discarded his pride and chose to run. It is disgraceful but it is better than losing to her. He hasn't lost yet so anything can change. The two of them are ranged fighters with pretty lethal weapons. Litori's spiritual attacks are just as dangerous as the phantom weapons that he uses.
He has a longer reach so he should be winning but Litori's specialty has made him lose focus. He has become ineffectual at what he is capable of. Now he is running away from Litori so that she won't finish him off. It is highly unlikely but the one-man army is being chased by a single person.
The two of them ran around the 1st and 2nd zone trying and failing to kill each other. The onlookers gave them a wide berth. They retreated to the 3rd zone where it is safe. Stray spiritual and physical attacks won't reach them there. They watched on with trepidation and awe. Any one of these two fighters can take them all on but it looks like spiritual attacks trump physical attacks.
"Something has to change," Salvin muttered with determination. "There's a first time for everything."
He let go of the phantom weapons. They went under Litori's control immediately. It hurt his pride to do it but he is already running away from her so it doesn't hurt as much. It is the first time something like that has ever happened to him. He has been defeated by a single person before but this is the first time someone will steal control of his phantom weapons. His phantom weapons have been robbed from him because he gave them up.
Giving up control of his phantom weapons freed his mind from the stress of the spiritual pressure. He became able to produce more phantom weapons without any mental stress which he did as he ran for his life. He didn't attack her with them but kept them hovering around him. He waited for them to increase in number. They almost reached a thousand before he retaliated. He didn't need to turn around to set his phantom weapons to attack her. They attacked Litori from every direction.
Litori used the phantom weapons under her control to defend herself. Phantom weapons clashed with phantom weapons. The clash broke them and made them useless. The rate at which the phantom weapons broke made it obvious that defending herself so aggressively is a losing battle.
The battlefield has become solely physical. She will have to sprinkle more psionic matter to shift the battlefield but it won't be enough to quickly stop the thousand phantom weapons that are trying to cut her apart. The phantom weapons in her control are less than 50 and she can't even control them as well as Salvin. She became overwhelmed immediately. Only one thing can save her.
"Fuck," Salvin swore when he saw what she did.
Litori is running away. The range of his ability has been suppressed too. It is longer than that of Litori but he still needs her to be within his reach or his phantom weapons will fall apart before reaching her. So he gave chase.
The hunter became the hunted. He harassed her over and over again cutting her down little by little. She tried everything she could do but Salvin is the master of phantom weapons. She was using the slight delay to sprinkle psionic matter but it won't be enough. It will not be nearly enough to cause him any trouble before he kills her.
"I've got you now." He grinned in anticipation.
She is obviously on her last legs. She has been accumulating a lot of injuries and she is close to her limit. He was waiting for victory when her domain suddenly increased in size. Her domain should be shrinking not expanding. That's what should happen when a transcendent is injured and weakening.
"What ugh..." Salvin exclaimed in surprise.
He couldn't even complete his shocked question of inquiry. She was running and he was chasing her. Then all of a sudden he experienced a spike of emotions. Then those emotions erupted through his body like lava in a volcano. The description is very accurate since he is on fire because of it. He looked at the distance between them and it was 110 meters. He should be out of her attack range.
'Unless...'
He managed to put everything together but it is too late. He turned and ran. She expected it too so she followed him closely as soon as he made the decision to run. It was too late for him. Her domain is larger than he thought it was. He can't escape it quick enough to out a safe distance between them.
The only way to survive is to not have any emotions. That's something he can't do even if he can control his emotions. He has been feeling a lot of different things the latest of which is excitement. All his emotions have now turned against him. He shrieked as he died. His emotions became the fuel for the fire that killed him.
Litori didn't smile at her victory. Her face remained the same cold expression that she wears. She had pretended that her domain can only reach 100 meters like everyone else. Salvin thought he had an advantage due to his divine ability. The truth is that she also has an advantage due to her divine ability too and it is more than that of Salvin.
Her domain can extend to 120 meters. It is a secret that she kept as a trump card to use when she is really desperate. She has to sacrifice some of her spirit permanently to achieve this boost in her divine sense. Salvin pushed her to that desperation.