'Damnit...'

Adonis clicked his tongue as he watched Rey just barely escape the trap he laid out from the very start of their match.

'I was sure I got him for sure...' He thought to himself, gritting his teeth as he tightly held his blade, eyes focused squarely on the target.

As it turned out, his victory wasn't going to come easy.

'He's most definitely stronger than I am, but I thought I would have the upper hand by taking the initiative. It seems he must have predicted it.'

Adonis didn't know all of Rey's Skills, but he knew all of his.

'Most of my Skills can't be used here, and the ones that can have to be suppressed so I don't reveal my full abilities. I reckon the same goes for him.' As he thought about this, his frown deepened.

'As I suspected, the problem lies in Passive Skills...'

Passive skills were easier to hide, and in situations like this, they were most definitely more useful than their Active Counterparts-particularly the ones that weren't very flashy or conspicuous.

'I don't know what set of Passive Skills he has, but it's possible he could be using them to his advantage in our fight.' Adonis tightened his grip on his blade, glaring even further. 'It seems I'll have to think of another approach.'

If Rey was Dragon, or he was perceived as a genuine enemy by Adonis, the latter would have been able to make proper use of his Conditional Passive Skill [Absolute Good Shall Prevail]. That alone would have completely changed the nature of this fight, and there would be no need for much of a struggle on his part.

'How unfortunate...'

Still, all of these limitations and unexpected situations weren't going to stop Adonis in the slightest.

He had already resolved to win-and not even Rey could stop him.

'Let's kick things up a notch...'

~VWUSH!~

A burst of light suddenly erupted from his position, and instantly swirling around his body. His whole body now emitted a bright flash of golden light, and this pulsating energy particularly coalesced on his blade.

'If I use the complete power of the [Divine Light Magic] Skill, things could get a little too dangerous.' Adonis heaved a sigh, taking a fighting stance. But, by limiting it to such an extent, there shouldn't be a problem.'

~WHOOOSH!~

He became a blur of light, shooting towards Rey in a golden streak. The entire stage shook as he closed the distance, and the previous location he had stood on shattered into massive chunks.

That didn't stop his march, though.

In no time, he was right next to Rey, swinging his sword in one large sweep.

'By using a horizontal slash with such a powerful flow of energy, he won't be able to avoid it using his current speed. And...' As Adonis thought this, he noticed Rey leaping high into the air in order to avoid the horizontal slash of energy.

This only caused the Hero to smile.

'... Even if you jump to avoid it, there's no point!'

Adonis twisted his body in an instant, switching to a vertical slash as he brought his golden blade down.

~BOOOOOOOM!~

The audience was in shock at the flashy display and incredible prowess that Adonis displayed at the last minute. He had perfectly calculated where the enemy was going to be, and he could quickly switch his form to compensate.

Since Adonis was also much faster than Rey-at least, this was the general consensus of the audience—there was little doubt about his move connecting.

In essence, this was his victory.

"Disappointing..."

Adonis' eyes widened as he heard Rey's voice echo softly in the air.

Right as this happened, a powerful force suddenly erupted, sending him flying backwards. The sharp gust of wind also pushed away the slash that should have hit the target.

In a flash, everything was repelled away from Rey.

"Did you really think that would be enough?" As the voice grew louder, so did its intensity. "How incredibly disappointing."

Blusih-white energy swirled around Rey as he stared down at Adonis, who was now rising from the ground that he had slid on. The former was floating high in the air, having energy dancing around him like the wind.

"I suppose it's my turn."

All of a sudden, Rey vanished from his position, appearing right beside Adonis within the blink of an eye.

"W-wha-?!" Before Adonis could brandish his blade, a strike burst from his opponent, breaking his weak defense in that split second.

Adonis found his hand forcefully flung away, along with his blade, thanks to the immense strength Rey put behind his attack.

At that instant, the audience gasped.

~VWUUUM!~

Rey instantly took his stance, crouching a little as he prepared to slash.

'I need to leave his range!' Adonis swiftly thought to himself, attempting to leap away as fast

as he could.

However-

'What's this? Why am I being sucked in?!'

Despite trying to escape, Adonis felt like he was being pulled towards Rey... almost as if the latter had become the center of gravity in their vast battlefield.

'If I can't escape and defend... I just have to attack before he does anything!' Gritting his teeth in desperation, Adonis charged at Rey, using the excessive pull of gravity to his advantage.

His entire body glimmered with light as he thrust out his blade, feeling the rising heat as he poured more energy into that attack.

'With this, I'll end everything!'

~WHOOOSH!~

Then... as Adonis neared, ready to inflict the final blow that would guarantee his victory, he noticed a disturbing expression on Rey's face.

It was a cruel smile!

~CLANG!~

Rey instantly struck, much faster than Adonis could react to at his current pace, easily forcing

his blade away from his grip.

'N-no!' A bead of sweat formed on his face at that instant.

'At this rate... at this rate, I'm going to lose!'

For a split second, right before Rey's fist was supposed to hit Adonis, he had a thought.

'Should I... use more power?'

That held the risk of blowing his cover, but if he didn't do something now, he was going to

lose!

'I can't afford that right now!' He cried within his heart. 'I can't afford to lose!'

*

*

Thanks for reading!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Whew...