Arkell was a White-ranker. By power standards, he wasn't at Lucifer's level of strength. Lucifer had a powerful Body aspect Gift and a Grade 6 art to his name, the kind of edge that made him a cut above. But Arkell wasn't as strong as Lucifer. He didn't need to be.
Arkell wasn't raw power; Arkell was cunning, sharp like broken glass in your boot. His true weapon wasn't his blade, wasn't even his White-rank light mana—it was his mind. And that infernal Mind aspect Gift of his. The ability to read thoughts.
Which was precisely why Seraphina and I were currently losing. Quite badly.
We had the numbers, the coordination, the Mount Hua swordsmanship honed to a deadly edge. And yet, he danced around us with infuriating precision, countering every move before we even committed to it. Every plan we formed was torn apart before it could even take shape.
