I swung my blade quickly, never letting up with the onslaught of slashes I fired in Pride's direction. Imbuing my blade with a lightning magic spell, I sent waves of lightning flying at Pride, who simply flicked his hands and sent out wind spells to neutralize my lightning in the air.
Landing along the glass walkway, I propelled myself forward with a wind spell and used an acceleration spell to increase my speed. I was on him before he even landed. However, Pride didn't seem concerned.
He made a grab for where I was, but I had used mana switching to appear behind him. Swinging my blade, I slashed him in the back, but just like everything else, it had no effect.
Pride simply shook it off, turning towards me and punching; however, I had used mana switching to appear above him. I slashed downwards, and the skywalk below was cut in half; however, Pride was unaffected once again.
Using my downward momentum, I used my sword to pin Pride down below me as we crashed through the skywalk and landed on the one below, the glass cracking.
Even though my blade was hovering above his neck, Pride smiled at me.
"At what point will you realize it's futile? You can't resist. You can't stand up to me, let alone her." He spoke in a condescending tone, and my grip tightened on my sword.
"You talk a lot for someone I'm going to put in the grave." I sneered at him. In my other hand, I was loading up a magic sequence. In truth, I had no way to even touch him, and he knew it. So he began to laugh in the face of my comment.
"Put me in the grave? How will you manage that when you can't even touch me? Know your place, boy." As he said that, I unleashed the magic sequence I had finished processing. Unleashing a massive amount of my aura to cover the space around me, I used a space spell to essentially put us in a separate dimension of sorts. It was the same spell/sequence that was behind reality marbles. Those things were just a condensed version of what I am doing now.
Pride looked around, amused. "What's your goal here? When will you be able to get it through your skull that nothing you do will be able to so much as stain me?"
He sounded insulted; however, I ignored him. Layered on top of the space spell, I used a homing spell combined with a ground spell to summon multiple massive spikes from the ground that hung just outside space.
Looking down at Pride, I said, "I hope you like the taste of dirt."
Then I jumped high into the air and out of the space I had created. At the same time, the multiple spikes launched simultaneously into the space, all targeting Pride.
Immediately after, I closed my fist and condensed the space to the size of a pen cap. Everything that had been included inside of the area, the skywalk, and Pride himself were caught up and crushed as well.
Nothing should have been able to survive. It had all been crushed beyond recognition.
Landing on a rooftop a bit away, Raiden watched the small orb floating in the air closely.
TEARRR!
Horrifyingly, the orb was being torn apart. A pair of hands, followed by Pride's head, pushed themselves out of the hole that he had literally made bigger by brute force.
He had torn through space with just his bare hands. Pushing himself out of the hole, he landed on the roof a few feet away from me.
"I'm impressed, I truly am. After all, there is a reason why she chose you."
I could only stare at Pride with a mix of shock and anger in my expression. "Just what the hell is that power..." I muttered to myself as I tried to figure out Pride's ability.
Pride must have heard me, because he smiled as he pointed towards his heart. "Her blessing is the reason behind it all. Would that convince you to accept her feelings?"
"If she really liked me so much, wouldn't she talk to me herself, instead of sending out her lackeys to terrorize an entire academy?" I spoke sarcastic words; however, my tone betrayed my true feelings. Pride could easily read what I was feeling, and it only seemed to further stimulate him, making the smile on his face grow wider and wider.
"And who's to say that she hasn't already? She probably has. Think. Think, Raiden."
My blood ran cold.
My brain flashed to the moment before I had seen ■■■■■.
Right before that, I noticed a figure. A short figure in a white dress with white hair. Blue eyes.
As I went back in my mind, the face that I imagined smiled at me.
Snapping myself back to the present, I placed my hand on my chest, trying to get control over my breathing. I could feel a cold sweat break out over my body, and I could hear my heart pounding through my chest.
Why was my body reacting so viscerally to just the image of her I had in my memory? I didn't have such a visceral reaction even when I had seen her during that time. Or was it because I was too numb from the beating I was getting?
"So you have seen her." Suddenly Pride had appeared in front of me. It was such a jump scare that I literally took a step backwards, causing Pride to lean forward even more. There was a mix of odd emotions on his face.
"She revealed her true form to you? That's a testament to just how much she loves you. You should be honored." I jumped backwards, trying to distance myself from him.
There was a crazed look that resembled something you'd see in the eyes of a deranged cultist.
As Pride took another step forward, I swung my blade, which he dodged.
Stepping back, I avoided his grabs while slashing my sword.
He dodged every slash while continually pursuing me.
I still hadn't gotten control of my body yet, and now it felt like I was going to vomit. My head was still filled with the image of that girl, and it felt as if she was literally taking over my mind.
My hands were trembling; I could barely swing my sword straight. My mind was filled with the image of her, repeating over and over and over and over and over.
Again and again and again.
My nose filled with a sweet scent. Even as I dodged and weaved out of the way of Pride's attacks, I felt like I could see her watching me from my peripheral vision.
Keeping my head on a swivel, I looked around everywhere, but she always remained just in my peripherals.
I had completely lost control over my breathing, and now my heart felt like it was beating in overdrive. It felt like it was going to burst.
I couldn't get her out of my mind. It was going to take over my entire consciousness.
All the while, Pride rambled in front of me, a wild look in his eyes. He moved just as wildly.
My body was cold. Frozen. I-
■■■■■: Shhhhhhhhhhh.
At that moment, a soft voice pierced through the mental fog I was in. All of the images of the witch that I saw in my mind suddenly shattered, leaving only silence.
I finally managed to get a hold of myself, jumping up to another skywalk. Pride stopped pursuing me as he seemed to be analyzing my face. He didn't have the crazed look in his eyes. Instead, they were cold and calculating.
I slowly managed to get control of my breathing, and my heart rate slowed. Kneeling down on one knee, I put my head down for a brief moment, attempting to make sure that I had gotten my bearings completely.
What the hell had happened to me right there?
■■■■■: You almost lost yourself to her.
"Lost myself?" I muttered.
■■■■■: It means exactly what you think it does. That witch. She's more than just a regular person. She's something beyond that. And for beings like that, their true form is something that humans can't look at without losing their minds. You saw her true form directly, and so you began to lose your mind.
Hearing that made my breath hitch.
So I almost went insane? What the fuck... And what do you mean by 'something beyond human?'
You can worry about all of that when you can actually afford it. Right now you need to turn your focus back to the battle. A key piece of information has been revealed.
"Key piece?" My mind was still disoriented, so I was more than just slightly confused as to what she was talking about, but I still decided to sift through my memory again.
Pride's taunts. Me going back in my memory. The jumpscare. The wild way that Pride fought. The crazed look in his eyes. Me jumping away from his attacks while swinging the sword. Him dodging and grabbing at m-
Wait, hold on.
He dodged?
Throughout this entire battle, I don't think I had seen Pride dodge once. He always just took the attack head-on because he knew it couldn't hurt him. So why did he feel the need to dodge my sword slashes?
At first I wanted to pin it on reflexives; however, I had seen him tank massive blasts of magic without even flinching, so I knew that it wasn't the case.
So why?
■■■■■: Think about Raiden. What happened before he started dodging?
Sifting through my brain, I tried to piece it together piece by piece.
However, the moment of calm in the battle had passed, and before I knew it, I was receiving a fist to the face.
Immediately, I could feel my nose break. Pride's punch launched me high into the air and knocked the breath out of me. I crashed into the wall of the magic academy, coughing.
I could still feel my bones reverberating from the strength of the punch. My mind was still clouded; however, I was still calculating, trying to figure something out.
Pride jumped towards me and continued the onslaught. I dodged and weaved the punches, interweaving my own attacks; however, I was fighting absentmindedly. My attention was more focused on figuring out why Pride had been dodged.
He had been talking about the witch showing herself to me when an emotion passed through his face. Jealousy, or anger, or something like that. When that happened, and the wild look came over his face, he began to dodge my attacks instead of just letting them hit.
■■■■■: What was the common point there?
He was under some sort of extreme emotion. So is that it? Do emotions have an effect on whether his power works?
I dodged under a fist before throwing out a punch that Pride just ate. He didn't flinch or anything. There was no sign of damage either.
That's when I saw it.
His hair. It was slightly messed up. Loose strands were sticking out, it was parted a bit, and most importantly, there was faint dust on it.
The sight shocked me so much that I didn't even think to dodge Pride's next strike, which smashed me straight into the ground and into a classroom of the magic academy.
The ground was hard against my back, and sharp rubble poked me. My face felt numb. There was warm blood dripping down my nose.
However, none of it mattered. I had made a breakthrough.
During that time when Pride had experienced extreme emotion, not only did he dodge, but his hair had gotten messed up and dirty.
Without a doubt. Under extreme emotion his ability stopped working.
But I didn't have the full picture.
Pride came flying down, fist first.
I rolled out of the way, and his fist smashed straight into the ground. Dust, wind, and debris swirled around the room as desks and chairs were uplifted from the force of the punch.
The floor underneath us cracked before giving way. We fell down into the classroom below us, which was one of the large magical engineering classrooms.
Waiting no time, Pride continued his onslaught.
He saw the gears turning in my head, and it seemed he felt threatened by that.
■■■■■: You're doing amazing, Raiden. You're almost there. At the breakthrough.
Hearing ■■■■■ praise, I continued to dodge while trying to find out the truth.
Jumping over massive lab desks, knocking over glass vials, and using pieces of the ground as cover, I did as much as I could to avoid Pride's wild punches.
All the while my mind spun.
Was it only extreme emotion, or was it something else? It had to have been. Thinking, Pride had made a big deal out of humility. Every time he spoke, he made a mention of pride, hubris, sin, and humility.
Every time.
Despite the fact that, without a doubt, he was the most conceited person in the room, 10/10.
And then it clicked. It all made sense.
Holding out my unsheathed blade, I continued to dodge Pride's constant onslaught of attacks.
Everything he threw at me. Punches, kicks, spells, desks—I dodged it all. And while I did it, I taunted him.
"Is someone jealous? That the witch thinks higher of me than it does of them?"
"Shut your trap, you arrogant child! You know nothing!"
I began to laugh.
"Of course, that's what it has been from the beginning!"
Pride got angrier and angrier. He became more and more aggressive.
"Don't worry, I'm sure she had her fun with you!"
"Shut your trap!"
"But now she has something new, so you'll be cast to the side!"
"Do you not know the meaning of respect? Humility?" He was screeching.
"Like you were worthless."
Pride lunged for my throat, and in that moment, I dashed forward before sliding under him.
As I did so, I sheathed my blade, activating my ability, perfect counter.
That was because Pride's ability worked on his own self-perception.
If he thought he was better than you, you couldn't touch him. He was literally in another realm. It was fitting for someone who didn't know the meaning of humility.
However, under extreme conditions, his self-perception would waver.
As I sheathed my blade, Pride began to turn, but it was too late.
His body was riddled with dozens of slashes, and blood flew into the air.