Abyssal Awakening

With Nyzel now out for blood, Ria understood that she couldn't hold back!

Everything had to be used!

"LUKE! EVERYTHING!" Ria shouted as lightning crashed down on her, activating her first resonance!

"Understood!"

Jumping back, Luke clenched his fist and 6 chess pieces shot towards Ria.

Pawn – Base stats up!

Knight – Attack buff!

Bishop – Spell rang and power buff!

Rook – Speed and defence buff!

Queen – Multiplication!

King – All buffs increase and resonance enhancement!

With Ria now at full power, she created a blade and launched her counterattack!

"Hehe~" Smiling from the fact that Ria was now showing some spirit, Nyzel slashed down with her hand, tearing a rift in space!

An arc of raw power burst out, surprising Ria as she quickly parried it off to the side!

*BANG!!!

But despite her successful parry, she could see razor slashes across her arms.

With Ria's guard broken momentarily, Nyzel aimed her spear and took a single step forward.

*RUMBLE!!!

Like a clap of thunder, her form shot towards Ria.

Gritting her teeth, Ria unleashed a wild discharge of lightning as her body flickered through the different sources, avoiding Nyzel's strike but she was unphased.

Her strike continued towards Luke!

Castling!

Swapping positions between him and Nyzel, Luke slid back and snapped his fingers, summoning the Bishop piece.

Void Flux!

"Garbage!" Nyzel shouted, twisting her body and unleashing a horizontal slash with her spear, cutting the Void Flux in half and forcing it to detonate early!

But the arc didn't stop there!

Even after destroying the Void Flux, the arc continued towards Luke!

Promotion! Paladin!

Combining his pieces to form the paladin piece, Luke ducked down in case the piece couldn't hold on.

Fortunately, he did so. After all, the arc of energy shredded his paladin piece apart, slamming into the wall!

"Holy sh*t! Is everything she does a one hit one kill?!?!" Luke couldn't help but pale when imagining what could've happened.

"It's a sovereign! What do you expect!" Ria shouted, slashing down from above but Nyzel weaved past it with ease.

Twisting her body, she slammed her heel towards Ria who also weaved but unlike her, Nyzel's attack detonated at the end, launching Ria tumbling across the floor.

Sliding for a good few meters before she forced herself to stand up, Ria quickly scanned her eyes across the arena before looking up.

*BANG!!!

Nyzel could be seen floating in the air as she sent down countless lightning bolts striking towards Ria.

Lightning Grid!

Slamming her hands down, Ria created several nodes around her as her body flickered across them, avoiding all of the strikes.

Seeing this, Nyzel let out a hearty laugh.

Indeed. Someone after her head should be capable of this much.

Someone who will inherit her rage should be capable of this!

Twisting her body, she threw her spear towards where Ria would teleport.

*CLANG!!!

Caught off guard, Ria barely managed to parry it off to the side when Nyzel appeared behind her spear, kicking it towards Ria for a second strike!

Castling!

Both Ria and Nyzel had their positions swapped as Nyzel quickly leaned back to avoid her own spear before catching it.

Shinsei Raikiri!

Using this change, Ria funnelled as much as her power as she could into the next strike.

*BANG!!!

An arc of raw destruction energy lashed forward with Nyzel clasping her hands together, catching the blade!

Lightning attacked Ria's blade from the side, crushing it and stopping the attack in its tracks!

Widening her eyes in shock, Ria gritted her teeth and abandoned her weapon.

This was a wounded sovereign! Yet despite being wounded and fatigued, she was still able to crush her strongest attack!

Flicking her hand to dispel the lightning, Nyzel grinned as lightning crashed down on her body.

Appearing next to Luke, energy crackled on her hand as she reached for a grab towards his neck!

Castling! Void Flux!

Swapping positions with the bishop piece, Luke detonated a Void Flux in front of Nyzel.

Within the cloud of smoke, three lightning blades shot towards him!

"Your target is me!" Ria shouted, appearing in front of Luke as she slashed up with her blade.

*CRACKLE!!!!

As the two sources of lightning collided, Ria flinched from the power.

Just as she thought it was manageable, the second lightning blade collided with the first.

"Three fold lightning." Nyzel spoke calmly.

"!!!"

*RUMBLE!!!

In an instant, Ria was almost blown back by the force of the strike!

Each sword that collides with one another was an act of amplification!

'If that's the case. . . !!!'

Seeing the third that was about to hit, Ria instinctively twisted her body and threw the attack into the air.

*BANG!!!

The moment the third blade struck, a torrent of crackling energy shot forward, destroying a portion of the arena as cold sweat dripped down Ria's back.

Had she continued to block it, she'd be dead!

"Any plans?" Luke asked as he created a new pawn piece, ready for promotion.

"If I had a plan, do you think we'd be struggling like this?"

"So winging it like usual?"

"Naturally." Ria admitted.

Looking at Nyzel who was walking towards them calmly, they couldn't help but feel a chill. The way the lightning was bending to her will, the dark clouds that loomed overhead.

This is a Sovereign that had fought basically without rest up till now. Wounded and exhausted.

But even in this state, one hit was enough to kill them.

There was no plan, only instinct and combat experience. She hoped that it'll be enough.

"For now, just keep swinging. Even if you miss, I'll sort something out." Luke took a deep breath as Ria nodded her head.

*RUMBLE!!!

Lightning erupted from Ria's body once more as she rushed forward.

"Three fold lightning." Nyzel grinned.

Twisting her body, she slashed towards Ria using her spear.

Behind it, after images created from lightning manifested as Ria blocked the first strike.

*CLANG!!!

As the second after image collided with the main body, the force of her swing increased drastically as Ria flipped into the air to avoid the rest.

Mid flip, she twisted her body and unleashed an arc of destructive energy towards Nyzel who turned her body to the side.

En passant!

"!!!" Widening her eyes in surprise, Nyzel glanced at her arm with a cut along the length of it.

"Ah, so it's that kind of trick." She chuckled, licking her blood as her wounds slowly stitched itself back together.

It wasn't an obscene healing like what Caelan showed but it was still enough to worry Ria.

'The healing is slow. The wound is still there. She's simply repairing the surface.' Ria concluded from what she could observe.

So long as it stays like this, it's manageable!

Once more, Nyzel raised her hand as spears manifested and shot towards Ria.

Wrapping herself in a layer of her own protective lightning, she parried the first two off to the side before wrapping her leg around the third spear!

Twisting her body to generate momentum, she flung the spear back towards Nyzel, destroying the remaining spears sent her way.

"Do you think you can hurt me with my own power?" Nyzel asked curiously, flicking her finger and regaining control of the spear.

"Of course not." Ria replied, appearing within Nyzel's range and slashed up with her blade.

*BANG!!!

Catching the blade between her fingers, a halo of lightning coiled above Nyzel.

"Four fold lightning." She grinned menacingly as afterimages appeared behind her spare hand.

Castling!

Swapping Ria's position with his Rook piece, Luke watched as Nyzel's strike completely obliterated the piece without a chance of fighting back.

From above, Ria gathered six nodes as her eyes stared at Nyzel.

She could feel the energy flowing through her body, the power surging on her fingertips.

Amplification coils appeared between them as Ria aimed her sword.

With her resonance being enhanced along with Luke's queen piece, her next strike wasn't just going to hit once.

No, it'll hit multiple times all at full force!

Shinsei Raiki-

"I don't think so." Nyzel interrupted as her hand grabbed Ria's head.

Her form was similar to Ria, partially transformed into lightning as she had travelled through the coils!

Castling!

Just as Nyzel was about to slam Ria into the arena, their position was swapped with Ria now being behind Nyzel!

The coils compressed in an instant, turning into a singular array.

Shinsei Raikiri!

*BANG!!!!

A line of lightning energy stabbed through Nyzel's back as she was sent crashing into the arena.

Despite landing a good hit, Ria wasn't in a better position herself as that singular grab felt like it was enough to crush her skull.

Had it not been for her fifth Sigil helping her heal, she might've been out of commission from that hit.

Wiping away the blood, Ria wanted to prepare for the next strike when a storm of lighting crashed towards where Nyzel landed.

Shielding themselves from the explosions, both Ria and Luke frowned as Nyzel stepped out.

The wound was still there but it was recovering.

'Just one more stretch child. Do not despair, do not falter. Face this challenge with your body and soul. Show me that I can entrust my vengeance to you. Show me that I can finally rest and find my family.' Nyzel thought with a smile before her face warped with fury.

Lightning erupted from her body as she plunged her hand into her own chest, ripping out a crackling orb of lightning before crushing it.

Around them, the world began to shift with dark clouds surging around the arena. The realm cried out in pain as Nyzel summoned her own realm!

A battle amidst the thundering clouds!