I am an Eldritch Entity

Seeing that Eryndor didn't respond, Anya resumed. The whip lashed again, and again, targeting his head, torso, and legs.

Each strike was met by the Sovereign's Cloak. Eryndor focused on his Energy of Consciousness, noticing how quickly it was draining. It wasn't really a problem though, since he had large reserves.

The good thing he noticed was that the durability of the Sovereign's Cloak had gone up by a huge amount, which meant it wouldn't disappear anytime soon.

While enduring the barrage, Eryndor maintained Cloudstride, his movements fluid and unpredictable, making it slightly harder for Anya to land direct, concentrated blows.

He also kept his Cognitive Scrying active, attempting to discern patterns in Anya's attacks and any signs of overexertion. Even after knowing her moves, the unpredictability of the whip made it difficult for him to react optimally.

He realised now how his opponents felt when he used his detachable spiked mace.

Eryndor knew he couldn't just defend indefinitely. He needed to probe Anya's defenses.

Between whip strikes, he launched swift, precise Air Cleaving Slash attacks with his daggers, aiming for Anya's limbs.

However, the Aerodynamic Shroud around her, the defensive cultivation art, was surprisingly effective.

Eryndor recognised this defensive cultivation art as well. It created swirling vortexes of wind around the user, deflecting weaker attacks and obscuring their movements.

The swirling winds deflected his strikes, pushing the daggers off course or slowing them down significantly, making them easy for Anya to evade or block with the whip.

He also attempted Sky Piercing Palm - Air Variant, hoping the invisible blades would bypass the wind shroud seeing how Anya wasn't maintaining the defensive art at all angles around her.

Unfortunately, while some seemed to briefly disrupt the swirling air, the remaining amount lacked the power to penetrate Anya's Foundation Building realm Qi which she had coated herself with, to inflict any meaningful damage.

The constant assault from Anya was taking its toll. While the Sovereign's Cloak was holding, Eryndor felt a steady drain on his Energy of Consciousness.

Each deflected blow, each minor disruption of Anya's attack, required a certain amount of Energy of Consciousness no matter how small.

Even though his Sovereign's Cloak was strong, he couldn't keep up this expenditure.

Yes, he had enormous reserves. However, he previously overlooked the fact that he had already gone through multiple battles wherein he used his Energy of Consciousness to no small amount.

He was planning to take a break to recover his Energy of Consciousness, who knew he would be met with such an unexpected disaster?

The fight continued on.

During a particularly powerful Tempestuous Lash that created miniature sonic booms, Anya overextended slightly. Eryndor's Cognitive Scrying caught the brief lapse in her stance, a momentary stillness in the swirling winds of her Aerodynamic Shroud.

He seized the opportunity. Focusing his intent, he channeled a concentrated burst of his Qi into a Void Pierce with his right dagger, aiming for Anya's knee.

The "skipping" effect of the Void Pierce allowed the dagger to bypass the weakened wind shroud for a fraction of a second.

THWACK! The dagger struck flesh, drawing a thin line of blood on Anya's thigh. It wasn't a deep wound, but it was the first tangible damage Eryndor had inflicted.

His dagger armed with his own strength and Void Piercer offensive art was obviously stronger than the wind blade of his Sky Piercing Palm's Air version which had been weakened after passing through the defensive cultivation art, therefore it was successful in breaking through the Qi coating her skin.

Anya recoiled in surprise and slight pain, her focus momentarily broken.

The brief opening was quickly sealed as Anya regained her composure, her attacks becoming even more relentless.

The fight settled into a grueling pattern. Anya unleashed wave after wave of Tempestuous Lash, each strike testing the limits of Eryndor's Energy of Consciousness.

Eryndor, with unwavering focus, maintained the cloak. He moved defensively, utilizing Cloudstride to stay mobile and Shadowstep to create momentary illusions through sheer speed and break Anya's targeting.

His counter-attacks remained weak but persistent. He continued to probe with Air Cleaving Slash and the occasional Sky Piercing Palm's Air Version, looking for any sign of weakening in Anya's defenses or any further openings.

As the fight dragged on, a subtle shift occurred. Anya began to show signs of exhaustion.

Eryndor's Cognitive Scrying picked up on the reason behind these minute changes.

It wasn't only me who had been through constant battles, she was in the same position. Hence why her initial attacks were so strong. She wanted to end the battle.

He sensed a growing frustration and a severe depletion of Anya's Qi.

His own Passive Regeneration was slowly mending the minor abrasions and internal pressures he had sustained, allowing him to endure the prolonged defense. His passive cultivation also allowed him to slow down the depletion of his Qi by a large amount.

Granted, his Energy of Consciousness was still running low, however, he found himself to be increasingly calm in this dangerous situation.

Seeing his opportunity, Eryndor slightly altered his defensive strategy. Instead of purely deflecting, he began to subtly redirect some of the force of Anya's whip strikes back towards her using the Azure Tortoise shell.

Although the defensive art would break down immediately after, he kept activating it again and again.

It was a risky maneuver, requiring precise control, however his mastery of the cultivation was high enough to easily allow that. Though minimal, this was enough to slightly disrupt Anya's flow and add to her growing frustration.

Anya launched another furious Tempestuous Lash, a series of rapid strikes aimed at Eryndor's head. He raised his arms, the Sovereign's Cloak flaring.

As the whip connected, he focused on a pinpoint counter using Azure Tortoise Shell which he activated at the final moment.

He channeled the reflective force of the whip, and directed it back along the length of the whip, aiming for Anya's hand gripping the handle.

It wasn't a powerful attack, nothing that would register on a normal scale. But it was precise, unexpected, and targeted a vulnerable point.