Infinity: Rising of the Soul Weavers

While Raven grinned madly, Michael adopted a serious expression.

Looking at her, a glint of realization flashed across his face as though he had realized something new after his evolution…

To Maya and Kayla, he suddenly appeared like a kid who had matured up, realizing just how pathetic his previous imaginary ambitions were...

"I don't have much time to spare," Raven said in between white fangs. "Are you planning on entertaining me, or should I finish you?"

"Is it too late to give up now?" Michael suddenly asked with a serious expression that surprised Raven and the other two girls.. However, along with Raven's surprise, there was disappointment.

"Tch!" She clicked her tongue. "Utterly disgusting. Do you believe that I'll truly let you live after what you've done? No, forget about that. 

"Even if you offered yourself to become my slave, I wouldn't accept. Not because I don't want to, but rather because I need your blood... 

"You see, in my field of vision, I can see everything in you. Every weakness, every treasure hidden inside, heck, I can even feel your soul shaking in fear…

"And with everything I'm seeing, I'm realizing just how much I need to kill you. I need to hear your screams and drink your blood, hehe… just the thought of it is making me lose my mind in ecstasy-"

"Rave!" Maya suddenly interrupted with a worried, almost scared, tone. Although Raven's mighty aura didn't touch her, she could feel that something was not quite right. "What are you doing!? Don't act like a creepy lunatic! If he can become a servant then that's good, remember that he has a lot of information that we need!"

Hearing her voice, Raven merely spared her a glance before looking back at Michael. However, Maya who fell into Raven's field of vision for a split second felt her blood go stagnant for a moment as her body froze in horror.

It was as though she had been fully exposed and seen through. Every secret in her body and even her soul was visible under Raven's eyes, in that split second. 

Now, although she didn't mind since it was Raven, the feeling was giving her goosebumps as she shivered. Subconsciously, she lost her will to speak.

"Rave, please don't lose yourself, you promised that you'll never leave my side, remember?" Kayla suddenly yelled. "Please, don't kill him if you can afford to. Make him a servant and don't let your soul be corrupted!"

"What? What corruption?" Maya quickly asked, confused, as she was still in the dark about Raven's current situation. "Kay, what happened to her?"

Hearing Maya's cries, Kayla could only shake her head. She didn't dare explain that she had agreed to this. But at the same time, she knew that she had no choice…

*Sigh*

"Maya, Kay, don't start acting like I can't hear you," Raven said with a soft sigh. "I'm still me."

'Liar!' Kayla yelled in her mind. She was the Admin of the System and she could hear each and every message that was delivered to Raven. Not to mention that she could feel the torture and pain she was currently suffering from.

As if she was unaware of Kayla's internal cry, Raven continued: "Kay, prepare to save me, soon. Maya, open your eyes and ears and learn from me."

Saying that, she focused back on Michael who subconsciously gritted his teeth. He obviously heard what the three girls were talking about and he wasn't getting any good feeling out of any single word this crimson-purple haired psycho has responded with so far.

Although he strongly hoped that she would listen to the other two girls, he knew that it was nothing but wishful thinking.

"People tend to measure their opponents' rank quite often,"Raven started teaching. Involuntarily, her expression was getting colder and colder, yet there was a hint of excitement hidden within the way she looked at Michael. "However, almost no one realizes just how much they're missing out."

While Maya focused on listening to Raven's every word and observing her movements, Kayla was busy preparing for the aftermath. In her mind, Michael was already dead, and she was already conducting simulations to protect Raven from the corruption that is associated with the Blessing: Infinity's Will.

"To measure their opponent's rank," Raven continued. "People need to insert a wisp of their own mana into the mana of their opponent's. This is obviously only possible if the opponent releases their mana to start with.

"With that being said, each person's mana is special, and contains their own mana signature, however, at its base, mana is energy, and energy by its nature tends to flow from high concentrations to low concentrations.

"So, if a person's mana capacity is higher than their opponent's, they are able to let their own mana flow into their opponent's.

"It's similar to an ancient double-pan balance scale, really. Once the two sides are equal, the person with the highest capacity can easily guess the opponent's capacity based on how much mana they have released from their own reserves.

"And on the same note, a person with a lower mana capacity can not measure an opponent who has a higher capacity since their own limit comes before their opponent's."

"I already know that…" Maya said with a tilted head. She was slightly confused as she thought about what Raven said. 'There is no hidden meaning behind her words, right?'

"Do you, though?" Raven asked, raising her eyebrows and easing her cold expression. "Then tell me, why can't you measure your opponent's mana if they don't release it."

"Well, because you have nothing to go on to. Following your analogy, I guess you would be missing one of the weights on the double-pan balance, no?" Maya asked with narrowed eyes since the answer seemed rather obvious to her. She knew that Raven was hinting at something, yet she could not quite grasp it.

"Correct. Now, tell me where does your opponent's mana come from once they release it?" Raven asked with a smile.

"From their Mana Core…" Maya said slowly. The answers were getting simpler and easier that she started getting confused.

"Correct," Raven nodded, before grinning cruelly. "Now, tell me, what happens if your own mana can invade your opponent's Mana Core?"

"Ah!" Hearing her words, Maya suddenly realized how smart and sly Raven's teachings were. 

She had never thought about it herself, but if one were to follow this method and flood their opponent's Mana Core with their own special mana, then… they can easily destroy their opponent's Mana Core!

'So that's what she meant when she said that people don't realize how much they're missing out…' she thought as everything suddenly became clear.

Obviously, Maya wasn't the only one who realized the meaning behind Raven's teachings.

Quickly, upon realizing Raven's point, Michael retracted his mana into his body in an attempt to protect against this cruel method she mentioned.

However, this only made Raven's cruel grin turn into a lunatic internal chuckle that caused Kayla to shiver involuntarily...

"Idiot!" Raven muttered coldly, yet mockingly. 'Although this method is indeed feasible, you must have a special type of mana for it to work, otherwise, people would not be able to use mana in fights. However, with your stupidity, you have no protection against my attacks…'

With a wave of her hand, the world around her shook as the mana in the void roared aggressively, like a mad bloodthirsty beast.

'Ah-' Michael could only cry internally as he realized his mistake. 'This was all a trick… she intended for me to retract my mana from the very beginning…'

By the time he had this thought, it was already too late. The mana throughout the entire void seemed to have been directed at attacking him, and he simply took it defenceless…

The regret and disappointment in Michael's mind could not be described as he watched his world break down.

What he felt was ironic though, was that the moment he had first evolved and broke through, becoming a Supreme Deity, he was able to see the mana all around him almost bow to the girl's will and move under her command.

This seemed so frightening for him that he had considered giving up before the fight had even started.

At that time, although he had become a Supreme Deity, he felt that he was standing in front of a real Supreme Being! 

It was something that was far beyond his understanding; something that he could never hope to achieve...

Little did he expect, although she indeed could control the mana in the void all around him, she had a limit after all. 

Otherwise, why would she resort to such a dirty trick?

Maybe, if he had tried, he could have had a chance…

Maya, who was watching from a safe distance, came to the same conclusion and could not help but feel a little restless. 

Although Raven had the excuse, she didn't like the feeling of being used; after all, Raven used her and lied to her face to trick an opponent.