The Veilwalker

Ethan was slightly crazy in the head. There were a million and one ways to take both girls if he so wished, but he chose the extreme one that not only endangered both girls, but himself. If that did not qualify as crazy, then the bar was set too high.

"Very well,"

Ethan muttered to himself and waved his twin blade, passing his mana through it and directing it to one of the blade tips. Abigail and the girl noticed his actions and prepared to defend and counter when he struck the floor.

BOOOM!

The building shook violently and the floor they stood on collapsed under their feet, sending them falling to the next floor.

Unfortunately for both girls, the attack Ethan directed into the floor did not just end on one floor but went through the entire floor from the 15th to the ground floor! It was a miracle the building wasn't collapsing in its entirety.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"What?!" Both girls exclaimed as they fell from their positions, disrupting their battle stance. Well, except for one person who was prepared for the fall.

Ethan quickly recomposed himself mid-fall and brandished his twin blade in the direction of the girl he exchanged words with.

"Oh fuck…"

The girl's attention returned to Ethan with a questioning gaze only to see him in a throwing posture, his twin blade pointed in her direction.

Her ability could not be useful in such a situation as it worked to induce dissension in a person's perception. It was not the exploding type of ability, and it was something that she sometimes cried over.

Ethan aimed at the still-confused girl and threw his blade. The twinblade cut through the air and rubble with a ringing sound, abruptly arriving before the girl who was shortly eliminated without seeing Ethan's fighting prowess.

All this took place in the first second of the floor collapsing. Abigail was still perplexed when she heard the ringing sound of the blade cut through the air. Your next read awaits at empire

'This guy's insane!' She wanted to cry out, her expression a mix of vexation and surprise. If he had aimed that blade at her, she would have been eliminated for sure.

She watched as Ethan gathered his wind element and created a ward of air around himself.

Of course, Abigail had no problem replicating such a feat and did the same. However, she also took a page out of Ethan's book and tried to retrieve her bow and arrow. Her dagger had already fallen from her grasp, leaving her with archery equipment.

Ethan noticed her action and muttered, "Oh no, you don't!" His weapon would have to be retrieved once they got to the ground, so the only thing he could do was rely on his body.

He gathered his mana into his palms, created air blades and threw them at Abigail. Of course, she wasn't going to passively take the blades.

With one hand carrying her bow, she used the other to create her own construct; a long staff. She expertly deflected the blades, but the generated gale was too strong for the building to hold.

BOOM!

The rest of the building came down as it was blown outwardly from the pressure of the created gales, sending rubbles and dust everywhere. If it wasn't for the ward of air acting as a shield around both parties, the rubbles would have done a number on them.

As soon as they contacted the rubbles on the ground, Abigail created some distance between them, preparing to shoot Ethan. Naturally, Ethan wasn't going to stand there and wait for her to do as she pleased.

"Get back here!"

He demanded, making sure to close the distance as soon as it was made. He pinpointed his twin blade while they were running around and cornered Abigail to head towards his weapon.

'Does he think I can't see through his act?' She thought in derision, a frown on her face regardless.

Abigail was not the archer she was without always being aware of her surroundings, however, with the bow being the only thing in his hand and Ethan not allowing the distance between them to grow, she was in a tight spot.

Melee combat was not exactly her forte and if she engaged Ehan in hand-to-hand combat, it would surely be her loss.

'Tch. There's no other choice.' She wore her bow once again and got ready to engage. Ethan saw this and grinned, "Now, we're talking. Show me what you've got!" He exclaimed while creating a small gale in his right hand. He had deduced what Abigail was thinking and found her attempt amusing.

When they got close to his twin blade slightly embedded in a still-standing metallic pillar, Abigail attempted to go for the blade herself but underestimated the ingenuity of Ethan.

With the created gale in hand, he blasted toward the twin blade and sent it into the air, a perfect place and spot to match his leap.

Even with the added rubble to the mix, Ethan had no problem reaching his blade, brandishing it midair and turning to aim at Abigail still on the ground with a flustered expression.

Archers and melee fighters were built differently. What she wouldn't think of, a melee fighter would.

"Not again"

Being reminded of the same power throw that took out the girl from earlier, Abigail's mind raced for a solution, her fear of losing rapidly rising. She wouldn't be able to retrieve her bow, nock an arrow and shoot Ethan before his blade punctured a large hole in her chest.

Her best bet was finding cover among the rubbles around, so she made a dash for the biggest pile.

"Too late, archer. You were never a match. You should have found someone else's prey instead of coming for me. Now, you'll have to pay the price for your hubris!" He said with such passion as if they were in a real warzone and then threw the twinblade with all his might.

However, …

CLANG!

The explosive boom he expected to hear did not come, instead, something accurately clashed with his blade.

"Hmm?"

But that wasn't all as he noticed a whitish-gold blade arc coming towards him!