Chapter 453 - The Strongest Of The Cruel

As naturally as he breathed, he escaped from the enigmatic goblin's grasp with a 'Shadow Step', flinging himself directly behind the silent fiend. 

The greatsword missed its target, being slammed into the mud with a shock wave that caused the mud to ripple and form waves. 

Behind the champion, he was already midway through a spinning counter that aimed itself at the exposed back of his goblin foe. 

--It felt as if landing an attack was simply impossible. 

Before the rain-laden steel he wielded with malice could reach the armor that his enemy wore, he already recognized the futility of the attack itself. 

What his blade cut was water; an abrupt, sudden abundance of clear aqua that was shaped in the form of the Stormfallen champion. After cutting through the champion-shaped water, it fell into a puddle as he stood there wide-eyed in the split-second that felt like a dreadful eternity. 

Behind--! He realized instinctively. 

--But, he was wrong in his assessment. 

What was behind him as he spun himself around swiftly with a slash of his blade was another decoy made of shaped water. As he cut away the humanoid-shaped water into a splashed that mixed with the rain puddles, he was left clueless. 

What?! He thought. 

He was completely outplayed; in that gnawing moment with his heart beating in his ears loud enough to muffle the rain, he panicked. 

Where is he?! He questioned. 

There was no chance for him to discover the position of his foe; as he stood there, turning side-to-side in an attempt to find him, he was suddenly attacked by something unseen. 

It was sharp, and plentiful; but unseen, it was not. 

As he looked down briefly in horror and perplexity, he found tiny, minuscule knives of water stabbing against his arm, leaving a dozen, small cuts in an instant. Running along his left forearm, fresh crimson mixed with the rain that coated his coat sleeve. 

Water…? It's the rain…! He realized. 

Jumping back, there was nothing he could do to evade the sharp assault as his cheek was sliced open sharply, causing him to wince as the flowing crimson met his lips swiftly. 

Looking up, he began to realize the horrible reality of the situation he found himself in. 

The rainstorm: if it was rain cutting him, he was practically standing in a storm of endless knives, all pointed at him. 

How is this even fair…? He thought. 

Just as he began to usher in dread through his lungs, he caught the sight of familiar, black-steel in the corner of his eyes. 

Attempting to dodge the incoming, overhead strike of the greatsword coming from his left peripheral, his backstep was compromised as the rain-blades stabbed into his calf that had already been cut previously. 

"Ghh…!" He winced. 

Already halfway falling towards the mud with the colossal steel of snow-white falling towards him, he momentarily gave in. 

--Only a split-second flash from his memories, a flash of the girl he loved, and fought for, gave him the strength to continue. 

With a last-moment roll, he threw himself to the mud as the greatsword slammed into the ground he nearly fell to. 

Before he could lift himself from the mud, the champion goblin turned to face him, dragging his blade across the messy trail before lifting it into another overhead swing. He was forced to vigorously roll to the side as the champion continuously chained the same overhead strikes, carving up the mud in a relentless rampage. 

"That's enough…!" He yelled through his clasped teeth. 

Pushing his palms against the loose ground below, he kicked with both legs against the midsection of the goblin before another strike could be landed. 

Catching the silent champion off-guard, his attack actually managed to land as the soles of his feet clunked against the armor, causing the champion to grunt quietly as he stumbled back. 

He knew it wasn't a kick that did any meaningful damage, but it awarded him enough time to return to his feet, gathering himself as he was now mostly dirtied by mud. 

He's clearly a water mage, but he fights nothing like Macheo. You'd think a greatsword-wielder wouldn't be so elusive, but he is...it looks like he can shift into water, but I didn't hear any incantation. Well, I didn't hear one either when I was attacked by the rain--how the hell am I supposed to defend against it if I don't even know it's coming? 

I have to be careful. One mistake, and I'm gone, he thought. 

"Dunkel: Slicer!" 

Taking the initiative into his own hands, he unleashed a blade of darkness that swept through the mud, burrowing through the rain and mud alike as it approached the champion. 

Come on...He waited. 

He watched carefully, waiting to see what move the Stormfallen champion made before the wordless goblin made a small, slight lower of his posture. 

There it is! He thought. 

As expected, once the blade of sharpened darkness clashed against his foe, the armored form he saw simply splashed into a decoy of water. 

Watching it firsthand, he found his most likely answer to what was going on:

He's traveling within the rain, he thought, not only that...he's able to manipulate it while moving in it, and when out of it. Frankly, it's beyond unfair. But, if I know anything about magic in this world--there's always a path to victory. 

Now, he was left with the rain as his enemy; all around him, it came down, constantly falling against his ears, running along his body as he questioned each moment if it'd be stagnant, cold drops, or violent slices. 

I have to figure out how this rain magic functions. There has to be a way to tell where he is within it, he thought. 

Though it was easier said than done to discern any noticeable pattern within the rainfall; all around him, thousands of droplets fell in unison, yet nothing stuck out to him. 

--At the very last moment, a sharp, blaring hiss conjured right next to his left ear. 

It was a warning of the very next moment: slicing the lobe of his ear with a clean cut, a falling droplet of rain shot by like a masterfully swung sword. 

But, the cut sustained wasn't without some semblance of gain. 

...I felt it. For a split-second, I felt it: it was faint, but his mana flared for just a moment before the rain cut me, he thought, unfortunately for you, Champion, I'm full of surprises myself…!

Using the time between attacks, he fell still before casting out his own counterattack, "Araphel: Particle Shade!" 

Expanding rapidly from his position, an unseen mist of shadows inlaid upon the cold, wet air; enveloping the rainfall, his senses wrapped around the surrounding area with accuracy that allowed him to feel each and every droplet of rain as it traversed the wind. 

For a moment, he froze as his senses were overwhelmed completely; each of the thousands of droplets falling in unison, even in their serene fall, their combined descent filled his ears like a blaring horn sounding off. 

More paralyzing than the grating sound, the cold of every raindrop being felt at once enveloped his body in an unseen layer of ice that felt as if frost was forming in the marrow of his bones. 

Bear with it. Control it…! He told himself. 

He could hear every droplet inside of his head as if they were bouncing off the interior of his skull, manifesting a migraine that he was forced to subdue through sheer will and focus. 

A trail of blood ran from one of his nostrils, moving over his lips as it coalesced at the bottom of his chin. 

Just as the droplet of crimson fell alongside the raindrops, he felt it: the next attack. 

From the left, aiming for my eye, directly at my pupil. It's coming straight ahead, curving from above, he thought. 

Deciphering the trajectory of the manipulated raindrop with the assistance of his extended senses, he used his broadsword to accurately cut away the singular, microscopic blade of water with pinpoint precision. 

Just as he bisected the raindrop, he felt an array of water blades shift the raindrops into objects of malice, all around him. 

Around him, the raindrops stagnated, falling completely still in midair before beginning to spin around him in a swirling vortex that barricaded him within its watery malice. 

...I guess I pissed him off with that last stunt. I still don't fully understand it...is he doing all of this while hiding within the rain? There's now way it isn't draining him of mana in the process...maybe this might have to be a war of attrition, he thought. 

Standing his ground with his sword raised while the vortex spiraled around him, carving through the mud in a circular pattern, he wiped the fresh blood from his nose, smearing it across his cheek in the process. 

He looked down at the smear of vibrant crimson that painted his glove, breathing out as his damp fringes veiled his vision just slightly. 

If that's the case, I'm on the losing side, he thought. 

"...But, I'm not done yet…" He smiled slightly. 

Just as the torrent of visceral rain, acting like an array of spinning blades, closed in around him, he leapt directly into the air with enough reinforcement that he found himself a dozen meters high. 

Though he didn't escape completely safe from harm as a dozen droplets of rain cut against him nonetheless, leaving a small cut on his neck and a few on his nose, hand, and abdomen. 

"Ghhh…! If there's one thing I'm good at, it's sticking around like a damn cockroach!" He yelled out. 

I haven't used this one in awhile, and it's usually not good for much...but if it's blasting this rain to hell, it's my best bet, he thought, right now....just think freely.