Chapter 459 - One-In-A-Million

"I, Ren Nakamura, hereby relinquish five years of my life…in exchange, grant me the full-potential of that ability, just this once." 

It was as the words between himself and an unseen force were said, his slumped over state straightened, his eye opening fully as his hazel irises shifted into an unnatural, wheel-shape bearing a golden complexion. 

All of the strength that had left his body returned, and more; it burned within him like a raging wildfire, flourishing through his veins with a newfound vigor. 

Looking into that mystical eye, Andraste's vision was quickly replaced by an object that completely overtook his gaze. 

He was unable to react to it properly; the young man had launched his foot against the knight's face swiftly before letting go of his blade, causing Andraste to slide back against the mud a few meters. 

This is it. My full "enlightenment"...my completed "enlightenment". It's beyond what I expected.  Power like this…it would've come from years of gruesome training. But…I need it right now, if I plan to defeat one of the Victorious Seven, he thought. 

Andraste's expression contorted into displeasure as he stopped himself from sliding back further, "You…! You reckless fool! You would be so reckless just to defeat me?!" 

He answered without any doubt inhabiting his gilded gaze, "It's not even a question. It's a small price to pay…so meager, if it means I can win and save them." 

Andraste didn't seem to listen to his words, only yelling back, "Even so, you're mistaken if you think that's enough to overcome me! You'll have to sacrifice it all if you want to stand against me–! Discarding your limbs, blood, soul, and memories–none of it will be enough!"

Following his own words with his actions, Andraste unleashed a fury of sword slashes, dicing apart the surrounding trees of the jungle and cutting into the ground around them.

As fast and as plentiful as they came, he evaded them through minimal movement, as natural to his gilded, wise gaze. 

While dodging the barrage of slashes that weren't restrained by the range of the knight's steel, he mended his broken bones, stopping his own bleeding as he composed himself. 

"Manjushri." 

–Through the endless slashes that sought to mutilate the entire jungle, he found an opening, sending a flash of karmic flames soaring towards the pale knight. 

"You can't touch me." 

Andraste spoke with a chilling calmness as one moment he stood a dozen meters away, on the other end of the approaching, golden flames, and in the next, he vanished with speed that bordered on untraceable to his enlightened vision. 

He raised his blade just in time to stop the dual-wielded blades of Andraste from cutting into his flesh, being forced to plant his feet into the mud to press back against the man's immense strength. 

"You're nothing. You're still breathing because I enjoy savoring my meals," Andraste spoke to him while their blades clung to one another. 

"You're talking an awful lot. Are you feeling nervous?" He asked with a stoic tone. 

Andraste paused for a moment as his expression dwindled to something devoid of emotion, looking down at the golden-eyed adolescent, "That settles it. I'm removing your tongue first." 

They both pulled back in perfect unison before returning in a furious clash, unleashing dozens of strikes towards one another in the very first second of their exchange. 

Each time their steel met, the descending rain around them propelled outwards from the resulting shock wave, rippling the loosened mud. 

It was only by virtue of his gilded eye that saw through the many pathways of fate, deciphering time and the threads of destiny itself as he predicted each action his opponent took; even so, the sheer speed the Victorious Seven held over him was enough to make it a complete stalemate. 

For a moment that stood between a hundred fractions of a second, he found an opening, though not large enough for his blade to cut through, he countered the knight's incoming attack with a nimble duck, returning against the man's side a harsh, spinning kick. 

With physical prowess far beyond his norm, he sent the knight flying to the side, burrowing through the jungle as he followed. 

"Manjushri—!" 

While jumping forward to send himself propelling closer to the knight, he swiped his blade with both hands gripping it tightly–sending a cascade of gilded flames that cut through a chunk of the dense jungle. 

Andraste remained silent, but focused as he caught himself in midair by flipping around, allowing his boots to land against the trunk of a tree before launching himself back towards his foe. 

The knight sailed directly towards the horizontal sea of golden, karmic flames that burrowed through the forest; he scraped his blades against one another, setting his focused eyes on the gilded inferno. 

"...Zeus: King's Dawn…" 

As Andraste unleashed a magical incantation for the first time, he spun himself as seraphic, pure-white lightning shrouded his form, emanating from his blades as he intended to clash directly against the wave of flames. 

Around the coat-wearing knight, the rain was vaporized by strands of loose lightning, if not evaporating from the sheer heat of the divine storm that emitted from himself. 

Something's coming…! He thought, jumping back as he witnessed Andraste propel forward. 

Just before meeting against the karmic flames, he stomped his boot into the ground, spinning around before razing the jungle in absolute destruction; overpowering the flames as his white lightning reduced the nature life to ash. 

"---!" 

It was an inch from catching him; the lightning moved erratically, spreading through the surrounding jungle as wild bolts struck anything that held life. Even as he flipped back to avoid its reach, he could feel the insurmountable heat that radiated from the seraphic bolts. 

He watched in surprise at the preview into the magecraft wielded by the knight revered as one of the Victorious Seven; it was utter destruction–a spell that simply eradicated any caught in its grasp. 

Andraste stood in a desecrated clearing, devoid of any trees, foliage, or life–all having been desolated by his singular spell. 

Witnessing first-hand the destructive capabilities of the knight's magic, he opted to avoid being on the receiving end of it–establishing a counter of his own as he clasped his palms together. 

"Ākāśagarbha." 

As he uttered the mystical name, a force rippled through the surrounding space, ushering in a faint divinity that caused Andraste to stumble for a moment as the burnt soil beneath his step seemed to extend. 

"Another cheap trick? I'll cut it away!" Andraste yelled out. 

Just as he launched himself forward at a speed that surpassed that of lightning, he slashed his blade with even further swiftness–though, to his surprise, his steel didn't meet with the flesh of the young man. 

"What–?" Andraste muttered in shock. 

Instead, his sword bisected an amber-bark tree, one he could've sworn wasn't there just a moment prior. 

Before he could decipher the meaning of his miss, a sharp, unpredicted elbow landed against the back of his head, causing him to seeth more than to fall in pain as he turned around into an immediate slash at the one behind him.

–Again, he cut only a falling pebble instead of the one who landed the blow on his head. 

What's going on here?! I could sense him at that moment, so what's happening?! Andraste thought, wait…stop and think for a moment. I trust my own senses, more than anything else in this world. I know I saw him, and I know where my blade intended–yet what I hit was something else entirely. I understand now; you're swapping places with nearby objects. 

As Andraste deciphered the nature of the mystical ability, he focused himself, decaying his smile as he settled into a mindset proper for battle, breathing out slowly between his lips. 

Warping around the dense jungle, swapping places with pebbles, clumps of dirt, and even raindrops, he constantly stayed out of reach of Andraste. 

He was unable to land any sword strikes, but managed to allow a few kicks and thrusts of his fists to slip through, yet Andraste hardly seemed to phase–beginning to react quicker each time he warped near. 

If I were to guess, he's probably already started to catch on to this ability. Even if he is a lunatic, he's one of the Victorious Seven–that's why I can't stagnate, he thought. 

Confirming his suspicions, he watched up close as the thin, immaculate steel wielded by Andraste slid by his eye, only missing by a hair before he warped with a raindrop that sat above the reaches of the jungle floor. 

I'll crush you with everything I have, Andraste! I, alone in this world, will be victorious! He thought. 

Again, he clasped his hands in a prayer formation as the rain befell his body, hovering in the stormy air as a gilded light manifested from his form. 

"Senju Kannon: Endless Wrath of Mercy!" 

Sprouting from unseen space behind him, a thousand, golden arms stretched out in colossal glory, overshadowing the jungle in which the knight inhabited. The boundless array of gilded arms filled the abyssal skies with a divine radiance, shining through the clear raindrops. 

Andraste looked up with eyes stricken by brief awe as the golden light reflected from his white sclera, preparing his blades as he stood his ground beneath the sky of golden, immaculate limbs. 

"It doesn't matter how fast, or strong you are now…You can't escape me, Andraste," he spoke unheard words from his position in the skies. 

By a commanding downfall of his hand, he ushered the numerous, massive hands to befall the jungle below. 

"Ha-ha-ha! This is it! A true battle worth savoring; every last drop of it!" Andraste yelled out in joy. 

The golden hands became the ceiling above the jungle before crushing the surrounding trees, repeatedly crashing down and plowing the flooring below their reach. 

Andraste's attempts to repel the hands with his blades spared him only for moments before he, too, was caught in the thousand slams of the golden palms. 

"Ghhh—!" Andraste grunted out. 

He watched from above as his endless limbs desecrated the incorrigible jungle, planting towering trees back into the soil as a flattened clearing was left after the barrage that lasted for an entire minute. 

Afterwards, to his surprise, the knight lived, only exhibiting a few cuts and bruises as his coat was left in tattered, carried off by the rainy winds. 

"Hah…it's been a long time since I felt pain," Andraste laughed a bit as he stood himself up, slapping his chest as a smile persisted across his lips, "...I'll admit it: even if you had to discard your ability, you're strong.. Even if somebody exchanged their life, they wouldn't be able to harm me–but you're a "one-in-a-million", Ren Nakamura."