Abyssal Awakening

Chapter 274: Nyer's Lesson

With Alice's sword held between Nyer's fingers, Alice didn't hesitate to change her sword's form and retreat.

Seeing the blade change forms, Nyer couldn't help but be surprised by its properties but this was no time to be impressed.

Taking a step forward, Nyer's cloak billowed behind him as Sigils appeared across his body. Holding his hand in front of him, a greatsword manifested itself as he entered a standard stance.

"If Lua can ignore all forms of defence and Kaden can mimic all forms of casting, what do you think I can do?" Nyer asked with a grin.

Furrowing her brows, Alice considered the options for a moment.

'He doesn't seem to be the defensive type… Is he a caster? Doesn't seem like it either.'

"Think carefully. The three of us are chosen as the last line of defence for her Majesty." Nyer grinned as the aura around him continued to increase.

Closing her eyes, Alice thought of one possibility and cold sweat dripped down her back.

"Do you ensure no one can run away?" Alice asked with a twitching smile.

"Shall we put that to the test?"

*BANG!!!!

At that moment, Nyer disappeared from his spot and his blade was inches away from Alice's body.

The space around her seemed to have transformed into a thick sludge, making it almost impossible to move her body. The harder she tried, the harder the resistance.

Even though she could see the blade approach her body, she couldn't do anything about it.

Gritting her teeth, it was now or never! If Nyer's power was indeed to stop others from escaping his attack, then all she could do was to face it head on!

*BANG!!!

Activating her resonance, violet flames erupted from her body as a new dress manifested on her body. Stars gathered above her head and formed a crown, similar to Velouria.

Seeing this, Nyer widened his eyes in shock as he clearly recognised the crown!

His moment of hesitation made it impossible for him to adjust the blade's edge as it was now up to Alice to fight back.

Even though Resonance had increased her physical strength, it was still lacking.

But this wasn't everything she had.

The violet flames that coated her body began to rage as it expanded around her. The spectral image of a beast tore through the flames and revealed itself to Nyer.

*CLANG!!!!!

Temporarily boosting her physical power to the utmost limit thanks to Bloodline Release, Alice could feel her entire body screaming out in pain. But she had to counter immediately!

Allowing Nyer's sword to carry on its momentum and use it to her advantage, Alice twisted her body in the air and slammed her heel down against Nyer's head.

Not giving him time to recover, she grabbed his head and swung herself onto his back.

Leaning back, she flipped down and tensed her legs, lifting Nyer and slamming him into the ground. Reaching for her blade, she slashed down towards him.

*CLANG!!!!

Blocking her attack with a spare blade he carried on him, Nyer watched as the metal was cut apart with ease.

But this bought him enough time to push himself away.

Just as he was about to praise Alice for her power, he realised she wasn't done.

In the time it took for him to push himself away, Alice had aimed her finger towards his direction.

The world seemed to lose its colour as flames converged towards a single spark, absorbing the colour and life within Hell Gate.

Void Flux!

Feeling a brief chill, Nyer instinctively raised his guard but his action simply caused Alice to grin.

Realising the truth behind this smile, Nyer glanced back and saw a barrage of Void Fluxes mid-detonation.

Understanding that guarding is no use right now, Nyer created another greatsword in hand and twisted his body, releasing a horizontal slash.

*CRACK!!!

Similar to when Allura would release her Executioner's blade, the space around Nyer began to distort.

However, unlike Allura, Nyer did not destroy the attacks. Instead, the space was completely frozen as he dismissed the blade.

"Phew, you made me work harder than I thought I would. Honestly speaking, you could probably work as a Captain in an army. Roughly as strong as standard 5 Sigil bearers." Nyer smiled while rubbing his chin.

With the power that Alice has shown, she should comfortably be able to defeat 5 Sigil bearers so long as she's wary of their power or take them by surprise. 4 Sigil bearers will pose no issue to her.

Taking a step to the side, he snapped his fingers and the space unfroze itself. The Void Fluxes frozen in the air began to move once more as it collided with where Nyer was standing a moment ago.

Seeing that she failed to succeed in her sneak attack, Alice could only sigh and raise her hands in surrender. The Partial Bloodline Release dispelled itself as exhaustion washed over Alice.

"Don't look so down. You forced me to freeze the space, that's quite the feat. But I've gotten a general idea of where you're at in terms of power. Don't tell Lua or Kaden but compared to them back when they had three Sigils and the blessing of her Majesty, you're much stronger. Both in instincts and creativity." Nyer reassured with a grin.

Hearing this, Alice couldn't help but smile feeling a little proud but quickly shook her head.

She wasn't satisfied with just this, she wanted to achieve more.

To go above and beyond.

"It seems you'll have no issue with combat. You simply need to know a method to surprise your opponent. First of all, what do you think is the most important factor when it comes to fighting someone stronger?" Nyer asked while crossing his arms.

"Information."

"Correct. Information is the line between life and death. With information, you can plan accordingly and react. Without information, your reaction will always be delayed and trying to guess what they have may cause you to hesitate and miss a perfect opportunity to counter. Now, what are the methods to collect information?" Nyer nodded his head.

"To observe?" Alice replied after a pause.

"Half correct. The best way to obtain information is through mind games. You don't necessarily need to outsmart your opponent but rather force them into a mindset where they think they have full control of the battle. Let them realise it's an easy fight and that they don't need to think too hard.

"Once they enter this mindset, it's time for you to strike and gather as much information as you can. With their guard down, they'll reveal habits or clues to their fighting style. How much information you can obtain is based on how long you can defend against their attacks without being suspicious." Nyer explained as Alice nodded her head and made a mental note.

"Even masters will show a moment of blunder if they're not careful. The hardest part is to make them enter this mindset. Struggle too hard and they'll think you're tenacious and try their best to kill you. Don't try hard enough and they'll kill you since you're not defending properly. It's key to strike a balance between two and once you master this, you'll be able far more fights."

It was through this method that he could fight on even footing with the Apostles. Thus far, none of the Apostles has forced him to use his full power so they're cautious. He has never focused on making himself overpower his opponent but rather let them fumble and capitalise on that chance! He knew what they could do but they didn't know what he was capable of.

Once the opportunity reveals itself, he'll latch on and kill them before they realise what has happened.

Hearing this, Alice paused in realisation.

"Wait, did you do this on me?"

During the fight, he had always shown just enough to keep her on her guard yet made her believe there was one chance for her to fight back. Subconsciously, she had put all her chips into that one gamble.

If she hadn't and stayed patient, there might've been a better chance and a moment for her to gather information.

"I tried but it ended in failure. It's far easier to do this with people who believe they're stronger than you than it is with someone weaker. I knew you were planning something, but I didn't think you'd overpower spatial distortion. And that moment forced me to stop my attack." Nyer admitted with a shrug.

Had it been anyone else, it would've been checkmate the moment he discovered that they had one last gamble.

"Finding your opponent's hidden cards is the final win condition in a fight. Once you find out their hidden cards, you can lure them into a trap to reveal it or force the fight to end before they can play the card. A lot of this comes with experience but during the time I'll be training you, I'll try and teach you how to act weak." Nyer chuckled.

Of course, acting weak wasn't the be all end all strategy. There are benefits that come with applying pressure to your opponents and forcing them to fumble due to nervousness. However, for Alice, her firepower is far superior compared to the other three Sigil bearers.

It was to the point even he was shocked by her potential.

No one would expect her level of power, not even the Gods.

"When the Apostles come to train you, you'll need to act weak enough so they don't raise their guard against you but also not too weak where they don't take you seriously. If you can find the right balance, the rewards you can reap from this exchange will be unthinkable."

Nodding her head, there was a fire of determination in Alice's eyes. She didn't know how long she had in the Inverted World but she was determined to learn as much as possible.

Perhaps she could even shock Kaden in the real world with her improvements.