I Refused To Be Reincarnated

Chapter 211: The Dueling Minds

'I can't back down, or he'll have time to launch another attack,' Julius thought, pressing forward as his hazel eyes scanned the lights' trajectory. Inspired by the ghost's head-stand strike, he contorted his limbs and torso at weird angles, dodging the lights by a few millimeters while progressing forward.

Strands of hair fell to the ground as a few superficial cuts ran through his body. Yet, he smiled as the last light flashed by. Then, he imbued fire Qi in his calves, causing them to swell and crack the ground under the pressure before lunging towards the baffled doppelgänger.

"Shit! Why is this weird energy as potent as mana?" The ghost screamed, gathering his thoughts to face the incoming strike. 'He'll aim right after a feint,' he reflected, his eyes gleaming calculatingly, his lips stretching into a smirk. 'I think and predict like you. The moment you strike will sign your death!'

Simultaneously, Julius' eyes narrowed. From the beginning, he aimed to exploit his only advantage. Now was the moment of truth. 'I can do it! Ignite your will and turn it into power!' He screamed inwardly, repeating his big brother's words during his training.

His eyes came to life, a blazing fire burning in them as the serenity of his mind shifted to a raging volcano. With a thought, his right arm's veins almost exploded under the terrifying energy influx as he hurled it horizontally against his enemy's left side.

"Fool! I know it's a ruse!" The ghost sneered, moving his blade to the right with an evil smile. However, confusion veiled his eyes as the boy's gladius didn't slow at all. Cursing, he hurriedly lashed his arm to replace his weapon on the blow's trajectory.

SHATTER

Alas, before his enlarging pupils, Julius' gladius smashed his blade, frost permeating it and weakening its material further. After three strikes, his weapon exploded in a rain of shining metal as the gladius smashed through it and continued on its course.

'Shit, shit, shit!' He roared inwardly, all his calculations crumbling into his mind. 'He aimed for the weapon since the beginning!' He realised, using every drop of negative energy in his body to jump backwards. Alas, the gladius was too close.

"ARGH!" With a pained scream, it sliced across his torso, almost cutting him in half.

Despite the pain and bleeding, his organs weren't hit. 'I can still turn the tables!' he thought hatefully. He couldn't lose in a duel, or he would be the disgrace of his species.

As he gritted his teeth and raised his head to counter-attack before the boy could follow up, dread gripped his heart.

Before him, Julius stood with a smile, his gladius raised above his head in a familiar posture.

"That's how you use that strike," He said, bringing it down without entering the ghost's counter-attack range.

Echoing his words, a pure silver-colored light sword, encased in thin blue mana, flashed and instantaneously traversed his body, leaving a long vertical line on it before cutting the mist behind.

"No way! You're just a brat. I can't lose! I CAN'T LOSE!" The doppelgänger roared, his eyes bloodshot as he jostled his right leg to charge. However, his vision suddenly split in two as half of his body collapsed in a rain of blood.

As the light in his eyes dimmed, only reluctance and confusion filled his mind. Did he really lose because of the weapon? Sure, he underestimated the boy in the beginning. But even then, his mistake didn't make any difference. 'So, WHY?' His voice thundered one last time before his consciousness fell into darkness.

Opposite him, Julius witnessed his last moments with a terrified grimace. 'It feels weird to cut my own body in half.' He thought, shivering. Then, a smile blossomed on his face despite his ragged breath. "I did it!" He exclaimed, raising his trembling fists in victory.

Unfortunately, his energy hit rock bottom, causing him to fall back first. "Big brother was right." He started, reviewing his fight and using his Qingming sutra to hasten his Qi recovery before continuing. "My brain is my strongest weapon. To win this fight, I had to predict my own predictions and go against them."

This hard-earned victory was also a learning opportunity he planned to analyse thoroughly. After all, the bizarre attacks coming from irregular positions were hard to counter. But more importantly, he learned that overpowering opponents with a straight battle style wasn't always the answer. Sometimes, he would have to mislead, deceive, and lure them to land a devastating blow.

After musing for a minute, he remembered his brother's instructions and removed the bandage covering his arm, revealing the drawn cross. With his left hand, he wiped it before wrapping the bandage back, wondering how his big brother was doing.

******

Simultaneously, on the canyon's right side, projectiles smashed in a cacophony of hums and shattering noises.

'I'll run out of mana at this rate,' Adam thought, gritting his teeth. Contrary to Julius, he didn't understand in the blink of an eye that the doppelgänger aimed to exhaust his energy before ending him. Who could blame him, though? Opposed to Julius' sword light, his mana arrows didn't cost much to materialise.

'If I use Gungnir, he'll just counter it with the same spell.' He analysed, understanding that relying on mana techniques would only prolong the stalemate against his foe.

However, before he could think further, his copy smirked and said, "I can emulate your thought process and guarantee you that a melee fight isn't the answer either."

'Shit! How does he know?' Adam thought, feeling stuck in this deadlock. Was the evil ghost bluffing? But since he could replicate his battle style, wasn't he right? As someone proficient in abusing his adversary's mistakes to counter-attack, what would he do if the doppelgänger did the same? It indeed didn't look like the answer he was searching for.

Yet, a flash of inspiration suddenly guided his thoughts on a weapon he rarely used.

"How could I have forgotten about that!" He exclaimed, a path to victory forming in his mind.