Several red slashes formed in the air. Their force was deadly enough to quickly diminish their HP. Three players found themselves on the defensive during this assault of slashes.
Vertigo continued to retreat back as the slashes hindered the player's attempts to get closer. Yet as he tried to widen a gap one player stuck out as the most dangerous!
Uyana flickered through the slashes with a growing accuracy. As if she was starting to anticipate where they might appear. Cherry blossoms began to swirl and manifest as she moved through the undead. Not wanting to be left behind Yuto and Era doubled their efforts and continued to close the distance.
"There is a reason for such confidence it seems.", Vertigo commented to himself as he continued to dash back.
As this exchange progressed Vertigo finally approached his intended area. Leaping over a series of wooden walls he landed on a large open space. The training area for the undead under his command. It was simple in design. A large circular patch of beaten dirt surrounded by a series of wooden blocks. Standing in the center of this area he waited patiently.
Leaping over the wall Uyana was startled to see Vertigo now standing. Landing on the ground with a roll she held her bokken at the ready, cherry blossoms floating to touch the ground. Yuto and Era also arrived over the wall and held a similar reaction. Landing they watched Vertigo cautiously. To this Vertigo simply asked, "Why hesitate now?"
Swinging her bokken forward Uyana sent forth several razor sharp cherry blossom petals. As they approached several red slashes sliced them through the air. This was nothing new, but the fact that Vertigo was now waiting for them made the whole situation feel off. Additionally no other undead were attempting to harm them. It was an area of just these four individuals.
Yuto was the first to actually move. Pushing dirt up with his footsteps he closed the distance while twirling his scythe. A dark energy swirled forth in a crescent shape. It clashed with a red slash that manifested and shattered. Leaping upwards Yuto used the spinning momentum to swing downwards, but his attack was swiftly parried.
Redirecting the scythe to the side Vertigo caused several slashes to manifest. Yuto pushed against the mana to fall back and avoid the slashes, but found he was heading towards another series of slashes!
Uyana skipped across the dirt similarly to a skipping stone on a lake. Cherry blossoms manifested as she swung forward. Smacking her bokken with the pommel of his katana Vertigo directed it downwards and several slashes manifested to stop the bokken's momentum. Feeling the recoil Uyana grit her teeth and adjusted her stance to swing again!
Several slashes formed and threatened to slice her so she instead dashed back. Vertigo swung horizontally. This slice cut only air and he turned to the side. Raising his katana he clashed against a blow from Era who had decided to flank him. Uyana maneuvered past the slashes and went to stab him, but the horizontal slice he just made flashed red and stopped her approach!
With a flick of his katana he pushed aside Era's sword and swiftly went for a decapitating swing. Yet his blade was stopped by a scythe, Yuto extended his limbs and used the curved blade to catch the katana. Several slashes instead manifested and caused all his attackers to back off.
How troubling! They not only had to deal with the attacks of a skilled fighter, but also had to worry about every slash he made in all forms of time! The past, the present, and the future slashes could all pose a threat at any point in time!
It was worth mentioning that this ability wasn't actually a form of time manipulation. Rather just a technique in which Vertigo is capable of 'saving' the slashes he made and triggering them again. A form of 'delayed' slash rather than one that manipulated time. Moreover currently Vertigo held the absolute advantage with the current area they were fighting in.
This training area, how many slashes had he performed here to perfect his techniques? The spars he partook in, the constant practice swings, they all were saved and ready to be triggered at a moment's notice. Additionally with his absurdly long life span thanks to being an undead there was a mind-boggling amount of slashes ready to be triggered.
There's a catch though! Uyana was the quickest to notice. Vertigo had a limited amount of slashes he could recall! This limitation prevented Vertigo from overwhelming them with a number of slashes and immediately killing them. A form of balance to his technique, although it certainly didn't feel like it.
Now if only they had the ability to cancel the slashes! Currently they were forced to avoid it at any cost. Their attacks were lacking in a particular aspect that no one knew about to fight against the slashes. Especially considering any attacks they made were being blocked or deflected by the slashes.
Still, if there was a limit to the amount of slashes Vertigo could summon there was an obvious solution! Overwhelm him with enough attacks to surpass this limit!
Several cherry blossom petals began to manifest and shoot towards Vertigo. Uyana followed their movements and closed the distance, her bokken reaching a threatening distance. Vertigo watched these petals with his unnervingly calm expression. Yuto suddenly noticed Uyana's method and summoned a few crescent ranged slices of his scythe to follow up. Era felt she was lacking in damaging projectiles but opted to send a few stone bullets to add quantity to the attacks.
Lifting his katana Vertigo sucked in a calm breath. His blade began to carve through several of the attacks, red slashes appeared to deflect the occasional projectile. However as he swung Uyana noticed that he was not only using the past slices they didn't know about but also immediately using ones he just created. As if following his katana in a red streak the slashes prolonged his sword arcs and provided extra defense. Sliding his foot to enter a different stance Vertigo cried out, "Hah!"
A horizontal circular cut was formed, red slashes manifesting as it extended towards his attackers. Era blocked it with her sword and was sent sliding back. Her arms quivered from blocking the attack. Yuto leapt over the attack and frowned, the amount of slashes was more than he thought the limit was. Uyana dashed back and avoided the circular slash and noticed the same thing Yuto did. Either Vertigo was steadily increasing the limit he could use, or this was a specific Skill that allowed him to bypass that limit.
Unfortunately they all lacked a proficient identifying Skill to see Vertigo's status. Aside from the basic information they mostly received question marks. Requiring them to figure out what exactly was going on without any assistance.
As if to continue to prove this Vertigo raised his blade above his head. Swinging downward with some effort he let out another cry, "Hah!"
A series of slashes spread out in the direction he swung down at. As it traveled the slashes grew wider and taller, like a projectile that grew in size. Yuto, the target of this attack, reacted and swung his scythe beneath him. The ground rippled as if the scythe disturbed a still lake. As he swung upwards a series of dark energy hands leapt forth and crashed with the slices. The two Skills clashed and ended in a stalemate. Yuto was unsure if he was able to cancel it or if Vertigo himself stopped the slashes from progressing.
Uyana flickered to the back of Vertigo and thrust her bokken forward, a flurry of cherry blossoms swirling to a single point. A red slash manifested and blocked the attack, causing her to grit her teeth in frustration. Vertigo, without even looking towards Uyana, smacked her nose with the pommel of his katana. The flinch this attack caused made her miss a slash manifesting at her neck. If not for a sudden strong gust of wind she would have suffered a serious injury!
Era lowered a palm, this fight was not in her favor! She lacked a ranged arsenal like Uyana or Yuto to contend against Vertigo's abilities. Her magic specialized in status effects and combinations. Her direct forms of damage via magic were simplistic and easily countered by a boss as good as Vertigo.
Still she had to try something!
Despite being someone who had made their way into the Professional Competition, Era was lacking in what a lot of top of the line players had. One key factor? A Berserk Skill. Despite her efforts she could not obtain one. She did not have that sort of trump card to close the distance in stats. Excluding her somewhat decently rare class, she was lacking in cards to play. Her equipment was simply above average, her skillset was exclusively from her class, and even then she lacked any specialization over specific elements!
She was familiar with Berserk Skills, and even considered joining Infinity Base to obtain their free one. Because of her familiarity she knew that Yuto currently wasn't using one yet still had an incredible amount of strength. More importantly Uyana, who was clearly the strongest of the three, had the most telltale visual sings of a Berserk Skill yet lacked the feeling of chaotic mana they usually had. Instead there was a weird sense of unity from her, and it greatly puzzled Era.
Faced with two exceptional teammates in such a difficult fight she desperately did not want to hold them back!