Clank!
Sparks flew as the hard metallic boots clashed with the sword made from an unbreakable substance.
Reginald was breathing excessively as he gazes upon his opponent who was also trying to catch his breath.
They have been attacking and canceling each other's attack for ten minutes now with neither side taking any hit.
Neither has taken damage but they were both exhausted.
For one, both of them couldn't use aura techniques which can only be used by individuals with massive ain reserves.
They focused on using doping to boost their physical abilities past the human limit thus putting a lot of strain on their bodies.
What's more, the two were both overlapping their doping with the power of their relics.
The boots of Hermes which grant near-lightspeed powers and the Hat of Lupin, which copies the abilities of relics which in this case, was copying the powers of the boots. Transforming into an identical pair of boots.
'The effect of combining two speed buffs is amazing. Demon spawn kept up with this guy for so long in his weakened state?'
Reginald seems to have developed an even more profound feeling of respect towards his Captain.
Reginald might have been holding his own for so long now but, there was a limit to how well he could use someone else's relic.
It was showcased when he used his relic's transformation ability to turn into Ace so he could trick Rada Khan.
He used snatch steal then and tried using Killswitch which was easily canceled out by Rada Khan.
Kill switch was a technique that gets stronger the more aura that's poured into it.
Reginald's kill switch was weak because he couldn't manipulate aura like Ace. And even if he did, he wouldn't be able to exert enough explosive force to pose a threat to the opponent.
This is the type of moves that snatch steal can never perfectly recreate.
However, it is still an incredible feat of mental fortitude for Reginald to have been able to use Chase's relic which resulted in the latter panicking and getting pissed.
'How could he use my relic so masterfully the first time when it took me years to reach where I am with it now?'
Reginald was simply gifted with a natural talent for using relics.
It was true that snatch steal cannot exert a hundred percent of the original relic's powers. But not a lot of people could use the Hat as Reginald could.
It was one of the perks of being a thief. The ability to quickly adapt to most situations.
They were both evenly matched, but it won't be long before the scales tip to one side.
It was simply a contest of stamina now.
Who would fumble at a crucial moment?
Who would get tired first?
Who would run out of ain first?
Clank! Clank! Clank!
The two had the same thought as they continued to block and avoid each other's attacks creating more sparks and flashes.
"If I make one wrong move, it's over."
Meanwhile, another heated duel was taking place in another section of the mansion.
In the long and dark hallways of the creepy mansion, two archers were sending streams of arrows at their opponents.
Golden colored arrows coated with aura colliding with silver-colored also arrows coated with aura.
This is an advanced ain technique of controlling aura by channeling the aura from the body to the item the user touches in order to boost its power by bounds.
"Sun purge!"
"Purifier!"
The two fired stronger arrows at each other.
They kept sending streams of regular arrows while matching themselves whenever one fires a much powerful arrow.
What might look like two archers firing multiple arrows at each other was actually a game of psyche.
Whenever Conroy fires sun purge, his opponent will counter with a purifier, and vice-versa.
This was how two blazing arrows of different colors shot from separate sides kept colliding with a mild explosion.
"You're a pretty good archer."
The female archer commends her opponent. Adrenaline rushes through her system over the excitement of this heated confrontation.
Conroy also had a broad smile on his face as they kept firing at one another.
The art of archery takes precision, focus, and on-time thinking.
These two were canceling each other's attacks waiting for the other to make one wrong move.
They weren't just throwing their signature moves at random.
They would first send streams of regular arrows and aura-enhanced arrows while sending their more powerful arrows at the back.
They did this while running around the room to evade attacks that they couldn't block out in time.
The scorching arrows of the two gods from different religions ended up colliding once again.
These two were going all out as they both saw it as an opportunity to truly test out their archery skills which they both honed in their own ways.
"It's time we kick things up a notch don't you think?"
She closes her eyes and began chanting a mantra, soon afterward strange markings appeared all over her body.
Conroy started sweating bullets as he developed an uneasy feeling.
"The ain in our surroundings... She's absorbing it."
Like a cornered wild animal, he gave in to his instincts and quickly shot an arrow at the idle opponent.
As the arrow flies towards her, it disintegrated completely before it could even reach her.
"Mantra point!"
She declared as she opens her eyes. The once black-colored iris were painted green and yellow.
In ancient times, individuals were said to obtain a boost of power or boon from Hindu gods upon chanting a series of coded words. This was the mantra.
This was another advanced ain technique that only those who could speak and understand the wordings can use.
"Tsk. My arrow was completely nullified! "
"Anyone in the possession of a Hindu relic can easily use mantra, hee hee. Think of it as a bonus package."
She aimed and fired a single regular arrow.
He could feel it in the split second that she shot the arrow, it was even more powerful than her purifier from earlier. Meaning there's a huge chance that even sun purge could be rendered useless.
He tightened the grip on his bow putting a stop to his shaking as he took aim and fired sun purge.
He quickly used his dexterity as an archer and fired another sun purge aiming at the back of the previous shot arrow.
The first arrow collided with her silver arrow and dissolved completely and just a few meters behind, the second arrow completely disintegrated the silver arrow as it flies towards his opponent only to once again fade out before it could get near her.
Things have taken a bad turn for Conroy.
He has been continuously firing sun purge after sun purge only for them to be effortlessly destroyed either by her arrows, or the power of her mantra which has created an invisible barrier that weakens all projectiles coming her way.
"I'm running out of ain."
That was the case. It takes a considerable amount of ain to fire a single sun purge but Conroy had been sending streams of sun purge continuously for over twenty minutes now and the current battle situation hasn't changed one bit.
What's worse, his opponent seems to be only absorbing more ain from their surroundings while toying with him by using basic shots.
"That's it!"
Conroy's face lit up as he aims once again at his opponent.
'I know how to beat you now.'
In the security room of the mansion. The seated figure was watching the clips of four areas of the mansion each with one of her teammates squaring off against the invaders.
"Took you long enough."
She turned around to meet the ferocious gaze of the ex-assassin as he summons his shadow daggers.
"I take it you're Rhea?"
She got up from her seat and summoned a black and red colored scythe.
"The one and only, I was getting bored watching all the exciting fights that were going on. Especially the one with what's his name, uhm. Aha! Vorus and my dearest brother, Falkner."
She finishes as ace takes a glance at the screens behind her.
'Guys...'
They were all fighting with their all.
Rohan was just about to enter a room where his opponent Jack had been waiting.
Vorus had already begun his clash with Falkner.
Reginald was still blitzing around the room as he exchanges blows with Chase.
Conroy was being pushed behind a corner but seems to have a confident look on his face.
Ace has known most of them for a while now and he knows just how capable they are.
'I'm glad I have them as a squad.'
He points his blade at his opponent.
"I made a promise to save Radakar. And I plan on keeping my word to the end."
"Hahahah, to think that Rohan will actually seek the aid of relic users to save his brother."
"Enough chit-chat. Let's do this thing!"
The ex-assassin tightened the grip on his daggers and charges at the grim reaper.
The heated battles between the two clans rages on with neither side backing down.