Inwardly chuckling at Lourdes, I lunged forth and slashed downwards at her, causing her to spontaneously react as she barely managed to block Hokori, though I had managed to push her off balance, allowing me to more easily knock her sword away, yet instead of attacking her with my blade, I thrust my hand forward, causing a sizeable purple palm to manifest between the two of us as I commanded it forward, hitting her.
Smashing Lourdes into the wall, I disperse my purple palm before powerfully slashing downwards, launching a heavenly scar right toward her as it slices through the air; though at the last possible second, she dodged out of the way, yet she wasn't completely unscathed, her back had suffered a few minor injuries.
"That is quite cheap of you, my descendant." Said Lourdes lightly with a faint frown as she eyed Elif, who smirked in amusement before flying towards her, avoiding the slowly approaching rainbow orbs of Qi.
"Ho, don't blame me, Lourdes; my sheer beauty is a weapon in itself, an undodgeable one at that." Remarked Elif with a faint smirk as he winked at Lourdes, using his movement technique to create various afterimages while approaching her.
Lourdes didn't reply to me and merely rolled her eyes as she copied me, dashing towards me using the same movement technique. The clashing of our blades was heard throughout the large, white room, causing sparks to fly everywhere as we sought to defeat each other.
As time passed, we continued to grow more accustomed to our fighting style, causing even more injuries to lace our bodies; though while my mind was mostly filled with pain from my body, I couldn't help but faintly smile as Hokori clashed with Lourdes's sword for the umpteenth time. It's been so long since I've fought someone who could truly give me a challenge, and I wished to savor this moment since I knew no one would ever make me smile like this. Not Aurora, Tiamat, Lucifer, Cordelia, and definitely not Comet; without them teaming up or me purposefully limiting myself, I will never experience this again with someone from my generation, and I wished to dearly savor this fight.
Getting my blade knocked away, I used the butt of my hilt and slammed it against the rapidly approaching blade, pushing it downwards as it just narrowly missed piercing my heart; with Lourdes still extending her blade, I swiftly slashed forward, yet her skill with the blade was impressive in her own right even if not exactly on par with mine. With her barely blocking my attack, I quickly retracted my arm and lowered my stance as I began to rapidly attack Lourdes with the Fairy Sword Dance, forcing her onto the defense as I continuously pushed her backward; she was able to do nothing against my rapidly increasing attacks and my illusory blade.
However, my current situation was against me as the rainbow orb of Qi she had made long ago was creeping up on me from behind; within mere seconds, it would arrive and explode once it came close enough to me. The sheer Qi alone I could sense from them was something I was uncertain I could survive; thankfully, only one Orb was remaining as I managed to set off the other ones without getting injured, since despite how slow they moved, in a confined space like this along with Lourdes, they proved to be very dangerous.
However, right now, I decided to forgo leaving as I upped the intensity of my attacks, my blade losing its physical appearance as it turned into nothing but a streaking color of silver as I violently attacked Lourdes, capitalizing on her mistake when blocking my illusory sword to knick her body.
The fact that I pushed her back delayed the orb from reaching me, but Lourdes herself also took a slight gamble and stopped moving, entering an even worse position as I could now inflict even worse wounds on her body, though it didn't seem to affect her as she stared unflinchingly at the Orb behind me.
'There!' Thought Elif solemnly as he saw a brief opening within Lourdes's defense, and without a moment of hesitation, he took the chance.
Launching a powerful heavenly scar at the opening, I couldn't even witness my attack, as I was promptly enveloped with a powerful explosion of Qi, causing me to inwardly hiss as I felt my back sear in pain before it was felt all through my body.
The explosion only lasted for a measly three seconds, but by the end of it, I couldn't even stay floating in the air as I fell to the ground, crash-landing, skidding across the floor, leaving blood everywhere my body touched; I eventually came to a halt.
After a few moments of respite, I gritted my teeth and slowly stood back up, using Hokori as a cane to assist me; looking around with my eye, I eventually spotted a brownish blur in the distance, lying on the ground surrounded by a pool of what I could only assume was her blood.
With a grunt, I lifted Hokori and slowly limped towards Lourdes; the damage I suffered from the explosion wasn't nearly as much as I thought; it seemed I was still underestimating the strength of my physique now that it is a high Immortal, but I still severely injured nonetheless.
A good chunk of my skin was scared from the violent explosion, mainly my back and part of my face, which is why I only have one working eye right now; as for my insides, they had violently sloshed around from the sheer might of the explosions, suffering various bruises and whatnot… However, unlike Lourdes, I was still standing and able to fight, if just barely.
Arriving before Lourdes, I saw her lying on the ground with her body having been bisected in two; unlike my previous opponents, she had an actual body, and it allowed me to see her organs spill out of her body. It was a very gruesome sight, and it didn't exactly give me a happy feeling, considering she was Progenitor Lourdes, my oldest Ancestor, but since I've only attacked her body, this piece of her soul should rightfully return to her true self.
"Heh, what a powerful descendant of mine; I-I couldn't be happier to be defeated." Said Lourdes weakly with a faint smile as she gazed upon Elif's figure, causing him to flash her a smile while he flicked his hair behind his ears.
"And I must say, for you to be this strong during the Primordial Epoch, you were… Quiet the monster." Said Elif lightly as he gazed at Lourdes, who weakly chuckled before shaking her head.
"H-Ho, I-I wish I was this strong during that time. This is how strong I imagined I could be at age twenty-five if I was born during your time and had all the resources, techniques, and other necessities to facilitate my growth." Stated Lourdes, her words causing Elif to smirk as he rubbed his chin.
"I'm merely twenty years of age, almost twenty-one. No disrespect, but you wouldn't have been worth my time if I was twenty-five, Lourdes." Remarked Elif lightly, his words causing her to chuckle in amusement.
"Hehehe, perhaps so… So tell me, descendant, how much of your Qi do you have remaining?" Asked Lourdes curiously as she looked at Elif, trying to stay awake for just a few moments longer.
"Roughly a quarter of my Qi reserves." Replied Elif, his words causing Lourdes to lightly chuckle while quietly mouthing words, all of her strength vanishing from her body.
"T-Truly a-a monster."
Watching Lourdes's body die, her soul escaped and floated right above it while giving me a look before she flew upwards, entering a portal that Porgenitor Lourdes most likely made.
"Haa, what a wonderful battle." Muttered Elif with a smile as he stretched his aching body, causing him to inwardly hiss in pain.
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As I stared at Elif approaching the younger version of Prgentior Lourdes bisected into two on the ground, I wasn't angry; no, anger had long since left my mind; the only thing remaining was my cold, calculating thoughts.
"Elif… He's too strong." Muttered Aurora lightly while tapping his finger on the armrest, and although many of his servants were surprised, none could refute him, not after watching that display of power Elif performed.
I didn't like admitting it, but it was true; in a one-on-one, there wasn't a single person here who had any hopes of defeating Elif, not after what he had just displayed; he was too strong. Not to mention, from the reports I've gotten, it seems like his Immortal Will was able to effortlessly crush Comets a few years ago at the Phoenix Clan; of course, that foolish human isn't an accurate way to calculate Elif's comprehension of the Immortal Will, but if his display of power said anything, I didn't dare to underestimate… Rather, I overestimated it my opinion.
"However, it is good this isn't some sort of tournament and is real life, where anything can happen; who says I must defeat him in a one-on-one? There are many ways for him to be killed." Stated Aurora with a wicked grin as he shifted his focus towards the Elven Empire's destroyed booth, eyeing the several women.
"Get as much information on Elif's friend, the young heir to the Eve house. A dear friend's death could cause something disastrous to stir within his dao heart." Ordered Aurora with a grin as he glanced at his several servants, causing them to all kneel while nodding.
"Yes, Young Master!" Stated the several servants respectfully as they all stood up before exiting the room, leaving Aurora to quietly chuckle to himself.