Tubuh Asher terwujud kembali di jarak yang tidak terlalu jauh di depannya, kuda-kidanya terpusat, napasnya stabil. Mata hitam Ryaen langsung menatapnya karena naluri yang menangkap keberadaannya, tetapi sebelum ia sempat bereaksi, Asher sudah bergerak.
Petir berkelebat mewujud, liar namun terkendali, melesat di sepanjang bilah rapier-nya dengan kecepatan yang menyilaukan. Energi itu bergejolak bagaikan makhluk hidup, membangun kekuatan hingga mencapai puncaknya. Tanpa jeda, wujudnya bergeser mulus, bertransisi menjadi tebasan yang mematikan.
Hurukan suara menggelegar saat hutan tersebut tersulut dalam keindahan pijar yang luar biasa. Sebuah busur berbentuk sabit dari petir ungu melesat maju, merobek udara dengan kekuatan yang menghancurkan.
Ryaen sama sekali tidak ragu. Astra bergejolak ke telapak tangannya, tepat dan terkendali, saat ia beralih ke skill lain dengan ketepatan waktu yang sempurna.
Bone Wall
Tanah di hadapannya terbelah diiringi getaran hebat. Dari celah retakan itu, tulang-tulang raksasa muncul menyembur, saling menghantam dalam suksesi cepat saat mereka menyatu menjadi barikade yang diperkuat. Dalam hitungan detik, dinding gading yang menjulang setinggi tiga meter berdiri, membayangi bagaikan benteng pertahanan dan melindungi sang pemilik dari serangan yang datang.
Sebuah ledakan kataklismik meletus saat serangan Asher berbenturan dengan dinding tulang tersebut. Dampak benturan itu melahirkan ledakan yang seolah kiamat, tanah dan udara hancur lebur dalam sekejap mata saat petir mengamuk liar, badai yang terlepas dari rantainya, mewujudkan kemurkaan para dewa itu sendiri.
Dinding gading yang menjulang tinggi itu tidak bertahan lebih lama dari detak jantung sebelum akhirnya musnah berkeping-keping, hancur menjadi serpihan dan debu. Serangan Asher membelahnya dengan mudah, seolah tulang itu tidak lebih dari sehelai kertas di hadapan baja cair.
Dampaknya sungguh seperti kiamat: gelombang kejutan bergemuruh ke luar, gempa bumi bergetar melintasi hutan, dan tanah itu sendiri bergolak di bawah beban kehancuran.
Namun, Ryaen sudah tidak lagi berada di sana.
Tepat saat dinding tulangnya berbenturan dengan sabit ungu itu, ia sudah mundur, nalurinya menjerit bahwa tidak ada pertahanan yang mampu menahan kekuatan sebesar itu. Sosoknya menjadi bayangan kabur yang melesat menembus hutan, merangsek melewati pohon-pohon yang pecah berkeping-keping saat ia memperlebar jarak antara dirinya dan bencana yang terjadi di belakangnya.
'Bagaimana serangannya bisa sehebat ini?' Pikiran itu bergema di dalam benaknya, rasa tidak percaya menggerogotinya bahkan saat ia melarikan diri dari badai tersebut.
Tatapannya beralih menatap Tenth Sun, tekadnya mengeras di balik mata hitamnya. Tanpa keraguan, ia melancarkan serangan balasan.
Skeletal Rain
Astra mengaum hidup, menderu melintasi urat Astra miliknya dengan kebuasan yang tak terkekang. Ia tidak peduli lagi untuk menghemat kekuatan demi sisa ujian; seluruh fokusnya tertuju pada Asher, musuh bebuyutannya saat ini.
Seketika itu juga, kepala Asher mendongak ke atas. Langit berubah menjadi gelap gulita ketika ratusan tulang terwujud di ketinggian, tergantung bagaikan badai putih pucat. Pada detik berikutnya, benda-benda itu menubruk turun, menghujani dengan kecepatan mematikan, setiap serpihan mengumpulkan momentum saat mereka merobek udara.
Namun, Asher sama sekali tidak bergeming. Ekspresinya tetap tenang saat ia mengangkat satu tangan. Astra melonjak keluar dari intinya dalam denyut nadi yang beringas. Ruang melengkung; gravitasi itu sendiri berputar di bawah kendalinya.
Sebuah riak lembut meledak ke luar, menghantam badai yang turun dari atas. Dalam sekejap, ritme hujan tulang itu rusak, harmoni mematikannya tercerai-berai, jalur mereka dibelokkan dan dilempar ke samping seolah-olah langit sendiri menolak kedatangan mereka.
Namun, celah singkat itu adalah satu-satunya hal yang dibutuhkan Ryaen. Astra berdenyut hebat di bawah telapak kakinya, melontarkannya ke depan dalam kilatan cahaya putih. Sosoknya muncul kembali di sisi Asher, merangsek mendekat sebelum sempat melepaskan teknik sebelumnya.
Pada saat itu, ia telah mengerahkan setiap jengkal dari seluruh persenjataannya, tulang-tulang dan augmentasi kerangka memperkokoh rangkanya, Astra memicu urat Astranya, mendorong kecepatan, kekuatan, serta staminanya hingga mencapai puncak mutlak.
Kepalannya melesat maju bagaikan komet, mengarah tepat ke kepala Tenth Sun.
Asher tidak bergerak. Di mata pengamat, kecepatannya seolah telah melampaui kemampuan lawannya bahkan untuk sekadar mengenali serangan tersebut.
Hantamannya terhubung dengan kekuatan kataklismik. Udara itu sendiri bergetar, menjerit, lalu meledak keluar dalam gelombang kejutan suara dan tekanan. Namun, sebelum ia sempat menikmati hantamannya, penglihatannya pecah berkeping-keping.
Bayangan perak yang menyilaukan, berjumlah lebih dari seratus, berkilabat wujud di sekelilingnya dalam satu kedipan mata.
Dan kemudian rasa sakit itu datang.
Derita luar biasa meledak di seluruh tubuhnya saat armor tulangnya robek berkeping-keping di bawah serangan yang tak berkesudahan. Rapier Asher bergerak dengan kecepatan yang mustahil, menebas lebih dari seratus kali dalam rentang satu detik, merobek pertahanannya bahkan saat kepalannya sendiri menghantam wujud ilusinya.
Tubuhnya kembali menjadi bayangan kabur saat ia secara naluriah mundur, merobek jarak sejauh beberapa meter antara dirinya dan Tenth Sun. Napasnya tersengal-sengal, pikirannya berputar kacau.
'Dia bisa memanipulasi ruang.'
Kesadaran itu membakar benaknya. Lawannya telah menembus serangannya begitu saja, membiarkannya berlalu tanpa bahaya menjadi ketiadaan, sementara bilahnya mencabik-cabik tubuhnya sebagai balasan.
Armor miliknya menjadi bukti nyata dari hal tersebut; lempengan tulang yang retak runtuh dan berjatuhan ke tanah, bekas luka tikaman pedang terukir dalam di dagingnya. Darah mengalir bebas di sepanjang rangkanya, setiap luka menjadi pengingat bahwa cedera yang dideritanya menumpuk jauh lebih cepat daripada kemampuannya untuk bertahan.
Asher’s body rematerialized a short distance ahead, his stance composed, his breathing steady. Ryaen’s black eyes snapped toward him instinctively, sensing his presence, but before she could react, Asher was already in motion.
Lightning crackled into existence, wild but tamed, racing along the length of his rapier with blinding speed. It surged like living energy, building to a crescendo. Without pause, his form shifted seamlessly, transitioning into a decisive slash.
With a thunderous roar, the forest ignited in incandescent brilliance. A crescent-shaped arc of purple lightning ripped forward, tearing through the air with devastating force.
Ryaen did not hesitate. Astra surged into her palm, precise and controlled, as she moved into another skill with flawless timing.
Bone Wall
The earth before her split apart with a violent tremor. From the fissure, colossal bones erupted, slamming together in rapid succession as they fused into a fortified barricade. Within seconds, a towering wall of ivory stood three meters high, looming like a fortress and shielding its master from the incoming strike.
A cataclysmic detonation erupted as Asher’s strike collided with the wall of bone. The impact birthed a world-ending explosion, earth and air alike disintegrated in an instant as lightning ran rampant, a storm unchained, embodying the wrath of the heavens themselves.
The towering wall of ivory endured no longer than a heartbeat before it was annihilated, shattered into shards and dust. Asher’s attack carved through it effortlessly, as though the bone was nothing more than paper before molten steel.
The aftermath was apocalyptic: shockwaves thundered outward, earthquakes rippled through the forest, and the land itself convulsed under the weight of destruction.
But Ryaen was no longer there.
The moment her bone wall clashed against that purple crescent, she had already retreated, instinct screaming that no defense could hold against such force. Her figure blurred through the forest, weaving past splintering trees as she widened the gap between herself and the cataclysm unfurling behind her.
’How is his attack this strong?’ The thought reverberated through her mind, disbelief gnawing at her even as she fled the storm.
Her gaze snapped toward the Tenth Sun, resolve hardening in her black eyes. Without hesitation, she unleashed her counterattack.
Skeletal Rain
Astra roared to life, thundering through her Astra veins with unrestrained ferocity. She did not care about conserving strength for the exam’s remainder, her entire focus was on Asher, her nemesis in this moment.
At once, Asher’s head tilted upward. The sky itself darkened as hundreds of bones materialized high above, suspended like a white pale storm. In the next instant, they plummeted, raining down with lethal velocity, each fragment gathering momentum as it carved through the air.
But Asher did not flinch. His expression remained impassive as he raised one hand. Astra surged from his core in a violent pulse. Space buckled; gravity itself twisted under his command.
A gentle ripple burst outward, slamming into the descending storm. In an instant, the rhythm of the falling bones was broken, their deadly harmony scattered, their paths warped and thrown aside as though the skies themselves had denied them.
But that brief window was all Ryaen needed. Astra pulsed violently beneath her feet, propelling her forward in a blur of white. Her figure reappeared at Asher’s side, closing in before he could release his earlier technique.
In that instant, she had drawn upon every ounce of her arsenal, bones and skeletal augmentations reinforcing her frame, Astra fueling her Astra veins, pushing her speed, strength, and stamina to their absolute peak.
Her fist blazed forward like a comet, aimed squarely at the Tenth Sun’s head.
Asher did not move. To the eye, it seemed her speed had surpassed his ability to even register the strike.
Her punch connected with cataclysmic force. The air itself shuddered, shrieked, and then detonated outward in a shockwave of sound and pressure. But before she could even savor the hit, her vision fractured.
Blinding silver afterimages, over a hundred of them, flared into existence around her in a single instant.
And then came the pain.
Agony exploded across her body as her bone armor was ripped apart under the endless assault. Asher’s rapier had moved with impossible speed, slashing over a hundred times within the span of a second, carving through her defenses even as her fist connected with his illusory form.
Her body blurred once more as she instinctively retreated, tearing meters of distance between herself and the Tenth Sun. Her breath ragged, her thoughts reeled.
’He can manipulate space.’
The realization burned in her mind. He had phased through her strike, letting it pass harmlessly into nothingness, while his blade ravaged her in return.
Her armor bore the evidence, fractured plates of bone crumbling and falling to the ground, sword scars etched deep across her flesh. Blood trickled freely down her frame, every wound a reminder that her injuries were piling up far faster than she could endure.
"I have to say, your defense is top-notch."
Asher’s voice carried across the battlefield, calm and genuine. It was the first time in a long while that he had witnessed Virelass fail to cut cleanly through a defense, without the aid of his lightning element or Astra.
He raised a hand. Immediately, the air shimmered as motes of light gathered, condensing with blinding intensity. They coalesced into cross-shaped constructs, multiplying with every heartbeat until they filled the air and space around him like an army of radiant blades.
Ryaen’s eyes widened. Each construct pulsed with devastating power, each one capable of annihilation.
Without hesitation, Asher flicked his wrist. The sky itself seemed to ignite as the light constructs streaked forward with blitzing speed.
Astra thundered within Ryaen’s Astra veins, coursing through her frame with frantic urgency as she invoked another skill.
Bone Dome
The ground beneath her feet split open as jagged pillars of bone surged upward, interlocking at impossible speed. Within moments, they formed a dome of pale ivory, enclosing her in a fortress of bone.
But defense was fleeting.
The instant the final piece snapped into place, Asher’s radiant barrage struck. The world convulsed as if struck by divine wrath. Blinding detonations collapsed upon the dome, their force like hammers crashing against fragile glass.
Shockwaves erupted outward in cascading rings, leveling swathes of the forest. The Bone Dome quaked violently, groaning under the relentless barrage. And then, inevitably, it shattered.
With a deafening explosion, the dome disintegrated into fragments. Light beams carved through the wreckage, spearing mercilessly into the earth and slamming down upon Ryaen with catastrophic force.
Pain consumed her. Her armor had already been obliterated; now her very body was battered beyond recognition. Bones turned to pulp beneath the crushing weight, skin split open, garments torn asunder, and her once-pristine white hair singed and scorched. Her entire being screamed in agony.
But through it all, she endured. Teeth clenched, eyes burning with defiance, she refused to break. Her body staggered, broken but unyielding, as she clawed her way out of a ravine, blood splattering against the earth with every step.
She, Ryaen Silvershade, a noble, a prodigy, had been reduced to this state.
Her mind screamed at her to stop, to surrender half of her points and recover them later. But her soul rebelled. For the first time in her life, she had found a true adversary, and she would not turn away. Not now.
Even if she lost half her points, she would still qualify for the Star Academy. That much she knew.
But this was no longer about points. This was about pride, about will. About proving herself.
Her determination burned brighter than her pain. With ragged breath, she forced her trembling body to move.
Marrow Regeneration
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