Chapter 258 (2/2)

Instead, when he stepped towards Ciel, the image for the Phantom’s Embrace filled the air, a thick, cloying helplessness. A powerful isolation from the rest of the world, and your senses. As the image approached Ciel, her eyes remained bright, and she stepped forward into it, without a hint of fear.

Her spear lashed out, aiming for Randidly’s throat. Again, he made no move to dodge. Inwardly, his instincts screamed, but there was something else here. Something… deeper. Aether surged, once more rotating very quickly through his system. His eyes were ice cold, his heart burning hot. The world inside of him seemed to thrum and vibrate.

Strangely, a line at the end of the passage about Spear Phantom’s Embrace, from the diary, floated to the surface: “So long and sure is the reach of the Phantom that he dances safely in the shadow of the enemy's weapon.”

Randidly’s eyes narrowed. Just as the strike was about to rip out his throat, Randidly moved, riding the very momentum that Ciel struck with, using it to fuel his speed past his physical limits, blurring and twisting, jaggedly dodging and smashing with his spear like a hammer, barely able to control the borrowed power.

True to her training, Ciel responded, and finally her eyes blazed with a final surety that Randidly recognized; now was the time she gave up on waiting and unleashed.

“The Shrike Cries over a Barren Land!”

Ciel’s arms blurred, and she twisted her spear 360 degrees at a speed Randidly couldn’t even understand. From that movement, a wave of force blasted outwards. Immediately his grip tightened on the spear, but there too seemed to be a whispering in the powerful wave that Ciel had created, a whispering of Phantoms.

So, even with his body bursting at the seams with barely controlled powerful from the previously stolen momentum, Randidly stepped forward, arriving before the wave of force. Then he hopped, and the blast launched him upwards, so quickly the world seemed to blur.

When he finally could see again, he appeared to be about 5 meters in the air, reaching the apex of the leap. Randidly released a breath, then began to fall.

****

Aethon Thai’s eyes narrowed as he watched his daughter struggle against this scion of the Spear Phantom. Especially when he started using that absolutely abhorrent move that Aemont became famous for, the Spear Phantom’s Embrace. It was partly through driving the body to the edge of danger, and having the instincts kick in there, and half borrowing the force of momentum, but it made use of both to propel one through the absolutely masterful footwork and strike back.

Luckily, the boy seemed rather inexperienced at controlling it, and was only able to lash out wildly. But still, the power he could utilize was real.

Aethon knew too, why Ciel would choose to use her most powerful skill then, that she had originally planned to use to neutralize the Ghosthound’s spells. She didn’t understand what was happening, what skills he was using. From her perspective, he simply increased the speed at which he was moving, while increasing his power, which was suitably intimidating. To seize control of the match, Ciel had struck.

But in Aethon’s eyes, the truth was so much more fearsome.

The boy even borrowed the force of her area spell to leap up in the air, where he was now hanging, rapidly speeding back down towards the ground. Ciel looked around wildly, shocked that her opponent had disappeared, before a whistling in the air drew her gaze upwards towards the descending figure.

There was nothing that Aethon could do to warn his daughter. Already, he had lost his temper and intervened, but now, as the level of their demonstrated skills increased, he dare not say anything, even if his daughter had made the foolish pronouncement about marriage. They were reaching the stage where they were transforming, showing off the spear user that they would become.

The Ghosthound was cashing in on the fearsome pedigree and potential he had, growing used to the almost cheating technique of Aemont. As for his daughter… She needed to find what sort of Shrike she would be through this clash.

With a huge crash, the Ghosthound returned to ground, shattering the stage, throwing up a cloud of dust. Without the slightest hesitation, Ciel ran forward, spear raised, slashing left and right.