Captain Mera was shocked as well as everyone else.
Vacuse actually avoided every spike until he stood in front of Amros! Not a single one touched him!
In the soul space, Rith trembled with excitement. What Vacuse just did was unconsciously create small pockets of void around himself and use them to slip around!
It was something that he should not be able to do. "...this brat must have touched on more than just perception and dominance. Or is he naturally gifted? No... but he did have immense mental powers so that might have helped as well!.."
Amros blinked behind his helmet. "How...?"
Vacuse grimaced. "I would like to find out as well."
Amros grunted and his feet snapped out in a punch that almost slammed into Vacuse, but he avoided it by inches.
With that, they flew at each other.
There was not much speed difference between them again as they blurred across the clearing, cracking the ground and shaking the air.
Vacuse was actually keeping up with Amros’s speed!
And... slowly, he was matching, even going as far as gaining the upper hand.
But it came with a cost; his head was screaming in pain and his nose was already bleeding. The difference between the stages was not easy to bridge.
But Vacuse was absolutely faster than Amros as they traded blows.
The only thing that he was lacking in was the raw strength that Amros had as a third stage. Vacuse simply could not match, and no matter what, he soon realized that he could not breach through Amros’s power.
He needed overwhelming power. The technique he had in his previous stage could not help him.
Amros seemed to realize the same thing as well, but the fact that Vacuse was matching his speed was enough to make him angry. He flew backwards and created space between them, his helmet flowing away from his head.
Amros stared at him grimly. "Is this the uniqueness of the Dragon pathway? Is that why you seem as if you are burning yourself up for this much power?"
In truth, Vacuse was trembling slightly and he felt as if part of his brain had already turned to liquid. The blood from his nose was now falling heavily, but a vicious smile was still on his lips. "Power itself is risk..."
And Vacuse was not willing to stop. Sword must grind against sword to stay sharp.
The fight with the Black Accord had reminded him that he was forgetting his purpose. He had let politics cloud his mind and had relaxed in his quest for power.
Amros’s face tightened when he heard that and his eyes narrowed even more. "Do you know what makes the difference between a stage two, an Awakened Harmonic, and a Syncer Soullinked?
"It is the shift! In Syncer Soullinked you can briefly summon your beast, and in Awakened Harmonic you can do the half shift.
"That, Vacuse Vorrakyn, is the difference between us. I will show you! I will carve it into your body and paint it in your mind!"
The space around him twisted and warped, and a beast appeared. It was a thing of iron and flesh, so thin it appeared as if it would be blown away by the winds.
A silver glow covered the beast and Amros, changing them in an instant. His appearance was still that of a man; the only difference was that his stomach was unnaturally thin and made of metal.
Also, his feet now ended in stumps, like that of a bull. The most drastic change though was his aura. It rippled like open flame and pressed down hard on everything and anyone weaker than him.
It even pressed on Vacuse, more so on him, seeking to forcibly suppress him, but he pushed it back with a slight frown on his face. His Dragon Dominance was just that strong.
That did not mean he ignored the pressure though; it gave him a view on how much stronger Amros was.
The Dragon Guard member was not playing around.
Captain Mera knew that things were going too far, and with a flash, she changed to her full shift with the intent of stopping anything wrong from happening.
The spectators gave them more space.
The fight... had turned dangerous.
"Can you keep up with my speed now?" Amros mused.
Vacuse grinned, ignoring the blood that dripped from his nose. "I think you said your power is manipulating metal? Do not tell me you are weak in your pathway and only want to fight through speed?"
Amros’s face darkened. "My lord... you know how to use your words but you should not have bothered. I really enjoy putting people in their place!"
Silver light shot from him and into the sky, the tail dropping a thin chain down to the ground. He reached for it and held it.
Vacuse looked up at the silver chain; he could feel something dangerous was at the end of the chain in the sky. "...what is this thing that you are doing, Amros...!!!"
Suddenly he saw it as it slowly approached. It was a ball as big as Vacuse’s previous carriage, smooth and silver. It dipped down like a balloon.
Vacuse stopped smiling.
The ball... must be heavy.
Amros must be using a technique to make it so light!
The same time he realized was also the time that Amros made his move.
He yanked the chain hard and the ball swooped like a lightning bolt.
Vacuse twisted out of the way.
But the speed that Amros talked about was not about himself. It must be about his technique!
The ball smashed into Vacuse with bone-snapping force and he was sent blasting back. He hurtled into a tree and smashed through two, four trees!
"...shit! Stop holding back, Vacuse!.. he is going to absolutely kill you!.."
Vacuse grimaced and jumped away from the place he crashed. He limped before he began to run fast, blurring away.
The ball smashed down again, turning trees into pulp and cracking a hole in the ground.
Amros... Amros had created more silver balls!
"What do you think now, my lord? Can you keep up with my speed?"