One ball was impossibly fast but now he had four of them after him.
The only saving grace he had was the fact that his body could heal much faster too.
"My lord, you should just surrender now, no need to drag things and make it too difficult."
Vacuse did not reply.
He was trying his best not to get crushed by the balls. The trees around him had been smashed away and the others had been forced far away to avoid the deadly projectiles.
But then, things began to get tricky.
Vacuse was sure he dodged a ball when it suddenly changed shape and transformed into a rod without losing any of its momentum.
The rod smashed into his stomach and one of his ribs snapped. He was thrown back, skidding against the ground, blood pouring from his mouth.
He grunted as he got to his feet.
And saw four balls hanging above him.
"What do you think, my lord?"
Vacuse’s eyes darkened. The Dragon perception was simply too much to handle and so he dropped it, letting his eyes return to red.
"Do you?" Vacuse asked in return.
Amros frowned from his place. "What?"
It was then that Amros realized. The ground in front of him erupted as three threads snapped up at him, cutting toward his head.
He moved to block it but the attack was too weak to do anything significant against him.
But it was enough for Vacuse to slip away from the deadly site.
Amros snorted coldly. "You realize that I can still hang the ball above your head, right?"
Vacuse nodded and then he smiled, a bit of his casual attitude shining through. "I know, I just do not like the fact that I have to look up to those... balls."
Amros did not find that funny at all. In fact, his expression only turned more chilly. "Do you think because this is not an official duel, you cannot take it seriously? My lord, as the heir, you should hold yourself to higher standards!"
Vacuse blinked in surprise and his face instantly became one of solemnity. He straightened. "You are right... I think."
The people in attendance were actually surprised that Vacuse was listening.
But then he smiled. "My Dragon was right. I should be more serious. But the thing is, he is really a bad teacher and he has not really taught me anything in this new Stage."
"...Bad teacher... you just broke through hours ago!.."
"So, I will have to do as I always do. Be creative and come up with a plan!"
Harkon, who had been observing the fight with a greedy expression, felt a chill down his spine when he heard the word "plan." He had heard it many times and each time the word came out of Vacuse’s mouth, what usually followed was one of the most ridiculous things.
Kagerou began to laugh while Lyra had a curious look on her face.
Amros was stunned. For some seconds there he actually thought that he had gotten through to the Dragon heir.
Vacuse took a deep breath, his nose clogged with blood. He raised his two hands above his head and a hair-raising aura surrounded him.
Everyone looked up as in a blink of an eye, the sky darkened.
Hundreds of them appeared above and completely blocked the sky.
"What... the fuck," Kagerou whispered. He had stopped laughing.
Everyone, including the captain, was staring at the lances. Not just because there were so many of them but because each of the needle-like voids seemed powerful and strong.
The pressure that bore down was astonishing.
Amros gestured and his balls quickly fell back to his side, his voice dripping with mockery. "This is a great show of strength, my lord, but it is only that, a show. This thing cannot even make a dent on me!"
Vacuse frowned then narrowed his eyes. "How about..."
A howl of rippling wind sprung up as Vacuse unleashed more power. The air grew heavy. All the stage ones and most of the Orcs gasped and fell to their knees.
Above, the hundreds of lances turned to thousands. They now looked like a smudge of black energy, but if one were to look closely, they would see that they were needle-like, just close together.
Everyone was left stunned. Even the Dragon Guards who knew what power was like were forced to acknowledge it. The Orcs watched with grim expressions and Ragna... he had an expressionless look on his face.
Only Captain Mera was watching with understanding.
What separated the beast ranks from each other, apart from the undeniable strength increases, was the amount of Force and power that each rank could control.
She had never seen an SSS rank before. She had not even imagined that they could exist. And she had related with SS rank before.
And she had only brushed sides with S rank.
But now... she saw what an SSS could do.
What was more, there was not a single strain on Vacuse’s face.
In fact, he was grinning. "Hummm... I am disappointed in myself. I think I should be able to do more!"
The winds howled, blowing dust and stones. The sky was completely blocked off and it seemed as if what was above them was black ink.
Vacuse finally began to sweat.
Was he finally feeling the heat?
"...Brat... you will definitely die this time..." Rith sounded bemused.
"...you told me to power!.."
"...definitely not ..."
The reason why Rith had been trying to get Vacuse to train and ultimately forced him to learn control was because the Void energy was difficult to control.
Basically, the techniques he learned in stage one were all the same variation. It was just molding the Void more than anything.
Now, Vacuse had unleashed more energy than usual, and he was having difficulties controlling it.
"...listen well, Brat... let me tell you how to control this thing. Users of void have to have tight control and a way to... You will not listen!...
"...I knew you were going to die from the first time we saw!..."
Vacuse began to laugh.