Snap.
As the finger snap rang out, Afanisi instinctively sensed something was wrong. Unease crept into her heart, and she stepped back without stopping her prayers.
But two or three seconds passed, and just as Afanisi let her guard down, a girl's figure rose from her shadow, gray at first before taking solid form.
Miss Nightingale remained as elusive as ever, but she failed to gain an advantage over Afanisi.
The black dagger slammed into a barrier. A protective shell seemed to surround Afanisi, rendering Nora's attack ineffective. Her dagger hung in midair, unable to pierce that thin wall of air.
Naturally, Afanisi had prepared for this [Nightingale]'s methods. A large part of the Holy Adjudicator's... or rather, Tanyas's failure had been due to Nora's sudden appearance turning the tide.
Before coming here, she had thoroughly analyzed her opponent's methods. The ability to merge into shadows was a devastating weapon for ambushes in actual combat.
Even Afanisi could not guarantee she would react in time.
So she had devised a series of countermeasures specifically for Nora's ability. Only after ensuring this [Nightingale] could not successfully ambush her had Afanisi decided to come to Alt District alone.
The barrier formed from walls of air absorbed much of Nora's attack. It was practically a psionic art tailor-made for Miss Nightingale...
There were many ways to use psionic energy. Methods that used a medium to alter its effects were called psionic arts.
These were not the "spells" or "curses" people knew from other works, but simply ways of utilizing psionic energy.
Compressing air reduced the force of an impact. The Air Wall's purpose was to slow attacks, not stop them.
A trace of cold mockery curled Afanisi's lips. She waved her hand slightly, unleashing a powerful burst of air pressure. Nora seemed not