"Take this!"
An icy voice came from every direction at once. Before the thirty-six afterimages had faded, one had already closed in on Loa, the Ice Dream Sword thrusting straight for his throat!
Clang!
The clash of metal rang out.
Hidden Abyss had appeared across Loa's neck at some point, firmly blocking that vicious strike. Blue-violet light flickered faintly on its blade, illuminating Loa's calm face.
Olivier's afterimages dispersed, revealing his true body before him. They stood face-to-face, their swords locked together.
"Interesting." Olivier's lips curled. "You can actually keep up with my speed."
"If this is all the speed you have," Loa said, looking at him, "you'll have a hard time beating me."
Olivier's expression grew colder.
Speed was his greatest source of pride. Throughout his life, he had never met anyone at his own level who could match his speed, much less had an Eighth-level Warrior comment on it in that tone.
"Is that so?"
As his words fell, dazzling golden light suddenly erupted from the Ice Dream Sword!
Flash Bomb!
Loa was forced to narrow his eyes. At that instant, Olivier vanished-no, he had not vanished. His speed had reached such an extreme that he had moved straight out of Loa's field of vision.
The next instant, the Ice Dream Sword appeared to the left of Loa's head, its tip less than three inches from his temple!
There was no dodging this strike.
Yet just before the tip could pierce him-
Clang!
Hidden Abyss appeared again, rising diagonally at a bizarre angle to strike the flat of the Ice Dream Sword with perfect accuracy. Two tremendous forces collided, sending sparks flying. The Ice Dream Sword was knocked aside, sweeping past Loa's ear, its gust shearing off several strands of hair.
Olivier's pupils contracted slightly.
He had put