The blue-violet battle-qi no longer merely coated the blade. Like an awakened savage beast, it roared and surged, seeping from Loa's pores and merging with the flaming radiance pulsing from his sword. Within three feet of him, the air hummed under an unbearable burden. Fine arcs of electricity intertwined with turbulent currents, shredding and scorching the grass on the ground.
The last trace of contempt vanished completely from the Wind Wolf King's scarlet eyes, replaced by the utter concentration of a hunter facing the finest prey. It could sense an extremely dangerous energy brewing within the human before it.
Without a roar or any warning, both figures tore through the brief deathly silence at the same instant!
Mud exploded beneath Loa's feet. Rather than charging straight ahead, he produced seven blue-violet afterimages the instant he moved, each indistinguishable from the real thing. It was as though seven swordsmen charged at once, their paths elusive as phantoms in the wind, yet bearing the oppressive weight of approaching thunder. He had forcibly fused the variations of Gentle Breeze Brushes the Willow with the explosive power of his self-created Startling Thunder footwork. It placed an enormous strain on his movement, but he held nothing back.
The wolf king's crouching body suddenly launched forward, even faster, its straight charge like a deep-green siege bolt. It made no attempt to distinguish the afterimages. Instead, relying on its keen sensitivity to energy fluctuations as a magical beast half a step from the seventh level, it condensed the liquefied green magical power on its claws into nearly solid blades of light. With one swipe, five enormous, intersecting wind slashes covered every area the afterimages could possibly pass through! It broke finesse with force, countering unpredictable changes with an area attack.
Riiiip!
The afterimages shattered beneath the wind