Solitary Sword Sovereign Part 2

Mage Battle Mechanics

Countless ice needles formed in the skies, all aimed to concentrate on Francis' position.

'This is Ragnarok Rain!'

Ragnarok Rain was a spell that allowed for one to create a large barrage of small-scale water-based attacks reinforced by Frozen Asgard Mana. It took up a large mana reserve and required incredible long-range application.

Valkyrie's Guard armour plates separated from Francis' body and formed a group of small fist-size shields around her. It was as if she was surrounded by a dome of semi-transparent ice shields. This was another application of Valkyrie's Guard, detached shielding.

'That's it, defend. Defend With everything you have.'

With a downward wave of his hand, the rain of ice needles descended.

'These needles, there is no intent at all!'

Releasing Intent required skill, but withholding it required even more skill. Because Will had greatly suppressed his Intent, his attack was like a ghost, unpredictable and seemingly untraceable. She could only trace the trajectory according to her ordinary senses. Her Higher Senses picked up nothing.

Throughout the battle, Will had not used a single speck of Intent. It was as if he was a puppet, acting on precise instructions. Truthseekers relied heavily on using an opponent's Killing Intent to read their attacks.

Mannerisms, Intent, microexpressions, speech and habits. Will had none of these. He was like a ghost in a shell, acting from a pathless origin Francis could not trace. In the Frozen Asgard Mask, Will's silence and his lack of repetitive movements made him hard to predict.

'His relaxation at the beginning of the match, was it bait? He is quite manipulative.'

At first, this did not bother Francis much, but Ragnarok Rain was a different story.

The ice needles descended on Francis with impetuous fury. Hundreds upon hundreds of the needles smashed ruthlessly onto the maiden's shields, and despite her best efforts, she could not block them all as some hit her. They didn't cause much damage, but over time the damage would compound.

She tried using Bifrost Shift to change her position multiple times, but it was useless. The needles followed her and acted as if they knew where she would go next. Adelda calmly observed her as Francis dodged the needles.

'This is what happens when you recklessly leak intent in front of a Bloodlust user.'

Will's mind had already locked onto the maiden's position thanks to his passive ability to gain information through leaked Killing Intent. It was part of the reason why Will insisted on countering for the first half of the match. To get her to burst forth with a flood of Killing Intent.

'Frozen Asgard Arts are typically overbearing and focus on power more than technique. But that is only because of how mortals have chosen to cultivate it. There is another path one can take when cultivating them.

Instead of overwhelming opponents with cold and power, one can observe and counter. Will should have known about the Frozen Asgard's hatred of male practitioners of the art like him and knew she would flood him with Killing Intent if he gave her sufficient impetus. She is strong, but she is sheltered and still green.'

Adelda gave a harsh assessment as she observed the battle below.

Small cuts and dents appeared on the armour of ice that made up the Valkyrie's Guard as Francis tried to desperately defend.

Her shields were laced with Truth, which should have made them stable, but over time, due to the seemingly endless Ragnarok, her shields started to show tiny fissures.

'This isn't possible, there isn't any Truth or Intent in his attacks.'

The Needles could damage her exposed membrane as it was weaker than the shield plates. But for it to crack the shields could only mean one thing.

With focus, Francis honed in on a particular shield during points of impact with the needles.

'This is, Spacial Rend!'

Spacial Rend was an ordinary space-type spell that aimed at causing a tear in space. It was hard to cast and required a high affinity to use. It was the only pure space-type spell in Will's current arsenal, but its use was very varied.

Water blade, Wind Force, Fireball, Earth Shield, Lightning Bolt and so on. These were all low-level spells and skills any cultivator could use and were often looked down upon, but they had great uses, were flexible, used little energy and could grow with the cultivator. Spacial Rend was the most basic space-type attack spell known.

'Did you think you were the only one who could apply spells on other spells?'

If Fancis' application of Bifrost Shift to Niflheim Collapse could be described as a great application of absolute power, then Will's use of Spacial Rend on Ragnarok Rain was a superb show of absolute control.

"Enough!'

With a shout, a giant matrix formed above Francis as a giant scaly armoured fist formed above her body. It formed from a matrix and shattered the Ragnarok Rain Matrix above, smashing it to bits.

"A chantless Ymir's Fist! She is serious!"

"So she can also use the Ymir series of spells."

"Wait, it's not over! Look! The other rookie has already responded!"

Will did not disappoint, as he glided with abnormal speed on his Valhalla Path. He aimed a hand at his opponent and cast a smaller and more concentrated Ragnarok Rain at his foe. Francis responded by releasing a flurry of ice blades.

This was the strongest spell she could release infused with Truth at such speed. The storm of Truth inforced water blades and Ragnarok Rain Needles clashed creating another misty display in the now seemingly cramped stadium.

"Eh?"

Francis had prepared for many Needles to make their way to her, but to her surprise, barely any made it through.

Adelda smiled in the skies, 'Will removed Spatial Rend, weakening his ice needles greatly.'

Mages relied greatly on prediction. Francis had already planned four to five moves, but this single move from Will disturbed her flow.

Will's eyes narrowed like a hunter eyeing prey.

'She is mine. Time to spring the trap.'

Will had all the information that he needed to end the battle. Now he just needed to capitalize on this slight moment of hesitation.