[Hero-level Displacement Formation detected.
Displacement Formation: A formation which completely "displaces" an area. This means that any fluctuations of elementary particles in this area will remain hidden to any and all surveillance spells at or below the Hero Level. In the displaced area, s.p.a.ce is locked down, and a barrier is also in place which prevents those inside from exiting unless the formation is deactivated. Communication is also blocked.]
As this message echoed inside his mind, Daneel realized that he was well and truly trapped.
He had heard of Displacement Formations before. They were ultra-rare formations which ensured that no one would be able to interfere in a fight, while also ensuring that the vibrations from high-level fights, which would usually be able to be detected from hundreds of kilometers away would stay hidden.
In essence, it was something used when one wanted to kill their enemy after abolis.h.i.+ng all outside factors.
Looking at the crazy man"s chest, Daneel noticed that he was wearing a black circular amulet that had the image of a Raven engraved on it. It had s.h.i.+ning feathers placed artistically around it, and it was especially eye-catching right now due to the fact that it seemed to be s.h.i.+ning.
Noticing his gaze, the crazy man spoke once again in that strange way.
"This is just something I stole from the bird to make sure no one can interfere when I…play.
You need to kill me if you want to get out!
Oh, shut up and go back to your hole. Let"s see who kills who."
Suddenly, before Daneel could make heads or tails of the situation and decide what to do, the crazy man shot toward him with a sonic boom.
Alarmed, Daneel could only deploy a simple magical barrier before impact.
Boom!
As a fist ruptured the barrier and impacted his chest, Daneel was blown back, somersaulting in the air multiple times before coming to rest and wiping blood that had appeared near his lips.
It seemed that he needed to fight first, before doing anything else.
Now that he thought about it, Daneel couldn"t even remember the last time he had had a good fight.
It had just been too long.
So, as he felt the heart-pumping excitement that could only be experienced during a high-stakes fight, Daneel pulled back a fist and shot it forward to meet his opponent who had zoomed forward again for another attack.
"Heeeheheeee! That"s it! No fun slaughtering an innocent lamb! A struggling pig that tries to run away is so much tastier!"
Shouting insane statements like these, the crazy man"s fist met Daneel"s, but once again, it was Daneel who was blown back, and this time, even his shoulder had gotten dislocated due to the force.
At the point of impact of their fists, another sonic boom had appeared which drove the clouds away in an arc all around.
All right. Time to get serious.
This was an Exalted Warrior, after all, and Daneel was just an amateur one. It was suicide to face him head on without using the tricks up his sleeve, but Daneel had done just that to get his head into the fight.
He had been considering whether to hold off on using the Basilisk"s Breath, but that was no longer an option, as only death awaited him if he chose to discard this trump card of his.
What use was there fearing possession if the other alternative was death?
Besides, the main confirmed threat was the Ruler"s Inheritance, which Daneel couldn"t use now anyway as he was in the Black Raven Kingdom.
So, taking a deep breath, Daneel pulled back his fist a second time.
His opponent was already approaching him with the intent to kill, all the while laughing creepily as if this was the most fun thing he was doing in decades.
However, this time, right before the fists connected, Daneel activated the Basilisk"s Breath and blinked.
Time slowed down.
The clouds that had been dispersing at a fairly fast pace due to the speed of the crazy man slowed down to a crawl, and Daneel could fully see the maniacal expression on his face which craved blood.
It seemed that it was destined to be disappointed.
Boom!
At the last moment, Daneel"s fist bypa.s.sed the crazy man"s, shooting toward his chin.
The opponent"s fist flew harmlessly over Daneel"s shoulder, but the force of the wind still hurt his face.
The first two strikes had only been at the level of an Eminent Warrior, which had allowed Daneel to get away with minor injuries that were already being healed due to his ability to pa.s.sively launch healing spells using the system. Any other opponent would have to put their full head into the fight, unable to do such a thing as they would be too busy fending off their opponent.
Clearly, the opponent had been warming up during those two, and this third one had had the full strength of an Exalted Warrior.
If it had hit, Daneel"s arm might have gotten torn off, as there was, after all, a difference of 2 major levels between them.
It seemed that his opponent had also been expecting this, as Daneel could see the expression of surprise on his face when his fist didn"t connect.
This time, it was the crazy man who did the somersaulting, and Daneel flew forward to continue the fight.
However, to his shock, he felt something p.r.i.c.k his brain, as if someone was using a needle on his scalp in an attempt to get inside.
"YAAARGH!"
Immediately stopping, Daneel screamed with pain while he fought madly to stop that needle from going any further.
A second later, it disappeared, but he had already lost his window to attack.
[Host is under the attack of Hero-level Mind Control spell that has been cast by a Warrior. Due to the lacking power and complexity of the caster, the spell has been weakened. Host has thrown off the attack. System is in the process of a.n.a.lyzing the spell.]
"Hmph. Seems the trick I picked up from that bird is useful after all."
Spitting out this sentence, the crazy man took the initiative again, and this time, it looked like he was pulling out all the stops.
Two knives made of metal appeared in his hands, but strangely, Daneel could see the air deforming around the edges of the blades.
Quickly, he understood.
This was an Exalted Warrior-level combination spell that used metal and gravity elemental particles in a unique method to create a whirling blade that could cut through anything.
The intricate blade was designed like a chainsaw, and gravity was lowered at one end and heightened on the other to make it whirl.
This required a level of complexity and control that an Exalted Human, or even an Amateur or Eminent Warrior was capable of.
The most important thing was that in battle, this spell needed to be maintained.
This was how Warrior who were both mages and Fighters usually fought: using magic, they would give themselves an incredible edge which they would use to cut down their opponents.
If Daneel was even touched by one of those blades, it would be his end.
Taking a deep breath, he raised his arms and kept the Basilisk"s Breath activated, while commanding the system to stand by for spell commands.
Whoos.h.!.+
"Enough games. Time for you to die before that bird comes back."
Bam!
Breaking through the barrier that Daneel had conjured to slow his opponent down, the maniacal smile returned to the crazy man"s face as he swung down with his right arm, intending to cut Daneel in half.
Just in time, Daneel moved back, and as the blade swept past only an inch away from his skin, he felt his enchanted clothes, that were supposed to block the strike of an Exalted Human, tear apart.
An angry red line also appeared on his chest in the path of the blade, as the whirling serrated edge was just too dangerous to handle even if it didn"t impact his body.
The air that was expelled at high speed, itself, was enough to cause injury.
Thus began the cat and mouse game between Daneel and the crazy stinking man.
Daneel only used rudimentary magic to slow the man down, while he dodged for dear life using the Basilisk"s technique.
His main trump card was the Champion level system, and his status as a Paragon who could wield all elementary particles.
Behind him, a ma.s.sive missile-shaped object started to come into being, which Daneel didn"t bother to hide as there was only open s.p.a.ce around them.
When it was finished, it would move at a speed faster than an Exalted Warrior to pierce the opponent and put an end to him.
At the Champion level, there were certain spells which resulted in explosions using the concept of making opposite elementary particles react in a controlled manner after accelerating them.
This wasn"t capable of Warriors, as their mageroots wouldn"t be able to handle the complexity of controlling the particles effectively at high speeds to result in an explosion of force.
However, according to the journals Daneel had read, this wasn"t used by Champions as it would take too long on a battlefield.
He wasn"t a fool to sit around twiddling his thumbs and hoping that a fight with those above his level would come to him. No, every day, Daneel would spend some time making plans to handle such opponents, and this was one of those which leveraged the system in an efficient manner.
The 1.5-meter long missile had two parts: a 0.5 meter long exploding mechanism in the back, and a "blade" of sorts made of condensed metal and fire elementary particles.
He had named the spell "Paragon Missile", and it would rend his enemies before they knew what hit them.