CHAPTER 792: ALICE’S WEAKNESS

First Resonance!

Alice’s armour shifted as she unleashed two quick slashes that tore apart the earth as it travelled towards Syrion.

*CLANG!!!

Pushing the blades off to the side, he noticed a convergence of energy.

Alice was preparing something dangerous!

Void Flux!

Syrion slashed on instinct, cleaving the attack in half.

But as he finished his sword swing, Alice was face to face with him.

On the back of her neck, Alice’s sixth Sigil burned!

Revenant Recollection – Allura!

*CLANG!!!

Syrion felt a chill and parried with his second blade!

Alice followed up with two rapid strikes, pushing Syrion back.

In that instant, Alice transformed into someone unfamiliar. Someone far more experienced than even him!

Syrion understood this was no time to hold back.

Three blades manifested behind him, helping him with defence.

He needed to find a gap but Alice wasn’t making it easy!

*BANG!!!

Creating some distance between them, Alice slammed her hand onto the ground.

Revenant Recollection – Kaden!

A pool of blood expanded and from the blood, beasts lunged out.

Syrion summoned a false moon, unleashing a net of slashes around him.

"10 meters, that’s your preferred range it seems." Alice analysed before pulling her arm back.

A singularity spun to life but before it could be launched, Syrion grabbed her arm from behind.

"!!!"

Widening her eyes, Alice detonated her attack, destroying her hand in the process but escaping the grapple.

"Alice!" Gwen stood up in shock, about to cast a healing skill when she saw Alice’s flesh beginning to regrow.

First came the bones then came the flesh and finally, the skin.

"I knew it. A berserker, that’s the find of fighter you are." Syrion chuckled.

"Bingo~ Now here’s your prize!"

Stomping down with her foot, metal and ice pillars burst out from the ground.

"A distraction?" Syrion chuckled.

Twisting his body, he unleashed a horizontal slash that cut all of the pillars down!

"Not quite."

Revenant Recollection – Kazira!

War Gods Step!

Alyss appeared behind Syrion.

Destruction Point!

But before Alyss could draw her blade, she felt her body lock up.

Similar to Nyer’s skill yet at the same time, very different.

"You’re definitely a tough one to beat." Syrion admitted. But the fight ends here.

[It’s a bit early but we’re using it!]

*RUMBLE!!!

Violet flames burst out from Alyss’s body, destroying the binding as blood blades intercepted!

Taking a few steps back, Syrion stared at Alyss in surprise.

"Well... I’ve seen my fair share of mimicry but this is a first." He muttered.

He could see the three blades hovering around her along with Void Fang that split itself into dual swords.

She was copying his fighting style!

It wasn’t just a rough copy either.

He felt like he was looking into a mirror.

The way she carried herself, her centre of gravity, the way her eyes would shift and even the small habits.

Alyss rushed forward, the three blades following suit.

*CLANG!!!

They parried in the same way, attacked the same.

Even the thin blade point collided at the same spot despite their height difference!

Right now, there was two Syrions fighting one another beneath the false moon.

Syrion parried her downward strike off to the side then followed up with a kick towards the stomach.

Alice tagged in, creating a portal to intercept the kick while lunging forward with a Void Flux aimed at the stomach.

*BANG!!!

A sword dropped down, piercing her Void Flux before it could be fired while Alice’s floating blade countered by targeting his leg.

Both fighters twisted their body and ended up with their backs to one another.

"How on earth did you even do this. This isn’t an ordinary copy that can be done with just mimicry. You know my habits, how I think during a fight. It’s a one to one copy." Syrion asked curiously.

"Sixth Sigil. It let’s me learn the history of combat and overlay it to myself. But that’s just the simplified version." Alice admitted.

"The new generation is really full of monsters. But you used this in a hurry didn’t you?" Syrion smiled.

Alice chuckled, nodding her head.

"I figured. That last move just now was a test. To see whether or not you knew about what I haven’t showcased yet. If you did, you would’ve struck. But you didn’t."

"I did just say it was reading the history of combat rather than your mind." Alice shrugged.

Since she couldn’t consume Syrion’s blood, the best she could do was read ’land’ around them.

The history of their recent battles.

Therefore, the copy was still a little poor in some places but it would suffice for now.

"That you did. But I think we can stop here. Any more and it’ll become a full blown battle instead of a spar, don’t you agree?" Syrion offered, pointing his finger at the sky.

Alice didn’t even need to look up to see the ’silhouettes’ of the attacks he’s stored.

She could survive it with her regeneration but that was cheating in a spar. In fact, she already did so when she detonated the Void Flux in her hand.

"I’ll admit, my methods aren’t suitable for spars. They’re more suitable for life and death battles." Alice raised her hands in defeat, retrieving her energy and weapons while Syrion did the same.

"Don’t be foolish, you’re plenty strong for sparring. The only reason you think that is because a spar won’t end with a clear decisive winner with that regeneration of yours. If I had a method of stopping the regeneration, we won’t be having this conversation." Syrion rolled his eyes, flicking Alice on the forehead before she could dodge.

In a spar, regeneration would be considered to be cheating. But just from that small instance, he could tell that her healing factor was far stronger than most. Treating it as a weapon was understandable.

And with that being a core part of her fighting style, taking it away would also be unfair.

Therefore, to actually figure out a winner, it’ll transform to an actual fight instead of a spar.

"I assume you already have a finishing move right?" Syrion asked as Alice nodded her head.

"Then there’s only one issue that I can think of. You take too long to ramp up in your fights. But if you fight with your all, it seems like you’ll burn out just as fast. A contradictory set of skills I must admit.

"You can’t fight a battle of attrition since the enemy will probably run away. You can’t fight a short battle since you’re tapped out once they survive the burst. So you go for this weird in between where you try to whittle them down before finishing them off.

"But by the time you do that, your offensive power has already dropped due to the battle of attrition. Am I correct?" Syrion asked as Alice blinked her eyes in surprise.

[He’s actually read you like a book.] Cayla was impressed.

In just one spar, Syrion has already identified Alice’s greatest weakness.

She can’t fight long yet her strategies suit long fights. She can’t fight short either since if she does so, she’s a one and done kind of fighter. Completely at the mercy of her enemy.

Her second resonance helps resolve this to some extent but if the resonance is broken, she’ll be a fish on the chopping block. Therefore, it’s best to save it for the end.

All in all, Alice was a fighter that can’t commit to either style of fighting.

Her versatility is her greatest strength yet also her biggest weakness.

"I think to solve it, there are two options you can go with. First, is to develop a fighting style that can stall properly while also ensuring that your opponent can’t run away. The second option, is to probe their defences to see which strategy is most fitting. With this however, you need to understand them on a psychological level.

"A battle is a mind game as much as it is a brawl. If you understand your opponent and force them to show their cards first, you can control the tempo. But this is just me and the advice is rather general. I must admit."

Alice scratched her hair.

The best way for her to resolve things properly would most likely be the second option.

To force her opponents to show their cards first so that she can estimate what kind of fighting style would be suitable.

Although, with Void Axis, the issue of a strong attack is resolved.

She simply had to improve it further and incorporate as much of her power as possible.

All of her theories, all of her skills.

All of the possibilities she can come up with.

It may be a little premature to say this but Void Axis will be her life’s work.

An attack that best represents this journey she’s embarked upon.

Allura’s techniques, Kaden’s control, Tiamat’s energy manipulation, Kazira’s Sigil.

Because if she can make this attack match the image she had in mind, she’ll become a fighter that can produce the most lethal first strike without a need for a prolonged battle.

Rather than letting her opponents show their cards one by one, it’s much better to just end the game before it even began.

"I’m sure you two are exhausted so feel free to take any of the rooms in the house except the main one on the second floor. That one’s reserved for my wife." Syrion offered, sitting by the cliffs overlooking the ocean.

He was happy that both Gwen and Alice were reasonable enough to not destroy his house or fight without a proper conversation.

As strange as it may seem, Syrion felt human after all these years of wandering.

Today, he reclaimed a bit of his lost humanity.