Pretending to be a noob in a world scaled by power level

[126] Back and forth

Asus's voice rolled out, a playful edge within the resonant tones, "So aggressive, Yi-Fei-chan," he cooed. A sly wink accompanied his words, before his countenance shifted into a mask of concentration. With a swift wave of his hand, the space behind him shimmered and rippled, as if the very air had turned to liquid.

Suddenly, out of the void, sprung 36 ethereal rapiers. They materialized in an eerie luminescence, casting a cool blue hue that contrasted starkly against my golden blades. They hovered menacingly in the air, thin, elongated forms gleaming with a supernatural light, their lethal tips pointed in my direction.

With a flick of his wrist, Asus sent his rapiers hurtling towards me. They moved like piercing arrows, streaking across the arena in a terrifyingly coordinated assault. The light they cast was akin to a lightning storm on a clear night, their high-speed trajectories leaving a lattice of blue contrails crisscrossing the air as they bore down on me. The crowd held its breath, as the waves of oncoming rapiers closed the distance rapidly.

In contrast to the sudden onslaught of rapiers, I remained immovable, a statue rooted firmly in the middle of the chaos. My demeanor was calm, a tranquil island amid a sea of turmoil. I raised my hand in a seemingly casual gesture, but my eyes betrayed an intense focus. The crowd held its breath, anticipating my move.

Then, in a mind-bending show of power, the rapiers froze mid-air. A sudden, all-encompassing silence befell the arena as 36 rapiers, once hurtling towards me at blinding speeds, hung suspended in the air, a mere 10 feet from me. It was as if time had been frozen, each lethal blade caught in a standstill, their lethal momentum halted, leaving only an echo of their chilling, metallic hum.

It was a scene straight out of a movie, a moment of surreal silence amid a raging battle. The whole arena held its breath, caught in the magic of the spectacle before their eyes. The blades of doom, frozen in mid-flight, glowed with an eerie light, their halted movement testament to a power that seemed almost otherworldly. The arena, once filled with the cacophony of cheering crowds and clashing blades, was silent save for the collective gasp that echoed through the stands.

With a swift, commanding gesture, my hand pushed through the air. The signal was silent but the results were anything but; the frozen rapiers sprang back to life, each one racing back towards Asus, who was still recovering from the stunning display of power. The crowd erupted in a deafening roar as the projectiles flew, the tension palpable in the electrified air.

But Asus was not finished either. With a graceful, almost dismissive, flick of his hand, his rapiers started to disintegrate. The ethereal blue blades began to fracture, turning to dust that sparkled in the air like a cloud of tiny stars. Within moments, all 36 rapiers had disappeared, leaving nothing but the glowing particles of dust suspended in the air. The crowd fell into an awed silence at the sight, their cheers dying in their throats. The beautiful spectacle, however, belied the deadly power Asus held.

The arena filled with a hushed silence once more, the golden dust of Asus's rapiers fading into nothingness, leaving an empty battlefield filled with nothing but anticipation for what was to come next.

Like a beautiful yet deadly dance, our hands moved simultaneously. An array of 49 ethereal swords sprouted around me, golden and radiant under the glaring arena lights. At the same time, Asus conjured his own legion of 49 blue ethereal rapiers, their cold, icy glow providing a stark contrast to my blazing weapons.

With a shared, unspoken signal, we launched our weapons. The air was torn asunder by the force of our combined assault. The golden swords and blue rapiers raced toward each other, their paths destined to intersect. The crowd was hushed, the tension in the arena palatable, as every eye was drawn to the oncoming clash.