Discordant Note: Crescendo | TBATE

Chapter 165: Bladework

Toren Daen

I knew the secret to the Retainer's weapon, detailed at length in a book from another world. Spells sent toward Cylrit would gravitate toward the colossal blade, each absorbed and dispersed with ease. Any physical attack I used would gravitate toward it as well, pulled off course by the handsome man's weapon. The Retainer, however, could only cause spells of a single element to gravitate at once.

So I decided to do a little test. In The Beginning After the End, Arthur managed to defeat Cylrit with a mix of teamwork from Sylvie alongside a quick swap of elements to confuse the man's absorption abilities.

I wish I could see Sylvie obliterate him, I thought with grim amusement, the edge of my lip quirking up. Maybe another time.

Cylrit's massive sword emanated a pressure all on its own as he leveraged it down at me. Through the enhanced senses of my will, I could feel the ridges of the Retainer's intent.

But there was one thing Arthur failed to do during his fight.

I waved a hand, summoning a dozen fireballs that hovered statically around me, each large enough to fit me inside. I felt their heat caress my cheek as my focus narrowed, the blood of the phoenix flowing through my veins.

I waved my hand down, and all the fireballs around me began to arc inwards, curving to swallow the Retainer in their sweltering heat. His eyes tracked them without worry despite the substantial amount of mana imbued. He raised his sword, swiping it in a half-crescent arc. I felt and saw as my fireballs lurched off course, slowly being absorbed into the massive greatsword as the gravitational aura of his weapon demanded.

I tilted my head, narrowing my eyes as a frown crossed my features. Cylrit looked down at me, clearly annoyed at my testing. But I wasn't done yet.

I raised my hand, pointing my index and pointer fingers at the Retainer in the shape of a handgun. Sound mana coalesced at the end of my fingertip, a slight influx of pure mana making the little projectile ripple with an oil-like sheen. I engaged my telekinetic emblem, feeling pressure build up along the tip of my finger.

"Bang," I whispered, and the spell shot off with the speed of a bullet and an eruption of sound.

To his credit, Cylrit swerved his sword in the path of my vibrating sound bullet, absorbing it into his weapon. But I hadn't stopped. Flame and sound bullets fired out intermittently in rapid succession as they surged toward the Retainer. Not powerful enough to hurt the hovering man, but enough to annoy him and draw blood were they to make contact with bare skin.

I watched with a measure of awe as the Retainer switched which spells he could absorb with the speed of lightning, alternating between blocking and absorbing fire and sound at a speed that would have been a blitz to a normal human eye. Through it all, I gauged how quickly each switch took.

He's too fast at changing it for me to capitalize on with ranged attacks, I thought with a note of irritation. I should've expected that. One last test, though.

At the end of my barrage of bullets, I conjured a single bead of plasma. Instead of aiming near center mass as I had before, I pointed my finger near Cylrit's foot, further away from his sword.

I let loose the solid plasma bullet, the spell accelerating in a beam. The Retainer swung his sword, and I watched as the plasma–a combination of both fire and sound–reluctantly curved toward his sword.

"Is this all you can do, Spellsong?" Cylrit sneered, pushing away the wafting smoke that surrounded him.

I settled back into stance, hefting Inversion and the shrouded blade that emerged from it. "We'll see," I said, feeling a wave of confidence.