136 Water and Lightning

Though it had fallen into a state of disrepair after more than 400 years of disuse, a massive, underground city existed beneath the streets of Ars. It was built to be the last bastion of humanity, a nearly impregnable fortress where Magic, the trump card of Laplace, could not be used.

Since humanity had lost most of its territory at the time, much of the Ars Undercity had been dedicated to agriculture and food production. There were massive pools where fish and other aquatic creatures were farmed, and, to compensate for the lack of natural light, the vast majority of plant life consisted of fungi, algae, and a rare form of bioluminescent moss that had now spread throughout the entirety of the underground structure. As a result, walking through the otherwise dark caverns was like meandering through a sea of greenish-blue stars.

With Reida leading the way, Paul and Party eventually found themselves in a massive cavern whose ceiling was nearly 70m from the ground. What appeared to be the ruins of a fortress dominated one side of the stadium-sized cavity, but the thing that stood out most prominently were the tens of thousands of bones, swords, spears, and other armaments littering the ground.

Answering the question on everyone's minds, Reida explained, "This was one of the defensive lines humanity established back during the Laplace Campaign. If you go beyond that fortress, there's a stupidly long tunnel that eventually opens up into a residential area that once housed nearly half of the surviving humans. I honestly have no idea how we were able to push the Demon Army back when they had pretty much monopolized the entire world's land and resources..."

Shaking her head, Reida nipped any potential questions in the bud by stating, "Whatever, it doesn't really matter. The strong create history, not write it. Let chroniclers with nothing better to do worry about things like that. Now, then..."

Directing her gaze to Ei, Reida's cerulean blue eyes glistened due to the effects of Touki as she stated, "Come at me with everything you've got. If you don't, don't blame me if you lose your life..."

Though she had grown accustomed to standing in Paul's shadow, allowing him to shine as brightly as he pleased, the current Ei radiated an aura that seemed to place her at the center of all things as she coldly replied, "Very well." in a spine-chilling monotone.

Without even waiting for Paul and the others to back away, Reida abruptly leaped backward, a flurry of azure arcs flashing in front of her body as Ei appeared like a phantom in pursuit. As their swords clashed, a suffocating pressure immediately permeated the interior of the cavern as a sensation akin to being immersed in ice water assailed everyone present.

Despite the 70m distance from floor to ceiling, Reida's leap allowed her to flip upside down and stand on it as if it were the ground. Then, in the brief period where Ei was still mid-air, she flipped her sword into a reverse grip and unleashed a pulse of Touki that gave the impression it could slice just by staring at her.

"Reverse Flow - Swallow's Cry...!"

Though Reida hadn't actually shouted out the name of her technique, a strange 'echo' sounded within the minds of everyone present as her body appeared to blue-shift into the form of a sparrow descending toward the ground. Her descent brought her on a crash course with Ei, but instead of impacting or passing through her, a veritable pillar of purple light erupted from the Archon's body to form a giant crescent more than twenty meters in diameter. The sparrow's rightmost wing was immediately severed as a cut with perfectly smooth edges appeared wherever the arc passed.

Impacting the ground, a vexed expression marred Reida's face as she was forced to take a knee. Nearly a third of her adamantine-infused sword had been severed cleanly, but the thing that angered her more than anything was the knowledge that Ei had held back.

"You...arrogant..."

Interrupting Reida's hate-filled growl, Ei, in complete defiance of gravity, stood casually on the ceiling as she coldly remarked, "Arrogance is acting brashly despite a lack of skill. What I have given you here is a glimpse into eternity. Now then, shall we continue, or have you given up...?"

Hearing the words 'give up,' a vein appeared near Reida's left temple as she pulled out the Electro Vision nestled between her breasts. As she did, the color of her irises abruptly shifted from cerulean blue to Electro purple as a predominately blue and white sword materialized in her right hand. At the same time, a visible blue aura began exuding from her body, the ends of her hair becoming noticeably sharper as her furious expression became an intensely focused look.

Demonstrating a rare bout of haughtiness, Ei issued a throaty, "Hoooo...?" before brandishing her sword as if she were trying to remove blood. Then, with a faintly condescending smile on her face, she monotonously mused, "It seems your title as 'God' is not completely without merit..."

No longer simply testing Ei's abilities, Reida continued to refine her focus in silence. The essence of the Water God Style was using your opponent's speed and power against them, so, now that she understood Ei wasn't an opponent she could 'play' with, Reida was completely serious.

"Water Style Secret Art - Deprivation Sword Kingdom...!"

With what appeared to be a single swipe of Reida's sword, a 'bubble' of pale blue energy erupted out to form a gradually expanding hemisphere nearly 10m in diameter. From the perspective of Paul and the rest, even with the former's incredible kinetic vision, Reida's right arm appeared to completely disappear as the right side of her body blurred and distorted like a warped photograph.

Undaunted by the technique that had earned Reida the title of Water God, Ei narrowed her eyes as tiny arcs of Electro Energy emitted from the soles of her feet. She had been manipulating her body's internal magnetism to react with the iron and other minerals in the ceiling, so the moment she turned it off, she began freefalling towards the expanding hemisphere of Reida's Deprivation Sword Kingdom.

Instead of waiting for Ei to reach her, Reida leaped upward with enough force to make her trousers erupt around the thighs and leave two sizeable craters in the rocky terrain. The diameter of her Sword Kingdom retracted to less than half its previous size, but instead of a hemisphere, it formed a kind of tear shape as Reida ascended toward Ei at a speed the naked eye couldn't follow.

Similar to when Reida had performed her Reverse Flow - Swallow's Cry, the trajectory of her attack brought her on a collision course with Ei. This time, however, both women appeared to freeze in place the moment Ei's body overlapped with the edge of Reida's Deprivation Sword Kingdom. It was like time had stopped for a period lasting several seconds. In reality, less than a centisecond had passed before a cross-shaped flash of purple lightning sent Reida crashing into the ground with enough force to embed her, face-down, into the surface.

As Paul, at the very least, struggled to comprehend what had transpired, Ei landed on the ground with the finesse of a feather touching a stagnant pond as she remarked, "While impressive, the weakness of that technique is that, once launched, the angles you can attack from are limited by your arm's range of motion. Had you executed it at the moment of my attack, I may not have been able to break it with such ease..."

Though her words gave off the impression of a skilled senior talking down to an inexperienced junior, Ei was honestly impressed by Reida's attack. It could hardly be called a papercut, but Reida had managed to leave a tiny laceration along her left wrist. Had she misjudged the range and speed of Reida's counter, she might have lost her hand...

Demonstrating super-human perseverance and willpower, Reida raised herself from the ground to reveal a vicious, blood-stained smile. One of her top teeth was missing, but the excitement of having found a powerful opponent transcended any pain she was feeling.

Earning a narrowed gaze from Ei, Reida forced herself to stand as she asked, "Why...are you...acting like...this is over...?"

Just as Ei was about to point out that she could barely stand, an aura of Electro Energy suddenly erupted from Reida's body. Her Elemental Ability was similar to Paul's, allowing her to infuse Electro Energy into her sword, but her Elemental Burst was a skill Reida had named Twin-Lightning, both in reference to her twins and the fact it created an 'echo' that followed the trajectory of her attacks.

Exploding with speed comparable to a Sword Emperor, Reida unleashed a fierce flurry of blows that left Ei frowning. She could easily deflect Reida's leading attacks, but the prodigious Water God was effectively 'countering' her own attacks, reading the flow of her echoes to strike with increasingly precise timing.

Though she had initially wanted to settle things without using her powers as an Archon, Ei eventually created a bit of distance from Reida in order to summon her Musou no Hitotachi. However, the moment she did so, Reida abruptly fell face-first into the ground. Her Elemental Burst only lasted for six seconds before dissipating. It had no direct impact on her stamina, but the injuries she had sustained when Ei sent her smashing into the ground were a lot more severe than she let on.

Tasting defeat for the first time in years, a distorted smile marred Reida's face as she exhaled a laugh-like, "Fuck..." She was in intense pain, but the prospect of becoming even stronger by pitting herself against Ei made her both giddy and confused. Giddy because she had been looking for a good sparring partner and confused because she couldn't fathom how Paul had struggled to reach the level of a Saint with such a skilled swordswoman at his side...

As if summoned by her thoughts, Paul appeared next to Reida with Ganyu in tow. The latter was far more proficient with Healing Magic than he was, so he let her treat Reida's injuries as he knelt next to her and teased, "Try not to take this out on me during our training..."

Though it hurt to laugh, an amused chuckle emanated from Reida's throat as she rolled over with a bit of assistance from Paul. This made it seem as though she was laughing at Paul's remark, but the truth of the matter was that she had briefly considered informing him their training was canceled. It had been nearly a decade since she found a strong opponent she could refine her skills and techniques against, so she really didn't want to 'waste time' teaching others.

Fortunately for Paul, Reida was slowly learning to be less selfish. If not for him, her strength and physique would have continued to decline until she was little more than a bag of bones waiting to get pushed over by a young upstart. Ei was also his subordinate, retainer, or whatever the hell she and the other girls around him were, so Reida knew she would be stabbing herself in the foot if she suddenly started focusing on herself rather than helping Paul get stronger.

With her injuries healing a lot faster than she expected, Reida gave Ganyu an appraising stare as she said, "You're going to be very useful these next five months..."

Though she could detect a hint of obsessive malice in Reida's aura, Ganyu returned a characteristically gentle smile as she replied, "If it's to help my Master and his allies, I am always happy to be of service."

Adopting a now full-toothed grin, Reida was about to ask Ei for a rematch but was interrupted by Paul suggesting, "We should return to the surface and get some breakfast. I haven't eaten since yesterday afternoon, so I'm starving."

With Paul's reminder, Reida realized that she also hadn't eaten anything in the past seventeen or so hours. Her stomach promptly growled in protest, but instead of acting bashfully, she exhaled a hearty laugh...

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