Rivers of the Night

Moreno’s lax expression changed. But rather than surprise, it was as though he had suddenly woken up.

His hair fluttered, strings of white coming from it as the threads on his heavy robes lit as well.

The tendrils extending from his hair quickly reached out and snagged his spiraling rings out of the air. At the same time, his robes seemed to have finally activated in full, a pulsing barrier crashing against [Water Scythe].

The long blade shattered as the tendrils of white Soul Mana flexed in the air.

Two rings were snapped toward Theron’s back, two more circulating to protect Moreno’s back, while the final five of them converged to the latter’s front, blocking Theron’s path.

They moved much faster than Theron could dash. And with Moreno having Quasi Third Eye, [Touch of Mirage] seemed to have become useless.

Theron’s gaze didn’t change. The shattering impact of [Bursting Water Shield] formed pillars of arching water that splashed against the ground, rippling out in large waves.

And then he cast it again.

Seven times.

Easton was right about one thing. Theron really was more powerful in the rain. But the largest change wasn’t strength.

In the rain…

He almost didn’t have Mana capacity restraints.

The seven rings surrounding Theron found themselves stripped of the Soul Mana Easton used to control them. The first time, Theron only redirected them. This time, he caught Moreno off guard, activating the strongest ability of [Bursting Water Shield]…

Disrupting Mana flow.

After Moreno called out [Touch of Mirage] by name, Theron knew that he was facing off against a well-learned person. But often, fighting someone confident in their knowledge made them more susceptible, not less.

When his rings survived the first wave of Theron’s [Bursting Water Shield], Moreno’s assumption was that Theron had yet to reach the Adept Boundary and thus couldn’t use the Mana severing abilities of the Low-Tier Bronze Resonance technique. Because of this, he separated his rings and used quantity to try and overwhelm Theron.

He poured more Soul Mana into them, forcing the rings to fly faster so that even if Theron managed to cast [Bursting Water Shield] again so quickly, his rings would be able to run right through them. Even if they were diverted, it wouldn’t be enough for Theron to avoid a lethal blow.

This confidence in his knowledge and his understanding of techniques for a Path of Mancy completely outside his own was precisely his undoing.

He was too confident.

Moreno lost connection with seven of his nine rings.

He instantly began a retreat, pulling on the two to his back to block while pouring more Soul Mana into his robes to prepare for another defense. But he had used up so much Mana to send forward this attack that it was taking time for him to gather more.

Most Soul Mancers that followed his path would control one or two Treasures at once. But he was controlling ten of them.

That came with its advantages, but it also came with its drawbacks.

And he would suffer them now.

Theron was far faster than he could have ever expected, and his methods were even more shocking.

The moment Moreno lost control of the rings, two [Bursting Water Shields] shattered apart, ejecting a pair of rings right at the two Moreno planned to use for defense. ɌÃΝȪᛒÈs̩

At the same time, three more shot out in quick succession, ejecting from the [Bursting Water Shields] that trapped them so fast Moreno didn’t believe that Theron hadn’t tweaked the cast.

Consummate Boundary.

This could only be Consummate.

Unfortunately, he had noticed far too late.

CLANG! CLANG!

Four rings clashed against one another in the air, three more slipping between their rebounding forms and appearing before Moreno in an instant.

The Imperial Academy disciple had no choice but to trigger his robes again. But without having had the chance to fully charge it, it sputtered and barely blocked.

One of the rings embedded itself into his shoulder, the other two just being deflected away.

But then Theron appeared before him.

Moreno’s eyes flashed. He was waiting for just this, a chance to overturn the tides. He knew that Theron was injured. And, he might be a Soul Mancer, but he was a tier and a half above Theron in cultivation. On top of that, neither Water Mancers nor Soul Mancers were known for the strength of their bodies.

He was barely hurt, having allowed the ring to cut into a non-fatal region. And, so long as the ring came into contact with him…

He could take control of it once again!

"DIE!" Moreno’s gaze turned malevolent, a hint of that rumored madman coming out of him as a bloodthirsty air began to manifest.

The ring in his shoulder shot out in a spurt of blood, aiming right for Theron’s head.

At the same time, he stomped a foot, punching at Theron’s chest. He knew that there were two more rings behind Theron—he hadn’t lost count. But he was confident that he would be faster.

Moreno’s eyes became wild, pulsing red veins growing out from their whites, almost overwhelming them to the point his black irises sat in a sea of crimson.

But the gaze he met… was something he would never forget—something he couldn’t forget.

Cold, focused, indifferent to praise and disparagement, uncaring for pain and hardship, a hollow husk empty of all things but the task it had chosen to focus on.

The ring that ejected from Theron’s shoulder passed over his head.

Moreno was stunned. He missed?

That was… impossible. How could he make such a mistake?

It hadn’t passed through Theron, it had quite literally gone over his head. How could that be…

The ring he thought he was controlling vanished, becoming a ring of water.

There was a reason why it was Quasi Third Eye and not a true Third Eye. Moreno could only focus on one thing at a time, and it seemed smart to focus on Theron.

Unfortunately for him, the ring he thought he was controlling had actually been under Theron’s control the entire time, shrouded by [Touch of Mirage].

As for the real ring, it was still in Moreno’s shoulder.

"How?! That’s impossible! I know the difference between a treasure and a shape of Mana!"

His fist was still moving toward Theron, but what good was it when the ring couldn’t distract his target?

His head was sliced in two.

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