"But do you have the strength for that?" Lin Ran chuckled lightly.
Valexis lunged forward with his twin blades. "Then I'll show you what strength is!"
"Did you think I'm the same as before, now that I've received the boost from the sacrifice? How naive!"
As Valexis sprinted, the illusory figure of the ice-fire divine phoenix he had created trailed behind him, further fueling his arrogance. The twin ice-fire blades in his hands also emanated a bloodthirsty aura, sharp and aggressive like transparent blades. In less than a second, Valexis had covered more than half the distance. During his charge, the twin blades summoned countless illusory sword projections that followed him. As he rushed forward recklessly, a vast power of frost and flame emanated from the ground, engulfing Lin Ran who stood still.
However, faced with Valexis's immediate and direct assault, Lin Ran's only response was to activate his Eternal Kaleidoscope and Rinnegan, patiently waiting for him to approach.
Admittedly, Valexis was incredibly fast in this state... But unfortunately, not fast enough! Under Lin Ran's gaze, whose dynamic vision was practically invincible, every movement of his opponent was still clearly visible. Lin Ran could even discern the details within his illusory projection and count the number of sword shadows Valexis had conjured. Therefore, Lin Ran felt absolutely no panic.
Sensing the intertwining of ice and fire, Lin Ran completely ignored them, letting their magical energy dissipate. At the same time, he made no move to raise his own twin blades, simply watching Valexis charge towards him with a cold gaze.
"This guy... he's not moving at all?"
"In close combat, won't he lose the initiative like this?"
"But he's Lin Ran! Someone no one can ever figure out. We shouldn't jump to conclusions about him..."
"Indeed... He's too good at surprising everyone... both spectators and opponents..." Having witnessed Lin Ran's previous battles, these people had a clear understanding of his capabilities and wouldn't doubt his choices. Instead, they were eagerly anticipating what tactics Lin Ran would employ to achieve victory.
"Valexis has arrived!" At that instant, with less than ten meters separating them, a thought flashed through Lin Ran's mind. Without a second thought, in less than half a breath, Lin Ran raised his right hand, wielding the cursed sword radiating a dark, bloody glow, and performed an upward sweeping slash.
To their surprise, Lin Ran's slash appeared remarkably soft and weak, devoid of any discernible force. At first glance, it seemed like mere showmanship, without even a flicker of sword energy emanating from the blade.
A mistake? Or perhaps underestimating his opponent? Before anyone could comprehend what was happening, the dark, bloody glow from the cursed sword poured out like water from a basin, splashing towards Valexis. The moment the blood-red light flew forward, the ice-fire hell that Valexis had painstakingly created immediately began to show disharmony, its barrier violently torn apart.
"I've told you many times..."
"These two weapons might truly be worthy of being called divine artifacts, but not in your hands!"
"The way you wield them is simply laughable." Lin Ran said calmly, parrying Valexis's horizontal slash with his cursed sword.
Valexis's blood rushed to his head, and he furiously urged his ice-fire divine phoenix. "Clang!" A clear phoenix cry echoed through the sky, and even more intense ice-fire energy erupted from the illusory phoenix behind him. *Sizzle! Sizzle!* With piercing sounds like meat hitting hot oil, the ice and fire dominated by Valexis collided with the light and darkness commanded by Lin Ran, tearing apart countless gray smoke and energy fragments.
The resulting smoke and swirling debris obscured the vision of everyone around, hindering not only the spectators' view but also Valexis's sight as the enemy.
"Damn it!" Valexis did not possess Lin Ran's extraordinary, unimpeded penetrating vision. Furthermore, his other attributes had decreased to some extent after berserk, making him heavily reliant on his eyes for observation. To him, the smoke was filled with danger!
*Swish!* However, Valexis was not one to wait passively. He retaliated fiercely, relying on his intuition and judgment, and swung his fire blade forward. The smoke in front of him was naturally dispersed by the blazing flames, clearing a path. But Valexis's blade strike landed squarely on empty air, providing him with no feedback of impact.
*Not good!* This feeling of emptiness... He was being tricked, and it was dangerous! Since the smoke and debris had not entirely cleared, the gap Valexis had just created was quickly filled again by the smoke. As for Lin Ran's figure, it was nowhere to be seen.
There was no sound, no movement. With his not-so-clear perception, Valexis desperately unleashed his mental energy, constantly searching for Lin Ran's trace.
"To the left!!" After finally sensing something with his mental energy, the impatient Valexis strode forward, crossing his hands into a cross shape, his fierce power seemingly intending to cut Lin Ran into four pieces.
"Cowardly rat!"
"I'll see where else you can hide!"
*Clang!* The sound of metal colliding was born, resonating with its true tone.
"He was prepared!" He had thought that with the smoke as cover, Lin Ran would let his guard down...
In that case... Valexis quickly shoved his twin blades forward, shifting from offense to defense and placing them horizontally before his chest. It had to be said, Valexis's emergency response was quite good, showcasing his exceptional combat skills as a calm berserker, unlike others of his kind.
"Still trying to trick me by feigning weakness? How naive!" Valexis sneered.