RE: The Extra's Dominance-Chapter 29 - Sparring [2]

(Ruby's POV)

After a few exchanges of attacks with Raven, I can't help but smile in awe.

I was just supposed to be blocking and countering from time to time.

I tried to block his kick using the blade of my sword so he could realize that even by blocking, you can deal damage to your opponent.

But Raven quickly responded to that by using a weird artifact, and above that, he managed to counter using it too, and that counter made me take a step back.

I know I'm going easy on him, but that's still impressive.

"You're really amazing, huh."

I said, looking at Raven with amusement.

He regained his stance and smiled at me.

"I know."

Then he replied with a shrug.

SWOOSH—

He grew a pair of majestic black wings again.

"It's so beautiful no matter how many times I see it."

I mumbled, looking at them. They were enticing.

Though I can't admire it for long, after all—

BAM!

Raven already rushed at me.

For some, he may look like a bubble that disappeared into thin air, but for me, an rank hero, I can follow his movements easily, given that Raven is just an rank.

I can see him rushing at me. He was now holding his gun in his left hand and a dagger in his right.

And after arriving in front of me—Raven slashed his dagger downward with all of his might.

Raising my sword, I blocked it.

TINGGG!

Like he predicted that his attack would be blocked, Raven immediately placed his left hand with the gun on top of his right hand.

The gun's muzzle was directly pointed at my head, but I didn't panic. Instead, I created a mana shield in front of the gun.

Raven smiled upon seeing the mana barrier.

It made me frown.

'What's wrong with him?'

"Hm?"

As I was thinking, I felt something grab my sword.

Looking at it, Raven's right hand was tightly holding the blade of my sword.

It was like he was trying to break it.

'It's no use, you can't break my sword. Even though it's normal, it's covered in my mana.' freewebnσvel.cѳm

I scoffed at his action in my mind.

But then... I saw Raven opening his mouth.

Everything around us is moving slowly.

But it's actually not. We're just moving fast. I'm faster than him, so I can see his moves slowly.

""

Raven muttered. I was confused about what he said that for, but it didn't take me long to know the answer.

WHOOSH~

Something black suddenly came out of his ring in his right hand engulfed my sword!

I don't know what it is, but I know it's not a good thing for me.

I was about to retrieve my sword from Raven's grasp, but a black mana suddenly wrapped around both of my arms.

"...!"

My eyes widened.

It didn't take me long to know it's Raven's mana and that he cast a magic on me. It's a simple support magic, .

'When?!'

I asked inwardly in my head. I didn't notice him casting. I didn't even notice his mana because it was so calm and silent.

The magic actually didn't do anything to me. Instead, it was the shock from not noticing Raven's magic that halted my movements for a second.

But in that second, the mana that was covering my sword—it all disappeared.

No, it was swallowed along with the mana shield in front of Raven's gun!

Crack—

A crack appeared on my sword.

Crash—

And almost at the same time, the blade of my sword broke.

Bang!

Raven, not wanting to give me time, pulled his trigger in advance and timed it with the moment my mana shield and sword broke!

I frowned. Then without moving my feet from where they were positioned, I violently leaned backward—my palms touched the floor, I was on all fours.

Swish—

The bullet passed through where my head had been.

And while I'm in this position—I kicked upward toward Raven's chin with my left leg.

TWHACK!

"GURGH?!!"

Upon the contact of my kick, his whole body shot up into the air.

I used my kick's momentum and did a backflip to regain my balance and stance quickly.

But strangely, I didn't hear anything falling. Because of that, my brows knitted together again.

And looking up... I saw Raven massaging his chin.

His wings were flapping, keeping him in the air a few tens of meters above the ground.

"That hurts as fuck."

Raven complained.

"How?"

I muttered. I put enough strength in that kick to make him pass out.

Then looking closely at his chin... I saw that there's something black covering it. It's like a part of a battle suit.

I unconsciously smiled, realizing he blocked my kick too.

"You're really something else!"

BAM!

I exclaimed and jumped at Raven at a terrifying speed.

I saw his eyes widen.

I immediately arrived in front of him—then I threw a punch toward his stomach using my left hand.

"!"

Raven shouted, and a magic circle appeared on his hand. And after that, I felt my strength lessen a little... But I didn't stop.

BAM-!

When I punched Raven's stomach, I felt something hard protecting it.

Fwip—

He then grabbed my left arm immediately with both of his arms.

Then his fingernails, which were covered in mana—became longer and sharper. They didn't dig into my skin, but Raven was clutching me pretty tightly.

We started to fall to the ground not long, and Raven's wings transformed!

One of the wings reformed into a chain and wrapped around my right hand.

And the other wing split into five and became long thin blades.

They were all connected on Raven's back.

BOOM!

The two of us then fell to the surface. Neither of us took damage from it.

And while glaring at me—the blades on Raven's back started slashing toward me!

TING!

They collided with the mana shields I created.

But the blades kept attacking me continuously.

CLANG!

Again.

TANG!

And again.

It was nonstop.

The blades stabbed and slashed one after another.

I tried brushing off Raven, who was clutching my left hand, but he was holding tightly.

Strangely enough, my right hand was restrained by the chain. I could break free by sending it mana, but because of Raven's barrage of attacks and my restrictions for the fight, I couldn't.

I can't kick Raven away too because he's too close to me!

His expression was intense, like he had no intention of giving me any time at all.

With how this is going, I'm confident that I'll still win. I know that Raven is continuously spending mana to use his weird artifact.

So his attacks will soon stop. And I'll remain standing.

'But I want to play with him a little.'

With that in mind, I smiled mischievously.

"It's a good strategy."

I mumbled.

"But how will you stop this?"

Following my words, the mana around us trembled, and a magic circle appeared below me.

FWOOSH~

I was casting a 4th-tier magic!

'I may not be able to use magic actively, but I can cast up to 5th-tier water and ice magics.'

Raven's expression crumbled, then he started thinking with a deep frown.

I smiled at this sight and started to chant.

4th-tier magics and above require chants. Mages can shorten them, but I'm a swordwoman.

Moving on...

The mana surrounding me turned into water.

""

I was in the last phase of the chant... When Raven looked at me straight in the face with a serious expression.

"

And as I was about to say the last word of the chant and finish the spell, I stopped—no, I was stopped. I was unable to finish it.

To stop me from finishing my chant, Raven sealed my lips...

Using his own lips.

"...?!!"

My eyes widened, then my face grew red and hot.

'My first.'

I thought.

My body moved on its own. Forgetting that I was supposed to be holding back, my mana suddenly burst, and I freed my right hand from the chain restraining it.

F W O O S H—!!

Fwip—

I immediately grabbed Raven's right hand, then I threw him at the wall!

BOOM!

"ARGH!!"

Debris scattered around as he was slammed into the wall.

"Ah..."

And realizing what I just did, a small surprised voice escaped from my mouth, then I immediately ran toward Raven.