Sinner System

Chapter 679: Retreat

Do I need to force him to use up all his Mana before I can defeat him, like with the Demon Lord? Or does he have some other weakness? I wiped out most of his body with that last attack, but he regenerated in no time.

And while it does look like that consumed a fair bit of Mana, his regeneration is a lot more efficient than the Demon Lord’s was, though it’s also slower. So, while he can’t regenerate quite as quickly as the Demon Lord could, he won’t burn through as much Mana doing so.

But more importantly...

"Is there a reason why you’re still holding back? That Divine Art called Ascent, why haven’t you used it yet? It’s a power boosting ability, isn’t it? Is there some downside to using it?" I inquired, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Oh, I’m under no obligation to answer your questions, mortal," He replied with a shrug, as he formed a ray of light over his crotch, my previous attack having eradicated his trousers.

"Fair enough," I responded, firing a rapid blast of Negative Energy at him as I flew back.

"Hah, I’m not letting you get away that easily! Your current power is only temporary, you won’t escape before it runs out!" He exclaimed, continuing as he chased after me, "And I’m sure you’ve realized that the people below have noticed the commotion up here, it’s only a matter of time before Hunters show up to back me up!"

Hm, is that why he’s been holding back? Is he waiting for me to use up my power boosts and then attack me at full power, in tandem with the Hunters?

He doesn’t have any way of knowing whether I’ll attack Hunters or not, but even if he’s assuming that I don’t have any qualms about fighting back against them, he can at least count on them as distractions.

I weaved through the air as he fired off a barrage of light and lightning blasts, a few of his attacks grazing me, only to get consumed by Ravage: Cloak. Loud crashes rang out as some of his attacks struck the surrounding buildings, chunks of rubble raining down towards the street below.

Damn it...it’s unfortunate, but I can’t worry about collateral damage right now, I need to fully focus on evading him. I’m faster than he is, but attacking right now is pointless, I’ll try to get a read on the timing and patterns of his fighting style instead.

Physical attacks have little to no effect on him, and he’s immune to status effects. And it looks like those Lux and Divine Lightning Arts don’t consume much Mana, he’s firing them off with reckless abandon but his MP is barely reducing.

I see, so forcing him to regenerate is the fastest way to deplete his MP. But I can’t fully extinguish his supply of Mana by myself...we have the same MP capacity, both at 5000, but my attacks use up more Mana.

Which means, I’ll run out of MP before he does if I try to force him to use up his Mana through regeneration. I’ll need the others fighting alongside me.

I could bring out the Apostles, it’s quite likely that he’s already aware of what I’m capable of...but on the off-chance that he isn’t, I shouldn’t give away too much. I’ll keep evading and analyzing his abilities, until I find an opening to retreat into the Pocket Dimension.

Baraq continued firing off light and lightning blasts as he chased after me, damaging the buildings in the vicinity as I dodged most of his attacks, the few that hit me getting consumed by Ravage: Cloak.

Suddenly, as I began to approach the time limit for Ravage: Cloak, I grimaced as the black and white energy swirling around me flickered. Baraq put on a burst of speed and shot towards as Ravage: Cloak wore off, his right arm vanishing in a flash of purple as I unleashed Obliterate at thirty percent.

But he didn’t slow down or change trajectory, his right arm rapidly growing back as he propelled himself towards me with a burst of light energy from behind his feet.

As he closed in on me and formed a blade of light energy along his right palm, I raised Desecrator as he slashed down at my head. His light blade collided against mine, an intense flash erupting upon impact, right as a sharp crackle rang out as he began charging up lightning in his left hand.

"," I chanted, right in the nick of time as he fired the charged up lightning at me.

He began to fly back as his attack got absorbed by the white energy I’d shrouded my body with, his eyes widening as he suddenly came to an abrupt halt, as I sent my tail shooting out and grabbed his left ankle.

Before he could react, I yanked him back towards me with a sharp jerk of my tail, raising my left hand forward and chanting...

"."

He let out an alarmed yell as I formed a black hole, expanding it as he got pulled in. He strained against the powerful force drawing him into the concentrated mass of darkness, but it was no use.

Cries of alarm rang out below us as the black hole generated intense, powerful winds, before I shut it off as the Angel got fully swallowed into it, disappearing without a trace.

I flew back a few meters, chanting under my breath to summon Invidia and Superbia, directing my intent at them as I kept my gaze locked onto the spot around where Baraq had disappeared, waiting.

Sure enough, that didn’t do the trick. A glimmer of light appeared around that spot, before rapidly expanding and taking form in a humanoid shape. In a matter of seconds, his body was fully regrown from scratch, but his expression was more tense than before.

Hm, seems that consumed a sizeable chunk of his Mana, his MP has taken a significant hit. Still, it’s going to take a lot more than that before he’s fully drained. It’s time to retreat.

"Alright, I’ll admit, that was quite a frightening power you used. It seems I can’t afford to underestimate you. ...," He began with a grimace.

"Superbia."

"," She nodded, before chanting, ", followed by !"

As she hurled her spear forward with an intense burst of wind, launching it towards Baraq rapidly, Invidia unleashed a powerful burst of lightning streaks all around himself, electrifying the air.

Baraq quickly formed a mass of light in front of himself, before getting sent hurtling back through the air as Superbia’s spear collided against his light and pushed him back with immense force.

I rapidly zipped away, swooping into a nearby alley and weaving through the buildings, before opening a portal into the Pocket Dimension and flying in...