Beyond M-Eclipse: Easy Mode LIVE

———Lerim———

She walked forward casually, trampling on the corpse of the man she so callously killed. Her blue dress smeared with blood, looking indifferent to what she just did. At most just slightly annoyed that he was in the way.

Blood, organs, and machine parts drop out of his body like it’s a pinata.

“Now let’s get started with the rematch. There’s no need for any discussion.” She dispassionately said as her movement continued. “Third round. I win.”

*Dash* *Clash*

She ran in and both of our weapons clashed. The pressure from her swing is certainly tremendous. The scary part is that, unlike that guy she just killed, she’s not enhanced by any cybernetics or seems to have any sort of outside help. She’s also not under psychosis to hinder her fighting ability. That man had a few openings that were easy to exploit and slower reaction time due to it. I didn’t actually get a chance to do any of that with how suddenly he was taken out of the picture.

*Swing* *Crank* *Block*

“Tch.” I clinked my tongue as the follow-up attack was intercepted by the scythe’s head rotating and changing its angle for her to easily block my attack. That is definitely not an ordinary scythe. As if its gaudy and bright color that it demands your attention doesn’t make that clear enough.

*Clash* *Block* *Parry*

She swung the scythe around as if it’s weightless, and its flexible parts made it even harder to play around as it kept shifting its shape and trajectory.

*Swing* *Block* *Bent*

Damnit! My sword is disfigured just after tanking one strong blow from her that sent me flying. It looks like I can’t just be reserved with my options here. I need to use the best quality weapon I have.

*Throw* *Swat*

I threw the bent sword at her that she casually swatted away with her giant scythe, but that gave me enough time to get out one of the greatswords that was gifted to me by Karra. With this, my odds should be much better.

*Dash* *Swing* *Clash* *Parry*

The exchange of attacks certainly feels better, but it doesn’t change the fact that I haven’t managed to find an opening just yet. None of us have even been directly hit so far. The long range of our weapons means that it’s hard for either side to close in and hit the other with a surprise attack using our free hand and legs.

*Clash* *Parry* *Evade* *Block*

Unfortunately, I am not confident in my chances of outlasting her here. She seems to have plenty of stamina in her, and the ease at which she swung her weapon around even after a few minutes of exchanging attacks imply very little strain from attacking and blocking. My muscles might give out before hers. I can already feel my arms burning from the unreasonable amount of strain I put them on. I need to find an opening to give myself even a few seconds of rest.

The only conclusion I can come to at this point is to use some sort of ranged spell to compensate, but that also means using just one arm to hold off the weight of two swinging down the giant scythe. It’s certainly risky and she might figure out what I’m doing if I’m not quick enough on the draw.

*Block* *Flash*

I blast the area with light to disrupt her sight, having to block another attack from her with just one arm holding a giant sword. It almost felt like my shoulder dislocated, but enough about that!

*Swing* *Slash* *Crash*

I managed to hit her with my sword and sent her flying. I can’t really tell which part of her body I hit, but I managed to at least create a massive amount of distance between us. I can finally heal my arms and stop them from cramping up at the worst time.

The dust clears as she stood back up and she stood tall with her dress shattering into light. Not even a sign of a wound from a sword. That thing absorbed all of the damage into itself? I thought it was just decorative! What in the world is that cheat item?

*Shine* *Weave*

What is she doing… She’s weaving together a dress? That dress is something she can conjure up with a spell!? In that case I can’t let her finish the process!

*Dash* *Bang*

“Ugh!?” That barely missed me, but it still gave me quite a scare. That look like jet thrusters on the back of her scythe can shoot out projectiles with no warning whatsoever.

*Dash* *Swing* *Leap*

“Hey!” I protested as I ran in hoping to stop her from fixing her magical clothing, only for her to nonchalantly jump away while conjuring a new dress for herself.

*Slash* *Blast* *Swat*

Even a last-second sword beam didn’t disrupt the spell at her as she simply swatted away the slash with her weapon while the other one maintained the spell of reconstruction. There was no way for me to form a strong enough attack in that short of a time frame, it seems.

Her dress is reconstructed in full and now I’m back to square one.

It hasn’t been more than a month since I last saw her. How in the world did she manage to develop such an exotic technique? Not to mention that scythe wasn’t like that last time I saw it, if it’s even the same one.

*Throw* *Spin* *Evade*

That one is the same though! She can still throw her weapon like a boomerang. That honestly looks like it could tear me apart if I wasn’t careful and let it hit me dead on.

*Spin* *Swat* *Spin* *Swat*

Its trajectory isn’t changing at all! All I can do is hit it away to create some distance. It isn’t good at all. That means that-

*Dash* *Strike*

“Argh!” She ran towards me at full speed and struck me right in the chest while I was distracted by the floating scythe. It took me a second too long to realize that she can still move freely even with this attack active.

*Blast* *Leap*

I threw out a desperate spell and aimed it directly at her face before jumping away and gaining some distance between me and her. I would’ve followed that up with another attack if that scythe isn’t still active. No way I can manage dealing with both at the same time!

There’s no time to think at this point. Just throw out a strong enough attack to completely halt the scythe’s movement or break her concentration just enough, maybe even break through her defense and make sure she doesn’t build it back up again.

*Dash* *Leap* *Spin* *Kick*

I start concentrating all the energy I have into my sword as I avoid getting in close proximity to her and hit the scythe away. Just a few more seconds…

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

“Huh!?” The scythe can still shoot out projectiles even in this state, chaotically shooting out multiple magical projectiles in all directions without compromising its spinning motion. She doesn’t seem to care at all that one of those stray bullets might hit her.

*Bang* *Leap* *Bang* *Evade* *Bang* *Duck*

The rate of fire might not be high, but the size of the bullets and how it bounced around a few times before dissipating still makes it hard to navigate around and stop myself from being hit. I can’t let my eyes off them for even a moment.

The girl meanwhile simply walked slowly towards me as I struggled to widen the distance between us with so many projectiles flooding the room, wrecking the dungeon floor and digging into it and causing uneven terrain.

Those projectiles bounced off her harmlessly, an abnormal trait even by magic standards, making it clear that I’m the only one constrained by the large amount of magical bullets filling up the room. It doesn’t look like I have time or space on my side right now. I need to clear this out quickly.

*CLEAVE* *CRACK*

I swing my sword and let out all of the energy I poured into it, swinging my sword in the general direction of her, hoping to stop her advance and maybe reset the dynamic we’re in.

She predictably avoided the attack but the scythe was caught up in the crossfire, not breaking but its automatic function ceased and it dropped to the floor. A damn shame I didn’t even hit her dress and destroy it. No way I can make any progress unless I get rid of it or hit her right on the head. Not exactly a large target to hit. I doubt area-of-effect abilities will do enough damage on it to stop her in her tracks.

A large portion of the floor we are in is heavily altered from so many attacks being thrown out. There are now large patches in the ground digging into multiple layers.

It’s just completely different terrain. What was nothing but flat ground with no cover or other natural structures now have a ton of small chunks of rock littered across the ground and gash in the floor making it harder to navigate without accidentally tripping.

*Shine* *Cut*

She threw out more threads of light that she earlier used to create a new dress and tried to tie me up with them. Even if I don’t know about its function beforehand, I’m not gonna fall for that. 

*Swing* *Wrap* *Swing* *Evade*

She then extended out the threads and wrapped up a few boulders and used them like a flail.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

She also starts shooting out of her scythe as well, just relentlessly harassing me with all sorts of attacks. She’s absolutely relentless in her pursuit. It’s crazy that she still isn’t slowing down at all despite throwing out a bunch of attacks at a much higher rate than I do. I was on the defensive for most of the battle, I should be expending energy at a much lower rate than she does, even after that giant cleave that helped alter the battlefield.

The gap between us is significant just from that fact alone. Trying to play offensive to counteract these barrages would only increase my margin of error. I need to hit hard, and I need to make it count.

I need two at minimum. One on the dress, and the following hit that might be fatal.

‘I don’t think you have to worry about her dying. Just go with it.’ Is such a callous thing for Karra to say when one of her friend’s life is in risk of snuffing out. Yet I can’t really deny that in this situation, it really feels like do or die.

I don’t really know what is going on in that head of hers, but I am at least glad that she’s not fighting with the same level of reservation as me. I cannot possibly win in a war of attrition.

*Swing* *Cut* *Leap* *Parry*

I cut off the threads holding the boulders together and jumped right towards her with my sword ready to swing, and predictably she parried it and left me being pushed away while still suspended in the air. She’s aiming her scythe’s thrusters right at me.

*Bang* *Swat* *Slash* *Blast*

I swatted it away with the free hand and followed that with a sword beam hitting her dead-on. It has the side-effect of pushing me away due to the force from the attack. That didn’t do enough damage to get rid of that dress, but I am seeing small bruises on her face at least. Those projectiles would’ve been enough to injure me if I was caught by surprise or overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of it, but two rounds ain’t gonna be enough.

*Dash* *Swing* *Block*

She immediately ran at me with a powerful swing that I barely blocked. I wouldn’t have enough time to dodge that with how sudden it was. I didn’t expect her to switch her tactic the moment she got hit!

*Parry* *Block* *Evade* *Parry*

She’s getting me into the rhythm of this again! I can’t really afford to waste any energy on such useless exchanges!

**Leap** *Kick* *Crash*

“Agh!” I tried to jump away but she followed me and kicked me right into the edge of the cliff I made with that massive slash.

*Slash* *Blast* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

“Gah! Ah!” I bounced around and fell into the crack so I don’t have the time or composure to even counter her next attacks, an energy attack from her scythe and bullets from the thrusters.

*Weave* *Wrap* *Spin* *Slam* *Spin* *Slam*

“Ow! Argh! Ugh!” She then tied me up with those threads and pulled me out of the crack and swung me around the place. She’s-

*Slam*

not-

*Slam*

-stopping!

*Shine* *Cut*

“Haaa…” I gave myself a few seconds to breathe after cutting myself out of the threads with a blade of light extending out of my right hand. My sword actually slipped out of my hand as I was hit with a barrage of attacks earlier. It’s probably still in that large gap in the ground.

…There’s really no other option at this point. I need to go full burst. Any other options are just unviable. My power is already diminishing at a rapid rate. Playing safe stop being an option a while ago.

*Shine* *Dash* *Strike* *Kick* *Punch*

It seems like I’m overpowering her with a barrage of attacks coming in at a much faster rate than I did with a sword in hand, but it lacks the same punch it would have and the rapid-fire nature isn’t quite nailing it down as much as I want it to.

*Swing* *Block*

It doesn’t help that she isn’t standing there helplessly either. She’s actively fighting back despite not overclocking her body like I am.

*Shine* *SLASH*

I cut off her dress with another blade of light. How many seconds do I have left?

*Strike* *Shine* *Slash* *Slash* *Slash*

Just go down already! How much punishment can you take in this state!?

*Burst* *Crash*

“Gragh!” She suddenly let out a massive burst of power that sent my flying into a wall… This is…

*Thud*

…really bad. It seems like the timing is way less than the optimistic standard. I’m reaching a critical point where using even a bit more mana would’ve left me in such a terrible state that I might not be able to fight for a day or two even with potions on hand.

Her body was briefly covered in red and black aura before dissipating quickly. The small window of time that I witness its power is suffocating.

That power, does she get it not too long ago, or did the circumstance of the previous two battles left her 

“...Alright. You win. Can you go home now?” I said as my knees can’t really support me anymore and I lay down on the coarse ground full of little pebbles that were flying around from so many alterations to the floor.

I think I tried my best here. I can be spared, right?

“...I’m satisfied.” She said before weaving a new dress and walked towards me. “Perhaps this won’t be the last time we meet, but I doubt we’ll be having a rematch again so soon.”

*Shine* *Mend*

She threw a healing spell my way before leaving me with those parting words.

Good thing Karra’s assessment was right. She did tell me the wildcard nature of that woman means even she can’t be sure if she’ll let me live. All that she can be certain about is that if I don’t play along she’ll definitely get murderous.

“...Ugh…” I tried to stand back up and stand straight. My bag… is still intact, thankfully. My clothes are in bad shape. Good thing I have plenty of spares, but I need to make sure to go to my local tailor soon.

Let’s get my sword. I can’t let such a valuable item be lost or snatched away. It should be in… here. There we go.

…Ah crud. I still have to deal with breaking the news to the others about that guy.

His corpse is… in an even worse state that I thought. It was hit in the crossfire of many of our attacks. It’s barely even recognizable as a human, and it’s scattered all across the room with only the mechanical parts even maintaining its shape, and even then they are not in great shape either.

Certainly a sad way to go out. Barely an afterthought.