HP: The Arcane Thief

Axel and Kyrin faced each other, both serious this time.

Both were waiting for the right time to act. In his mind, Axel was formulating his moves while anticipating Kyrin's responses. His advantage was, he still had a lot of cards left. But the disadvantage was, so did Kyrin.

She had the darkness affinity, and she was a relic wielder. A scary combination. What's scarier is the fact that she has only used mainly one skill [Tendrils of Darkness]. She hasn't even used her relic yet.

So, if they ended up in a drawn out battle, he'd be fucked. He has to end this while she's still not using everything.

Not wanting to waste much more time, Axel stepped forward, appearing directly in front of Kyrin.

Kyrin already anticipated that. And Axel knew she knew. That's why he had considered all of her responses and their counters.

But Kyrin did something completely out of Axel's anticipation. She sank into the ground, as if sucked in, Axel's knife uselessly passing over her head.

In the next instant, she suddenly emerged from the ground behind him, slashing at his ankles.

'Wtf?!'

'What kind of ability was this?!' Thought Axel, thrown off balance literally and figuratively.

Axel's whole mass was center forward due to attack and he wasn't in a condition to move his feet in time.

[Launching Boom]

Magic burst out from his feet, propelling him away, just as Kyrin's sword slashed through his afterimage.

'It's shadows?'

He realized that Kyrin was using his shadow as a medium for travel. This was a truly cheated ability, something she must be doing with the use of her relic. The ability to travel through Darkness… how overpowered is that? Most likely that's why she is a perfect counter to that space ability guy. Because Kyrin's can't be restricted unless you remove all darkness.

'He dodged?! How?!' On the other hand, Kyrin was also surprised that even going as far as using one of her core abilities didn't already end the fight. She had timed her move perfectly, so that Axel would have no leeway to dodge, but somehow, in the last moment, there was a burst of magic power that propelled him out of her range.

Kyrin wasn't given time to think about that, as a hundred weapons came out of Axel's storage space and attacked her. While she blocked and deflected them with her darkness, Axel once again appeared in front of her.

Kyrin parried, countering by twisting her sword and slashing him in an arc. 'Faster!' Axel dodged and attacked again.

Within a few seconds, hundreds of blows were exchanged. Kyrin's brows furrowed at the technique Axel was using. It was foreign, but there were familiar parts mixed in. It didn't seem like he was too proficient yet, but somehow, he was able to perfectly counter all her moves.

'You're only this much?' Axel's eyes seem to convey.

'This little blighter…' Kyrin was getting more and more annoyed, looking at the taunting look in Axel's eyes, as if knowing that she wouldn't be able to beat in a match of pure skill.

She couldn't understand why Axel was able to counter her so perfectly. Kyrin had decades worth of training and experience, and her sword technique was one of the best. Though Axel was strong, she could see that he clearly wasn't putting as much skill and finesse into fighting as her. And yet, without relying on her darkness, she is unable to land a single hit on him despite putting everything into every swing.

"My turn." Suddenly, Axel's technique changed as he went on the offensive, dramatically increasing the intensity of his attacks. This time, as their weapons clashed, Kyrin's sword got deflected as Axel's knife continued to be thrust towards her chest. Kyrin obstructed his hand with darkness, but the knife suddenly appeared in his other hand and slashed straight through.

!!!

Kyrin was caught off guard as she backed away, but Axel just followed, his knife flashing from one hand to another. The tides of the battle shifted dramatically as Axel brought his insane dexterity into play, leaving Kyrin usable to even follow which hand his knife was in while he continued to somehow perfectly deal with all of her attacks. It was almost as if he already…

"Thanks for teaching everything to Akiko," said Axel with a smirk.

!!!

Kyrin gritted her teeth upon connecting the dots.

'Aki! She taught him all of my techniques too!'

Kyrin taught everything to Akiko. That included her sword arts. Akiko, of course, taught it to Axel. Even though Kyrin is a level above Akiko, but Axel is able to handle it easily since he's already very familiar with her style while Kyrin has never seen the [Knife Wielding] he got from the system.

Too bad, Kyrin realized it too late.

"It's the end," said Axel, suddenly stomping his foot while Kyrin was still completely focused on his upper body.

*Baam* Second hit!

"Ouch!"

Suddenly, Kyrin's foot, which was still unprotected except for a silky stocking was suddenly stepped on by Axel, catching her completely flat-footed. As Axel had expressed, it was really impractical for fighting.

'Where would you run now?' thought Axel in victory as he delivered the finishing third blow while Kyrin was still discombobulated.

But…

'What the—?'

The knife passed right through Kyrin, as if she was intangible!

Kyrin had a really annoyed look on her face as she nursed her foot. "First my hand, and now my foot. This is really getting embarrassing."

Kyrin was more ashamed than furious at this point. Though close quarters combat may not be her strongest suit, and she has gotten rusty after not practicing in much in the last decade, it still, it was a thirteen year old she was fighting up against. To actually lose in a contest of pure skills…

"You… you've proven yourself with that much. I am impressed." She acknowledged.

'Oh…? Why don't I believe that?' Thought Axel, having an ominous feeling.

"That's why," Kyrin continued. "I will stop holding back now, and treat you like a real opponent."

'Fuck!' The hair on the back of Axel's neck stood up as he began taking distance. But, it was already too late.

Kyrin spread her arms. "Darkness... Domain," she whispered.

The space around them began getting constricted as Axel felt himself getting sluggish. The whites from Kyrin's eyes vanished completely as her eyes turned pitch black. A long dress made out of darkness covered her body as her feet rose up from the ground.

Axel once again used all of his weapons to attack Kyrin while also launching different types of spells, but it was all useless. The weapons seemed to pass right through her, and magical attacks were all blocked by her cloak.

"This ends now," declared Kyrin, raising her hand as she looked down at Axel like the goddess of death. "[Kiss Of Darkness]."

Endless, formless darkness attacked him from all sides, leaving him from escape.

!!!

Darkness engulfed Axel, as if trying to crush him.

"You fought well," Kyrin muttered, grudging respect seeping into her voice.

Kyrin quickly dispelled the darkness, so as to not kill Axel. Akiko quickly rushed forward to check his condition. The darkness slowly dispersed, revealing what lay beyond.

???

But it wasn't what they were expecting.

"Huh?"

Axel was nowhere to be found, Leaving just a depression in the ground.

"Where the hell is he?" Kyrin had definitely controlled her power, so there is no chance the darkness would have completely vanished him from existence.

In this instant, Kyrin felt a searing sensation against her throat, which clearly cleaved through darkness surrounding her.

"Third hit," said Axel, appearing behind her, holding the knife in a reverse grip.

"NOW, it's over." He declared.

????

For a moment, Kyrin just stood there, trying to fathom what in the devil's trench just happened here.

She… actually lost.

That much was pretty clear from the blood dripping from her neck. The question was—

'How…?'

She had clearly used one her most powerful moves just now. There was no way Axel could have escaped that. And well, even if he did, how the hell did he appear behind while escaping her notice in her domain?

And, even if he did somehow escape… how the hell did he manage to actually injure her! She was currently in an invincible state. Her dress made out of darkness protects her from all magical attacks, and she's currently intangible, meaning physical attacks should pass right through her.

'Is that…?'

Kyrin noticed something unbelievable at this moment. "Light… element?" She muttered in disbelief. Yep, that was definitely a light element that was burning through her skin right now. And one strong enough to actually cut through her darkness.

Not to mention the Stealth with which he creeped up on her in own domain. That level of stealth was simply impossible to understand.

So, this guy, who is incredible at close quarters combat, has the ability to remotely attack using hundreds of weapons, insane dexterity, also had such a powerful light affinity all along, that is a perfect counter to her. Not only that, he also had a stealth that could escape her senses easily.

But, he just did not use these abilities until the end of the fight. Why?

because he didn't think she was worthy enough until the last moment?

Just because it seems she wasn't worthy enough to warrant it? That does seem to be the case. He had almost won even without them when he stomped her foot, if she hadn't used her relic to turn intangible. So, in the end, who was holding back more? Who was going easy on whom?

She still hadn't quite figured out just how he was able to protect himself from the [Kiss of Darkness].

So... how much more was he still holding back?

Kyrin shivered. Aki... just where did you find this guy?

??

As Axel retracted his blade, he felt that the look Kyrin was giving him was much more scarier than when she used to glare at him with utter hatred.

"Congratulations, you pass with flying colors. Now you are a real member of the black ops," Kyrin smiled. "Don't even think about leaving."

Axel felt cold sweat forming on the back of his neck. He did win, but...

'She's scary...'

That last attack. He had to bring out of his water affinity and light affinity in order to counter that. He is in Atlantis, and there is a special buff for water affinity here, and his wand is made of an extremely high light affinity wood, so he was able to protect himself by covering in water and light affinity barrier, otherwise he would have been in trouble.

This is how dangerous Kyrin Tenebrous is. And now this woman is looking at him with scary eyes.

'What... have I gotten myself into?'

"Now, let's move on to what main job. What does the Black Ops do?" Ignoring Axel's complicated feelings, Kyrin continued the meeting.

"You guys might have wondered. What have the been the forces of both sides doing all this while? Where are the relic wielders? Where is the war?"

"Well, the answers are all linked with Altina trench."

'It's that again.' Thought Axel.

Altina Trench, or the Devil's abyss. From the research he did when reading the minds of general populace, this is known as a taboo place in Atlantis.

"What is this place?" He asked curiously.

"It's the place where the entity behind the Organisation is sealed. It's also the place where the Organisation is currently hiding."

???

So, it was like that. He did always wonder just where the Organisation's base was. A

Axel's brows furrowed. "Both are there? Isn't it just a trench? Why don't we blow it up?"

Kyrin shook her head. "You don't understand. That is not an ordinary place. It has existed even before the founding of the Empire. It's similar to the place called the Bermuda Triangle. Time and Space work differently there. It might seem like just a trench from outside, but it's a whole different world inside."

Axel nodded slowly. "So, that is the place where the real war is taking place?"

"Yeah." Kyrin nodded. "That's also where most of our relic wielders and fighting forces are stationed. But the main target of both the sides is the Seal itself. The seal is located in the inner most region of the place, and extremely difficult to reach. Both sides are currently in a race to reach the seal. The Kraken, in order to unlock it, while we are trying to fortify it since it has weakened."

"So, that's what we're going to do? Reach the seal?" Asked Akiko.

"No. Fuck that." Kyrin grinned. "Our mission is to track and kill as many Kraken higher ups as possible."

....

Meanwhile, the General of Atlantian Forces, one of the highest authority of Atlantis was currently given an important task by the princess.

He had to... get her the background of a certain 16 year old kid that is currently a hot topic in the Kingdom.

It was a trivial task, one that should not be handled personally by an individual of his capacity, but the princess is eccentric that way sometimes.

For some reason, ever since seeing that clip, no, ever since seeing that that boy for the first time, the princess has been acting strange.

Anyways, the General himself was also curious who this guy was, so he decided he was going to see just handle it personally.