Ath nGabla

Before beginning the runes, Algiz, Nauthiz, Ansuz, and Inguz in successive order, signaling our pact for this fight, ensuring that the other will accept the challenge and that none will flee the fight.

As soon as the spell was broken, I dashed towards her as quickly as I could because I knew, or rather, I learned the hard way, not to give Scathach time to prepare and enhance herself.

Her clairvoyance spell usually results in my defeat, and I have to rely on the fact that we can't boost ourselves before the fight due to one of our rules to have a chance of winning. 

Otherwise, a fully prepared Scathach and a field littered with traps vs billions of my summons, the fight would be pointless.

So, in order to overwhelm her, I threw everything at her, unconcerned to the damage she did to my body when attempting to stop my charge, leaving a trail of [Ink] that was both naturally dropping from my body and tearing apart from Scáthach attacks.

Some of the energy behind those attacks remained on my body steadily...

Because I am not strong enough to physically overwhelm her, this is my only option.

So, the first part of the plan is a mental assault, a constant wave disturbing her mind but doing little, playing on her arrogance, that she can deal with something like this easily so I can corner her later on.

Transforming the [Ink] on the ground of various beasts to aid my assault as I punched and kicked in a constant pace, leaving her with no time to strengthen herself but also not bothering her because she can keep up with it.

The monsters surrounded her quickly, but she countered with a wide swip and then stabbed towards my chest, and even though I narrowly avoided it, the power behind it ripped a part of my skin due to the sheer force behind it.

Force that remained, partially, inside of me. 

Despite how easily my body can be rebuilt, I still suffer from the damage done to my mind and soul by the enhancements in her spear; thankfully, I've grown used to it by now.

However, this is also part of the plan.

This went on for a while as we maintained our balance; she was dancing around us, and I, along with the beasts I created, tried to land a good hit on her, but her instincts caused her to react perfectly to our combined ambushes.

I punched her chin with one hand and then her stomach with the other, but she dodged both and then used the back of her spear to kill the beast on her back before stabbing me right into one of my arms in a quick movement.

My energy manipulation reduced the power behind it, but the stab was still powerful enough to pass through my arm

That's when I saw the opportunity and decided to grab it.

Sending a stronger attack towards her mind and moving forward, ignoring how her spear ripped a large portion of my arm, I continued with my attack only to be stopped by the pole of her spear.

It was more of a bother to her than anything else.

The mental attack was more powerful than any other, but it was still not my best, not yet.

Scatchach jumped right before my punch landed on her, softening the blow and sending her flying backwards, the distance giving her a chance to finish the fight.

She summoned a second spear and they both flared red while also using a spell to further increase the distance between us.

"It's over… " She declared with a smug smile like she already did dozens of times as the first spear shooted forward, but before it could hit me it disappeared leaving behind a giant net and trapping me inside of it.

This is the first part of her noble phantasm, where she uses the first spear to sew the space and ensure the second spear lands.

But this one is better, my body, mind, and soul are all trapped, but... Even with seemingly no way out, I didn't panic. 

"Gae Bolg alternative! " The second spear shot forward, filled with her well-known god-layer propriety to add to the strike, a strike that would kill almost anyone aimed at my heart in every conceptual sense of the word, leaving me no choice but to accept my defeat if it lands.

But it was then when she noticed my eyes, eyes that didn't appear to be on the losing end of this fight. 

No, those eyes were fixed on a clear path to victory.

That raised an alarm… Her instincts told her something was wrong, so she summoned another spear, but it was just then when my counterattack began.

It was then that I removed the space that had been sewn around me and shot with all my force towards her.

As Scathach felt a massive mental attack wave coming towards her head, I absorbed every energy in the area, the first spear, the second spear, the enhancement in Scathach's clothes, and even remnants of the [Ink] around her into my body.

A stronger mental assault wasn't something she wasn't expecting, but the unexpected strength behind it was enough to draw her attention to it for a brief moment.

A opportunity that I had to get in front of her, passing through the second spear that didn't manage to kill me because it didn't have the majority of its initial strength behind it.

It did pierce me, but I endured it in order to win this bet.

The massive hole that goes right through my heart was proof.

But I didn't stop there; I concentrated all of my strength in a single punch and shot toward her, but the time was enough for her to recover. 

I watched helplessly as she took the hit with the spear again. 

Will my effort end like this? 

I refuse!

With a huge explosion-like sound that would destroy any normal person's eardrums, she shot backwards while I was left bleeding from my ear, nose, and eyes as my entire body broke apart from carrying so much energy at the same time. 

The cracking sounds of my bones and the ringing in my ears had all been left for me, and even my sight was affected .

The cost of storing all that energy in my body, my arm vanished as I focused it all on that strike...

Panting and with almost no way to sense my surroundings, I had no idea how it ended. 

Thankfully, her voice confirmed it for me before I could question whether or not all of my efforts had been pointless.

"Ahm, congratulations. You won our small bet."

As I regained my vision, I noticed her approaching me with that damn smug smile on her face.

Her arm armor was ripped apart, and she had blood in the corner of her mouth.

The blow was powerful enough to injure her... It also helped a lot that I absorbed every rune in her clothes and body, leaving her unprotected. 

I won… 

"You've been planning for this day for quite some time, haven't you?" My smile told her everything she needed to know "You've never used a mental attack like that before, and when you combine it with how you used all of my strength against me... Well done. " I know that tone, the 'it won't happen again' tone.

Don't get used to it… 

"It's because you are arrogant that it worked… " I looked at her in the and she raised her brows at the unexpected comment "You thought that resisting my mental attacks was a natural thing to do " I smiled proudly at her as I pointed why I won, how I used her only weakness  "And so you never thought that I was holding back when doing so " Even then, the most important part is my energy manipulation.

But now that she knows about it, she will make countermeasures. 

"Of course I am, But unlike those idiots I'm the best at what I do" She told me as she used a spell to recover her broken armor and heal her wounds in less than a second "I have all the rights to be arrogant " She declared as a matter of fact.

""You're the best... " I sighed as I looked at her... "But it's the first, and most likely last, time something like that will work... "

When she fought Cu Alter, she survived with ninety percent of her organs destroyed, so I know this is nothing for her.

She was also focused on the ink around us, which, when combined with our lack of preparation for our fight and other factors...

After some help from her, I decided to go to sleep and call it a day… 

However, when Ahm left the location... "I won this fight... and I will win the next one," Scathach declared when no one was around, with an expectant smile and a hint of lust.

...

I decided to sleep and rest for the day after leaving the training grounds.

Repairing my body may be simple, but all of the damage caused by Shishou's spear and by myself must be repaired before I go after her.

I literally took energy from hundreds of her hits and then a large portion of her Noble Phantasm and used it all in a single hit; I even had to ask Shishiu for help because my body was too damaged.

Reckless but shocking, especially against someone like her.

But for the time being, rest... If I'm going to take on Scathach, I need to be at my best...

"System… Open the Shop! You have skills for this kind of thing, right? "

《Yes User! 》

With a smile on my face, I went through all the skills and knowledge that will be useful in the future and purchased the best ones.

I don't want to leave my partner dissatisfied… 

Well, also Jenne, Jalter, and Kei will want to do it soon. 

I'm sure they're aware of our bet and will also want to do it after Scatach.

I no longer care about their supposed age like I used to since we've all been past the adult age since the beginning, and even more so now that years have passed, so I can no longer use the excuse of 'we are too young'...