Lancer held his spear, carefully observing his surroundings. He initially tried to find his opponent with his eyes, but after a while, he found no clues. It made sense; if he could find him that easily, he wouldn't have let him slip away earlier.
If the five senses failed, he would rely on his sixth sense.
Lancer knew his "luck" well: the good stuff never happened, but the bad stuff always did. But he didn't care, because this intuition wasn't "luck."
His sixth sense was actually his perception of death, forged through hundreds of battles. Whenever death drew near, Lancer could feel the arrival of this "old friend."
This was perhaps what Li Shuwen meant when he said Lancer had a special talent in certain areas.
This talent meant little to a normal person, but for a battle-hardened warrior, it was a game-changer.
While his eyes looked straight ahead, a water blade suddenly lunging from the side was instantly shattered by his spear tip. Simultaneously, the spear shaft spun violently, sweeping horizontally toward the side.
To an onlooker, Lancer looked like a drunkard swinging his weapon randomly, but to Kawashiro Amayuki, the situation was grim.
The main reason he dared to strike Lancer was confidence in his own abilities.
It was common knowledge that the Oni possessed immense strength. Few youkai could beat an Oni of equal level in physical combat. His specialty was the Kappa's Water Hiding technique. No matter how strong the opponent's attack was, as long as it didn't hit, it didn't matter, right? During the most chaotic times, he had kited Oni of similar strength to death before.
But he had still underestimated Lancer. He knew battle maniacs had terrifying instincts, but he wasn't greedy; he would strike and immediately retreat, giving the opponent no chance to counter. Yet he gradually realized that Lancer could not only counterattack while being attacked but was now starting to strike proactively.
How was he doing it!
Luckily, Lancer didn't know his thoughts, or he would have laughed himself to death.
Invisible attacks? Were they supposed to be rare?
With the hundreds of bruises he had once sustained and the long list of "survival" skills in his Heroic Spirit template as a guarantee—during his training, which of his two Shishōs' attacks were ever visible?
During lessons, they would purposefully slow down. But during training, they used overwhelming strength, giving Lancer only a split-second window. This educational style—or rather, the "force-feeding" method necessitated by time constraints—had formed Lancer current combat style.
His tenacity—never giving up no matter the attack—and the intense fighting spirit contained under extreme pressure meant he would never shrink back from any opponent.
"Survival" and "seizing the fleeting opportunity"—these seemingly contradictory beliefs were the way Lancer lived and fought.
He didn't know where the opponent was, but he knew where the "weak points" of his own stance were. If the opponent wanted to attack him, those were the only choices.
Even though he was in the light and the enemy was in the dark, Lancer was exerting massive pressure on Amayuki. Amayuki felt that he, in the shadows, was the one being suppressed.
'What a terrifying guy...'
Amayuki had been quite confident before coming out, but as soon as they clashed, he realized he was wrong. Very wrong.
'This guy is a complete monster.'
The continuous attacks stopped. Amayuki hid in the mist like an assassin in the shadows, his narrowed eyes staring at the man standing tall. He no longer felt he could win.
Lancer, holding "Zero," noticed the change. The probing attacks had ceased; it was as if the opponent had fled. But looking at the nervous small youkai watching them, Lancer smiled.
He was still there.
Unlike Lancer, a "lone wolf," this man ruled the lake with hundreds of subordinates. If a defeat in battle was understandable, then abandoning his subordinates and fleeing the field would cause his carefully built power to collapse instantly.
'So, you want to play a psychological game?'
Since the opponent wouldn't strike, Lancer would.
Starting from his right hand, translucent ice crystals began to spread into the surroundings. But unlike pure, flawless ice, the crystals Lancer created seemed tinged with a layer of blood.
The small youkai watching from the side suddenly felt a shiver down their spines.
Even more surprised was Kawashiro Amayuki. He could clearly feel the home-field advantage he had created for himself was vanishing—turning into Lancer domain instead.
The Kappa's Water Hiding wasn't true invisibility; it used a special method to hide. So, what happens when the water vapor you're controlling turns into crystalline ice?
The answer was obvious.
If he delayed, and the vapor was completely frozen, his advantage would vanish, replaced by the unfortunate situation of having to fight an Oni on land.
Attacking proactively hadn't yielded results either; he suspected that as the battle progressed, the opponent would completely master his movement patterns.
Amayuki felt like a tiger that hadn't eaten in days staring at a porcupine—unwilling to leave, but not knowing where to bite. It was incredibly frustrating.
Lancer didn't have a "taunt" skill like in games, but he could still lock aggro onto himself. For instance, right now—
In the bloody ice mist, Lancer felt a strange presence suddenly rush at him.
"Finally caught you!"
With Lancer roar, the spear was pulled back violently, followed by a simple, unadorned thrust directly behind him. But the speed of this seemingly simple thrust was exaggerated, completely tearing through the air. The ordinary youkai outside could even see a cone-shaped shockwave until—
Puff!
With a strange sound, the "ambusher" was instantly impaled. But Lancer didn't relax for a second, because the sensation of the strike felt off.
Then, he saw the "Amayuki" impaled on his spearhead collapse, leaving only a puddle of water at Lancer feet.
'A clone? Oh no!'
Even though he had struck water, a powerful suction prevented Lancer from pulling "Zero" out immediately. An attack arrived from the side. He simply released his right hand and threw a punch toward the direction of the attack.
Smack!!
The water projectile shattered into countless droplets, but Lancer expression was grim. He found that his right hand, like "Zero," had a strange sluggish feeling, as if he were a normal person stuck in a swamp.