The Divine Core

"FRESHMAN VS SOPHOMORE(7): DEFYING FATE(2)"

Within the deepest recesses of her mind, Hikari's feet trembled uncontrollably. Within the span of seconds, strategies flowed within her mind, thinking of possible routes to take to finally gain the upper hand, but couldn't find any.

He was just that much of a formidable foe. A deluge of self-doubt washed over her as she questioned her own worth.

Hikari felt like her opponent could see right through her, reading her every thought and emotion.

'Every plan I think of has a counter. His abilities are too versatile,' she thought. 'There must be a way. Even if it's just a glitch in his technique, but, what is it?'

She began to analyze. There must a way. Her thought process finally recognized the subtle but effective moment when Yami couldn't backfire her blizzard attack. This realization led to her breaking a smirk.

'That's it! As powerful as the technique is, I believe his brain process has a limit to how many events he can react to at a time,' she theorized. 'Thus, I need to spam my techniques faster than his brain can process the information!'

The idea was both daunting and exhilarating. Hikari knew that it was a risky gambit, but it might just be her only shot at victory. She just had to hope that her intuition was right.

‘Who am I kidding? Easier said than done,' she resolved. 'I guess he's right. I guess I can't defy fate,' she concluded.

Plagued with fear and dismay, she dropped to her knees to the shock of the Daemons.

"What's this? Hikari's down to her knees! Could it be? Has she surrendered?" Satoru announced.

The sounds of the crowd filled the arena, a mixture of cheers and gasps. But for Hikari, it was like a full buzz in the background. The pressure was getting to her. She felt the weight of leading her team one step closer to victory, and it wasn't lightweight. All that mattered was the battle before her, and the need to overcome the seemingly impossible.

'There must be a way,' she thought.

Almost as if her brain matter was struck by lightning, Hikari found the well of resolve that had carried her through many trials. She drew upon the memories of her training, of the struggles she had overcome, and of the people who had supported her along the path of learning the technique.

With renewed focus, she met Yami's gaze, her eyes burning with the same intensity as his.

"You're wrong, Yami," she said, her voice unwavering, getting up to a knee. "You and I both know that there's only one way to defy fate."

Hikari was so sure of herself. It was risky, but was worth the try.

"Oh? And do you think you can pull it off, Daemon?" He mocked.

"Watch me!" She proclaimed.

The atmosphere shifted dramatically as she adopted a martial arts stance, her right leg slightly behind her left, her left hand stretched out towards the earth, and her right hand behind her left, with the index and thumb touching while the other three fingers remained extended. She held this powerful pose with fierce determination, exuding an aura of strength and readiness for the most powerful technique in her arsenal.

"Konkyuu," she incanted, her voice filled with a deep and powerful resonance.

She channeled her core energy and will into the earth, manifesting a new terrain that covered a five hundred metre radius.

In the terrain, the earth trembled beneath their feet, the ground shifting and warping like a living thing. A deep chasm opened in the earth, a vast void that seemed to swallow everything in its path. The sky darkened, and the air grew thick with energy.

A dark storm cloud gathered above the fighters, lightning crackling across the sky. Rain fell in torrents, soaking the earth and turning it to mud. The wind howled and tore at the trees, their branches bending and snapping in the gale.

Then, with a crackling flash of light, a wall of pure energy rose from the chasm, a glowing barrier that pulsed with power. It stood tall and unyielding, blocking all who tried to cross it.

Hikari could feel the sheer amount of overwhelming power emanating from within her. It was a risky gamble that involved an assured victory in exchange for a fatigued body in the aftermath of the battle. She knew this was a once in a lifetime chance, and wasn't ready to miss it.

With a final, victorious cackle, she completed the technique, the name "Typhon's Wrath" rolling off her tongue with ease. She could already taste her triumph, feeling the rush of power at her command. Nothing could stop her now.

"This is amazing!" Satoru announced. "For the first time in decades, a construction technique has been used in battle! How will Yami defend against this? Is this the beginning of the end?"

"Atta girl," Yami approved. "Let's see how long you can stall the inevitable… your fate," he encouraged, with a mischievous smirk on his face.

"Back at ya!" she affirmed.

At speeds that could not be recognized by most Daemons, Hikari simultaneously sends a fury of devastating disasters towards her opponent. The blizzards, tsunamis and tornadoes hissed and howled through the air with the only purpose of rendering its conjurer's opponent incapable of fighting.

With an intense concentration, Yami stiffened his stance and braced himself to take all incoming damage to the shock of his opponent as he coated himself with core energy in a way that had not been displayed before by anyone. As every attack hit, Yami's insides were growling in pain as he endured the pain and withstood the pressure of the tornadoes.

Visibly frustrated, Hikari summoned a mudslide from beneath him to disrupt his stance, and conjured a devastating avalanche from behind that threatened to bury Yami alive.

Yami, who quickly realized the trouble that presented itself before him, changed his stance and stood before his foe, his head bowed and hands pressed together in a prayer-like gesture. His eyes were closed, his focus entirely on the task at hand. Energy began to gather and pool around his feet, swirling and crackling with power as he unleashed a devastating outburst of core energy that parted all the attacks conjured thus far.

This was however only momentarily as Hikari backfired the attacks back at him, finally sending him flying. Noticing the opening, Hikari summoned hail-storms and thunder-snows right at her opponent, brutally damaging the already frailed body of Yami as he crashed hard into the rocky ground.

"Not so smug again, ay Yami?" Hikari hilariously mocked. "You know I'm trying my possible best to not kill you, so just fall, will you?" she humbly requested as lightning struck every organ of his body.

Expecting a befitting response of accepting defeat, Yami gathered all the enduring spirit left within his body and raised his middle finger up high, igniting disgust in the soul of his opponent.

In the crowd, Kota and Haku had a back and forth conversation of the possible outcomes of the turn of events.

"Konkyuu… I never thought she could actually pull it off," Kota assumed.

"Maybe she couldn't," Haku theorized. "It could possibly be the desperate situation she found herself in that enabled her to realize the technique. Truly commendable, if I must say."

"Well, I guess this is gg bro," Kota concluded.

"What do you mean?" he questioned. "As powerful as the technique may be, there's always that one guaranteed counter to it."

"Well, yeah, but, you don't think he's gonna... can he though?"

A wave of flood viciously slapped the helpless body of Yami as he rolled repeatedly to the nasty flow of the water.

'Otto! Otto! Seems like I've got myself in a little bit of a rut,' he analyzed, as he smirked through the excruciating pain. "Hey, Hikari!" he called out to her utter confusion.

"You must be feeling on top of the world right now, huh?" He asked.

"Why won't you fall?!" She growled as she summoned gigantic hurricanes and lightning bolts to decimate his will.

"Fate's a bastard, isn't he? Do you think you've won, my pitiful Hikari? Do you think I have it in me to surrender or get incapacitated?" He mockingly questioned.

"That's not my fate!" He suddenly yelled maniacally as the current stirred up his adrenaline. "I control every possibility! Every outcome! And you think you can defeat me?" He concluded, the stormy wind turned him upside down.

"Did you forget," he sneered, "that even the most powerful technique can be countered?"

His words were spoken with a cold, maniacal glee, as if he relished the thought of proving her wrong. The smugness of his tone only fueled her determination to prove him wrong, as she further increased the output of her attacks to put him down for good.

"It's no use," he cackled. "I'm so blissful right now that it's pretty much impossible to not show you," he highlighted, staring into the determined soul of his opponent, elated by the sight.

"How sad. All your efforts, all your fantasies, all gone up in smoke." He announced. "Allow me to put you out of your misery," he concluded.

There was a dramatic change in the environment of the terrain. All attacks were brought to a complete stand still and this brought an added layer of frustration in the heart of Hikari.

"Shinee!" She cursed, conjuring in front of her a colossal volcanic eruption in a desperate attempt to stop any rebuttal attack from her opponent. All she wanted from him was his death.

Yami, whilst still upside down, faced the situation with a calm mind, invoking his signature hand sign as he stretched his right arm; his fingers forming a circle with the index finger and thumb. The moment the volcanic flames, illuminating orange light, were about to make contact, he smirked, incanting the sacred word.

"Konkyuu," he chanted, giving off the final sinister grin.

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Konkyuu is a construction technique used by Daemons who have perfectly honed their mind and soul to the true essence of the nature of their core energy.

With precise understanding, the Daemon is able to create a terrain of a fixed radius, opening a whole new dimension where wielder is in control, as his Core's essence is reflected in the technique in that exact moment of truth.

Any opponent found within this attack is prone to its vital effect; even to the extent of weakening the potency of the opponent's technique or worse still, deactivating it entirely. Nothing comes cheap however, for Konkyuu is the Hail Mary of a Daemon and thus, can only be used once due to the amount of core energy input it requires to implement.

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