Building My SSS-Rank Universal Empire: From Trash to Cosmic Overlord-Chapter 91: Metal body

"That’s not a good impression," Alyndra commented, her eyes drilling into Vale.

She not only enjoyed gambling and the thrill of using others for her entertainment, but she also liked seeing her opponent get crushed. She loved seeing the hopelessness reflected on their faces.

But not this time. Tiber was as calm as ever, and Vale only smiled, raised his cup, and wet his lips with the wine in his hand.

"Hummmmmmm," was all he said as he watched Slya get rammed into the wall.

"Oh shit! She’s going to die! You have to get her out of there! Team 14’s member is too much for her, not to talk about a vice leader! Please, get down there and get her!" Xan said, his face carved in panic.

Alyndra smirked. "Maybe you should listen to him."

Yet again, Vale didn’t say anything. He simply raised his cup and pointed back to the pit.

Slya had picked herself up from the ground, and she wasn’t smiling. She scowled and slapped the dust off her clothes. She hadn’t expected that sneak attack.

"Huh, you’re not dead." Mawion was standing on a metal platform, floating in the air. He yawned. "I hate it when they don’t die after the first squashing."

Slya’s face twitched, and her eyes darkened. "You just called me an insignificant insect?"

Mawion’s face showed some amusement. "I like that description of yourself." Then his face twisted with disgust. "So why don’t you just die? You think you and that fool can just waltz in here and get what you want? Dream again!"

Slya’s shadow, along with the others in the pit, lengthened and ripped, trembling as they darkened the stage. The corners seemed to hold more shadow than they should.

Dark blades, five of them without hilts, throbbed with red fire like embers. They formed around her, and she reached out to hold one. She said with flat certainty, "You have invited a raging dragon into your midst today. I am here."

Then she used Vale’s own moves against Mawion, sending the swords flying at him before shadow-stepping to the space above him. Her swords met a wall of metal and screeched as they scratched the surface.

Simultaneously, she fell from above, slashing at his head, only to be stopped by a small band of metal.

Clank!

Mawion didn’t seem bothered at all as he held the wall, the small metal band, and finally created a pillar that slammed into her stomach.

She gasped as she fell, hitting the ground with a thud. She rushed to her feet, but she was clumsy, and the shadows she forged were gone.

At the stands, the silence Vale was feeling was replaced with mocking laughter.

"That was disappointing," Fell said, not sounding disappointed at all. Though he would have liked to be the one to crush Vale, he was still happy that Slya was getting crushed anyway.

"Well," Dlodus said in pity. "It’s to be expected. He’s Team 14’s vice leader. She should just wish for a fast end."

Vale didn’t reply. He merely looked down into the pit.

Mawion floated closer to her, subsequently creating a small metal ball that hovered near her. "Shatter!"

The ball exploded. The ground cracked with the force as shards of metal were hurled forward with a whine. She managed to throw a shield up in time, but she was sent stumbling. This time, however, she didn’t wait.

With a single formation she held in her mind, she added another and then poured essence into it. The darkness around her shook, and long spikes of forged shadows blasted out at her floating opponent.

Above, below, and from the sides, they appeared like the fangs of a large monster, sharp enough to tear through steel, but not through Mawion’s skin.

His body rippled with dark brown waves of metal, and he was suddenly enclosed in it. Not every inch of his skin turned to metal.

Can she do something like that too? Vale thought. He watched closely as she had already dropped one of her formations, leaving only the one behind.

A shadow spear formed in front of her, and then she leaped forward, disappearing and reappearing through shadows just beneath the floating Mawion.

She threw her spear upward. It pierced through his metal platform with a screech but paused before going fully through. It wobbled, and before the man could regain balance, more spikes blasted at him, sparking off his skin.

Damn! Just how tough is that skin of his? Slya thought.

He finally discarded the floating platform and touched down on the ground. "You’ve done it now, little bitch."

She created a sword and flung herself at him, but she suddenly stopped. "What’s this?"

The area surrounding Mawion was hazy. She stared at it in confusion, raised her sword, and brought it closer to the haze. Suddenly, the air hummed, her hand shook, and the weapon in her hand trembled before being reduced to half.

It wasn’t cut, but it seemed to have been eaten away.

Mawion laughed. "I’ve surrounded myself with sharp, strong iron fillings. They’re densely packed too. Do you know what happens when you move them at high speed?"

He began to move closer, forcing Slya to backpedal to avoid the attack.

"It’s a difficult technique to master, and I have to be in my metal form to use it. How about we end things now?" He reached out, and the hazy metals became visible, spinning into something resembling a whirlwind with a small tail at the end of the spinning cone.

He grabbed that tail and then flicked his hand, using the metal storm like a whip.

Wham! The air howled and whined.

Slya constructed a shield and shadow-stepped backward. It was a good thing too, because her shield was eaten through as if it wasn’t there.

"Stay still!" Mawion shouted.

Slya didn’t have time to shout back ’Why in the Infernal hell would I stay still?’ All her focus was on shadow-stepping to keep away from Mawion and his storm of eating metal. But the man was getting dangerously close to predicting her moves.

Up above, Alyndra said the same thing. "She’s keeping up, but it won’t be long now. This is not the overwhelming victory you promised me."

Vale chuckled. "You’re right."

Then he added essence to his voice, making it louder. It rang throughout the coliseum. "Haven’t you had enough fun already, Slya?"

Down below, she suddenly stopped shadow-stepping and smiled. "Come to think of it, I was thinking the same thing!"