Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix-Chapter 1538: Weakened

"... I see. You used the spirit aspect to move his spirit to the other body and avoid your death at the last moment. Still, why are you telling me this? Now I know what I have to do in order to avoid making another mistake."

"Well, the first reason is because I want to annoy you and the second reason is because I don’t need another countermeasure," Rain said. "This place wasn’t only made using the aspect of information and void. You can thank Arel for this."

Mechanical statues materialized in the corners of the dimension, and Lonos’ senses sharpened with a sudden sense of danger. Something was amiss in the very fabric of reality around him. The presence emanating from the statues sent shivers down his spine, a familiar yet unsettling sensation that he couldn’t ignore.

In disbelief, Lonos recognized the unmistakable aura of the machine gods: Loks, Hilo, Rais, and Arel. But they were supposed to be gone, destroyed in the battles of the past. Their return defied all logic and reason...

Even more alarming was the gradual erosion of his control over time, a phenomenon he had never experienced before. The once-steady flow of temporal energy faltered, wavering like a flickering flame in the wind. Lonos’s grip on the fabric of reality slipped, leaving him vulnerable and exposed to the machinations of unseen forces.

"You relinquished their power... in order to just weaken me?"

"Incorrect," Rain said while he was cracking his knuckles. "I just transferred their knowledge to some relics that would have their knowledge but not their will. With the aspect of information, the relic will analyze your techniques further. With the aspect of the void, the relic will weaken your own aspect little by little. With the aspect of space, you will be locked here, and with the aspect of energy, all of those effects will remain active for as long as necessary."

Lonos could understand now why Rain looked confident... while the minor aspects alone couldn’t compare to the high ones, together, they could do that much. To make matters worse, there was no way out of that situation without killing Rain since the red star was relatively nearby, and he should have used his doppelgangers to gather as much energy as possible from it. The perfect plan is to counter Lonos and force him to reveal his tricks as soon as possible or force him to get weaker a little bit at a time.

"Do you really think that this put us on the same level? Even without the time aspect, I still can..."

"By the way, this is only the first level of my trap. Let’s see if you are good enough to force me to use the next levels."

Lonos’s anger boiled like a tempest within him, fueled by Rain’s audacity to challenge his authority. The words echoed in his mind, a mocking reminder of their first encounter when Rain had dared to defy him. It was infuriating to see Rain adopt the same defiant stance once again as if he held the upper hand in their conflict.

Lonos grip tightened on the threads of time, his frustration boiling over into a seething rage. How dare Rain presume to wield authority over him, the master of time and destiny? Lonos’s pride bristled at the implication that his power could be weakened so easily, his very essence recoiling at the thought of being subjugated by another.

"Right now... I don’t care if this will weaken me and cause my loss against the dragon and the other being. I will just use all my power to crush you."

"Come... and... try," Rain said.

Lonos suddenly appeared in front of Rain and then his fists multiplied just before they hit Rain. The attacks landed, and Lonos confirmed that it was the real deal again... Rain was pushed away with his body covered in fist marks, and soon they turned purple.

"My speed fell with Instantaneous Strike... is it because he already knows how that skill works?"

Rain managed to protect his head, but he still got damaged enough for his mouth and nose to bleed. Although he could use the aspect of time to some extent as well, it looked like his own skills in that aspect got weaker, too...

In the next moment, Lonos used Beyond Time Strike and then kicked Rain in the stomach... his body bent forward, and Rain was pushed backward for several meters, but he didn’t even fall.

"Even that technique... how..."

Beyond Time Strike was the attack that would land whenever the enemy wanted and while the effect didn’t change, the power had decreased since the aspect of time was being weakened. Lonos didn’t even have to try to use Charged Temporal Strike to know that it would be useless against Rain as well.

Instead of letting the doubts stop him, Lonos decided to charge once again. While Lonos used a barrage of punches to break all of his bones, Rain used Limit Breaker and Light Speed to block all the attacks on his head... it worked, but that was suspicious, and Lonos realized that.

"Using all of the aspects should be too much for a being of flesh and bones... he needs to keep his focus to maintain the dimension... this place won’t stay active with the power of the statues alone."

Rain’s body was getting battered again, so Lonos couldn’t help but smirk... the surprise of the situation got the better of him and made him forget the obvious way out of it.

Lonos used Charged Temporal Strike with his right arm and then forced Rain to defend himself with both arms... they snapped thanks to the impact, and while he was being pushed backward, Lonos appeared in front of the void statue relic. Without hesitation, he used the technique on it again... the attack landed, but soon Lonos regretted it... the mark of his fist appeared on the statue, but his punch had been as slow as it could have been... his powers got weaker closer to the statue, to the point that a single punch was infinitely weaker...