SSS Awakening: I Can Class Change at will

Chapter 493: Moon Vs Assassin

’This isn’t going anywhere. I need to change tactics.’

Moon’s hand began to crackle with lightning. Purple sparks danced across his fingers, ready to unleash devastation on his enemy.

This wasn’t an opponent he could afford to go easy on. The assassin’s speed, the way he had drawn blood within the first exchange, the obvious confidence he had, all of it told Moon that holding back would get him eliminated.

But Moon also wasn’t going to overdo it. This was still a competition. A tournament with rules and consequences. He wasn’t going to permanently damage someone’s soul unless the situation demanded it. The assassin was a lunatic, yes. He was unsettling, yes. But he hadn’t done anything that justified inflicting irreversible harm, at least not yet.

A more thorough beating would suffice.

The lightning crackled in his palm for a moment, the it was unleashed.

The bolt streaked across the clearing in a jagged purple line, faster than the assassin’s eyes could fully track.

’Fast!’

The man tried to twist away. His movement skill activated mid-motion, his body blurring as he attempted to distance himself from the attack.

The lightning caught him anyway.

It struck him squarely in the chest. Purple lines erupted across his body, locking the muscle near the point of contact in a single agonizing instant. His blade froze mid-swing. His grin twisted into a rictus of shock.

"AAAAH—!"

The scream left his body at a pitch that made the cameras swoop closer, eager to capture the reaction.

The assassin’s head snapped back by reflex.

’Oh?’ Moon thought, watching the assassin regain control over his body. The effect would usually last a second more, but the assassin managed to break out of it quite quickly.

Still, Moon was already on the next move.

Knowing that the man before him was powerful, Moon didn’t hold back. Blue fire bloomed at the tip of his staff. [Explode] formed into a condensed sphere of azure flame and shot toward the assassin.

The man’s eyes snapped to the incoming attack just in time to see it coming.

A sharp grin returned to his face, distorted by the residual pain, but distinctly present.

"Crescent Reaper!"

His blade arced upward in a single, precise slash.

A crescent of black energy peeled off the edge of the dagger and met the fireball mid-flight. The two attacks collided with a flash of contrasting blue and shadow.

The blue fire detonated against the crescent, but the assassin’s skill absorbed the brunt of the explosion, scattering it sideways instead of letting it consume him. He emerged from the impact with his clothes scorched along one side, a fresh burn running down his ribs, but otherwise intact.

He rose slowly to his feet, his body still trembling slightly from the lingering effects of the purple lightning. A thin line of drool ran from the corner of his mouth, but he didn’t seem to notice.

His pupils had blown wide. His grin stretched across his face in a way that was no longer recognizable as human.

"OOOOH!" His voice came out broken, half-laughing, half-shrieking. "What was that?! WHAT WAS THAT?! It hurt!"

He stumbled forward, then steadied himself, then started laughing once again like a mad man.

"It hurt so much! Pretty mage, you’ve been hiding something! That wasn’t just lightning! That hurt deeper than lightning is supposed to hurt!"

He brought his blade up to his face and licked the edge again, but his tongue trembled this time.

His balance wasn’t quite right. The damage was already biting into him, eroding his coordination in ways he couldn’t fully process.

"More! Do it again! I want to feel it again!"

He lunged forward.

Moon raised his staff. Another bolt of purple lightning crackled to life in his palm.

The purple bolt screamed across the clearing. The assassin didn’t try to block this time. He twisted his body in a sharp, unnatural motion, his Veil Step activating, and the bolt grazed past his shoulder by mere centimeters.

’He’s fast and flexible...’

Moon’s eyes narrowed. The man had impressive agility and dexterity, but that alone wouldn’t suffice in escaping his attack.

’Veil Step is a powerful movement skill...’

The assassin closed the distance before Moon could cast again.

His blade slashed in a horizontal arc aimed at Moon’s stomach. Moon raised his staff and caught the blow on the shaft, the impact traveling up his arms. The assassin pressed immediately, his free hand drawing a second smaller dagger from somewhere inside his clothing, the blade flashing in a quick stab toward Moon’s ribs.

Moon twisted, the dagger scraping against his jacket but failing to penetrate his skin. He shoved the assassin back with the staff, creating more distance between them.

"Yes! Yes, that’s it!" The man laughed, his eyes wild. "Pretty mage in close range with me! Let me draw on that precious flesh! Let me taste your blood again, just a little more, just a little more!"

His attacks came faster slashing from angles that shouldn’t have been possible without dislocating shoulders. The assassin’s footwork was erratic but effective, his entire fighting style built on confusing his target into making one wrong block.

Moon parried, deflected, retreated. He couldn’t match the man’s close-range output without revealing skills he wasn’t willing to show. just yet He couldn’t keep retreating either. The assassin was simply too fast to escape from in a straight line.

’I need to slow him down.’

Moon stepped backward, his hand raising to cast another bolt of lightning. Purple energy gathered in his palm visibly, conspicuously.

The assassin’s eyes lit up. He saw it. He prepared to dodge again, his body coiling for another twisting motion.

Moon released the bolt.

The assassin twisted sideways, his Veil Step activating, his body blurring out of the lightning’s path.

"You can fool me once, but you can’t fool me twice!" The man laughed at the misplaced spell.

That was the moment Moon moved.

Instead of holding his position, or preparing the next ranged spell like he always did, Moon decided to attack.

Moon surged forward into close range. A dagger materialized in his free hand, summoned from his storage ring. Purple lightning crackled along its blade.

The assassin landed from his dodge and saw Moon already inside his guard.

His eyes widened.