NPOA is back!

Dahn's head remained bowed, but his empty gaze was unquestionably fixed on The Three Step King now. He whispered words which seemed to pierce deeper than any move.

"You still honestly believe that you lost to me because you were distracted by her? And you DARE call me pathetic? After all this time...you've learned NOTHING!" At the last word, bloody strings of purple and blue light swirled in his hand and he clawed at himself, reaching inside his own chest, to pull out...something else. Shimmering strands of some unknown Qi coalesced, flourescent blue, twined together, Dahn dragged the net out of himself with shivering hands.

Nine Blades-Infinite Control

The strings coiled around his own body, giving himself the appearance of a puppet. Suddenly his head snapped up, though it did not completely lose its lifeless appearance. It looked...ghastly, almost ghoul-like. The Three Step King glanced contemptuously at Dahn's stature and began to compliment him mockingly,

"Oh...? Finally capable of standing up straight old friend? Wait...your Qi channels are still severed, how can you possibly control your body...?" His expression changed as Dahn's left hand clenched and the net of strings running over his fingers into his chest shivered and turned invisible. Bleeding from his dantian, Dahn had never looked so alive to Lineir. He took a step forward and though he appeared apathetic, a sense of authority emanated from this motion which shook all spectators to the core. This...this is what a real expert is capable of!  Lineir thought as he subconsciously backed away slightly. Something's coming!

"You...you threaded your own body with Qi strings. Like...like how a necromancer might control the Undead! But...the pain! WHY?" The Three Step King finally showed the first trace of apprehension as he realized how much torment Dahn was in every waking moment. Even at the level of experts, they were not immune to pain. Yes, pain was tolerable but no Dao could contain the suffering of stabbing oneself with infinite lines of Qi. And yet...every meridian and Qi channel in Dahn's body had been threaded and bound with strings of fine Qi. "You...you've gone insane!"

After that one step, Dahn paused, staring sightlessly at The Three Step King.

"Insane? Who's to say...after I destroyed that army of the Heavens all those years ago, they refused to stop pursuing me at any cost. Despite my mastery of spacial techniques, even I could not run from Heaven's Eyes forever. They caught up to me, but in the end, I chose to let them do so. I had a plan. I would allow them to destroy my body, carve out every meridian, burn out my very Second Heart, so that I might preserve my Dao. The ultimate gamble, would my Third Heart, my resolve be able to withstand the annihilation of my flesh? I am sad to say...it was...and though I managed to escape afterwards, the Heaven's Generals satisfied that I was close to death, I regretted not choosing to die ever since. However...after all this time, unlike you, I have learned how to control myself through the pain. To ignore the fact that SHE is gone and that it was BOTH our faults! You wanted to fight ME? As I am now, even the me of yesteryear cannot compete with the current me! I AM IN CONTROL!!" 

Dahn's fingers twitched and his body accelerated so fast even The Three Step King almost lost sight of him. Needless to say, to Lineir and the spectators it truly was like he disappeared. A moment later, he re-emerged next to his demonic rival and a massive sword materialized in his hands.

Nine Blades-Return to One!!

"Yes!" The Three Step King seemed to have heard little of Dahn's words. Instead, his entire being was fixated on the tremendous Qi emanating from the sword at his back. Whirling, he had only an instant to throw out his own blade to block. However, though he placed one hand on the blade to block, he did not draw the blade, instead taking the blow on the sheath! "Finally true battle!"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

The world shook and Lineir felt the ground wriggle like giant worms were traveling underneath as the shockwave up above hammered the ground. Great clouds of dust billowed from the cliff and chunks of rock fragmented as an incredibly amount of Qi collided in a single moment. However...up on the projection, it was possible to just barely make out that a figure had been ejected several kilometers backwards! Squinting closer, Lineir was able to make out that it was...The Three Step King!

"Cough...cough..." The demon had caught Dahn's blow on his sheath at the last moment, but the sheer force had shunted him back and caused great damage to the cliff. Dahn stood impassively where the The Three Step King had previously stood and flexed his fingers, his body making shivering strangely as if stretching.

"It hurts...to move after all this time." He murmured but then looked up from his hands as the The Three Step King rose back to his feet. The demon's sheathed sword was still whole, but it was possible to see a long, fragmented crack in the sheath running all down the middle where Dahn had struck it. Placing one hand on the hilt of his blade, The Three Step King examined the crack and grinned.

"I love it! Even with a materialized sword, you managed to scratch my real sword sheath. No one but you has such mastery of space as to project the void into such a strong physical shape! You are still worthy to be known as Dahn Bladelord!" He crowed, looking quite happy despite his sorry shape. Dahn snorted,

"You know nothing of the void-" He began but the Three Step King cut him off in his excitement,

"Worthy...worthy...however...I'm afraid you've been rotting too long in your bones. You may have full control of your body again, but while you've been seeking to regain what you lost, I have been seeking to reach the top! Come! I've been waiting for this for too long!" The Three Step King took a step forward, his knee flexing as he entered a classic swordsman's stance, holding the sheath in one hand and the handle of the sword in another, ready to draw at any time. Dahn, similarly flexed his fingers, immense sword Qi gathering once again. The tension grew until it became apparent that in the next moment, someone was going to die-

"ANGELS!"