Chapter 1159 Challenging the Heavens (2)
1159 Challenging the Heavens (2) Nôv(el)B\\jnn
With Scho'doxa officially signaling the start of the match, the orc did not hesitate to charge towards Valyr, retrieving a large war axe from his spatial bracelet before empowering himself with a stat-boosting skill.
Swoosh!
"[Limit Break: Second Verse]."
"[First Encore]."
In response to the orc's movements, Valyr went ahead and activated his own stat-boosting skills. After all, the only way he could even the playing field between the two of them was by empowering his stats as much as he could.
"[Refined Offense Aura]."
"[Refined Defense Aura]."
"[Four Paths Azure Elemental Arts: Raging Azure Phoenix]."
"[Four Paths Azure Elemental Arts: Enduring Azure Turtle]."
"[Rage of the True Wyvern]."
Whoosh!
With all of his go-to stat-boosting skills now activated, the young man immediately felt his confidence in fighting against the orc return, prompting him to take a few steps back as the orc struck out first.
"Graaaaghh!!!"
Bang!
With the war axe's edge glowing a faint crimson red, the orc aimed at Valyr as if he were cutting a piece of firewood in half, chopping straight down.
Wanting to assess his chances at being able to make the opponent in front of him surrender, Valyr responded to the strike by casting multiple barriers and shields in front of him.
…Only for almost all of them to turn useless the moment the attack landed.
Crash!
Stacking five barriers and five shields on top of one another as his preliminary means of defense, Valyr's eyes widened in surprise when only a single barrier remained after the orc's attack.
Being reminded not to underestimate the might that a Myth-level being could unleash, the young man did not hesitate to activate [Flash of the Azure Dragon], swiftly increasing the gap between the two of them.
Whoosh!
"I am definitely not gonna engage him in close combat," murmured Valyr to himself, briefly glancing behind him to see whether the orc was chasing after him.
Surprisingly, the orc remained where it stood after the attack. Though, in exchange, he kept his eyes on the young man, making the latter feel as if the orc was staring daggers at him.
After a bit more running around the arena, Valyr eventually understood why the orc stood in place, raising its war axe once more as its edge turned a bloody crimson.
Then, without hesitation…
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The orc swung the war axe as if he were mowing down his foes in the battlefield, sending blade after blade of crimson light towards the young man, all of them containing a level of lethality Valyr did not dare to endure.
"Haah!"
Keeping an eye on his energy reserves at all times, Valyr went ahead and conjured another barrier around him for safety before activating the Truth Weaver Scripture.
Then, after empowering one of his stronger Intents to bolster his offensive power, the young man briefly stuck his magic staff to the ground before retrieving the spear behind his back.
"[Four Paths Azure War Arts]."
"[Stampede of the Azure Tiger]!"
Keeping an eye on all the energy blades that were flying towards him, Valyr let out a short exhale before swinging his crimson spear upwards, swiftly conjuring a wave of dark blue energy that soon transformed into a bunch of azure tigers.
Affixing the spear onto his back, the young man grabbed his magic staff before continuing to run once more, watching as the azure tigers began to fight against the energy blades the orc shot out.
"Roaaaarrrr!!!"
Imbue with the element of Earth, the azure tigers struck at the blades of crimson light with all their might, dispelling some of the orc's attacks as the azure tigers gradually grew in number.
At some point, the rate at which the orc sent out its energy blades began to fall behind the rate at which the azure tigers multiplied, causing the orc's expression to turn unsightly as the tables had been turned around.
"[Prime Azure Heavenfall]!"
However, just as he was about to prepare an attack that would immediately render the stampede of the azure tigers as a thing of the past, the orc felt a large entity looming above his head.
"Grxhsk…" Looking up in response, the orc was immediately greeted by the sight of an azure meteor threatening to crush him into a fine paste, prompting him to briefly glance at the young man that had cast the spell from afar.
Then, briefly shifting his gaze between the two skills that were out to get him, the orc's expression eventually turned solemn as it focused the attack it was preparing towards the meteor above it.
"Grsh… grahhhk!"
Bang!
As the orc threw his war axe towards the meteor, Valyr felt as if the move would end up becoming futile. After all, even though the orc was at the Myth-level, he was still fighting against the momentum of an actual meteor.
Yet, just as the young man thought the move was useless…
Crack… crack…
Boom!
At the moment the war axe struck the azure meteor, it shot out a thin blade of crimson light that caused the meteor to fracture.
Then, continuing to send out blades of crimson lights towards the meteor, the meteor eventually fractured on its own, exploding into a meteor shower that barely struck the orc.
If anything, the ones struck by the meteor shower… were the azure tigers.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Whether it was the fact that they were nearing the end of the skill's duration, or the fact that Valyr had put more energy into forming the azure meteor, the azure tigers immediately succumbed to the remnants of the azure meteor, causing large swathes of the wave to disappear in an instant.
Because of that, the orc effectively struck two birds with one stone, reducing the threat of both of Valyr's attacks to something that was more negligible.
With that, the orc looked at the frowning young man with a grin, telling the latter through his expression that he would be the one winning the fight.
In response to that, the young man's expression turned grim, only for him to flash a playful smile at the orc not long after.
Looking at the smile the young man returned to him, the orc could not help but slightly shudder in response, getting the feeling that the young man had only shown him a faint glimpse of what he was capable of.
Though, after mulling over the thought for a bit, the orc shook his head as he discarded the thoughts from his mind.
Sure, he thought it was impressive that the young man could utilize both magic and weapons in his combat style, even more so after he found out from Scho'doxa that the young man was at the peak of Rank 4.
'Surely he doesn't have more tricks up his sleeve, right?' thought the orc to himself, gearing himself up for what he would consider a reversal in initiative.
Unfortunately, what he did not know…
…was that Valyr truly did have more tricks up his sleeve.
…
Bang!
"Grrssh gr'shhh!!!" Watching as the young man in front of him conjured a maelstrom of attacks that involved the four elements, the battered and bruised orc thought that enough was enough, immediately voicing out his surrender towards Scho'doxa.
"Valyr, stop!" However, as he did not understand the language of the orcs, Valyr continued with the attack he prepared, seeing the orc's current condition as an opportunity for him to land a severe hit to render the orc unable to fight.
Fortunately, before that could happen, Scho'doxa understood what was going on, directly telling Valyr what the orc said just now.
With that, the young man dispelled his prepared attack before it could even hit the orc, causing the latter to let out a wide sigh of relief as he looked at Valyr with fear.
Out of all the fights both Valyr and the orc have had so far, the two were more than confident that the fight they just had was possibly the longest.
After all, the two exchanged over hundreds, if not thousands of attacks at each other for over half an hour, which would've been more than enough to kill every being on a battlefield if their attacks were directed there.
Then again, the only reason why their fight lasted for over half an hour was because both sides had a lot of ways to defend and evade against each other's attacks, eventually turning the entire fight into a battle of endurance.
With both sides battered, bruised, and beaten up from each other's attacks, the two soon stood in front of one another, looking at each other with respect in their gazes.
With the help of Scho'doxa acting as a translator, Valyr and the orc were even able to hold a brief conversation about the fight, even talking a bit about the ongoing war that was happening between their races.
In the end, the two came to a mutual understanding that if the war ever came to an end and they were still alive, they would share a drink and talk about their experiences even further, forging a bond of sorts through the fight they just had.
"Grkh… grshh' grhk." As these words left the orc's mouth, Valyr looked at Scho'doxa, who immediately translated the message for him.
"I also hope the war ends soon," said the young man as he nodded to the orc, prompting Scho'doxa to translate his message for the latter in return.
With that, the two of them parted ways as Scho'doxa teleported the orc back to his arena with a snap of his fingers, prompting Valyr to take out a couple of potions from his spatial bracelet.
"So…" Watching Valyr down the potions in one go, Scho'doxa paused for a bit before asking the question that came to his mind earlier. "Got any plans on changing your strategy for the next fight?"
"Definitely." Feeling slightly rejuvenated after drinking the potions, the young man let out a sigh of relief before looking at Scho'doxa with a faint smile.
"It's time for me to bring out the arquebus."
This is probably the fight chapter that I enjoyed writing the most so far. Then again... how would Valyr integrate the spear, his magic, and the arquebus together?
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! If you did, please vote for the novel with your power stones and golden tickets! I'd highly appreciate it!