In a fight, the person who struck first was always the person at a risk. Although striking first handed you the momentum, it was still risky for it could so easily be used against you – your enthusiasm. But when a person was hit first and countered spectacularly, all the momentum swung back in his or her favor. And when such a person struck, there was a mental shackle that prevented the others that remained from fully accessing their power. This scenario perfectly embodied such a situation. The Mini Giant struck first and failed. And not only had he failed, he had failed so spectacularly that the others were unsure of what to do. And Mane wasn't going to give them time to. He had the momentum now, and his blood that boiled in rage and chaos was eager to see the blood of others spilled.
Mane made the first move. Bending his knees, he gathered power into his legs and pushed forwards, leaving a huge hole on the floor of the platform.
*Boom*
Mane streaked forward like a comet. His figure blazed with the flames of Brimstone, enriched by the power of his Breath: True Flames. Basileus was still active, and with it Mane molded the flames around him as he saw fight with Leases. With Words of Power he enforced his senses and reduced the opponents – not like it was highly effective against foes with such impressive Spirit energy – but it was better than nothing.
Mane had his first target even before the match began – the Human Scholar. Feeling the aura of the youth before her shackle her in her place, the brows of the Human Scholar furrowed slightly before her staff lit up brilliantly in a cacophony of colors and sounds. She slowly opened her mouth, her lovely lips parting to accommodate the action of her inviting tongue,
"Scutum Plenum" she said, and a transparent shield made entirely of Chaos formed around her. Mane was expressionless even after her preparations were completed. It would take all his energy for him to bypass that shield with Absolute Darkness. So he readjusted his steps and pushed to the side right before he could crush into the shield. His eyes fell upon the figure of the Wraith and his lips parted to employ the use of both Edict and Chaos.
"Recreation: Origami Spears"
Several pieces of white paper escaped Mane's clothes and formed paper spears with sharply pointed ends.
"Augendae: Origami Spears"
Using Chaos, Mane strengthened that which was made of Edict. And then he activated another Lease, one that was meant to cause damage to a being of Spirit like a Wraith.
"Spiritus Secernere"
Spirit Severance was the name of this Lease. With Basileus Mane had a plethora of Leases at his command. And with the infinite Chaos here, he could freely use any. And that was why he wanted to take out the Human Scholar first. Although that woman was an Energy Wielding Ascender, it seemed that she had very little understanding concerning fighting with inner energy, and mainly relied on her abilities as a Spirit Queen. In such an environment, she would be tireless – just like him. So she had to be done away with. But she was much too experienced to be so easily dealt with. So he decided to go another way.
The Origami Spears glowed brilliantly when Mane casted his Lease on them. And they became almost intangible. Their forms frolicked between dim and bright; they resembled candle lights that were on the verge of going out.
"Go," Mane ordered, and the spears whizzed towards the Wraith like small rockets. Containing tiny packets of immense energy, they were eager to destroy the Spirit before them.
"Avoid that now!" the Human Scholar warned. She knew of Spiritus Secernere. It was a scary power that had the ability to destroy the Spirit foundation of any spirit, which was basically death for creatures like Wraiths and Ghosts. It was a King Level Lease that could only be activated by a Spirit Emperor or Empress. She didn't know how this kid who was merely a High Level Spiritualist could use it, but the important thing was that he was able to use it.
Even without her warning, the Wraith could feel the power contained in those tiny spear. Each spear had the power to sever her foundation a dozen times over. Much less the dozen that were flying towards her. Her eyes flashed as her gaze became that of extreme concentration.
"He's good," she thought to herself upon realizing that all points of escape and evasion had been sealed off by the spear. Their trajectories looked messy, but they were actually well thought out. And this forced her to activate one of her Glows.
"Glow: Spirit Hammer"
An enormous amount of Edict escaped the slender body of the Wraith as she constantly retreated. The energy was so vast that it created a mini energy storm with enough power to destroy a human city. Soon a giant hammer that was made out of pure Edict appeared in the storm and sucked up all the energy. Spirit energy from the Wraith rushed into the hammer and turned it into a flickering mess, just like the Origami Spears.
"Come down!" the Wraith screamed, and the hammer descended into her slender arms before settling within her palms quite nicely. It was so large that one would have assumed that the bony arms of the Wraith would come off upon contact with the mighty hammer, but they didn't. In fact, she wielded the hammer so well that it made the others doubt whether what was in her hands was truly a hammer. It actually wasn't that strange. As something baptized by Spirit Energy, the hammer was half spirit. Only those who understood and could manipulate their own spirits like Wraiths could use it. Even then, it would be very heavy to anyone else but the Wraith whose Spirit energy shaped the hammer.
"Roar!" the Wraith let out an angry roar as she smashed her giant hammer towards the encroaching spears. With thunderous applause, both forces crashed into each other.
*Boom*
Like the detonation of several rockets, the spears exploded upon contact with the hammer, causing the large weapon to develop several cracks along its head. Blood seeped out of the mouth of the Wraith who was connected to the hammer. Yet her eyes were steely with resolve. And when the last spear had been destroyed, she let out a rare smile despite the fact that the weapon had created another large crack on her hammer. But when she turned to look into the eyes of the boy before her, she felt a chill within her spirit. His eyes were expressionless and calm. Almost as if he had accomplished just what he wanted.
"Gotcha" Mane mumbled
"Watch out!" the Human Scholar screamed. But alas, it was too late.
For there was another Origami Spear that no one had noticed before. It was made out of black paper and had been hidden by the element of darkness, with assistance from a Lease called Una Cum Natura. This Lease allowed anything to blend anything within naturally made objects. As this entire space was made out of pure energy and the forces of nature, a Lease like that was highly functional. And it served its purpose well.
*Puchi*
"Cough" the Wraith coughed out a mouthful of blood as she toppled over. Her head made an unnatural 360 turn as her eyes trailed down to the small black spear embedded within her back. Its location was right at the area of the superior lobe of her left lung, which was were her Spirit foundation was.
"Explode," Mane snapped his fingers, causing the spear to blow up, and destroy the Spirit foundation of the Wraith completely in the process, effectively killing her. Mane hardly had the time to watch the toppling figure of the dead Wraith when the other Mini Giant descended upon him recklessly.
"You dare kill a member of my race!" the giant screamed whilst preparing his axe for a devastating strike.
*Glow: Strength Boost*
*Glow: Muscle Fortification*
The large axe of the Giant cleaved through the air like a whistling death reaper and sought Mane's head. However, Mane was faster than the giant. His body flashed with a green glow as he darted to the side to avoid the strong strike of the giant. And that proved to be a wise decision, for the attack was so strong that the platform was broken into two!
*Boom*
"I guess he really is a brute," Mane mumbled as he constantly back peddled to avoid falling within the huge chasm that had been created by the insane strength of the giant. This platform was no ordinary one. Ascended Beings rarely fought on their planets because of the destruction their powers could cause. There were several instances of Ascenders destroying their worlds accidentally in their duels. And that was why the World of the Three Great Races was so impressive. For it still stood even after gods warred in it. And this giant was clearly a being who possessed such planet breaking strength. His world must be pretty strong as well to contain a being like him.
"I will kill you!" the giant screamed as he tried jumping the huge chasm to get to Mane. But it was stopped in its tracks by the man of the Slender Cat Race.
"Stay still. Going alone will get you killed." The man was very calm and composed. Even when the Wraith died he only cast a sideways glance at her before watching Mane with keen interest. In the entire ordeal, he didn't attempt to strike Mane even once. If he had, Mane wouldn't have been able to accomplish his goals so easily.
"He is right. We must stand together." The White Fox Lady was also one who had remained still throughout the entire process. And she was quick to take the Slender Cat's side.
"He called himself a godling, did he not?" The Heavenly Pistol Shrimp also refrained from making any moves. His eyes were squinted slightly as he observed Mane's figure. The boy had successfully avoided falling over. Now, he was just watching them – calmly.
"With the kind of strength he displayed, I wouldn't doubt that he is" the Human Scholar frowned and said.
Gods and humans were so similar that it was easy to confuse the two. If the boy was a child of gods, they wouldn't be able to tell with just his physical features. However, if they were to judge based on the strength he had displayed so far – killing a giant and a wraith – then they had to admit that he was probably right. What worried her was his background. If the boy was this strong, then his parents who were gods were certainly above their pay grade. Yet she didn't dare voice her complaints. She was certain that the others had also considered this. And that was why they hadn't made any moves.