The White Fox was swift. Although it was larger than both Mane and the Slender Cat, its movement speed wasn't at all inferior to Mane's. Once it had made up its mind to attack and moved, it didn't take it even a second to reach Mane. Her eyes gleamed coldly as the armor around her paws shifted slightly and coated her powerful claws, sharpening them even further. Once her preparations were completed, she slapped her paw towards Mane with a mighty strike.
Mane could feel the powerful wind hitting his face even before the strike landed. The White Fox was terrifyingly fast. And in no time her paw was right before his face. Those claws were as large as the width of his neck, and he knew that although his titan skin was difficult to breach, the pain from the impact could be disastrous. Besides, he could be sent flying into the barrier from the impact, and just like he had done with the others, he could be on the receiving end of the barrier's punishment. So Mane avoided the blow without any hesitation.
*Whoosh*
In one swift motion Mane ducked elegantly as the large paw flashed past the top of his head, tearing apart the laws of Wind that stood in that place. The blow was so strong that the wind it generated traveled all the way to the barrier and created a loud explosion upon impact. She was indeed a Battle Beast, for even a normal strike had this much power.
But Mane didn't let that daunt him. If something like this could faze him, he wouldn't have lived this long, neither would he have had the gall to claim that he was one made for war. After he ducked, he threw out a punch of his own. His feet pushed off the ground, destroying the platform below him as he gathered power into his right arm. Several small explosions occurred on his arm as lightning and fire intermingled with each other and a small ball of their combined might formed upon Mane's curled up fist.
"Hah"
With a mighty bellow Mane threw out an uppercut so deadly that even the White Fox was alarmed by it. For just like her blow, even before the punch reached her, the wind it generated was crushing and was pushing her back. Since she was still midair and a bit unstable after her attack, she didn't have much of a choice than to face the blow head on. Added to the fact that the blow came at a speed that was slightly faster than her own movement speed, she couldn't avoid it. But she could brace herself for impact.
Several crystals relocated from her back to her belly to reinforce the defense of that area, for that was the target of Mane's blow. The crystals hardly had the time to settle before Mane's fist crushed into the White Fox's abdomen. A few cracking sounds were heard as several crystal fragments were forcefully broken off and Mane's fire and lightning energy blasted apart the area of impact.
*Boom*
The White Fox held her grunt of pain as she was sent flying upwards towards the barrier. Her abdomen was slightly bloodied and the area around her new wound was surrounded by fire and lightning. However, the good thing was that her energy was successfully suppressing the destructive energy that sought to invade her body. And it was winning. The other good news for her was that the wound wasn't deep. Her crystal armor had served her well.
As she traveled towards the barrier, her eyes weren't filled with a great deal of worry. And Mane wasn't expecting much. And this was because both knew that there was someone here on the battlefield who wasn't going to allow the White Fox to crash into the barrier and lose much of her strength. After all, losing another teammate would be detrimental to her.
Before the White Fox could travel far, a transparent barrier appeared above her and she crushed into it swiftly. However, unlike the barrier that saved the Slender Cat, this barrier was better made, and had some elasticity. So when the White Fox crashed into it, it didn't cause a massive explosion like it did with the Slender Cat. Rather it received her gently and stretched slightly to dissipate her momentum, before pushing her back down to the ground.
*Boom*
The White Fox landed gracefully, just like the queen she was. That didn't mean the platform was appreciative of her landing. For yet another dent had appeared upon its surface. And just like the others, it was a deep dent.
*Grr*
The White Fox released a low growl as the pain from her wound reminded her of the presence of a new injury on her body. But the pain didn't last for long. Her passive wound healing kicked in as the wound slowly closed up. It wasn't as effective as the healing power of the Ebony Panther King, but it was impressive nevertheless.
Mane didn't have the time to pay attention to the White Fox, mainly because the sharp wind that scratched his back was the warning he needed to let him know that the Ebony Panther King was after him.
"He really does have amazing regenerative abilities," Mane mumbled. His attack had broken a few bones and caused a great deal of damage. After all, unlike the White Fox, the Slender Cat had no crystal armor. Yet in just a few seconds those wounds had been mended. And Mane was left with no choice but to admit that the Slender Cat was massively talented in the healing department.
Mane didn't bother to turn his back and face the Slender Cat. His feet pushed off the ground as he dashed forward. He was still a Scholar, and his senses had already pinpointed the target of the Panther King's attack. Mane had barely dived out of the way when the sharp claws of the Slender Cat descended upon the part of the platform where he previously stood and tore it apart like it was a fragile sheet of paper!
*RIP*
Using nothing but his senses, Mane identified the presence of the Slender Cat behind him. He locked on to the creature whose agility was already troubling him and kept it in his radar. Then curled his right elbow, with his spike pointing outwards and dove into the Slender Cat. In doing all this, Mane hadn't turned to face the Slender Cat even once!
Mane's hair flowed freely in the wind as his large titanic figure traveled several kilometers in less than a second. The eyes of the Panther King flashed with a bit of caution when it saw Mane's rapidly approaching figure. To many Mane was nothing but a blur right now. But the Panther King was faster than him, with greater reaction speed as well. He could easily make out the trajectory of Mane's attack and evade it. And that was exactly what he did. Taking a quick dash to the right, the Slender Cat made evading Mane's blow look fairly easy. His movement was so simple that one would have thought that the two had choreographed this fight. However, the killing intent in the eyes of the Ebony Panther King was no act. The coldness in its eyes reflected a deep desire to get rid of the Young Supreme who had given him a much harder time than he thought. And he set out to do just that.
*Bang*
*Boom*
*Bang*
*Bam*
Several booming sounds rang out as Mane and the Slender Cat clashed over and over again. Mane could barely get a hit in. The Slender Cat however, had successfully struck Mane several times as his superior agility and reflexes showed their dominance in the two's battle. However, Mane's skin was tough to breach. And even with his powerful strikes, he wasn't able to break Mane's defenses. As for his claws, Mane somehow managed to evade them each time, something that confused the Slender Cat. For if the boy was not quick enough to block his strikes and even his tail, how did he avoid his claws?
On the other end, the White Fox wasn't dawdling either. Her mouth opened wide as she summoned the forces of Edict within the vicinity. And they streaked towards her without any hesitation.
*Glow: Triple Element Breath Attack*
Fire, Wind and the rare Metal element gathered before the Whit Fox. Slowly all three elements merged into one and stabilized under the nurturing of the White Fox who was just as eager to kill Mane now as the Slender Cat was. Slowly the ball grew bigger and more stable, and the eyes of the White Fox were filed with anticipation.
The Ebony Panther King was doing a good job keeping Mane at bay. Both creatures were engulfed by flames, but they weren't quite the same. Although Mane had lesser energy, his flames were more powerful and corrosive, capable of burning apart the space around him. And the lightning that constantly fed the flames with more power kept the Slender Cat at bay, for no one wanted to taste the might of one of the most destructive elements in the universe.
"He seems restrained," Mane noticed. The Slender Cat had a greater attack power than the White Fox. After all, Mane had observed him with an augmented version of Spirt Scan and had seen for himself how high the power of the Slender Cat was. It was the strongest among all those that had been sent! However, for some reason its power was lesser than the White Fox's right now. It was almost like it was restraining itself. This intrigued him more than what the White Fox was doing. And soon, Mane understood why.
The eyes of the Ebony Panther King flashed with a strange red glow as several unrecognizable characters appeared in his eyes. He took a giant leap backwards before his body underwent a change.
*Glow: Copy*
The fire that engulfed the Slender Cat died down and a crystal armor just like the White Fox's appeared around him and covered him. Then spikes identical to Mane's protruded from the armor in the same areas where Mane's were located.
"So that's why. He was focusing all his energy on replicating these abilities." Mane was now filled with understanding concerning the weakened state of the Ebony Panther King. It was likely that the Slender Cat had activated the Glow long ago, but based on the fact that the Crystal Armor of the White Fox was a high level glow and Mane's form was a Primordial one, he wasn't able to replicate them as quickly as he would have hoped. Besides, it had taken a great deal of his energy to copy one of them, much less two.
*Roar*
The Slender Cat roared in relief once this was done. A large degree of confidence filled the eyes of the Ebony Panther King as his flames once again engulfed him.
*Roar*
It was at this point that the Breath Attack of the White Fox was completed. And the Ebony Panther King retreated hastily upon hearing the warning cry of the White Fox. As for Mane, he stood there silently with an eerie smile on his face.
*Roar*
The White Fox released another powerful roar before letting go of the Triple Element Breath Attack. The golden yellow ball with several streaks of green and black running through it flew towards Mane with blinding speed. Yet all Mane did was watch it whilst mobilizing the forces of Chaos. And soon the words of a Lease escaped his mouth, right before the fiery mass reached him.
"Reflexionem"
*Boom*