Theoric followed the fist, willing it to vanish when they were far enough away from the temple only to find the old man no longer there.
Expecting this, he wasn't caught unaware when the old man reappeared behind him, quickly turning just as the strike came, drawing his sword in one fluid motion slicing off an arm, only for the severed limb to continue striking him in the chest blasting him away a few dozen feet before he stabilized.
Watching the severed limb reconnects like nothing, just like when Grani's claw strikes went through him like air. He put the sword away, glaring at the old man who was laughing maniacally,- "Hahaha, I see those bastards sent you to test me, see if I'm weakened, did they? Well as you can see, I haven't lost nothing, and now I'll show you and them why it took the two strongest gods to deal with me, and even then I came out on top," Aeolus said evaporating from sight with a whoosh of wind before reappearing on Theoric's left side kicking which he tried to block, but the leg went right through nailing him in the face.
The old man laughed again with a smug look,- "You really think you can contend with me, Zeus and Poseidon couldn't and neither will you, I'm the best! The Greatest! The strongest! Bow before me and repent and I might give you a seat of power when I take back Olympus."
Theoric instinctively wiped his face with the back of his hand even though he didn't have to with the shielding still in place, sneering- "You think you're strong? Don't make me laugh, you couldn't even hurt me if you tried, the only reason why those two came after you was because you're a slippery bastard who's hard to catch," He said cutting straight to the heart of the matter in an attempt to shatter his delusions of grandeur.
Aeolus lost his happy demeanor as an ugly scowl took its place,- "We'll see about that," the old man said disappearing again.
Ready for him, Theoric listened to the wind as he prepared for another attack. Looking up just as he heard the swoosh of air above, throwing his hand up to try and catch the incoming foot, only to see him disappear again before connecting, reappearing a distance away with an ugly face.
Aeolus knew deep down where his true strength lied, no matter how crazed or demented he became or wished for it to be different, he knew he couldn't contend with the other gods in brute strength. He always relied on the uniqueness of his power, being one of the few gods to have their power represented in a physical form, an elemental body of air that was both hard to see and catch when used right.
"Alright, let's kick this up a notch and see why they sent you." Aeolus sneered.
Choosing not to correct him, knowing it didn't really matter, Theoric tried to think of a way to deal with his tricky power.
Energizing his hands he thought of an idea as he charged first trying to close the gap only for the old man to easily keep distance, flying around Theoric with ease, showing his air superiority.
Aeolus scoffed,- "You think you can challenge me in the air, did you forget what I"m god of... Here let me show you," he said causing a mini tornado to form right on Theoric, spinning him around.
Growing dizzy, Theoric shot a bubbled barrier out, ending it while coincidentally blocking another attack. Shattering upon impact with a powerful wind blade, which caused Theoric to come to the sobering conclusion that he was, in fact, fighting an Olympian god and not just some run-of-the-mill guy, if he wasn't careful he could get hurt.
"Tch," Aeolus clicked his tongue watching his attack fail,- "You got lucky, but let's see how you deal with this," he said throwing his hands left and right at a rapidly increasing pace. Shooting wind blade after wind blade towards Theoric who put up more and more barriers to defend himself.
Aeolus then started to circle him at an ever-increasing rate of speed, using various degrees of delays on his attacks so Theoric wouldn't know where the next wind blade would come from as they started to appear from every angle causing him to shell up like a turtle.
Growing frustrated once again being on the receiving end as he listened to Aeolus wildly laughing, enjoying the target practice. Theoric preferred to be the one doing the attacking, not being attacked.
"Come out, come out and playyyayyy, haha, I can keep this up all dayyyayyy, no all week, no all year, haha" Aeolus crazily laughed as he continued to circle him forming more and more wind blades.
An angry Theoric concentrated his energy on one side of the barrier and pushed out, breaking away only for Aeolus to appear at a distance on his side throwing a punch which Theoric ignored at first until a super-compressed air blast shot out slamming into him, tearing right through his shielding and blasting him away as he coughed up a bit of blood.
Aeolus laughed,- "How's that for not hurting."
Theoric righting himself turned to look at the laughing old man,- "You got me, I'll give you that, but this won't end well for you, you did something no one ever should, and I'm going to kill you for that," he emotionlessly stated like a fact, which caused Aeolus's laugh to die as a shiver went down his spine.
Regaining his composure, Aeolus brushed away the unnerving feeling, asking with a toothy grin- "Did I? Why don't you tell me what I did so I can do it again."
Theoric could only give a dead-eye stare in response. Now he truly knew how far gone the gods were, they no longer even knew what was right or wrong, probably thought everything they did was their right.
Raising his hand, Theoric started to form blades in response, creating dozens of swords, firing them at Aeolus who didn't even move, letting them pass right through while laughing,- "Struck a nerve did I? Now whos the crazy one, using attacks that will never harm me in a million, bajillion years, or ever, are you trying to make me laugh to death?" He jokingly asked.
But suddenly Aeolus's felt something on his face, wiping it off, his eyes widened at what he saw. His eyes going cross-eye, following a tiny trail of Ichor falling off his nose. Bleeding for the first time in a very, very long time, not since fleeing Zeus and Poseidon who used powerful magical might against him.
He freaked out,- "What happened?! What did you..." He trailed off as he cried in pain when another wound showed up, and then another and another until he finally took action and began to dodge the swords.
Theoric frowned seeing his plan not work as well as he would like, it seemed like all he could achieve with his hollow swords were superficial wounds as they flew through Aeolus capturing small pieces of his air form and carrying them so far away that they couldn't be retrieved when reforming.
He regretted not getting an eye, but even Aeolus instinctively avoided having things fly straight into his eyes even if they weren't supposed to harm him.
"You Bastard, I'LL KILL YOU! I haven't felt pain since those two bastards came after me, and now some nobody thinks he can contend with me? Contend with the best? I"ll make you pay, I'll make you all pay!" Aeolus yelled, punching out with a tornado fist that grew as it went. obstructing Theoric's view as he tried to fly away only to be dragged into it.
Creating a large flat barrier, he killed the tornado only to get blasted from up above as a super-compressed air blast slammed into him, knocking him straight down to the ground. Crashing with a loud 'boom' as he hit, forming a small crater on impact.
Jumping out of the crater, he looked up and around for Aeolus, a bit hesitant to take to the sky's again, but thinking that if he didn't, there was a chance his attention could turn back to the temple, he reluctantly took flight again.
Rising just past the tree line, he saw another airstrike coming from above, quickly forming a shield overhead to defend himself. Aeolus then appeared at the side, winding up another compressed air punch.
Theoric shot a hollow sword at him only for him to vanish with the wind and reappear behind him on the other side, finishing his punch as another compressed airstrike came at him. This time, however, Theoric formed a wedge barrier diverting most of the impact away, easily defending against it as he shot it out, trying to proactively engage back. Infuriating Aeolus, who flew around and kicked a wind blade at his exposed side before quickly showing up on the other side again with another wind blade and then below with another.
Theoric flew higher, allowing the blades to hit each other as he started to form another round of hollow swords, not wanting to be only on the receiving end anymore. Taking control, he wielded them around him at a distance, making them follow Aeolus like homing missiles as he tried to escape while firing more of his wind blades.
Breaking out into an aerial battle, shooting their blades back and forth, Theoric made up for his mobility disadvantage with shields as he tried his best to catch Aeolus off-guard with swords from different directions, poor attempts at catching him in a trap. Airpower easily allowing him to avoid everything, making the fight a stalemate as they came to a stop, staring at each other with hateful expressions.