"Wind Tornado!"
This was an attack that Azaroth was trying to set up since the start of this fight.
He had been controlling the Wind Ardor all around his surroundings, and he felt that he finally possessed enough control to use this technique.
The Wind Ardor was moving at an extremely high pace as it lifted the Golden Ape and Azaroth off the ground.
The Wind Tornado used its pressure to split apart Azaroth and the Golden Ape, which eventually happened.
Azaroth was soon out of this Wind Tornado and concentrated hard as he sent the Golden Ape high in the air.
Once the Golden Ape had reached the apex of the tornado, the tornado began to change shape.
In certain terms, the tornado seemed to be shrinking rapidly, far more quickly than the speed at which the Golden Ape fell.
"Aero Dragon."
The entire tornado had been compressed to form a 10-meter long Chinese Wind Dragon as it raised its head and charged at the falling Golden Ape.
Before crashing into the Golden Ape, it roared out loudly, as if showing off its power.
The Golden Ape braced itself for the impact as it saw the Wind Dragon charging at itself.
The Aero Dragon soon struck the Golden Ape's lower body.
This time, Azaroth's aim wasn't to slice the Golden Ape but shake its internal organs so vigorously that it would be unable to fight ahead.
The Golden Ape did feel its internal organs, and even its joint bones shake a little. However, after a second, it felt as if its body was absolutely normal. Not a hint of the pain could be felt by this Golden Ape as its fists were enveloped with its radiant golden aura and it showered a flurry of punches on Azaroth with blinding speed.
This was the Golden Ape's attack known as Meteor Shower.
Truly, the force behind it was exceptionally strong and there seemed to be no end to these attacks.
If someone looked from Azaroth's position, all they would see are gigantic balls showered at him. The name Meteor Shower fit the technique quite well.
Even though this was an exceptional attack, Azaroth seemed somewhat prepared for it.
A Wind Barrier formed over his head with a half convex shape and blocking that Meteor Shower sturdily.
Azaroth still felt the shockwave of those attacks even as he blocked the fists heading his way. Those shockwaves were more than enough to break the ground underneath him but he didn't let up.
The Wind Barrier wasn't going to withstand this any soon. Another 2 seconds and it would collapse…
Since the Wind Barrier was going to collapse anyway, Azaroth decided to take a risk.
He pushed the Wind Barrier towards the Golden Ape that was still in the air. His main aim was to just throw away the Golden Ape from such a good position and break his momentum.
However, as Azaroth raised his Wind Barrier, the shockwave he felt increased tremendously. He remained standing on the ground as he understood its significance.
His resilience showed results as the Golden Ape was struck by that Wind Barrier and his momentum did break. The Golden Ape was forced to stop his technique and he was thrown away by the Wind.
But before Azaroth could take a relieved sigh, his body tensed again as he saw the direction the Golden Ape was thrown.
It was the direction in which Sophie was hiding.
Azaroth knew that this Golden Ape's senses were quite active. Once it senses Sophie near him, he will immediately attack her.
The distance between the Golden Ape and Sophie was quite close, while the distance between Azaroth and Sophie was quite large.
Well, it could be considered large if he only used Wind to cross it. If he used his Lightning element, that would be another matter altogether.
However, the big question for Azaroth was if he should show off his Lightning Element to Sophie or not.
Considering that she was Edwin's classmate, there must have remembered that he only had a wind element and no affinity towards the Lightning Element.
There was little to no time to think as the Golden Ape was looking at Sophie's direction blankly for a couple of seconds before grinning fiendishly.
The Golden Ape didn't mind killing this human first and then dealing with that annoying one.
The punch enveloped by the Golden Aura was thrown at Sophie.
Sophie clenched her wooden doll tightly with a fearless look. It was as if she didn't fear this Golden Ape at all. Naturally, her faith resided in that wooden doll she was holding tightly.
But before the Golden Ape could even take a proper step towards her, Azaroth suddenly appeared with a red flicker.
Azaroth blocked the Golden Ape's punch with his own chest. As the punch landed, Azaroth felt that he heard some cracks in his bones and was thrown towards Sophie.
Sophie was stunned to see Azaroth suddenly appear ahead of her.
The hand with which she was clenching her wooden doll relaxed slightly as Azaroth crashed into her body.
While they were in mid-air, Azaroth held Sophie's arms and pulled her towards him while throwing his own body towards the ground to prevent Sophie's body from sliding against the ground.
However, the momentum was still too great and Sophie wasn't able to stay balanced even as she was pulled by Azaroth. She fell in Azaroth's arms and was on top of his body as he slid against the ground.
Their bodies eventually halted. Sophie looked into Azaroth's eyes with a shocked look as she hadn't expected Azaroth to jump in and take the attack on his body.
This action was so surprising despite their close relation. She never imagined he would put his own life on the line for her.
As for how he had managed to cover the distance was beside the point. She couldn't be bothered to think deeply about it.
She was just greatly touched to see this action from Azaroth.
Meanwhile, Azaroth was groaning in pain because that punch from the Golden Ape broke his ribs.
His eyes widened in shock as he saw that Golden Ape jump at him.
Quickly, Azaroth raised his right hand and pointed it in the Golden Ape's direction.
"Greater Paralysis!"
Weak red lightning flickered around Azaroth's palm before it was shot at the Golden Ape.
The lightning attack appeared so weak that the Golden Ape didn't even raise any defenses against it.
However, this was a costly error.
In mid-air, the Golden Ape felt as if its whole body was entirely paralyzed. It crashed down into the ground.
Currently, this Greater Paralysis had halted any instructions from the Golden Ape's brain to his body parts.
"Let's run now…" Azaroth murmured with a weak voice.
Sophie heard him and immediately stood up. Azaroth stood up while ignoring the pain of his broken ribs.
He couldn't afford to stay down…
Sophie stared at the fallen Golden Ape and suggested, "Let's kill it. Otherwise, it would again follow us."
However, Azaroth held her hand and prevented her from making any rash moves, "If you attack him, his survival instincts and Ardor will overpower my attack. Also, we don't have an attack that would definitely kill this beast."
"No. I have an attack that should probably be able to deal with him." Sophie showed her wooden doll to Azaroth.
Azaroth calmly explained to Sophie, "I saw this wooden doll. And I understand that this holds an attack from your father. However, from what I can sense, the Golden Ape can survive this attack. And one of the most terrifying abilities of a Golden Ape is its ability to adapt to a stronger power. Also, after it recovers from such an injured state, it would be significantly stronger than before. It's better to leave it here."
Sophie gauged Azaroth's state before she spoke, "Then what if he pursues us right now? You aren't in any condition to fight."
Azaroth shook his head negatively, "He can't pursue us now since I have torn its ligaments. It can't feel the pain because of the adrenaline rush. As long as we don't antagonize it too much and not activate its survival instincts, it won't be in a condition to follow us."
"Alright. But when did you tear his ligaments? I never saw you do that." Sophie was surprised to hear that news.
"The Aero Dragon that struck the Golden Ape was what tore its ligaments. I am sure it would soon feel the pain as his body calms down." Azaroth calmly answered.
However, Azaroth was in a similar state. As his own adrenaline rush had stopped, he was beginning to feel even more pain in his ribs.
"Let's leave."
"Mhm~" Sophie nodded her head and immediately grabbed Azaroth's hand as they both began running in the capital's direction.
It went without saying that because of his injuries, Azaroth couldn't run at a fast pace. And since Sophie herself wasn't very quick, they were both running at a moderate pace.
As they were running, Sophie suddenly inquired Azaroth, "You used the Red Lightning, didn't you? How can you use the Celestial Lightning?"
Azaroth suddenly stopped as he heard Sophie's question.
Sophie stopped as well and stared at Azaroth's face that was full of hesitation.
She had a gentle smile as she added, "If you don't want to answer then you don't need to. I was just slightly curious, that's all."
Azaroth gazed at her gentle smile and a resolute look appeared in his eyes. It was as if he had made up his mind, "This is a secret that even I came to know just recently so I would appreciate it if you keep it to yourself, Sophie."
"I told you didn't I? If you aren't comfortable sharing it then you don't need to." Sophie told Azaroth with a straight face.
Azaroth shook his head and replied, "No. I trust you. And I also wanted to share it with you earlier but was a little nervous and scared."
"Recently, when I went hunting with a few of my servants, I unknowingly activated the dormant Celestial Blood in me. It was at that moment I understood that I am a hybrid possessing the human and celestial powers." Azaroth finally told her the truth.
Even though Sophie had expected this answer, she still showed some surprise on her face.
She also understood why he was hesitant and a little scared about sharing it with her.
The hybrids were looked down on, no matter what race it was. The Celestials would abhor the hybrids possessing Celestial Blood while the humans wouldn't accept them.
"I understand if you don't wish to have any contact with me from now on." Azaroth suddenly spoke before turning his head away.
Suddenly, he felt something soft and warm pressed against his lips.
His eyes remained widened in shock as Azaroth saw Sophie pressing her lips against his own, kissing him passionately.
Her tongue entered Azaroth's mouth as she began a tongue battle against him.
After a few minutes, Sophie's lips finally parted.
She had a mischievous yet sincere smile as she spoke, "This should give you my answer. To damn with those annoying customs. I like you, no, I love you, Edwin. I don't care if you are a hybrid or not. To me, you are the man who has stolen my heart. Your secret shall forever remain safe with me."
Azaroth looked at her with a relieved yet shy expression, "T-thank you."
However, meanwhile, in his heart, Azaroth was thinking calmly 'Finally this is over with. That was really cringe-acting from me. But with this, I have a useful piece to interfere in the capital.'
"Let's get going now," Sophie added as she held Azaroth's hand and they continued their run.
"Hmm."
With this, both of them began running at a similar pace as before.
While running, Azaroth was quickly healing his ribs using the Golden Flames. Considering Sophie's Ardor sensory abilities, she shouldn't sense his Golden Flames as long as he doesn't bring it out of his body.