3rd person POV
The mountain range, where Agrona's castle was, shook as Arthur began his onslaught. His form, no more than a blur, bolted from person to person. Amethyst lightning enveloped him as he practically teleported from person to person.
No matter what rune someone had, no matter how dense the Vitra blood concentration was in their veins, no matter even if they were Vritra themselves. Arthur's sword served equal justice to everyone.
Arthur after taking down a regalia holder with a single slash, teleported behind a sovereign, as he clad his aetheric sword in destruction. His moment was like an amethyst line or blur. The next moment, a line shoots across the sovereign's torso.
"Uoohhhh??"
The line doesn't stop there. It travelled through thick pectoral muscles, across the raised leg, up the thigh, to the shoulders, and finally out the sovereign's neck.
Now an amethyst light is shining through...
And the once revered and worshipped god-like figure was cut into slabs of meat. He got into mid-stance as he plunged his sword towards another sovereign's solar plexus who sneaked behind him. The blade went through it like a hot knife in butter. Arthur rotated his sword, as the sharp end faced upwards, he slashed his body upwards.
Destruction leapt on their bodies as not even ashes remained. A smirk crept up on Arthur's face as he directed his hand towards the mass of people who had now managed to get some gap between them and Arthur. Their legs trembled from the overwhelming might of Arthur.
"Let's end this little side entertainment" Arthur said as the flames of destruction flared towards the masses, its form shifted, akin to a demon's mouth, as it devoured every single person. No exception by race or lineage. Destruction was fair, it devoured everyone equally.
*click*
Arthur's sword clicked as he blurred two times, lightning coiling all over his body, producing a crack and pop sound.
The heads of remaining two sovereigns plopped on the ground with a muted thud.
Arthur took a deep breath. His power from the previous timeline hadn't recovered completely. So the fight with Agrona is going to be a real problem for Arthur. He steeled his resolve as he made his way towards the castle.
Agrona Vritra POV;
I was sitting on my throne, waiting for one of my sovereigns to give me the news of the Grey's demise. Quick and nimble steps resounded in the hall. The tapping on the edge of the throne by my finger increased as I started to ponder what happened.
Suddenly cries and wails filled the hallway as people started to scream. After a few seconds of what felt like people were getting tortured, evident from their pleads to kill them the, source vanished with a *bzzzzt* voice.
Another man, who looked like an ascender, entered as he fell on his face.
"Pardon the intrusion, high sovereign, but I have a report to make"
His face radiated pure dread and terror. I looked at him, and the whole situation clicked. Everyone had failed. And the responsibility for killing the audacious bastard was all on me.
"How many are there?"
"O-on-one. Only one, my lord'
Must be him, I thought as I conjured multiple spikes and impaled the man in front of me. There was no particular reason to kill the lesser, just his dread filled face made me angry. No matter how strong, Grey was still a lesser. But I couldn't feel his presence anymore. Did he just use a hit and run tactic?
I stepped down from my throne as I walked towards the huge double doors. I pushed them, and the view came in front of me. People impaled with ice spikes, some people still alive with their eyes open and their bodies twitching as black lightning coursed through them.
Limbs scattered everywhere, some crushed between stone boulders, metal harpoons leaving a head sized hole in their guts.
Some of their heads were stuck in the floor. Everyone seemed to have died, before they could even react.
I strolled through the hallways, unfazed by my subordinate's mutilated and tortured states. Steps resounded in the halls, as I made my way to the basement.
The stairs that led to the basement were drenched in blood. Drops of blood dripped from each step, making a small trickling sound.
I sent a small wave of soulfire, as it burnt and dried the lesser's filthy blood. I walked downwards. My heart beat against my rib cage.
I neared the underground bar, where I often used to relax, after getting tired with my experimentation on lessers. As I neared the bar, I saw light coming out of the room. The bar was supposed to be protected by a door strong enough to bear a dragon's onslaught, and open only to my mana signature.
I see the supposedly almost impenetrable door, sliced in two equal pieces. I walked inside the bar, without a second thought.
As I walked inside, I felt my hair stand, as I looked at the sight in front of me. A boy, looking in his late teens, 17 or 18 years old, sitting in the seat I used to sit, with a goblet in hand. He twirled the goblet, as he shifted his gaze from the wine, to me.
His golden eyes, with a small slit in them, seemed to peer into my very soul. He looked at me from the corner of his eyes, as he refocused on the wine. He took a small chug from it.
"Ahhhhh. You've got some good stuff here Agrona." He said casually, as he took another sip.
"I presume you're King Grey." I said walking over to him as I took another goblet, and took out the same wine he was drinking.
"Was. I was King Grey. Now I'm Arthur Leywin."
"Looks like you've come to terms with it. And yeah, that is a centuries old, preserved wine. One of my most cherished ones." I said, not taking my eyes off of him.
He looked at me with a smirk,
"Don't worry. I won't attack until you have your last drink."
The Audacity.
"Hahahahaha." My laughter boomed in the empty bar.
"You're quite audacious for a less..."
*splash*
"Shut your mouth, fucking snake. Gulp down that last drink and get ready. I'll kill you today, and avenge Sylvia."
I clicked my tongue upon hearing that name, "always a thorn on my side" I thought.
3rd person POV
Clicking his tongue, just as Agrona stood up, Arthur burst stepped towards Agrona, as he tried to punch at his chin. Agrona side stepped, as he caught Arthur's fist and directed a punch towards his gut, successfully connecting it.
Arthur spat some blood, as his whole body jerked from the impact and went crashing towards the wall. Agrona hastened as he conjured a blade made of soul fire and dashed towards him.
Arthur arose from the rubble, with a blade of pure mana in his hand, as he and Agrona started to exchange a barrage of sword strikes.
Agrona realised Arthur was weak in the terms of pure strength when compared to him but little did he know that,
Arthur Was The Better Swordsman
(A/n alright this was the last time.... Maybe?)
(E/n not if i can help it)
Agrona went straight for his neck, igniting soulfire on his elbow and using it in short bursts, which increased its speed, but Arthur's perception was faster.
Arthur bent at an impossible angle, completely dodging his attack, while conjuring an aetheric blade in his other hand, which was hidden from Agrona's line of sight and plunged it into his back.
Agrona howled in pain, limbs thrashing. Arthur quickly dispersed the aether blade, before Agrona could see it and punched him square in the face.
Using the similar technique of burst step where the user uses mana to use particular muscles for one instant burst movement, he used the same technique on his arm.
Moving mana to particular and specific muscles, with one correct movement, he punched Agrona in the face, followed by a crunching sound.
But Agrona didn't just take the hit. Just as Arthur's fist made contact, he kicked his arm with a quick knee snapping it. Arthur's hand broke, as his lower half of his hand dangled freely.
Agrona made some distance between them, as he ignited soulfire to heal his wounds. His fractured nose healed, but the gash on his back still burnt, and fresh blood continued to trickle from it.
A purple mist enveloped Arthur, as all wounds on his body recovered. His previously bent posture returned to his usual straight one.
Agrona's laughter boomed throughout the sky once more,
"That was aether arts, right? vivum right? It was the right choice to bring you to this world. You'll make a good test subject once I cripple you."
Agrona said as he once again went towards Arthur, conjuring hundreds of metal spikes.
They went towards Arthur, as he extended his hand towards it.
"How about I give you a taste of your own medicine.?"
Hundreds of black spikes emerged from Arthur's side too as they travelled towards Agrona with double the speed. Spikes clashed and produced a nauseating noise.
Arthur spun, as he grabbed a harpoon in Agrona's hand, and crushed it with an aether clad fist.
"Fascinating. How are you able to manipulate aether like mana?"
Arthur didn't answer as he conjured a blade of pure mana. The pure white blade had hints of purple specks in it.
Arthur delivered a barrage of attacks, grazing away Agrona's armour little by little. Blood trickled from the gaps between his armour.
Arthur pushed a little more, but Agrona wasn't a pushover. His sword style wasn't a prideful one. Just like the snake he was, his sword style included sneak attacks, and meticulous moves.
Arthur was having a hard time reading his moves, as he was receiving wounds at a speed that it was impossible to suppress Agrona and heal at the same time.
Ignoring the decay and corrosion on his skin, he pushed Agrona more and more in corners.
"Daamnmnnnn iiiiiiit" Agrona flared with anger.
'He's finally lost it.' His behaviour was within Arthur's predictions. He had boosted his powers with meticulous techniques and mana arts. But lacking the inherent strength was what made the Vritra, looked down upon in Epotheus.
Until now Arthur had limited his use of aether. He augmented his whole body with aether, as he was about to finish the fight in this strike Agrona took out something from his ring and pointed it towards Arthur. Arthur's eyes widened as he looked at the thing in Agrona's hand.
The pained expression on his face disappeared as a victorious grin graced his face.
"This shall be the end, lesser"
************************************
(Al here. Yeah ik ik, fuck the over-emotional simping piece of shit, a regular victim of emotional breakdown for the cliffhanger. Yes, whoopee I'm talking about you. Gawwd, do I love slandering the lover boy. @rusinen agreed idk who this is but they a chad
But these chapters will be out in mass release anyways, so I guess as long as you achieve the vote goal or something, it'll be released immediately... handing over the mike to twerp)
(Twerp here, FUCK U AL)