"Oh, God…" Dominic's knees buckled as he nearly lost strength in his legs. His body was slowly turning to jelly when faced with the overwhelming aura that Garth was given off.
"Is this what it means to be suppressed?" Dominic was left speechless by Garth's show of strength. But even then, he kept his ground.
"No… I can't give in to his suppression… I have to fight!" Dominic tried to rile himself up but unfortunately, that was doing little to alleviate the fear currently eating away at his confidence.
Garth watched his struggle with a satisfied look on his face. "That's good, I want to see you despair at the gulf of power between us. How does it feel to know that your paltry strength is trash before me?"
Dominic gritted his teeth. "Shut up!"
Garth sneered. "Make me."
Without further Ado, Dominic began to weave hand signs in quick succession. Just like a certain person, Garth stood tall, one arm held up with a calm expression, waiting for Dominic to finish his summon.
Soon enough… "I call upon the wind and the air, the current that moves the oceans, the force that destroys the earth, and the power that snuffs out flames. Come forth, Storm Rider!"
Fwoom
A massive gale of wind picked up about Dominic as he completed his summon. It was indeed a spectacular sight as his hair swayed with the wind.
At this point, Dominic looked a lot like the hero facing off against extreme adversities in the hopes of coming out on top while Garth was the villain, an obstacle he had to take down.
Some were moved but Garth only looked at the fool with a hint of disdain. "You think of yourself as a hero?... After everything you have done?... Fine then, I'll be the villain that destroys you!"
At the same time, a spatial tunnel appeared behind Dominic followed by the emergence of a dimensional being so graceful, that Max was forced to acknowledge its beauty.
A falcon the size of a truck stood behind Dominic with its head held high. Its feathers were a pure white with yellow markings and a certain metallic shine to them.
Its eyes were sharp and its aura, flowed across the battlefield, pushing back the stifling aura that Garth was emitting.
For the first time since the beginning of their match, Dominic could finally breathe properly once again.
Caw
The giant bird tried to intimidate Garth but the latter only glared at it like a pesky little critter.
"Do you think I don't dare to crush you alongside your contractor?" Garth asked in an arrogant tone.
"This child…" Storm Rider frowned as he realized that Garth was not one bit intimidated by its show of strength.
Looking up, it noticed the sand wave that blurted out the sunlight, casting a shadow over the arena.
"This!!... Impossible, but I thought... How?" Storm Rider turned wary as it realized that Garth was not a simple opponent.
Dominic on the other hand did not notice the tension from the big bird and instead was feeling triumphant that its presence allowed him to combat the suppression Garth placed on him.
"My turn," Dominic said as he stood, poised to attack.
"Finally ready to attack?... Good, my arm was getting sore." Garth moved his fingers causing the arena to tremble slightly after which he dropped his arm and pointed it at Dominic.
Whoosh
The sand wave descended without warning. Like a tidal wave, it came crashing down on Dominic and his bird.
"Shit!... Get on!" Storm Rider had already sensed something dangerous and decided to ensure the safety of his contractor.
Picking up Dominic with its beak before he had a chance to say anything, it swiftly evaded the crash point of the tidal sand wave.
Boom
It was like a giant mortar that slammed into the earth as the arena trembled once again.
Garth parted the sand to find the place where Dominic previously stood to be empty, replaced by a crater with cracks that spread out like a spider web.
Looking over, he found Storm Rider with Dominic in between its beak. He wasn't surprised that the giant bird was able to escape from his assault.
Not many could tell but Garth's attack just now was faster than it appeared to be. Storm Rider only managed to escape due to its Wind attribute which was said to be the fourth fastest attribute after Light, Electricity, and Sound.
It would be shameful if a Ruler rank summon like Storm Rider wouldn't be able to dodge his attack.
Of course, this only excited Garth further as he would not be satisfied to allow the fight to end too quickly. He desired to bring Dominic to the brink of despair.
In the air, Storm Rider met Garth's gaze and immediately knew that it could not clash with the boy in a head-on fight.
Its only hope would be to tire the boy out by forcing him to use advanced abilities which would help to drain his magic circles faster.
Meanwhile, Dominic had a blank expression as he looked at the area where he stood previously.
If not for Storm Rider's help, he would have surely been turned to meat paste. He shuddered at the nasty thought.
"Just how powerful did you get in a week?"
Garth smirked at that moment. Moving his arm, he pointed it at Storm Rider.
The bird was already prepared to dodge at a moment's notice but Garth's next action caused it to reevaluate its plans to tire him out.
The arena slightly trembled after which a giant hand, similar in structure to Garth's arm rose from the mass of sand.
!!!
Storm Rider immediately understood what was about to happen. It quickly moved.
Just as it dodged the attack of the arm, yet another one sprang up and reached for it.
Managing to dodge the second as well, things got even worse from there.
A third, a fourth, a fifth… they sprang up without pause until almost the entire arena was covered with hands made of sand that twisted and reached out to take hold of Storm Rider and his contractor that was currently screaming in fear at the top of his lungs.
Garth chuckled as he saw this. "This is the difference between us!... Filthy noble!"