Bursting forward into a sprint, Ash tried to startle the ogre, trying once again to utilize the element of surprise. Ash tried his best to prevent any openings within his attacks with repeated swings of his sword with all his might. Determined to kill the ogre and end this madness, behind each swing was the intent to kill.
Sending blow after blow, each swing was met with Asura using his four arms to block the attempts effortlessly with his forearms. Aggravated by his blade sliding off his forearms just like before, Ash decided he needed a new plan.
Sliding backward away from his opponent, Ash swapped to a one-hand grip and lifted his other hand towards the sky, conjuring a giant ball of holy fire in his palm. The golden flame swirled upon his palm, growing brighter as more mana was consumed by the holy flame.
Asura ran forward as he conjured the ball of fire, trying to interrupt his opponents' attempt to make an obvious attack. However, Ash never took his eyes off Asura as he approached quickly. Realizing he had little time left before his attacker reached him, he slung the fireball forward to prevent Asura from approaching further.
The ball of fire streaked through the air at high speed toward Asura like a comet. Defying the laws of the world, the flame didn't extinguish as if an unknown force held it together. Witnessing this, Asura slammed his fingers into the ground, gripping the stone floor to give himself leverage as he rushed at his opponent. Throwing himself to the left and out of the way, the fireball shot past, leaving a trail of fire behind.
The heat was intense as it passed by, causing a bead of sweat to run down Asura's forehead. Glad he had managed to dodge the fireball in time, he continued his pursuit. Ash's eyes went wide, and he realized his opponent was smarter than he had anticipated. Most monsters charge forward with blood lust and without a thought in their worthless minds, but this one was smart and decisive.
A massive explosion erupted behind Asura suddenly as the fireball collided with the wall, sending rubble flying into his back. The force from the explosion almost knocked Asura off balance as he slid slightly across the floor. Asura turned his head momentarily to see the damage the fireball created. A massive hole was left in the wall behind him with debris and smoke scattered around it. Asura nodded in approval,
"Not bad soy boy, not bad."
Without another word or reaction, Asura sprinted towards Ash, leaving no time to waste. Surprised by this sudden burst of speed, Ash tried to prepare himself. Getting into a defensive position to block Asura's strike, Ash braced his hands behind his blade as the monster's two right fists collided with the flat side of his sword. Gripping the top of the sword with his other hand, Ash absorbed the blow.
However, the impact knocked Ash back a few feet, making him struggle to keep his footing. Asura was impressed that his opponent was still standing. Humans were truly remarkable in their ability to endure through hellish conditions or overcome overwhelming strength. Ash took notice of the brief moment Asura let his guard down, without hesitation he took advantage of his opponent's distraction.
Ash responded by channeling holy mana into his blade, causing its aura to swell up. Slashing at nothing but the air, Ash released thin slashes of fire that soared at Asura. Noticing them coming, Asura swiftly ducked under the first one but leaped over the second immediately, entering a forward roll as he landed. Although a good attempt at trying to dodge the strikes, Asura failed as the last one collided with his shoulder, engulfing it in a holy flame that scorched his skin.
The flame annoyed Asura but didn't harm him in any way. It was harder to extinguish than a normal flame, causing Asura to pat at it for a few seconds, giving his opponent time. In a fight, time was everything. You could use it to recover, get an advantage, and set up a plan. This was something the old man drilled into Ash's head, time and time again.
His opponent was oblivious to the value of time and what it granted. Sitting on the floor, frustrated by a simple flame that irritated him, the moronic ogre allowed Ash to do whatever he pleased. "What a fool." Ash thought as the childish being became enraged by the constant flame that pestered him. Preemptively, Ash put up a holy wall with an incantation to prevent an expected attack from the now-enraged ogre.
"Judex Divinum is my protector and shield. Through Michael, the walls of heaven will not fall."
An expansive large wall formed from holy mana filled the room, blocking any path to Ash. Asura, standing in front of the wall, found the large transparent structure to be impressive. Without even touching the wall, he could feel how dense it was. He had little knowledge of how holy mana worked, but "It sure did its job well." He thought.
Asura dug his hands into the ground, pulling out two chunks of the floor. Chucking with all his might into the radiating wall of mana, he watched as nothing happened. The wall stood firmly as the rocks smashed into the side, crumbling to pieces upon contact. Ash chuckled, growing more confident as he watched his opponent struggle.
"What a brute, you know slamming your fists into everything won't solve your problems."
Standing behind his protective barrier, Ash started to chant another incantation that was different from the last. Asura could feel the mana accumulating within Ash as he continued to chant. This was strange. Before, it felt like the man was coming from Ash, as if it were being expelled from him, but now it feels as if he is pulling it from somewhere else. Feeling the slightest shift of mana within another person in the room, Asura turned to see Mel smiling back at him. She was supplying Ash somehow... Asura mumbled to himself,
"That's cheating."
Unable to solve the problem, he simply shrugged, dismissing the scandal.
"Meh, doesn't matter anyway. Still going to lose soy boy."
While studying the wall, Asura noticed a ring of runes started to form a circle around Ash as he sunk his sword into the ground. The light emitted from his body grew brighter every second, causing the shadows to recede. He spoke commanding words that echoed throughout the room.
"Judex Divinum will lead those who follow the righteous path to victory. Through Uriel, a path will be-"
Interrupting his incantation, Asura slammed both his right fists with all his might into the mana wall, shattering it. Ash's eyes went wide, surprised as he watched it break like glass. The entire wall shattered and collapsed, causing an explosion that knocked Ash back, breaking his incantation.
"You think I'd just let you power up or something? This ain't no cartoon man, and for your information, yeah, I do think my fists can solve most problems."
Asura approached Ash as he scurried away like a bug crawling on the ground. Bending down, he grabbed Ash by his ankle, and an evil smile spread from ear to ear.
"I did see this in a movie once though. Big man beat the crap out of a 'god' might be fitting for you and your ego".
Asura picked up Ash by his ankle, swinging him around and slamming him into the ground repeatedly. Each slam caused Ash to groan in pain as blood pooled on the floor around Asura. Noticing most of Ash's bones broke with each swing, Asura could only smile, knowing he was winning.
He figured after five repetitions, it would be enough, finally releasing Ash's ankle and tossing him to the side. Asura stood up, sticking his chest out, beaming with pride as if he accomplished a new feat. After taking his moment of celebration in, he decided to walk over to Ash to see his face. Smashed and covered in blood, he was almost unrecognizable.
Asura didn't care about his appearance. The old man said he would heal. However, what did concern him was his motionless state. For a few seconds, time stopped as Ash's chest didn't rise or fall. "Oh man... is he dead?" Asura thought as he waited, and waited, and waited...
His concerns quickly vanished as he heard his heart begin to beat steadily. Who knows what the old man might do if he died? He was breathing. That was good enough for Asura. Looking for the old man, Asura shouted.
"I win."
The old man let out a sigh as he looked at Ash's bloodied state. Although he said he would heal, the pain from extreme injuries would remain. Mel stood horrified at the sight of her friend on the ground, mangled. It was a little worrying how Ash would recover from such a state, but he did recall the old man saying not to be worried about such things.
Suddenly, the body began to vibrate on the ground. An unsettling sight, as if something externally controlled the movements of his body. Asura screamed as he watched Ash's body make unnatural movements like a poltergeist movie. Fleeing from the body, he ran to hide behind the old man.
"What the fu-"
Ash's body began to heal. The process horrified Asura as he watched each bone get pushed back into its original place. Snapping and cracking, each bone corrected itself, sporadically causing his body to jolt around on the floor. Wounds appeared to sow themselves back as the blood crept around as if it were alive. As the wounds closed, the blood seemed to suck back into the body. After a moment of silence, Ash finally pushed himself off the ground. Standing up, he grabbed his neck, groaning in agony.
"What a cheap win."
Asura watched in horror as Ash then walked to the old man's location. Arriving next to the group, the old man pat Ash on the back, causing immense pain to spread through his chest. The old man laughed as he sent a nasty glare in his direction. Now that Ash was fully healed except for the emotional damage to his pride, the old man studied Asura's body. This exceeded his expectations, which made him incredibly happy. This monster was more durable than any he had ever seen. Still standing with no wounds, he might just become a useful tool.
"That was round one. Now it's Mel's turn."
The room began to shake, causing Asura to stumble. Frantically looking around, he tried to find the source of the earthquake. As Asura tried to locate the source, he was suddenly struck in the back of the head by debris. Rubble flew through the air and returned to its previous location, rebuilding the ground and walls. The room rebuilt itself like it was some sort of building block returning to its original state.
Before he knew it, the room now looked just as it did before his fight, which baffled Asura. He has never seen anything like this. Human technology was exciting! The old man could not help but notice the smile on Asura's face as he watched, like a child seeing fireworks for the first time.
Unaware of his surroundings, Asura was oblivious to Mel, who walked to the middle of the room about thirty yards away from him. After blowing a bubble with her gum, she smiled, ready for her turn for redemption,
"My turn now, demon boy."
The term demon pulled him from his trance. Smiling with a huge, toothy evil grin, Asura beat his fists against each other again while letting out a laugh,
"I hope you ain't as weak as soy boy. All bark, no bite. Call me a chihuahua, I dare you. I ain't one. He is. I'm a pit bull, lean, mean, ready to... pee? Ah, whatever. I can finally beat that racist shit out of you."
The old man gave the thumbs up, letting them both know they could start the match. Mel pulled out both her pistols. Slamming them both together, a bolt action rifle formed in a burst of sparks and fire. The silver rifle was long with a beautiful dark polished oak stock. Although it had the same engravings as the past guns, a female angel wearing armor stretched down the gun's body alongside the roses this time.
Mel took a quick stance, bracing the rifle against her shoulder while Asura stood there awestruck. He was stunned by the fact that her guns had changed to a completely different form again. In his hesitation, she smiled and chanted a few words.
"Judex Divinum purifies the wicked. Through Hephestine's flames, the impurities are purged."
The rifle's engravings began to glow brightly as they ignited, releasing an amber-tinted holy flame. As the mana built up within the gun, it quickly reached its maximum capacity, filling the round. Mel pulled the trigger upon completion, signifying the start of the fight. However, the gun was also pointed directly at Asura instead of up in the air like last time. "A cheap shot." He thought as the bullet exited the barrel.
As the oxygen around the barrel kissed the bullet, it was coated in the same amber-tinted holy flame the gun had produced earlier. As the bullet traveled through the air, it began to increase its rotation, leaving a trail of fire that spun like a tornado behind it. With no time to react, the bullet pierced through the air in seconds, hitting Asura directly in the chest.
The force sent Asura into the wall in an instant. A loud boom roared throughout the building as he collided with the wall, causing it to shake, and large chunks of brick and debris fell to the floor. As the dust cleared, Asura pulled himself out of the large hole created by the explosion from the bullet. Groaning in pain, he turned to the wall, noticing the large cracks that sprawled from the point of collision. "Wicked," he thought as he stood in the small crater.
A click could be heard in the distance. It was different than the first, but Asura recognized it right away. After watching every Western movie under the sun, the sound of a gun was quite familiar to him. Mel was reloading. Without hesitation, knowing there would only be a few moments before another round came in his direction, Asura burst into a sprint towards Mel. Powering through the pain of being launched into the wall, Asura groaned as he ran,
"Damn, that hurt."
Shaking off the last blow, Asura smiled and laughed roaringly. "This is fun, lots and lots of fun! The fights I'm looking for!" Asura thought. Eager for more, he was excited, which worried Mel more than when he was pissed. He was already unpredictable, but "He was excited after being hit like that?" Mel's lips twitched. This monster before her would not stay down no matter what she did.
"Now, this is a fight!"
Mel stood in shock for a moment, allowing Asura to make a move towards her. She was baffled that he was unharmed by the bullet. Although some monsters have experienced such an attack before, nearly every single one could not move, let alone run right after. Snapping back to reality, Mel flipped the gun in the air, like a baton twirler, as it spun on its way down it became consumed by fire once again. The form changed from the bolt action rifle into an automatic rifle.
As it finished rotating, Mel grabbed it out of the air and shoved the stock into her shoulder again, bracing herself. She rapidly shot at the approaching monster, sending a wave of bullets in his direction. However, Asura simply didn't care and shielded his face as he pursued her. Like an indestructible tank, he pushed onward through the battle towards her. The bullets exploded on impact as they connected with Asura. He laughed as each round did not even manage to slow him down.
Asura, now only three yards away, became increasingly dangerous. Mel cursed under her breath as she grabbed her gun. Sliding her hand down the side of it, the rifle burst into amber flames and sparks again. The fire dispersed, revealing a long silver pump action shotgun. As Asura closed the distance, she slid towards him, deciding an aggressive approach was better than a defensive one at the moment. Asura was unprepared for the sudden advance and watched as she slid underneath through his legs.
With her gun braced against her she pointed up towards his chest, she smiled as she pulled the trigger. She had caught him by surprise! The explosive round caused Asura to fly up into the air, slamming into the ceiling. Grabbing the barrel, she smashed the gun against her leg, causing it to break and burst into flames. The guns split into two forms, returning to their pistol state once again. As Asura began to fall back towards the ground, Mel rapidly shot both pistols, letting out a flurry of bullets. Asura guarded his face with his four arms as he fell towards her.
Knowing that the bullets would not harm the ogre significantly, she hoped she could strike an eye or mouth as he fell downward toward the floor. Before he smashed back into the ground, he quickly shifted his weight to land on his feet. With a booming thud as he landed, the room went quiet momentarily. Mel was only a few feet away, which gave her the disadvantage.
Knowing this, she tried to shoot a few rounds at his eyes once again, which were thwarted by Asura blocking with his arms. However, Mel took this time to distance herself from her aggressor, walking backward as she fired. She noticed he only had a few burn marks from the explosive rounds but no bullet holes or penetration from anything else. Laughing and unfazed by her antics, Asura told her,
"Now that is some fun... Alright, well, I guess we need to end this sometime soon. I would hate to keep the old man waiting."
Reaching down with his two lower arms again, he pulled two chunks of rock from the ground. It was unbelievable that he could do such a thing. Mel expected him to struggle a little but he simply ripped the floor apart like cardboard. A wide grin exposing his sharp teeth spread across his face as he formulated a devious plan. Tossing the massive rocks in her direction, Asura hoped to crush her beneath them.
However, responding swiftly, she slammed the pistols together again, changing the form of the guns into the shotgun. Pulling the barrel of the gun upward, she pointed it at each rock only a few feet away from her. Letting out two rounds from the gun, she watched as both rocks disintegrated in the air, leaving nothing but rubble that showered her.
Relief swept over her, but it only lasted a moment after she noticed that her vision was obstructed by the dust spread around her. Asura was no longer standing before her. Panicked, she looked around frantically for him, checking behind her.
"Above you, idiot."
Her heart dropped as she watched Asura fly down towards her. He was too close for her to try and escape, but she figured she might as well try. Quickly jumping back, she attempted to escape his grasp, but it was too late. Asura slammed his arms into the ground, causing it to shake enough for Mel to lose her balance. With no time to react, she was defenseless as Asura slugged her right in the stomach.
In a matter of seconds, she was flying across the room. Slamming back onto the ground with a loud thud, she spewed out blood from her mouth as she tumbled on the floor. It was only when she finally came to a stop she realized the full extent of the damage done to her body.
Her lungs were ruptured, making it hard to breathe. Her broken ribcage also didn't help as she lay agonizing in pain on the floor. Coughing up blood, she managed to let out a few words before passing out,
"I guess... it's my loss."
Her body began to vibrate just like Ash's. Still disturbed by this sight, Asura turned away and gave the two spectators a little victory dance,
"Go me, go go go me. Go me.
In mere seconds of being crippled, Mel's voice came from behind him again, which caused Asura to whip back around. She was perfectly fine. Only the exhaustion from the battle remained. However, that soon left as well. Even that would only last a few moments in this mystical room. Mel, in the process of getting up, called out to Asura,
"Why are you so difficult to kill?"
"Cause I am so cool."
Mel could only shake her head at his comment as she returned to stand beside the old man. The old man let out a booming laugh, surprising Asura, Mel, and Ash.
"You're pretty good for a young monster. To think you would be able to withstand such firepower. Mel is not weak, you know. She is a top-notch Paladin and one of a kind even amongst her peers. I understand now why they could not kill you when you first entered the cathedral. It is not their abilities that are lacking but rather you are just difficult to kill. Most monsters heal wounds, but you simply overcome that by not being wounded. Amazing!"
Asura raised an eyebrow as his face displayed his confusion. He asked,
"What do you mean by young monster, ya old fart? I'm older than you!"