Suddenly, power was felt swelling within Michael, causing Tymon to put distance between them quickly.
"As I said, not that it matters," Michael reiterated as he coated himself in a layer of white energy. "You lack the strength to break my skin."
Michael released his spirit energy outward violently, but Tymon immediately applied pressure of his own to restrict it, stopping Michael's energy after only traveling a few feet.
"Hmm...That is some impressively dense energy you have to be able to suppress mine this much," he complimented. "Let's see how it holds against my Brilliant Radiance."
More power swelled within Michael as his body began to glow brightly, illuminating a few more feet around him and casting away more of Tymon's darkness.
Tymon quickly applied more of his spirit energy within Blackout, stopping Michael's progression.
Tymon could feel Michael trying to push further. To Tymon's satisfaction, he couldn't.
This proved to Tymon that he had the upper hand in terms of power, which sparked another idea in his head.
Using the moment to his advantage, Tymon sped around to Michael's side and charged at him, hoping he'd have enough time to grab Michael before he could react.
Tymon remembered a short conversation with Viraa where he asked what the different elements the others had could do to him.
Apparently, light had burning and blinding effects, so Tymon used spirit enhancement to protect himself against it.
When Tymon entered Michael's spirit energy, he was glad to see that it was working. Michael spent a split second too long being frustrated as he continued his attempt to overpower Tymon.
This split second gave Tymon just enough time to grab Michael by the arm.
Tymon squeezed the arm tightly, locking his grip.
"Let's see how strong those regenerative powers are," he said as he applied Last Breath at full strength.
Michael's entire body withered before Tymon's eyes. First, his arms darkened and shriveled like dried meat that had all of its nutrients suddenly sucked out. This quickly spread throughout the rest of his body, eventually reaching Michael's distraught face. His cheeks sunken to the frame of his bones, and his eyes hollowed as dark patches formed around them.
Michael was now a husk of what he was before, but Tymon wasn't done. His face expressionless, Tymon proceeded to rip the arm he held from Michael's body. The arm severed at the shoulder, spraying the air within the sphere with blood as it disconnected and fell toward the bottom.
Michael wailed and kicked Tymon in the stomach, forcing distance between them.
Tymon noted that Michael's kick felt much weaker this time, and tracking him as he moved was easy.
Before Michael could heal, Tymon used his "Blackout: Honed Execution" technique to shrink the dark sphere to envelop only Michael. He willed his spirit energy inside to form tendrils like when he first met Alissia. Then he abruptly solidified them into hardened spikes of darkness that protruded through the sphere, skewering Michael in the process.
Tymon could see blood trickling down some of the blades, confirming he'd done some damage.
Undoing "Blackout", Tymon released Michael to see his withered body riddled with bleeding holes. One of the spikes had pierced through part of his neck, leaving his head bent in an unnatural position.
Michael glared at Tymon furiously as his body slowly started to mend itself. First, his complexion returned as his body's muscles filled back in.
Then, the holes in his body stopped bleeding as they quickly closed. As the hole in his neck closed, Michael's head righted itself with a loud pop as one of his bones was forced back in place.
As the final touch, Tymon watched, astonished, as bones reformed from the shoulder of Michael's missing arm, eventually growing until a full skeletonized component was there. This set the foundation for his muscles to rebuild, starting at the shoulder as well, followed by a new layer of tough skin spreading from the shoulder until it completely covered the entire new arm.
This guy... Tymon thought.
"Damn, that's one hell of a regenerative ability," Tymon stated. "No wonder Avarice chose to attack me instead of you – you're pretty much invincible. And with your speed, no one can slow you down. Except me."
Michael continued to glare at Tymon as he rolled his new arm.
Tymon noticed beads of sweat on Michael's forehead.
"I noticed your movements just now were a bit sluggish, and that last kick wasn't as powerful as the one before," Tymon continued. "It seems my "Last Breath" can't kill you, but it'll temporarily weaken you. Good to know."
Michael collected himself before speaking.
"You just ripped someone's arm off without batting an eye, then proceeded to impale them multiple times without remorse," he expressed calmly before his expression became grim. "Such a strong killing instinct. You are as dangerous as your aura suggests. Newborn or not."
"Mentally, I'm over a thousand years old. To me, you're the arrogant newborn," Tymon rebutted. "As for the killing instinct – I said from the beginning that I wouldn't be holding back."
Michael grunted. His white eyes began to glow brighter as yellow-white threads of light extended from his fingers and wrapped around his feet, finishing into the shape of a solid pair of bird feet with sharp talons.
Sprouting from his back was a pair of large, white-feathered wings with a wingspan as long as his.
Since using the wings would've only made him slower, Tymon guessed they were meant to help Michael balance his body with the talons.
"These are my Bright Talons," Michael explained. "Since you have shown me some of your tenacity...allow me to show you some of mine."
Tymon instantly tried to activate spirit enhancement while rereleasing Blackout and only barely managed to sense Michael before he'd perched onto his shoulders.