Chapter 19: Intense Battle
Loki clenched his sword while glaring at Chris.
Swirl
Chris cast a [Fireball] spell as a huge ball of fire approached Loki.
A determined look appeared on his face as he surrounded his sword with a blue aura.
[Tidal Slash]
He dashed forward and performed a vertical slash splitting the fireball in half.
[Piercing Light]
Subsequently, He pointed his sword's tip toward Chris, and a golden ray of light flashed through.
Ding
Before the golden light could hit Chris, he cast a barrier protecting himself.
Two arrows of darkness launched themselves toward Loki as Chris was multicasting.
Loki hurriedly dodged one arrow but another grazed through his left shoulder.
"Ughh.."
[Grimheart Reinforcement Sutra: Tendon Strengthening]
He flashed through and appeared before Chris.
[Life Severing Art: Severing Slash]
A diagonal slash landed on the barrier as cracks appeared on it.
The barrier broke apart after a few seconds as Loki's strike nearly split the barrier in half.
Swish
The few seconds of delay allowed Chris to use teleport and distance himself from Loki.
"Damn it."
Loki cursed and prepared his next move immediately.
[Flame Pillar]
An intense heat emanated from Loki's palm.
He struck his palm on the ground and pillars of flames nearly 15 meters tall appeared all over the hallway.
The flames burned fiercely and destroyed anything that stood its way.
Huff Huff
He caught his breath and utilized the [Grimheart Eden Manipulation Sutra] to replenish his Eden.
A minute later, the nearby flames were extinguished and the hallway situation became clear.
Chris stood near the throne unaffected by the previous destruction. His outfit was burnt in some places but other than that, he was perfectly fine. He was muttering some words with his staff held high.
Woosh
Chains of darkness appeared beneath Loki's feet and bound him.
"Shit!"
Loki hurriedly used [Light Sanctuary] to melt the chains and activated [Wind steps] but was abruptly ambushed by Chris's five bony fingers.
The fingers were glowing with a pale deathly aura.
He twisted his head and dodged the fingers but his shoulder got hit.
His shoulders instantly decayed and fell apart.
"Arghh.."
A painful groan escaped Loki's lips as he clutched his shoulders.
[Sacred healing]
A green glow appeared on his other palm and stopped the blood from flowing out of his injuries.
"You left me with no choice!"
Loki roared and activated his ultimate skill.
[Elemental Overload]
Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind elemental energies appeared in front of him and combined forming a crown.
The crown slowly placed itself on his head and shined brightly.
A boundless energy flowed through his body as his attack, defense, speed, and recovery, all were enhanced.
He had developed this skill after countless battles in the Arena. This skill properly utilized the four basic elements and granted a huge boost of power to the user.
Loki held his sword and activated his skill.
[Life Severing Art: Life Cataclysm]
He appeared before Chris and swung his sword.
A destructive force was generated through his swing and directly hit Chris.
Crack crack
Various cracks appeared on Chris's body.
"Intruder! You have successfully ignited this King's Wrath."
A deathly aura surrounded Chris as he went through a sudden transformation.
His eye sockets shone brightly with ghastly green light and his previously white bones started changing into a pale grey color. The cracks on his body slowly started healing.
"I can't let you do that!"
[Life Severing Art: Life nova]
A ball made of boundless vitality dashed toward Chris and exploded right in front of him.
Boom
The blast further destroyed the hallway as its debris got scattered everywhere.
Loki cast [Aegis of Life] and shielded himself.
The dust cloud cleared and Chris's body became visible.
His right hand was completely destroyed and his skull was full of cracks.
"Just Die, Damn it!"
Loki roared and dashed forward with his sword.
His sword and Chris's staff clashed with each other and deflected backward.
Chris teleported himself and moved away from Loki.
He clenched his bony fingers slightly and his staff vanished.
A silver katana appeared in its stead as Chris held the sword and stood in a battle stance.
Clang clang
They both dashed towards each other and continued clashing their weapons fiercely.
Loki's body started getting tired and falling behind from all his injuries.
His left hand was cut off, his back was completely burnt and his body was decaying due to the exposure of death energy.
Clang
Chris deflected Loki's sword and continued his attack by swinging horizontally towards his neck.
"Shit!"
Loki turned his sword slightly right and parried the katana. He cast a [Blinding Light] and swiftly distanced himself.
Huff Huff
He was having trouble breathing properly.
Chris countered his move and dashed forward at Loki.
His ultimate skill had less than a minute left and his body was screaming in pain.
"Do or Die huh…"
[Sensory Field]
He activated his sensing skills and prepared his final move.
His final move required extreme concentration and quick execution so he formulated a proper plan overloading his brain.
Loki dashed forward and fired a [Mist Ball] towards Chris.
Chris sent a dark arrow towards the [Mist Ball]. It pierced through and destroyed the ball.
Poof
A dense mist covered them as Loki used his final move.
Chris was a lich and he could easily detect him using Loki's life force.
[Life Severing Art: Life Hollow]
So, Loki quickly hid his life force and took the stance for the final move.
[Life Severing Art: Cycle of Life]
His sword turned illusory and dashed towards Chris's skull with extreme speed.
Chris felt a foreboding feeling and hurriedly cast a barrier to defend against the attack.
But tough luck for him, Loki's final move was a mental attack. It phased through the barrier and approached Chris.
Mental attacks are normally very difficult to block since you need high mental resistance for them.
Chris, whose mind was constantly getting eroded by deathly energy for countless years obviously couldn't block it.
He helplessly watched as the attack landed on him and he succumbed to it.
A silver wheel appeared above his head and started replaying his memories.
Cycle of Life was a special mental attack that when hit could display the memories of the user before destroying their consciousness.