The Invincible Young Master

Chapter 248 - 248 - Asura against the Ruin Lord

The Asura again moved first.

Its massive frame tensed, and it threw back its grotesque head with a roar that ripped through the air.

GRAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!

The sound shook the flatland to its bones. Its eyes burned like molten cores fresh from a divine forge, and its muscles swelled beneath its hide, pushing against rune-scarred skin that gleamed a deeper, blood-red glow.

Without hesitation, it launched itself upward, its movements wild and violent, driven by a fury that held nothing back.

The sky warped as its four arms swung through the air, each movement tearing open streaks of distorted space that trailed behind it like turbulent scars.

Silica raised her palm.

Her aura shifted, not by expanding outward, but by drawing in tight around her body until it felt like the atmosphere itself was being squeezed.

Miasma wrapped around her like living smoke, coiling slowly before gathering into a condensed sphere at her center.

In the next breath, that sphere burst open and released ring after ring of spiraling ruin energy.

Her voice drifted through the collapsing air, soft yet carrying authority.

[{Abyssal Mandate}]

The world darkened.

A colossal sigil of ruin unfolded above her, spanning across the emptiness like an ancient decree carved into the heavens.

Its edges dripped with shadowy ink that fell in slow, heavy drops. Each drop touched the air and erased it completely, leaving streaks of empty void behind.

The Asura leaped into that falling darkness.

Its body froze in midair, caught as if an invisible mountain had slammed into it.

Cracks split across its skin.

Crimson blood poured from the runes etched into its flesh.

All four of its arms trembled uncontrollably.

Silica extended her fingers, her expression calm.

"Be gone."

The sigil responded like a collapsing star.

BOOOOOOOOM!!

A burst of pressure smashed the Asura downward with terrifying speed. It crashed into the half-collapsed flatland, and the ground split apart from the force, opening a deep canyon that swallowed dust, stone, and shadows alike.

For a brief moment, everything grew still.

Then the earth twitched.

A faint tremor ran through the crater.

Another followed.

Silica narrowed her eyes.

"…Hmph."

The crater erupted.

KRAAAAAAAH!!

The Asura burst out like an enraged comet. Half its body was mangled, one of its arms dangled by a strip of flesh, its ribs protruded through torn muscle, and one of its eyes had been crushed into a bloody pit. Yet the ruined flesh pulsed and twisted, knitting itself together at a pace visible to the naked eye.

Within seconds, its missing arm regrew with fresh cords of muscle.

Its bones snapped back into place.

Its destroyed eye reignited, glowing with blinding scarlet fury.

It wasn't only healing. It was transforming, growing fiercer, wilder, and infinitely more brutal.

"Troublesome," Silica murmured.

The Asura lunged again, its speed sharper and more terrifying than before.

Silica answered with a sweeping arc of miasma that stretched far enough to slice the clouds.

KRRRSHHH!

The slash cut straight through its torso, splitting muscle and bone in one smooth motion.

The wound sealed instantly.

She struck again, another claw, another crescent of shadow, another wave of crushing ruin pressure. Each attack tore into the beast. Each should have left fatal damage.

Yet every wound repaired itself the moment it appeared.

In mere breaths, its body grew stronger, its skin tightening like refined steel, its aura thickening with wild, violent power. Even Silica's eyes narrowed slightly, acknowledging the threat rising before her. If this continue on, at one point, the Asura would become invisible to her attacks.

The Asura sensed her hesitation.

Its jaws parted, stretching wide.

A deep hum vibrated through the air as blood-light condensed inside its throat, the energy trembling so violently that the earth around them cracked and collapsed before the attack even formed.

Silica's expression grew sharp, as if a thin blade traced the line of her jaw.

"That-"

The Asura released its roar.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!

A beam of compressed sound erupted from its jaw, a spear of raw destruction that cut through the sky so quickly the world struggled to keep up. The air bent around it, trembling as if trying to escape.

Silica moved, her body blurring into streaks of shadow, but even she couldn't evade it completely.

The beam grazed her side.

PFFF!

Blood burst from her waist in a violent spray, scattering into the sky like drifting crimson stars.

The force hurled her backward, sending her tumbling through layers of broken wind that snapped and folded around her.

The heavens shuddered.

Silica steadied herself in midair, floating above the ruined plain. Thin trails of blood slipped from her fingertips, fading into the empty sky one glowing drop at a time.

She pressed her palm against her waist, and for the first time since this battle began, a shadow passed through her expression.

Her gaze lowered in coldness.

Below her, the Asura beat its four arms against its chest, celebrating its minor victory like a beast tasting blood for the first time. Its scarlet eyes flickered with mad delight.

"You dare graze my vessel…"

The air tightened around Silica, shrinking under the pressure of her rising fury.

Her tone dropped, layered with icy disdain. "You puny ant."

Even the mindless Asura hesitated for half a heartbeat, its instincts telling at the sudden presence of a natural predator far above its realm.

Slowly, Silica raised one arm.

As if pointing at nothing more than a nuisance.

Then, she lowered her hand.

The emptiness above her tore open.

Light surged downward in a blinding pillar, its descent so fast the air could only vibrate in silence.

SHAAAAAANK!!

The beam struck the Asura from head to gut, pinning it to the flatland like a divine judgment.

The ground split open beneath the impact, carving a deep trench that cut straight across the crater. Stone crumbled into dust. The plain fractured like brittle glass.

…

[A/N: I know some of you may realize this Asura's abilities looks awfully familiar to certain character. Cough* cough* you can say I took inspiration from that. Tiny bit, of course. Cough*]