The Lone Wanderer

Chapter 655 – Sixteenth match

Azalotheen opened the fight by releasing a large amount of mana from both cores and fusing it into a cloud of greenish powder.

It wasn’t all that surprising that the Void Hand’s two-cored mages were capable of affinity fusion, though Remlat hadn’t used it in any of his own matches. Percy wasn’t sure whether the Inimit had yet to figure out how to combine space and steam mana, or whether he simply hadn’t felt that it would change the outcome of his battles.

Either way, the Maradorian was clearly not pulling his punches, despite having not possessed his second core for nearly as long as the winged man.

The good news was that the grade discrepancy would limit the frog-person’s output significantly, though Percy would still rather avoid breathing the strange powder in. Covering his host’s body in a layer of steel, he worked alongside Micky to enchant the material for added protection.

The particles collided violently against the metal, the moss-coloured tornado already devouring the outer layer of Kassorith’s magical armour. The Maradorian’s blessing allowed him to overpower the Thess’kalan’s steel even faster than he otherwise would have.

Efenat’s Decree increased the volume of microscopic projectiles by thirty percent, and the Maradorian was already croaking an incantation to empower his spells further through Jolthoria’s Decree.

Knowing that they couldn’t afford to lose their barrier this soon into the fight, Percy used his willpower to extricate his host from the raging cyclone as Kassorith wrapped his tail around a newly-forged greatsword to accelerate his flight.

‘Shit… We breathed some in,’ Kassorith spat amidst coughs, the acrid flavour of the toxins mixing with the metallic taste of his blood.

Percy grimaced internally, though he forced himself to remain calm. ‘I’m sure that we can handle this much since his second core is weaker, but we still need to limit how much we inhale.’

The corrosive properties of the fused mana had come from Azalotheen’s dust affinity, though its virulent toxicity had come from his second core. The Maradorian was using the same trick that experienced life mages like Archibald relied on to infect their opponents.

This particular blend of elements gave the Maradorian a more violent way of injecting the insidious substance into the bodies of his enemies. Thankfully, Kassorith’s enhanced physique should offer him some resistance against all manners of toxins, though diseases didn’t fall completely within that category.

Percy had done his best to cover his host’s mouth and nose with a layer of metal from the start of the fight, even using heating enchantments to cleanse and filter the air they inhaled.

Blues could potentially hold their breath for several minutes, but inhaling was also required for mana regeneration. Kassorith was already greatly disadvantaged in that department, so they couldn’t afford to be too cautious.

The Thess’kalan shot through the air with the Maradorian hot on his tail. The frog-person launched wave after wave of the putrid resource, shaping his mana into colossal hands that tried to close around Kassorith as if he were a gnat.

With two cores and a secondary soul affinity at his disposal, Azalotheen was regenerating his resources much faster than Kassorith. Timing his spells with the completion of his incantations, he took advantage of two additional Decrees to further empower his attacks.

The Maradorian’s dust affinity alone would have been troublesome enough. That much had been obvious since before the start of the battle, otherwise Azalotheen would have never made it to the top eight of the tournament before. The addition of the life component only made the powder more annoying.

The good news was that Kassorith’s spiritual blood and Greater Thess’kalan Physique were working overtime to purge the disease from his body. However, Percy knew that his host’s reserves wouldn’t last much longer if he kept flying around at this speed.

It soon became clear that their opponent wasn’t interested in waiting for that either.

Using his bloodline, the Maradorian applied an invisible pull on Kassorith’s body, greatly slowing him down. This gave Azalotheen a chance to finally catch him with a giant, hand-shaped construct, the sickly-green particles making crisp sounds as they collided with the Thess’kalan’s armour.

Fortunately, Percy had managed to upgrade the enchantments during the chase, so the Maradorian couldn’t completely destroy the metallic barrier. Several streams of green powder still drilled through the material and Kassorith’s reinforced scales alike, seeping into his bloodstream.

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The Thess’kalan coughed violently once more, mouthful after mouthful of putrid blood mixing into the cloud of magical sand harassing him.

Kassorith expended nearly half of his remaining reserves, timing an explosion of superheated lightning and metallic shrapnel with a burst of Percy’s domain to free himself from the apocalyptic sandstorm.

The heating formation was incomplete, but it did its job for now, barely allowing the Thess’kalan to resume fleeing. The Maradorian chased him around the arena once more as Percy scrambled to complete the three-layered enchantment.

It wasn’t like his host had much spare mana to waste on the intricate disk, but they would never win the match without the means to strike back, so they had no choice but to invest some there.

About a minute later, Azalotheen activated his bloodline to pull Kassorith closer again, causing a similar sequence to repeat itself. Thankfully, the frog-person couldn’t use the ability too often. As far as bloodlines went, his was among the weakest in the tournament, though he obviously had several other weapons to fall back to.

Once again, the Maradorian forced more toxins into the Thess’kalan’s veins, extracting a few more mouthfuls of infected blood from his target before Percy and his host managed to extricate themselves.

“I’m honestly impressed that you’ve lasted this long against me. I suppose that it’s not an accident you’ve climbed so high up the leaderboard,” Azalotheen suddenly said, his voice calm but loud enough to be heard through the rushing winds. “If you manage to replicate your success in the next special event, you might even beat Remlat to the next round. However, don’t expect to win this fight.”

Listening to the taunts, Percy got his host to stop running away. Their core was almost empty, and they needed the few scraps of mana that they had left to fuel their counterattack, so it wasn’t like they could afford to fly another centimetre.

Azalotheen paused too, though he didn’t immediately attack. He probably thought that Kassorith was going to surrender.

Percy took advantage of his opponent’s patience, letting the moment stretch for a couple of seconds before speaking with his host’s mouth. “Do you mind explaining something before we end this?”

“Hmmm? Are you trying to stall?” the Maradorian asked back. “Don’t think that I haven’t noticed that heating formation you are charging beneath your armour. It’s a nifty trick, but you’ve used it a few too many times in the tournament already. You’ll never hit me.”

Percy shrugged. “I’m pretty sure that I will hit you, but that’s beside the point. My question for you is genuine.”

Azalotheen gestured for him to speak, clearly not taking his threats seriously.

“Why did you breathe your own fused mana in? Are you not worried about infecting yourself with the disease?” Percy asked.

The Maradorian frowned at the strange question, though he still took the time to answer. “If you must know, life users who fight like me cultivate their viruses inside their own bodies, so they’re already immune to them. Life mana can’t create toxins out of thin air – it just accelerates the growth of microorganisms. Breathing my mana in and out is a way for me to recycle the dead cells into healthy ones, thus maintaining the potency of the disease.”

“I see…” Percy muttered with a slight nod, having expected an explanation along those lines. “Unfortunately, it’s going to cost you today’s match.”

Opening his host’s mouth, he pointed at Kassorith’s fangs. The Maradorian’s eyes widened as he seemed to realize something, though it was too little too late for that.

“Did you know that Thess’kalans are venomous? Those with my mutation are even more so than the rest,” Percy continued. “Our glands aren’t powered by a mana core, and we can’t produce much venom, so it’s usually difficult to use in a high-level battle. It’s not every day an opponent is helpful enough to inhale my toxins on his own.”

The sandstorm converged upon Kassorith with seemingly no warning, the Maradorian clearly eager to finish the job. Percy ignored the incoming attack entirely, offering no resistance as the particles ate through his host’s armour. His senses remained locked onto his opponent.

He hadn’t chatted with Azalotheen just for fun. He’d been sifting through countless predictions of the frog-person’s next moves, patiently waiting for the venom to kick in and create an opening.

Kassorith had admittedly only managed to mix a minuscule amount of toxins into the blood that he had spat, meaning that the Maradorian couldn’t have absorbed much. Azalotheen would barely be disoriented for a moment, so Percy would have to make it count.

More rivers of fused mana slammed against Kassorith, denting his armour and sending him tumbling through the air. Even if Percy had wanted to dodge, he couldn’t – not while charging up the disk and trying to predict his opponent’s moves. Percy ignored the broken bones, torn muscles and scorching blood, concentrating entirely on Azalotheen.

A couple of seconds later, he finally saw it.

The Maradorian suffered a pang of disorientation, his movements lapsing for the briefest of instants. It wasn’t much, but the toxins had dulled his reaction speed just enough for the shadow of a crimson beam to connect.

And then, the real attack landed too, fired right through Kassorith’s armour as Percy and his host struggled to stabilize themselves just long enough to deliver the blast.

Two Blues fell from the sky, crashing against the enchanted floor with the force of meteors at roughly the same time. Had it not been for the stadium’s enchantments, they would have both turned into minced meat.

Even under divine protection, Kassorith’s body was an absolute mess, though Percy’s mind was oddly serene.

Azalotheen was right.

Even if they lost this battle, he would make sure to win the special event. They had come too far… risked too much… tried too hard to fall now. Even if they lost the first fight in the elimination phase and missed out on the Void Decree in the end, Percy was going to make damn sure to earn another two prizes before returning home.

The automatic voice spoke, breaking the tense silence in the arena to declare the outcome of the match:

“Fatal damage prevented. Both combatants are unable to continue. The fight has ended in a draw.”