Chapter 24

Torg’s pupils dilated when Ska’dur abruptly appeared a few feet away, his speed almost beyond what Torg could react to. Moving faster than lightning, Ska’dur clenched his fist and punched forward, a white glow surrounding his arm.

Upheaval!

A cone-shaped area attack empowered by 30% of Ska’dur’s remaining Life Energy came at Torg, who watched in shock as black cracks spread wherever the force released from Ska’dur’s fist reached.

Not good!

Torg’s instincts warned of imminent danger.

Acting decisively, he teleported forward and materialized behind Ska’dur to avoid the fallout, but before he could relax, Ska’dur spun around and swept with his leg.

Biting Fang!

Physical force manifested itself in the shape of a crescent moon and detached from Ska’dur’s leg, cleaving through the sky and leaving a black rift in its wake. Space shuddered as Torg utilized one of his remaining teleport charges, yet Ska’dur’s speed was so overwhelmingly fast that he had already made his next attack.

Dire Stab!

Ska’dur thrust two fingers forward, and ignoring the distance between them, the force generated from the attack pierced through Torg’s Mana Barrier and torso, creating a small hole and dealing 5% of Torg’s health.

“Splendid!” Torg shouted with fervor, the pain invigorating him.

Ska’dur’s current physical prowess reminded him of the sin of Wrath, his greatest rival. Brawlers that reached a certain level like Wrath were always troublesome foes for mages, and it used to be the same for Torg.

Not anymore.

In response to Ska’dur attaining a height that neared Wrath, Torg spread his arms and activated one of his most powerful skills, uttering, “Infernal Blaze Embodiment.”

Wearing a smile, white flames poured out from Torg’s eyes, nose, mouth, and pores, spreading hundreds of feet. A pulse from Torg called out to them, and at his beckoning, the flames returned to their source.

They infused into Torg’s skin, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and bones, transforming them into a form of energy. Ska’dur watched in mute shock as a humanoid elemental bearing Torg’s features and wearing flaming robes appeared in all its glory. He was mesmerized by the way the flames coursed underneath Torg’s skin, flowing thick and heavy like mercury. It was like a star took human form and felt cosmic in origin.

Undaunted, Ska’dur pressed forward, a brown hue covering his body as he activated a powerful skill.

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Heroic Descent!

Instead of summoning a meteor with the Small Meteor skill, Ska’dur became the meteor itself. His figure tore through the sky, leaving behind black cracks as the faint image of a boulder covered him.

In the face of Ska’dur’s attack, Torg remained motionless.

Without any suspense, Ska’dur tore through Torg, blasting his body into countless pieces. Even then, Ska’dur knew Torg wouldn’t die so easily. Turning around, he watched as thousands of flames came together to reform Torg in perfect condition.

Ska’dur’s expression turned grim at the sight.

Somehow, Torg had gained the property of a rare type of monster, becoming an energy-based entity. For Ska’dur, who primarily used physical attacks, this was the worst-case scenario.

Torg faced Ska’dur, his expression prideful, and waved his hand, saying, “Ignition Chains.”

At his command, numerous flames taking the shape of linked chains spewed out from Torg’s body, fanning out in all directions as they honed in on Ska’dur, who moved to evade.

Unwilling to retreat, Ska’dur released consecutive attacks as he dodged the chains threatening to restrain him, regretting that he hadn’t stored any magical weapons in his inventory.

Currently, the only method he could think of to attain victory was to draw out the fight, guessing that the Inferno Blaze Embodiment skill consumed tremendous amounts of Torg's mana to keep active. Unfortunately, Ska’dur would enter a weakened state in four minutes, preventing him from utilizing this tactic.

All the while, the fight carried on, with Torg relying heavily on his Inferno Blaze Embodiment to withstand the dozens of Life Energy empowered attacks that Ska’dur landed.

The entire time, Torg controlled his Ignition Chains patiently, ignoring the negligible amount of damage he took as Ska’dur slowly ran out of stamina.

Eventually, the fated moment arrived, and a dreadful sense of weakness overcame Ska’dur, the vibrant Life Energy encompassing his body dissipating. Now unable to avoid the Ignition Chains, they successfully wrapped around his limbs and pulled tight. Locked in place, the chains slowly melted his armor, causing drops of molten liquid to run across his skin. They also prevented him from teleporting.

With Ska’dur caught, Torg floated over, commenting, “A valiant effort.”

Ska’dur endured the pain from the chains, his expression stern as he asked, “How much of your strength did you use?”

Appreciative of Ska’dur’s talent, Torg shared the truth, “Less than 50%.”

“No wonder,” Ska’dur sighed.

During the entire fight, he felt like Torg was in complete control. However, he wasn’t depressed at all that there was such a big gap between them, because he knew he had only been in the Grandsky Realm for less than a year. He was confident that, with time, he could surpass Torg.

“Should I say you overestimated yourself?” Torg remarked, curious as to why Ska’dur was so nonchalant at his defeat.

“Maybe,” Ska’dur chuckled, his sweat evaporating from the heat.

What Torg didn’t know was that while it was true he caught Ska’dur, he did so at the location and angle Ska’dur wanted. Behind Ska’dur was the Skynet and the others from the Innate Nation, and from Torg’s position, he didn’t see Ska’dur use Mana Manipulation to form a countdown made of mana near his back.

10…

9…

8…

7…

6…

5…

“Well, I’ll make it qui-“ Torg had begun speaking, intending to finish Ska’dur off, when Ska’dur’s limbs suddenly gained the property of a slime monster, giving him the opportunity to slide out of their grasp. Now free, he quickly teleported to the side right as his counter reached zero.

“Huh?”

Torg only saw a blinding light before a thick beam of unbelievably concentrated mana accompanied by a deep hum went through his body and into the distance. A black crack followed in its wake, so wide and destructive, that it forcibly sucked in a majority of Torg’s energy-based body, whisking it away to who knows where.

The beam vanished just as fast as it arrived, yet the changes it brought were miraculous. The Solare Flare Legion went wide-eyed, spotting Torg floating near a shrinking crack with only a head and half his neck remaining, unsure of whether he was dead or alive.