Krimin grabbed his saber and raised it into the air, he could not let this go on any longer.“I shall teach you a lesson I learned very painfully!” The saber came down and pierced him straight through his own abdomen.
Orion, Daiyu and Anissa all looked at him with a bewildered expression.
“The demonic bastard killed himself?” Orion thought to himself as he subconsciously stepped back from the impaled Krimin.
Krimin's body began to shake ever so slightly.
Anissa noticed what was happening and was about to attack Krimin, but mysteriously paused before she could move.
Her pupils shifted towards Daiyu.
Daiyu clutched her head with one hand and the other was extended towards Anissa.
A strange power had bound Anissa to her place, not physically but temporally.
A whisper came out of Krimin’s mouth, as he sat on his knees.
“Saber of the Claw, Sixth stance, Metamorphosis.”
The moment he spoke he began to transform violently.
Two small red horns sprouted from his head, his hands morphed into powerful, beast-like limbs, and a tail emerged from his lower back.
He stood up, ripping the saber from his chest dying the ground in blood. The weapon had taken on a deep maroon hue, as if it had become an entirely different entity.
His gaze turned to the frozen Anissa who had begun to gradually loosen from the temporal lock.
“Sword intent isn't the only way to exceed the veil of Qi condensation.” he spoke in a lower, beastial tone. “Within the Saber of the Claw, this is the peak.”
Orion slowly backed up towards Daiyu, he realized that in the battle between these two monsters he was the only normal one.
“Make no mistake.” Anissa’s blade vibrated and shattered the temporal lock she had been restrained with.”You’ve just chosen to die as a beast instead of a human. Nothing else.”
To her there could be no outcome other than victory.
They ran at each other blades in hand, Anissa moved with nimble quick steps while Krimin stomped on the ground leaving scathing marks.
The blades clashed once more, the clear difference in strength from before no longer present.
The clash held such intensity that the trees in the immediate area were rooted from the ground and sent tumbling into the distance.
Orion stood before Daiyu shielding her from the violent gale of wind.
“I COULD NEVER FALL TO A LOWER FORM OF WEAPON ARTS!” Krimin practically screamed.
His saber descended relentlessly, repeatedly bludgeoning Anissa’s blade, trying to carve a hole into the ground.
Anissa fluidly situated her blade strategically, lessening the impact of the blows. Yet despite that her arms began to shake under the sheer strength and number of Krimin’s attacks.
As soon as she saw a chance she gathered her strength and pushed back on the blows, gaining a slight opening.
As the opening appeared she slid under Krimin’s legs and tried to get behind him.
However, Krimin had anticipated her move. His tail, a deadly weapon, wrapped around her waist and slammed her relentlessly into the ground.
Anissa didn’t let the pain distract her, the blade in her hand swung at his back, his increased size made his ability to turn around and quickly block with his saber difficult.
After being slashed along his back Krimin quickly threw Anissa away, trying to avoid any further damage.
She crashed against the ground and slid a few steps before standing back up.
At this point Krimin had a large wound on his back and Anissa had a few broken bones from being slammed against the ground.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
The battle was extremely close.
“Weapon arts, don't make me laugh, your stance is a disgrace to swordsmanship. You’ve merely turned yourself into a beast.” She spat out some blood as she spoke.
“This beast will be the death of you yet!” Krimin declared.
A ray of heat condensed between Krimin’s horns and shot out at Anissa, in response Anissa held out her blade intending to block the attack.
Along the edge of her blade a barrier of sword intent condensed deflecting the ray into the greenery behind her.
Orion stood alongside Daiyu as the two battled.
“It’s like watching two rabid dogs go at each other.” he commented as he saw the constant clashes between the two.
Daiyu managed to slowly stand, the pain in her head subsiding slightly.
“You’re finally up now.” Orion said as he saw Daiyu recover her footing. “If this goes on much longer they’ll both die, well I guess it’ll be beneficial for us.”
Daiyu shook her head, her face held a complex expression, almost hopeless.
“This fight will not have a conclusion.”
“What makes you so certain?” Orion inquired.
“I’ve seen it.” she responded with a tone of resignation in her voice.
The conclusion of this fight was something set in stone, unchangable.
After another twenty minutes of close calls and constant injuries Anissa looked as if she finally had enough.
“I don’t have enough time for this farce!” Her blade curled up around her.
“What a coincidence I was about to say the same thing!” Krimin held his saber out in front of him and it began to vibrate ever so slightly.
“Ocean Splitting Sword, Sixth Form, E-”
“Saber of the Claw, Fifth Stance, D-”
Krimin and Anissa, who were both about to deliver lethal blows, stopped.
Rather they didn’t stop, they were stopped.
A woman veiled in a black shroud shot up from the ground.
“Not bad, not bad at all.” it was the same voice they heard when they ended up in this place.
Krimin and Anissa broke out of their stupor and looked around.
They had been so engrossed in fighting that they didn’t realize that the sun had already risen in the sky.
After three long months, the night had passed.
“Having the two of you kill each other now would be a waste.” Kura had ended the battle, declaring neither of them as the victor.
…
In a similar forest far away from Anissa another much more intense battle had reached its climax.
A golden light shot out towards Elder Musan.
The state he was in was horrid, his arm had been melted off and his chest a gory mess.
The ray struck him straight in his abdomen, shattering his Ethereal Core.
“You mongrels are all the same, you tug at your chains any chance you get. Forgetting who gave you the very life you cling to so desperately.” Holy Knight Aaron spat out in rage, looking battered and bruised as if he had been through a similar struggle. Blood dripped from his ears like a broken faucet, one of his hands was nothing more than a mangled paste, his body decorated with scars from gale force winds and clawed blows.
Before him stood three people.
“The traitor and his great hammer.” He made sure to address all three of them separately, ingraining fear into their hearts.
Grand Elder Claris Held his Great hammer in one hand, with the other he grabbed onto his shoulder, which had been bleeding profusely. “Sect master you’ve really sent me to my death this time.” He thought as he gritted his teeth.
“The whore and her hellish claws.”
Elder Pyari brandished long claws, lined with a purplish aura. At this point she could barely stand, she was very noticeably limping. “This whore will be sure to make your core feel the sharpness of these claws.” She spat out as she looked at him with a deep hatred.
“The songstress and her scalding voice.”
Madam Hua clutched at her slit throat, desperately trying to preserve her voice, the instrument of her power. "I-I," she attempted to speak but was unable to, her throat refusing to cooperate.
“All of you wilful traitors, I will make sure to execute a lot of you!” Aaron declared as he clutched his sword tightly in his hands.
While Ethereal Core cultivators indeed possessed remarkable regenerative abilities, their powers had their limits. Intense and prolonged battles, coupled with constant severe injuries, could exceed their capacity to heal instantly, making them vulnerable.
Not to mention the divinity that Aaron infused in his attacks was beyond what they could manage.
Aaron raised his sword once more, he had made his choice, between the three of his enemies the next to die was certain.
The blade began to condense another beam of light, pointed straight at the weakest of the three, madam Hua.
However, just before the attack was launched, a grand display of fireworks filled the sky behind them
*SWOOSH* *KABOOM*
"Fireworks?!" all four of them thought in unison as they saw the colourful lights behind them.
“Forgive the theatrics, but I have a reputation to keep as a dramatic person.” A voice familiar to Madam Hua and Aaron sounded in their ears.
A man dressed in dark cultivator robes appeared, with one arm normal but the other lined with black veins, and one eye deep red while the other was closed.
“TAINTED ONE!” Aaron yelled.
"Feng Zhiming," Madam Hua thought.
The man approached with a swagger, oozing confidence.
“The one and only,” he declared.
He glanced at the wounded elders.
“Your savior is here. Feel free to praise me,” he said pompously.
The elders exchanged a glance, thinking, “Is this guy serious?”
The three looked at him as if he was an idiot, it took one glance to tell he was at the Qi condensation stage.
Forget saving them, he had just doomed himself.