In preparation for this, Jonathan drew upon his conceptual mastery over the Void, straining his mind to eke out as much of the power as he possibly could. His fist briefly blazed with purple light, and then turned a far more dangerous color. None at all. His opponent barked out a laugh at this seeming lack of control on Jonathan’s part, which was swiftly met with a devastating uppercut from Jonathan’s fist.
He drove up with all of his power in a blurring arc, starting near his toes and soaring up above his head. Metal groaned, and Jonathan lifted his enemy off his feet, tossing him high into the air. A droplet of blood fell from the sky, landing on one of his gauntlets. The weapon unexpectedly flared with light, and he remembered the upgrade requirements for the weapon. It required Tier 2 blood, Tier 2 bone, and Dark Iron. Of those three, he could find two right here and now if he played his cards right.
It seemed that his gauntlets simply absorbed the upgrade material, and he remembered that his armor also could be upgraded the same way. He smiled as he imagined the sheer brutality that fusing one’s armaments with the flesh and bone of one’s enemies entailed. Good. They deserved it.
As the other man came down, Jonathan cocked back his fist and surged forwards, drawing upon more of his elemental mastery. However, the man who he faced was a Tier 2, and his power was nothing to scoff at. He roared in rage as he fell, summoning a massive superimposed image of his weapon on top of its form, extending it a dozen feet in length. He raised it above his head, and brought it down.
Jonathan was unable to get out of the way in time, and he instead punched straight up, knowing that this impact was going to hurt. Mana and elemental energy flooded to his fist, along with his Divinity. His fist exploded into a ball of light as he punched, meeting his enemy’s strike head on. There was a brief moment of silence and stillness as their strikes met, and then the world seemed to crack apart as an explosion ripped through the air, tossing Jonathan head over heels. His bones shattered, and his muscles tore as he flew. He could only hope that his foe was suffering a similar fate.
Jonathan landed painfully, his bones screaming at him in protest as he forced himself to get to his feet, not wasting a moment. He heard a scream of pain from Edgar’s direction and a high pitched, girlish laugh that was grotesque in the circumstances. His friend was being played with now by his opponent. There was nothing for it now. His banked stat points would not save him, not against multiple Tier 2s. There was only one option left. Smite.
His body blossomed into golden light as he channeled his Divinity into his flesh and blood, causing him to glow like a beacon of godly power. His broken bones faded to insignificance in front of the supreme power coursing within him, and Jonathan roared, expelling a gust of golden energy that washed over the ground in front of him. With a tense of his legs, Jonathan took off, speeding towards the site of the explosion that had injured him.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
As he reached his top speed, he finally did it. A sonic boom echoed across the land as he broke the sound barrier, and he let out a primal scream of joy, spotting the body of his enemy in the process. The Tier 2 man did not look all the worse for wear, and he seemed to be recovering rather rapidly. Jonathan sped up slightly as he ran, realizing that he needed to get there in time before Smite wore off. It was a powerful skill, but one with very clear limits, limits that would render him helpless if broken.
Jonathan skidded to a halt in front of the Tier 2 fighter, using his momentum to build up a powerful punch. His fist carried all of his energy forward, and just as the Tier 2 got to his feet, brandishing his weapon, Jonathan’s hand came forwards like a wrecking ball, slamming into his face. There was a bang, and the man was tossed off his feet, a small gust of reddish light taking him away, the remnants of Jonathan’s Divinity contained within his rune.
Before the other man could recover, Jonathan flashed towards the woman, who looked to be whipping Edgar with a semi corporeal strand of light, laughing at him as she did so. Jonathan howled in anger, heralding his presence to the woman. She looked up, sneering, but as she realized his true speed, her face fell. Before the woman could muster any sort of defense, Jonathan was upon her.
A half formed shield was already in the air around her, but his fist broke it effortlessly, and as energy blossomed around it, the woman let out a short cry of alarm. When his fist hit, it was utterly devastating, and the woman seemed to break around his hand, her bones snapping like an endless line of firecrackers. She was almost blasted in two by the power of his strike, but as he withdrew his hand, energy rushed into her from the world around her, and her wound started to heal over. With blood bubbling up over her lips, she started to cast a spell. Jonathan slammed his hand into her once more, but she was now surrounded by a powerful shield that rebuffed his attack, causing it to skitter off of it.
She grimaced and then thrust her palm forwards, expelling a lance of silvery energy that carried Jonathan up into the air. He felt the lance begin to drill into his armor, and he hurriedly slapped a hand down to it, causing the spell to be consumed by his Void energy. Behind him, he heard a bestial roar as the Tier 2 melee fighter got back up, out for his blood. All around them, the soldiers were watching as if in a trance, knowing that there was nothing that they could do against the almost god like fighters that were duking it out before them. Jonathan almost felt sorry for them, before he remembered whose side he was on.
As he came back down to the ground, he saw that his Divinity stores were starting to give out, and neither of his opponents were near death yet. The man was severely injured from the explosion caused by the mingling of their techniques, but he was still able to stand, and likely possessed hidden wells of power. No, this was not a battle that Jonathan would be able to easily win. He made a snap decision, and picked up Edgar, who was covered in blood, and started running for it, heading away from the battlefield.