He had noticed that he had a tendency to become a bit pretentious in the middle of battle, but it was a trait that would serve him well. The energy of the Void sprang to his fists, causing them to glow with purple light.

To punctuate the point, he summoned more and more, until his fists were covered in purple energy. Drawing the conceptual meaning of his elemental energy, leaning upon the teachings of his Hungering Decay skill, he summoned more Void energy than he had ever before.

Yaltan dropped the air of insouciance, and became more wary, circling Jonathan. With a sharp cry, Jonathan rocketed towards Yaltan, his fists cocked and ready. His stamina abilities allowed him to close the gap in the blink of an eye, and his fist was already rocketing towards his opponent.

Yaltan grimaced and raised his sword, blocking the strike. A hammerblow of purple energy crashed into the blade, slamming it back into Yaltan’s face. The energy almost seemed to eat away at reality around it, the hallmark of the Void.

The man recovered incredibly quickly however, and before Jonathan could land another blow, the man’s hand snaked out and grabbed his foot out of the air, before throwing him upwards. The sword came hissing toward his abdomen, and he hurriedly blocked it with his gauntlets.

Voidlight fought with Lifelight, and the two energies sizzled in the air as they fought to erase one another. Yaltan had a much higher level of mastery, but the Void was meant for things like this. Eventually, both attacks fizzled out, just as Jonathan landed on the street, ready for battle.

Yaltan seemed shocked that his attack had failed, and he paused for a moment, before snapping his fingers. A corona of green light rose up around him, and his armor started to creak as he grew in size. The plates bulged outwards, and separated, revealing a massive hulk of swollen muscle underneath. It seemed that Yaltan could control the progression of his elemental ability somewhat.

With a deep roar, the man raised his sword above his head and brought it sweeping down. The blade seemed to grow longer and longer in Jonathan’s sight, until it blocked out everything else. He knew that it was only an illusion, but he had no doubts about what would happen to him if he let that strike land.

Jonathan gathered up his power in his right fist and struck, layering his stamina, mana and elemental energy into one colossal punch. Adding on the energy of his Mythical skill created a field of nothingness above his fist that hissed through the air as he punched.

Yaltan screamed as he brought the attack crashing down, and the air around him seemed to turn green as his aura spread out into the world. Jonathan unleashed his own aura, creating a purple sphere of power that crashed into the other fighter’s aura. At this point, the weaker servants of Granath were engaged with Edgar on the other side of the street, wisely staying away from the clash of titans that was occurring between Jonathan and Yaltan.

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A moment later, the two strikes collided, and there was a brief moment of silence before the roiling energies detonated. Green light burst into the world, ripping through the air and creating strange growths when it hit bacteria and even small insects, turning them into writhing mounds of flesh.

The erasing power of the Void spread out in a shockwave from Jonathan, destroying the abominations as they spread. Most of the energy was directed at the two men however, and as his fist slipped past Yaltan’s strike and into the man’s gut, the sword came crashing down on Jonathan’s shoulder, turning it into a loose bag of bone shards. It was a miracle that it was not severed entirely, but most of the energy was already spent.

Jonathan added another charge of stamina to his attack, almost tapping his reserves. With a whoosh, the strike slammed into Yaltan’s stomach. The armor bent around the strike, and Jonathan heard bones breaking and flesh being pulverized under his blow.

Yaltan coughed up blood, and reverted to his normal state, whatever skill he had been using wearing off as the damage was dealt. Jonathan was blasted off his feet by the momentum of Yaltan’s strike, and he rolled across the ground, groaning in pain. His arm was in ruins, and it was completely useless. Such an injury would take hours to fully heal.

He was down to his one arm, which would have to be enough. The pain from his shattered arm was intense, but he managed to compartmentalize it. On Earth, he would have blacked out from the pain, but he was made of sterner stuff here. Tempered by battle, and by his levels, he was resilient to almost all pain. Besides, fighting for one’s life was a great incentive to keep moving despite agony.

Yaltan was retching up blood a few dozen feet away, already trying to heal his injuries. Jonathan could not have that. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the townspeople fleeing up the mountain, towards the cave. He let out a sigh of relief at this. Even the guards, with their boosted levels, would die in seconds before Yaltan and his compatriots.

Jonathan shakily got to his feet, and started running, using his stamina to boost himself. His regeneration rate was enough to keep him going, and it only dipped when he used his skill. Yaltan laid one of his hands on his ruined stomach, wincing as the greenish light of his elemental energy played across his armor. The skin started to knit back together, but before it could heal fully, Jonathan came charging in, his fist catching the other man under the chin.

Bones cracked, even with the armor, and Yaltan was blasted backwards, his skill cutting out. Jonathan screamed as his broken arm was jostled by the strike, but he turned the pain into rage, and kept going, battering the other man into the ground.

Yaltan started to channel Life energy into his hands, pouring it into Jonathan. As his skin burst apart under the pressure, he kept punching, battering Yaltan into a pulp. A few moments later, the man breathed his last, and a tide of essence entered Jonathan, carrying him up two levels. The world started to spin around him, and he collapsed, briefly hoping that Edgar was strong enough to defeat the other fighters.