A few minutes later, Jonathan had reached the tower and was racing up its stone step towards the top. Dalnar was following along behind him, which was good. He could use this tower to get a bit of ground on the other man.
Jonathan reached the top mere second later, and looked out across the endless ash fields in front of him. There were what looked to be watchtowers scattered around the area, with one every few dozen miles. In addition, regular patrols of soldiers marched between them in what looked to be some sort of order. Jonathan had not spotted any of these forces on the way in, but he realized that they were all on one side of the tower, the one that was facing the center of the Ash Heaps. The land around the capital probably became more densely populated and as a result, more heavily defended, the closer that one got to Granath’s seat of power.
With this in mind, Jonathan leaped off the side of the tower, and started to run in the opposite direction from the towers. Dalnar roared in anger behind him, infuriated at the fact that Jonathan simply kept running rather than staying to fight. Jonathan grinned. The other man would be getting the fight that he wanted soon enough. By this point, the rest of the army sent to fight him, if it could really be called an army, was so far behind that Jonathan could have slowed to a walking pace, and they still would have taken a while to reach him. There was a clear divide between fighters and elites within this world, and although the soldiers were quite powerful in their own right, and highly leveled, they could not stand up to someone like Jonathan.
The ash kicked up beneath his feet, leaving a faint trail of black behind him as he ran. He reveled in his speed, putting it fully to the test. He was moving at hundreds of miles per hour, and although his stamina bar was dropping quite quickly, he kept at that speed for a few seconds, trying to get a feel for his new parameters after coming out of the dungeon. He hadn’t been able to test them properly within the dungeon, as there was not adequate space to do something like run. However, he had plenty of space now. He had almost doubled in power during that dungeon run, counting the increases to his skills as well as to his stats. That was a most impressive achievement, and it meant that he had been justified in his choice to head towards the dungeon.
Some time later, Jonathan looked back, and saw that Dalnar was lagging behind, his stamina having given out somewhat. Now that the man had been softened up, it was the perfect time to strike. Jonathan had been intending to fight him all along, but in a field of battle where the odds favored him.
He wheeled around, and headed back towards the man, starting to channel his mana as he did so. The purple light blossomed on the ends of his fists, and he reached Dalnar a few moments later, fresh and ready for a battle. Dalnar seemed to be quite exhausted from his chase, and when he spotted Jonathan coming in, he stopped, and raised his fists, ready for a fight.
Jonathan did not slow down as he approached, and as Dalnar snapped his wrist, projecting out a tendril of red light towards Jonathan’s legs, he sent out his awareness towards the attack, managing to get ahold of it. He sent his mana into the tendril a moment later, and it snapped apart midair, falling into a multitude of fragments, By that point, Dalnar lacked the time to form another one, and Jonathan was upon him.
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His right fist came in like a bullet, and Dalnar only managed to cross his arms in time to block the attack. Jonathan dove his weight and strength into the blow, and knocked Dalnar backwards, sending the other man off his feet. Dalnar rolled on the ground, getting to his feet an instant later. He might have been lacking a bit in strength, but he certainly was fast. In fact, without his armor, he might have been faster than Jonathan.
Jonathan circled around the other man, watching out for an opening. Dalnar grunted, and summoned lightning to his hands, causing his gauntlets to crackle with black energy. He roared, and slammed his fists together, sending a bolt of electricity streaking straight for Jonathan. Jonathan could not dodge in time, or unbind the spell, so he instead crossed his arms in front of himself, and summoned his mana to his arms, focusing on empowering the Void aspect within it. The lightning hit a millisecond later, and Jonathan screamed as his body withered under the strike.
The mana coating his arms wicked away some of the lightning, destroying it, but a lot of it made its way through, and started to drain Jonathan’s health bar. He gritted his teeth, and took a step forwards, focusing on his opponent. Dalnar snorted, and slammed his fists together again, redoubling his efforts. Jonathan was almost blasted off his feet, but he instead harnessed more of his mana, sending it back through the stream of lightning connecting himself with Dalnar. The lightning bolt started to come apart, veins of purple light running up and down its length.
Dalnar tried to cancel the skill, but it exploded, driving Dalnar’s hands apart and blasting him off his feet. As the man got up, he surreptitiously edged backwards. Jonathan knew exactly what he was doing though, and he saw that the man was trying to lead him back towards his supporting forces, who were starting to near their position. Instead of continuing the fight, as he wanted to, Jonathan instead took off once more. He wouldn't let his ego bait him into a trap like this. He did not need to defeat Dalnar, only to escape.
Dalnar stared at Jonathan’s back, and clenched his fists so hard that blood ran down his hands. He was being actively mocked by his quarry, and his sense of pride could not stand for that. He sighed, and reached down to his belt, taking out a strange orb that looked to be composed of pure fire, condensed down to the size of a marble. It was a special gift from Granath himself, to be used if Jonathan escaped him. Bracing himself for the pain to come, Dalnar threw the orb after Jonathan.
Jonathan heard something streaking through the air behind him, whistling as it flew. He rolled forwards, anticipating a strike to his back, but he was not prepared for what came next. There was a light clink, and then a pillar of flame shot up into the atmosphere, easily a thousand feet wide. Jonathan was lifted off his feet, and his flesh melted into his armor. He was launched high up into the air, and he screamed in pure agony. His armor was glowing a cherry red from the heat, and his enhanced durability was almost a curse, as it refused to let him die. He fell like a shooting star, his body blazing red from the heat. Jonathan swam in and out of consciousness as he fell, and he saw the horizon spinning around him, around and around, the blackness of the ash merging with the sky.