Liv wanted to chase after Langa since he was sure he was the one carrying Team Kindaro's sovorb but there was no way this woman would just let him go. He did not like fighting against mortals he had no quarrels with, but this game was an important way to introduce himself to the public.
He wondered if he should be merciful, rush out and kill her in one shot, if he should hold back and make it an even fight or if he should toy with her and show everyone how weak she was compared to him.
He was admittedly curious about her for two reasons, she seemed close to Langa and his den-brother was second to her on Batch 4’s Mage leaderboard. How could she be a better mage than the Dragonslayer who had been training with the Living Wing's priestesses his whole life? Dragonkin were masters of mana manipulation, and while he did not support his grandmother's view of beastkin being lower lifeforms, he didn't understand how a normal foxkin could have better mana control at Tier 1 than a trained dragonkin.
Liv expected her to test the waters with a light attack first to gauge his defences, but the moment Langa disappeared into the sky, a massive bright red ball of fire flew his way as she shouted, “Incinerate!”
He drew his shield, and allowed his mana to trickle through his sealed mana core, activating the skill on the shield, Damage Absorption. Using his high physical strength, he raised the shield above him and planted his feet on the floor of the ship, stopping the ball of fire. He blocked and then forcefully pushed it away.
To his surprise, his arm ached from the impact.
SynnForessa was a mage, so he had to defeat her at close range. He jumped onto her ship, still holding the shield. As he ran towards her, however, black smoke filled the air, and his body felt sluggish, causing him to halt his charge as he coughed.
[Debuff: Slumbering Smoke has reduced your movement speed by 10% and slowed your thinking capacity by 15%.
-20STA/s while inside the Slumbering Smoke.]
The storm raged on outside, the ship being tossed around in the hands of the angry sea. A flurry of Flame Spikes descended on his barely moving body and he was slow to raise his shield to protect himself. The piercing fire bolts stung deep into his skin and some burned through his chainmail armour, but pain was never something that bothered Liv. What did bother him was how much health he was losing thanks to both the fire and the debuff slowing him down.
Without any other choice, he activated his Scale Armour skill and thin durable blue dragon scales covered his entire body. The pain receded since the spikes couldn't penetrate his armour. Once she saw that her attacks were no longer effective, SynnForessa cut her losses and stopped the flames. Before she could send a new attack, the smoke dissipated and the debuff expired.
Liv didn't want to waste his mana and stamina blocking another fireball, so he charged towards her with his sword drawn. Her dark hair flowed in the wind and without a word, SynnForessa raised her hand, and a ring of fire surrounded her. He could feel the intense heat coming from it and was unsure if it was a defensive or offensive skill.
As he closed in, she shot three Flame Spikes at him, from the ring surrounding her, and the mana in them was more intense than the ones from earlier, so he dodged them, each one exploding dangerously close to his feet. That would definitely have penetrated his armour.
The bottom of the ship started to catch fire, and she gathered those flames into her ring and threw the exploding bolts at him. Liv had no choice but to use up his mana and Stamina to keep his Scale Armour active, coating his body to protect him from the heat.
“You're so damn wasteful,” SynnForessa shouted, licking her lips hungrily as if she were ready to devour him.
“Excuse me?” he asked.
“You’re gifted with all this mana, and it's annoying to see you waste it like this,” she said, a large red ball of incinerating fire flying towards him.
How was she able to hurl so many attacks, one after the other, at him so quickly? Didn't her skills have a cool down? Liv raised his shield as he did not want to retreat, not when he was so close to getting in range to use his sword. Even with his shield's Damage Absorption, the Fire Ring boosted Incinerate's damage to unimaginable levels, overloading the shield and heating it so much that the force forced it out of Liv's hands. What remained of incinerate burned into his arm and caused a massive ripple of scorching pain through the scales.
Liv ignored it and didn't retrieve the shield.
“I don’t use mana that much, so I won't waste time learning to control it,” he said and swiftly swung his sword with his unijured arm at SynnForessa, but she reacted instantly, using her whip to deflect the blow, trying to create distance. But this was Liv's element. No one ever had, and no one ever would defeat him at close range. He refused to allow it as he burnt his stamina into solar aura, moving along to the stances of the Sword of The Veskka Nest skill.
Liv was flawless at this skill, extending his limbs like a dragon on the hunt, not allowing her room to retreat. 'How strange,' he thought as she raised her arm to block his fist, but the force shattered her arm. SynnForessa screamed but tried to use her whip to parry his blows. The Fire Ring surrounded her, defending her from him, but he did not care about being burnt, not when his armour was protecting him. His leg found her abdomen, and she choked in pain, getting pushed back as he kicked at her knees effortlessly.
She staggered and sent a wave of fire racing towards Liv through the whip, forcing him to leap back to avoid being engulfed in flames. Her movements were good, as if she had been trained in armed combat, but her body was weak. It felt like fighting an old master whose talents were limited only by his weak body. If she had more health and more stamina, she might have given him a run for his gold.
As Liv lunged forward to finish the fight, she released another cloud of smoke that enveloped him, and he felt his stamina getting drained again, slowing his movements and making it harder for him to see. Liv gritted his teeth, she had planned that, making him forget about this debuff skill only to throw it at him when he least expected it.
What a cunning little fox!
Enough was enough. Even if he was slower than normal, Liv channelled his solar aura into his fists and feet, enhancing his attacks with the golden energy, draining his stamina rapidly for every second it was active.
He converted more mana into Stamina and activated Charging Ray Burst. This was a new spell he’d unlocked as part of his Aura Mastery skill once it reached Intermediate rank. It bolstered his tanking abilities. The Imbued Aura gave the illusion of his karma pressure as he charged, forcing the enemy to focus on him. It worked best against monsters as a pseudo-taunt. If he got hit, then all the damage taken from that charge would be converted into a devastating burst of damaging light rays of aura.
He attacked SynnForessa, his punches and kicks infused with an aura that drained her health with each strike. She wobbled under the force of Liv's assault, her Fire Ring was flickering weakly as it burnt through Liv's arms every time he struck at her. The charge had built up, and he let it loose, directing the rays with full force towards SynnForessa. He was sure this would take all her health at once, earning him an instant kill that would spread his name across the Floors.
However, SynnForessa muttered something, and his ears picked up something that sounded like “70%”, and then the rays struck her fragile body.
She didn’t scream, and he didn’t receive a kill notification.
When he looked up, he was alarmed to see his solar rays flying back at him with such speed that he did not have time to cover himself in aura, instead, only the Scale Armour protected him as his own attack tore into his body.
The pain was intense, but it was of no consequence to him. What was bad was his health was dropping alarmingly even with his endurance supplementing it. He wondered who in the cursed Duat this woman was as he looked up to see her body covered with mouths. Did she use a divine skill or her attribute? It was ironic that Liv’s own power brought him to his knees.
How did she still have enough mana to do that? No matter how good her mana control was, that should be impossible unless she bought a Blessing that increased her mana pool.
“You’re half god, so I suppose even that is not good enough,” Synnforessa’s voice said in the middle of the smoke, and her whip was like a rope with a mind of its own as it wrapped around Liv’s neck. “Goodbye, Liv’Kungsadu.”
SynnForessa raised her hand, and he sensed the massive amount of karma through her Spiritual Path without meaning to. His attribute always alerted him to strong divine skills.
"Kelpercutieyin! Meteor Strike!" She shouted, and as Liv looked up into the sky, he cursed. He'd seen her use this before. It was a damn meteor... a ball of fire hurtling towards the sea with incredible speed.
His karma raged inside him, cursing him for holding back. He hadn’t even done a single thing! He had been naive to think he could win without using more than half his power.
He hadn't even used his divine skill against her, so it was time to show the glory of The Sun God. With an uncontrolled burst of mana that his opponent would no doubt call wasteful, the magic circle for Solar Constructs glowed inside his mana core as it regulated his mana into every symbol on it. Unstable as his mana core was, the ring still held it steady enough that it did not shatter from his excessive mana pool. As a paladin, he had to say a Word every time he used a divine skill. His Faith was easy to draw on, his Faith in the Sun God was faith in his mother, and he had that in abundance.
He hurriedly summoned a single mana-concentrated golden Solar Shield to protect himself from SynnForessa's incoming meteor.
He hastily let go of his solar aura as fast as he could and covered his entire body with demonic aura. He could feel his father's demonic power in every part of his veins, invading his karma, taking over his mana pathways, whispering and burning, burning, burning. His hands shook, but if he had gone all out from the start instead of hesitating, he wouldn't be in this situation.
His karma stirred as he used both mana and demonic aura at the same time. Liv closed his eyes, praying for it not to go out of control. He was holding back as much as he could without losing, but it was getting harder.
The Solar Shield surrounded him like a barrier as his demonic aura covered his entire body. The meteor slammed into the shield, hard. In a battle between two divine skills, the ranks of the deities mattered, but what made the most difference was the mortal’s Faith. His mother’s tears fuelled his Faith as he bade the shield to hold fast. But whatever SynnForessa believed in was strong too because the meteor was strong enough to crack the shield.
Thankfully, the flames of the meteor had lost power by the time it struck Liv’s body. His demonic aura absorbed the rest of the blast even though the force crashed him against the ship. His tough skin burned with the first real amount of pain he'd experienced since his Sponsorship Challenge.
He forced himself up and stood tall, ready to continue the fight, acting as if he were not in pain.
SynnForessa, on the other hand, was nearly mana exhausted. When she saw that he didn’t die, he heard her say in exasperation, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
It was as if she took the words right out of his mouth. He had underestimated her, and it nearly cost him his life.
She was strong, so he wondered if it would be okay to tap a little more into his demonic aura. The demonic power begged for release. If he wanted people to gravitate towards him, he had to be strong, and for that, he could not lose control.
"Just a little," he breathed, allowing a fraction of the demonic aura out. A brilliant red light burst out from Liv's sword as he tapped into the power he’d inherited from his father. The demonic aura seeped into the sword, but fortunately, he had not brought his Bloodraven sword into this battle. Bloodraven amplified his demonic aura, which was dangerous for him.
Burning his third use of the divine skill, Liv constructed a smaller golden shield that he could hold in his hand and thrust it through SynnForessa's Fire Ring with all his might, the demonic aura shattering the fire into a million sparks that fizzled out harmlessly. It flickered and died out, leaving her undefended. It was ironic how well Amun-Ra and Aapep’s powers worked together here, considering their relationship.
SynnForessa cried out in pain as she was thrown back by the force of Liv's aura, and her body fell to the flaming deck of the ship. No matter how much extra mana the Blessing gave her, using what he assumed was a divine skill, and her attribute back to back had taken everything she had.
“I barely fought back, yet I'm still going to win. You’re strong,” he told her. "But I am much stronger."
“Fuck off,” she replied, but there was no bite in it as he plunged his sword into her chest.
This was the best outcome of the battle. She had her time to shine but he proved that he was superior, taking her down like a warrior.
The storm began to calm, the sound of the raging sea fading into the distance. Liv sheathed his sword, his tough skin still steaming from the battle. He knew he didn't have to kill her brutally, but his attribute demanded reverence, and he wanted everyone watching the match to marvel at his power and fall to their knees before him in worship.
He closed his eyes, willing the dark thoughts from his Obsession away. He once more covered his whole body in demonic aura and bought a Blessing from the Clash Store that allowed him to walk on water. The aura fuelled his muscles so that he could run faster. He had to stop Langa, as he wasn’t sure if Vavuciadsforenkka would be able to.
*
When the flying shark reached him, Langa leapt onto its back, but there was no saddle. Thankfully he had taken one of the ropes from the ship so he tied it around the shark’s dorsal fin to use as reins. He used a part of the rope to secure the sovorb inside the inner pocket of his leather jacket as well. The thought of soaring through the sky on the back of a powerful, dangerous beast thrilled and terrified him.
He could feel denticles on the shark’s scales digging into his bottom as the Temporary Blessing came alive. A link formed in his mind, the docile shark waiting for his instructions.
“Let’s go!” Langa said, thinking about flying into the air, towards Team Liv's lighthouse. The shark swam in the water for a few seconds before it took off into the air, water spraying like a whirlwind in its wake. He laughed. “I’ll call you Nado! Get it, Sharkn-! Yhoo!!” he screamed as it flew up.
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At first, Langa's heart pounded in his chest as the shark's wings beat against the wind, propelling them higher and higher, and he felt a rush of excitement pass through him. The sensation of flying was unlike anything he had ever experienced before, not since flying with Jandri on her falcon, and he found himself grinning from ear to ear. This was better than the time he'd bought a modified Ducati motorcycle and sped on the open road until he crashed into a railing and his sister forbade him from ever riding a motorcycle.
The wind whistled past him, carrying freedom with it, and he felt exhilarated as he gazed down at the world below, the sea rushing by in blue. The thrill of the ride fuelled his desire for more speed, and he urged Nado to go faster, following the map Vos made for him.
The wind fought against them as they ran into flying monsters. It took him a very short time to get used to aerial combat because The Legacy of The Tonare Thunderbird Spearmanship skill was designed for thunderbirds, and they excelled in aerial combat. He only had to adjust the stances a bit by relying on Nado as his feet and wings. Once he got the hang of it, and with his class' increased speed on a mount, the level 10 and 11 flying sharks could not keep up with him and were thus easy prey for Tonare. He laughed as he fought, as it was thrilling.
Finally, over ten minutes later, as the stormy sea churned below, Langa could see a lighthouse in the land he was approaching. Vos' estimations had not been too far off, and he was sure the less time he took to win this match, the more Karma Points he would earn. He pulled on the reigns of the shark so that it moved even faster. He was just about to dive down when he felt a breath of life bolting towards him, and he dove in time to avoid it.
A scaled arm flew over him, and then over twenty knife-like sharp objects flew so fast towards him that he had to use Nado to weave around them. When one of them sliced into the thin leather armour on his arm, Langa realised they weren't knives but sharp scales, and he looked above to see Vavuciadsforenkka hovering in the air; his wings unfurled.
Langa smiled ruefully. No wonder there weren't any flying sharks nearby, this guy must have hunted them all by now.
“Will you look at that? I've finally found some worthy prey," the dragonkin said with a satisfied grin. "And what do you know, it's the devil's friend."
Langa urged Nado to fly towards the dragonkin, his spear pointed straight at his tough scales, but Vavuciadsforenkka twisted in the air, his wings propelling him out of harm's way just in time. He was able to evade the brunt of the attack, but Langa was fast enough that he managed to graze his side, drawing a thin line of blood.
Seeing the blood, the enraged Vavuciadsforenkka let out a hiss. He tried to slash at him with his talons, but Langa was a Lightning Lancer. He had the lightning part down, but now that he was on a mount, he understood that this was where a lancer belonged. He was fast, and his class gave him bonuses to movement speed while on a mount. He belonged on the road, running, flying, chasing speed, and stabbing enemies along the way.
Langa flew around the dragonkin at breakneck speed, slashing his scales over and over with Tonare. He took over 200 HP from him, and still the dragonkin remained flying. He shot forward on the flying shark, his spear held fast in one hand, the way he always saw knights doing when they were jousting in European movies. Again, the dragonkin twisted away too slowly, and the force of the speed drove the spear deep into Vavuciadsforenkka’s leather breastplate, breaking it instantly.
“Fuck this shit!” Vauvuciadsforenkka said and tore off the upper leather armour, leaving the thick, dark blue scales all over his body in view.
When Langa rushed him again, Tonare failed to penetrate the scales. The dragonkin kicked him back after his failed attack, and Langa quickly pulled the reins and bent backwards so that the dragonkin's leg passed right in front of his face.
Just as he thought he was safe, Vavuciadsforenkka sharply turned, and something long and spiky dug into the side of Langa's leg, ripping his useless sponsored armour into shreds. A massive outpouring of blood stained his armour as hot pain tore at Langa's sensitive nerves, darkening his vision as he yelped.
[Critical Hit!
-133HP]
What the fuck? One hit had taken nearly half his health at once! Nado swayed, and they almost lost altitude. When he looked up, Langa could finally see what had struck him. On the dragonkin's back, he had sprouted a long tube formed by five barrel-shaped segments with a sharp stinger on the end. It looked like a scorpion's tail except that it was barbed all along its length with metallic nails. He didn't have that when they met in the tarven.
"System, convert 300 Stamina to Health," he said. He was loathe to do this considering how many of his skills needed Stamina, but skills were useless if he bled to death. He received only 30 HP but it was enough, along with his Regeneration skill, to stop the bleeding and reduce the pain to just a severe ache.
He needed to think of a strategy, so he flew up, towards the tip of the lighthouse, but the dragonkin was flying fast on his tail, his mouth wide open. Langa changed course and dove down quickly, swerving away just in time as an angry jet of magma was released exactly where he had been flying a second ago.
Vavuciadsforenkka's short wings beat the air fiercely as he closed the distance between them. Langa found it strange that he was flying faster than a dragonkin, and to give himself time to catch his breath, he decided to get under his skin.
"You're so slow! Synn was right, your wings are pathetic," Langa taunted. "Nado here has bigger wings than you, and he's just a shark."
"At least I still have my wings, stupid human!" he shouted, his blue scale knives reddening as magma poured out of them, heading for Langa. "Unlike the devil's spawn, I didn't get mine clipped because of insolence."
Langa and Nado weaved through the knives, and he wondered why Vavuciadsforenkka hated Liv so much. "Don't worry. By the end of this fight, you'll be the same. I'll cut at least one of your wings off," he shouted.
Vavuciadsforenkka charged towards him with another roar of magma. In a daring move, Langa flew straight up towards the blast instead of away from it. The magma splattered through the air, the heat sending chills down his spine as he approached the dragonkin. He'd take a more direct approach if he couldn't cut through the scales.
"No, you fool. The prey is you," Vavuciadsforenkka said. "If not for me, then for that devil. The closer you are to him, the more likely he is to take everything from you. The Dragonslayer learned that the hard way."
At the last second, Langa swerved left, but he still felt the blistering heat of the magma since he was so close to him. When the dragonkin took a deep breath in, Langa drew his glaive and infused over 50 Mana into it, and plunged it straight into the soft tissue of Vavuciadsforenkka's wide-open mouth.
Lightning shocked through the wound, and Vavuciadsforenkka spluttered and flew back, hands over his mouth. A burning pain shot through Langa's hand as it came into contact with the magma. He quickly flew away from the heat as fast as he could, but the entire front of his body was covered in burns. His health was plummeting, and he felt his Regeneration skill increased in level once more, even though it was essentially useless at Beginner Rank.
Vavuciadsforenkka was hurt, blood oozing out of his mouth, and he couldn't pass up this opportunity, so he ignored the pain and thrust forward with Tonare again, but the dragonkin's talons reached out and struck the weapon from his hand. It sailed off below him.
"Shit! Catch it!" he said as he urged Nado to fly downwards.
Scale knives penetrated his back as he flew down, and he screamed, wanting to fight back, but there was no way he could win without Tonare. To use his divine skill, he needed to be at full mana, and if he used it all, he would have no mana left to control Nado, causing him to fall into the ocean. His Jumper skill wouldn't be able to save him at that point. For now, he held off on using Lightning Lance until he was closer to land.
Thankfully, he managed to catch the glaive before it fell into the water. He turned around and used the defensive motions of Legacy of The Tonare Thunderbird to spin the glaive in a circle and block the scale knives.
It seemed Vavuciadsforenkka's magma skill had a long cool-down because he would have been defenceless against it at the moment.
The dragonkin was more adept than Langa at flying, and if he wanted to leverage his speed, he needed to slow him down. Looking down at the dragonkin's body, Langa realised that the places with the least amounts of Scale Armour protecting him were his joints. That was the best place to strike.
The dragonkin opened his mouth wide, and the mana surrounding him suddenly thinned. Heat filled the air as another large red blob of magma erupted from his mouth, and even though the heat was stealing his air, Langa let go of Nado's reins and stood up unsteadily.
The magma blinded Vavuciadsforenkka too and he had to take advantage of this. He gave Nado explicit instructions as he activated Flash Step. Langa landed on top of the dragonkin's back, and using the extra damage from Flash Step, drove Tonare into the joint connecting one of his wings to his body. He infused mana into the glaive and activated Thunderbird's Stunning Strike. The lightning-covered glaive tore through the joint cleanly, severing the dragonkin's wing and cutting into his arm as well.
As much as he wanted to cut his head off, the Scale Armour on his neck was thicker than the rest of the body, so he had to take his wing.
The howl of pain that reverberated through Vavuciadsforenkka's body threw Langa off him, especially combined with the backlash damage he received from Thunderbird's Stunning Strike. Thankfully, Nado knew to follow orders and caught Langa as he fell through the air.
[Critical hit!! (Vavuciadsforenkka) - 532HP
Lightning discipline damage: (Vaviciadsforenkka) - 532HP
Backlash (Langa Zulu) - 79HP]
"I told you I'd take a wing," Langa grinned, even though he felt disheartened.
That was fucking insane. This skill had dealt over 1000 damage, and yet even combined with the extra damage from Flash Step and double lightning discipline damage, it was not enough to instantly kill his opponent? How high was his HP? Did he get a Blessing related to his health or defence?
He knew his HP was below average, but that much damage would have instantly killed Langa over three times. His opponent didn't even seem to be mortally wounded! He checked his combat log for the armour's defence and sure enough, it was bad.
[Dragonscale Armour Negates 326 Damage]
Still, he was sure Lightning Lance would be able to take away all of Vavuciadsforenkka's health at once. He pulled out the lightning mana core and started infusing mana it for a clean kill.
A hateful glare was shot at him as blood soaked the dragonkin's scales. "Let me show you how flawed your thinking is, human," Vavuciadsforenkka said, one arm clutching his broken wing.
Bright blue light engulfed the dragonkin, taking the form of a large pair of wings extending from his back. The light had an unnatural shimmer to it as it converged on his broken arm and wing.
[70% of all damage received negated by Beating Wings of Suleria Hhif.]
"No fucking way!" Langa cursed. What kind of a divine skill was that?
"You're a damage dealer, right?" Vavuciadsforenkka burst out laughing. "Well, you're useless against this skill because no matter how much damage you deal, for the small price of 900 MP, my divine skill will always heal me right back."
Shit, how was he supposed to defeat this guy if he had such an overpowered divine skill? How was it fair that the dragonkin’s natural mana pool was more than three times Langa’s own? If he had more mana he could summon more than one Lightning Lance at a time. He immediately stopped infusing mana into the external lightning mana core. He couldn't waste Lightning Lance yet, not if the dragonkin's divine skill combined with his Scale Armour could negate it. Would he be able to instantly kill him with Lightning Lance?
Fuck, he could only use the lance one more time today and since he had a mana core, Vavuciadsforennka could use his divine skill two more-...wait. Langa was sure the announcers had said he was a Disciple which meant that he could only use his divine skill a maximum of two times, assuming he was at Faith level 1.
"We'll see about that," Langa said, pleased with himself for the discovery as the light dissipated.
Langa wanted to follow up and strike at him again while he was distracted but something strange was happening in the air. Blood red mist flowed from the blood that had been on Vavuciadsforenkka's wound, and it surrounded him. When Langa tried to attack through that mist, he could not breathe.
[You have been poisoned by Venomous MistBlood.
-26HP/s]
Langa backed away from the mist as fast as he could since his Poison Resistance was only 1%, but the dragonkin flapped his wings, chasing after him in the sky.
The only skills that could penetrate those scales were Thunderbird's Stunning Strike and his Lightning Lance, but Thunderbird's Stunning Strike still had a few more minutes on cooldown. In order not to waste Lightning Lance, he needed to bait the dragonkin into using his last (hopefully) divine skill.
There was one more fighting combo that he could use, but it was not as strong as Thunderbird's Stunning Strike. His heart was already thrashing against his chest, so activating his attribute was easy.
"Impulse Pulse," Langa whispered, activating Flash Step for extra damage and infusing Tonare with his mana so that he could deal double lightning damage. Since Nado was his Blessing, he should be able to use his Velocity while on the flying shark.
50% of his total stamina was consumed, and he was dangerously close to less than 10% of his maximum Stamina remaining. The time perception was only slightly slowed, and instead of being completely still, Vavuciadsforenkka appeared to be moving in slow motion.
Langa shot forward on Nado, using the dragonkin's back as his landing point again. Thanks to the slowed-down time, the venomous mistblood had very little effect on him. He once again tried to pierce through his chest, but the dragon scale armour just wouldn’t budge. In the end, he drove the sizzling glaive into Vavuciadsforenkka's shoulder. There was resistance from his Scale Armour, but thanks to Flash Step and Impulse Pulse's Velocity all adding up against the weaker joint armour, the glaive stabbed deep into his scales, and he dragged Tonare along his back to meet the other freshly healed wound on his wing as time returned to normal.
Langa quickly used his boots' Jumper skill, jumped back onto Nado's back, and gritted his teeth, feeling the effects of the venom burning his skin as the two of them flew away quickly and escaped from the mist blood's radius.
[Critical hit! Impulse Pulse activated!
(Vavuciadsforenkka) -375 HP.
Lightning discipline damage: (Vavuciadsforenkka): -375 HP]
The damage was laughable considering that he could have dealt more than triple that amount if Thunderbird's Stunning Strike hadn't been on cool-down. It drove Langa mad to think that the amount of damage he dealt right now would have instantly killed him, but for his opponent, it was only a (albeit very painful) broken arm and bleeding back.
"Are all all humans as stupid as you?" Vavuciadsforenkka shouted, even though he was clearly in pain as the glowing wings of the divine skill surrounded him again.
Good. Now Langa could defeat him. He had to strike before the magma skill came off cool-down. There was another problem though, even if the divine skill healed him, Vavuciadsforenkka still collected his toxic blood and spread it through the air as venomous mistblood, making it difficult to see.
Langa had to bait him into thinking that flying towards the lighthouse was better than prolonging the battle, so the mistblood would spread thin over a wider area and be less concentrated. He instructed Nado to fly down towards the shrine but Vavuciadsforenkka pivoted in the air and launched his tail at the shark, the spikes slicing through the creature's flesh with a squelching sound.
The shark struggled to maintain altitude in the sky as the venomous mist blood increased in radius and Langa felt the venom enter his skin as well as Nado’s wound. He couldn't see Vavuciadsforennka and the poisoned, injured shark began to spiral downwards, one of its wings hanging limply by its side.
Instead of summoning the Lightning Lance to strike Vavuciadsforenkka, when the mist clouded his vision, Langa decided to let the dragonkin find him. He could feel Vavuciadsforennka's breath of life fast approaching as he felt Nado's breath vanish. Fuck, he was going to fall to his death!
A large, taloned hand grabbed him from the dead flying shark. "I caught you," the dragonkin said in gleeful satisfaction.
Langa breathed a sigh of relief and allowed the dragonkin to grab him by the throat, keeping them at close proximity so Langa inhaled as much of his venomous mist blood as possible. The reason Langa didn't struggle was because right now, Vavuciadsforenkka was the only thing preventing him from falling into the sea.
The air was thin as his skin melted and the venom penetrated deep into his bones. He could feel his Regeneration skill struggling to keep him from dying, weak as it was. He infused his mana into the lightning mana core in his clenched fist. He thought about how much he wanted to win, both for himself and for his master.
He was the Avatar of a Deiwos Clan god inside a Deiwos Tower. He was not going to lose, not while so many people were watching, and he did not want to embarrass the only father figure he had in this world. His master believed in him, even bet on him, so Langa concentrated on letting that Faith create Lightning Lance.
The Lightning Lance materialised on his hand and he gripped it tightly and tried to use his Faith to keep it stable, ignoring the pain from the venom seeping into his skin. The lightning blinded him as it streaked along the lance, trying to break free from his hand.
"What the-" Lightning illuminated Vavuciadsforenkka's shocked face, and Langa did not hesitate as he plunged the sizzling spear of lightning right through the arm holding him and pushed it upwards towards his chest until it came out on the other side.
An agonised scream filled the air as Langa lost control of the Lightning Lance. More toxic blood filled the air and he was suddenly falling, the dragonkin getting electrocuted on top of him, his blood choking him. Coming directly into contact with the venomous blood sent a whole new explosion of pain into Langa's arm.
Anger, pain and humiliation flashed on Vavuciadsforennkka's face and then his body went limp.
[You have killed a level 11 Player (Vavuciadsforenkka)
Rewards will be issued once the Celestial Clash is complete.
Please wait.]
Without Vavuciadsforenkka's wings slowing down their momentum, Langa was falling even faster. The pain was unbearable; it felt like his skin was melting off of him. He couldn't see straight as he fell towards the landmass with the lighthouse. With what little mana he had left, he used his Jumper skill to land gracefully, but then he collapsed on the hard ground, breathing heavily, trying to take in real good air. He was low on Stamina, HP and mana, so he could not speed up the healing.
He had to go into the shrine and place the sovorb inside. He was so...close. Darkness ate at his vision and he fell onto the ground on his knees, losing consciousness.
[Your Skill Regeneration (F - Evolvable) has increased to Beginner Level 8
Passively regenerate 3.5% of your maximum health over a minute when in combat.
Passively Regenerate 6% of your maximum health over a minute when out of combat]
When Langa opened his eyes again, a few minutes had passed because his health was now over 30% of its maximum. Even though his health was regenerating normally, it did nothing for the venom. The only thing helping to clear the venom was his Regeneration skill, but it was doing so very slowly. He was impressed that his Regeneration skill could also treat poisoning.
He gripped Tonare and stabbed the blade into the ground so that he could walk, using it as a cane for balance. He started limping towards the lighthouse slowly, with his numb legs, as he didn't want to expend too much of his regenerating Stamina.
Suddenly, Langa’s body protested in pain and exhaustion when he sidestepped the sword thrown towards him.
There was a breath of life coming fast towards him, and he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that the person was walking on water. Was that something all children of gods were capable of? His heart started racing as his opponent reached him.
“Hey Liv, you must be really eager for that arse-whooping I promised you,” he said with an exhausted yet excited smile.