Yaksh's mind was engulfed in disbelief. The sight in front of him felt nothing more than a nightmare.
Aizen stood while taking the full force of the red beam of energy. His own dark-red energy raged with what seemed all of his might in an attempt to fight against the terrifying force. But it was clear, both to Aizen and the onlookers, that the way this struggle would end wasn't in favor of Aizen.
Parts of Aizen were ripped apart by the raging red beam of energy and thrown back past Yaksh. The elves noticed small portions of flesh falling down and immediately turning into ashes.
[WOOSH!]
The energy lost its momentum and dispersed, causing a powerful gust of wind to burst out in all directions.
"Ugh!..." Thick smoke rose from Aizen's body, his entire front burned to bits, with not even an inch of flesh remaining. The once silver sword he held had turned to a bright red hot metal. An unimaginable pain originated from every inch of Aizen's body, but the shadow master’s entire focus was on the fact that he was losing the strength in the grip holding the sword. Aizen raised his right arm, pointing the sword at the ground.
[SHING!]
The sword's red blade tore through the ground and found firm stability. Aizen’s refusal to allow his treasured weapon to fall to the ground gave Yaksh goosebumps all over his body. The next moment Yaksh saw Aizen falling backward, along with his feet losing the strength to keep standing up.
Yaksh sprinted forward and caught Aizen in his arms. He slowly sat down on the still hot ground while supporting the shadow master's back on his lap.
The elves' whimpers and cries echoed loud and clear in the painful silence, while they slowly stepped forward towards Yaksh.
All this while, Adhrit lay beside the huge statue of Pralaya. His lips shivered while silent, as his teary eyes spoke greatly about his situation. The will to get up and see his master fueled the strength he previously lacked to stand up. Every inch of movement sent a wave of intense pain throughout his exhausted body, but this young warrior didn’t possess enough time to pay it attention. With shaky steps, he moved forward towards the smoke rising in front of the elves, while a wave of emotions almost made his heart shatter into pieces.
–
Arav's red eyes faced the general direction of the statue, but it seemed as if he could see the situation far clearer than the elves standing beside Yaksh. Strangely, Arav's eyes were calm, as the sadness he felt was suppressed by an equally potent emotion.
The figure was indifferent to all that was happening, his stretched arm once again began forming a sphere of red energy with even greater pace than before, determined to achieve what his last attack failed to do. His attention was suddenly drawn to Arav due to the tight grip around the wrist of the hand holding Arav by his neck.
[WOOSH!]
Arav's red flames raged with immense fury while his calm eyes gazed at the figure. The flames around Arav began condensing right at the figure's wrist Arav held. Within seconds, the area turned a burning red color, with steam getting released with more and more intensity.
[BOOM!]
The figure blasted the incomplete sphere directly at Arav's chest, causing flesh to be torn apart from Arav's entire front body. But this resulted in the flames, along with Arav's grip, becoming more intense. The figure was forced to throw Arav away with all his might.
With a loud thud, Arav crashed on the ground a distance away from the figure.
"Haah..." Arav took a deep breath and began standing up. His wound on the chest had already begun healing at a rapid rate.
"I have no choice...even if this body breaks..." Arav whispered while his eyes were locked on the figure. He immediately found the damage he had dealt with his flames healed on the figure's arm. The next moment, Arav's red flames disappeared. The figure's head tilted slightly as if surprised by Arav's strange action.
[HUM!]
Yellow energy surrounded Arav the next moment. The Mantra taught by Drona raged like never before, reaching an unprecedented force that began cracking the ground around Arav. But it seemed this wasn't what Arav intended. The air began vibrating strangely without any form of wind in the surrounding. The figure stretched his hand towards Arav and began forming a red energy sphere.
[BHUM!!!]
The energy sphere once again wasn’t able to be completed. It was launched at Arav with incredible speed.
Before it could collide, a powerful shockwave burst out of Arav containing an immense amount of yellow energy that threw the sphere in the opposite direction. As the dust settled, the first image of Arav was revealed to the figure: a bright tangerine aura raged around Arav while forming sharp edges around him. An impossible feat was achieved in that dire situation. The combination of Mantra and Pralaya energy created an aura never seen before.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
[THWOOSH!]
Arav lunged forward at the figure with a powerful burst of energy. The figure swiftly moved his arm in the trajectory of Arav’s direction.
[SMACK!]
Arav’s punch, raging with tangerine aura, pushed through the figure’s defenses and landed a direct hit in his chest. The figure immediately lost his ground and shot backward, away from the statue at a rapid rate.
Arav’s eyes twitched as immense pain engulfed his entire body. That powerful state he achieved held next to no stability. He felt the control over his aura slipping away with only moments to spare. Willing to achieve the maximum of the situation, Arav began condensing an energy sphere right in front of his hands.
—
Aizen’s eyes reflected the image of a tangerine stream of light shooting away from them. Even in the immense pain his body was going through, it took him no time to realize Arav’s intention and his condition.
“Why?..Why did you do this?!” Yaksh asked in a shaky voice, while he noticed the light from Aizen’s eyes fading away with every passing moment.
“[COUGH!]...S-sir Yaksh,..humans…also know how to protect..” Aizen gave the best answer he could muster up in the situation. Yaksh's previously firmly established belief about humans immediately shattered, his green eyes shivered with drops of tears forming under the eyelids.
Adhrit stood beside them with his gaze locked on Aizen’s constantly worsening face. Aizen himself was aware of the fleeting life he was desperately holding onto. He glanced momentarily at Adhrit, then without speaking turned his gaze towards Yaksh.
“I..don’t have enough time..Sir Yaksh,...I apologize, from this day, my demons are yours.” Aizen spoke while placing his right hand on Yaksh’s chest. Before Yaksh could react, every single cell of his body began boiling as a strange yet powerful energy rampaged through him. A dark-red fog engulfed the two while forcing both the elves and Adhrit to step back.
[BHUM!]
Before they could make any decision or sense of the situation, the dark-red fog surrounding Yaksh and Aizen exploded with immense force. Adhrit and all the elves were thrown away and collided with the statue’s feet.
An ominous energy filled the surroundings. Adhrit and the elves’ hearts were immediately filled with fear. Their bodies froze and not a single soul had any intention to move. The elves felt as if breathing slightly louder could decide the end of their life. Only Adhrit had enough courage to move his gaze in Yaksh’s direction.
A being with a red shell covering his entire body stood in Yaksh’s stead, while his right hand held a motionless Aizen by the throat.
“Fool,” the strange being uttered a single word and threw Aizen’s body towards Adhrit’s direction. Aizen fell right in front of his student with a major portion of his flesh flying off his body. Adhrit tightly closed his eyes and turned his head away, not able to keep his eyes on Aizen in such an extreme state.
“An elven body…what a marvelous gift you gave me..human,” the blood demon said while staring at his clenched fist, while his voice alone created tremors in the air.
He opened both of his arms wide and took a deep breath, “Hoo…this fragrance…of earth…even in a different dimension, holds an endless possibility of hunt.” He spoke in a satisfied tone. The word hunt froze the elves’ spines.
The blood demon heard the sound of Adhrit crying near Aizen’s corpse. He began walking towards Adhrit at a slow pace.
“You brat…I have seen you train with that fool. You are even more pathetic than I had thought.” The blood demon said while his sharp claws pointed directly at Adhrit's teary eyes.
[BOOM!]
A loud explosion caught the blood demon’s attention. He turned his head in the direction of a bright tangerine light rising meters high in the distance.
“Ho?..How does a human possess this energy?” The blood demon said while intrigued by Arav’s aura.
—
Arav breathed heavily while standing a few meters away from the figure, his face had turned pale with exhaustion while his hands shook uncontrollably. "Still stronger, huh?...you have a decent amount of my abilities." Arav whispered while his eyes desperately scanned for any signs of damage on the figure, but were eventually met with disappointment.
[WOOSH!]
The tangerine aura surrounding Arav abruptly disappeared. "Oh..." This single word could escape Arav's lips, as the next moment his eyes reflected the figure's fist launched at his face.
[BHUM!]
The figure's hands collided with the blood demon's face. Arav's eyes widened as he sensed the incredible strength radiating from the demon, who now stood right between him and the figure.
"You...are perfect..." The blood demon's heavy voice echoed in the surroundings. Arav took a moment to understand what was happening in front of him. Right as he focused on the demon's back, he noticed a few cracks in the red shell.
The figure was thrown back by a powerful strike right at his face. Before the dust from the impact could settle, the blood demon jumped at the figure with tremendous speed. A surprised expression covered Arav's face as soon as he saw small pieces of the figure's shell falling on the ground.
‘This demon...can damage a dragon's true form…’ This thought alone immediately brought intrigue towards the demon in Arav's head.
But Arav didn't have any time to wonder about the demon's abilities. Regardless of the circumstances, he was presented with an opportunity to succeed in his original goal. "The elves..." Arav whispered while turning towards the statue's direction.
—
[CRASH!]
The figure landed on the ground with a loud thud, while the blood demon kept walking around him. “The best hunt always has the strongest possible prey…for now, you will do,” the demon spoke while his red claws pointed at the figure.
[SMACK!]
As if enraged by the demon’s comment, the figure quickly jumped at him with his fists stretched forward.
“Heh,” the blood demon chuckled and moved his open claws from left to right. A slash of dark-red energy was formed almost immediately and collided with the figure’s arms. Four deep cuts appeared on both of the arms. Before the figure could make any further movements, the demon’s red fist crushed his abdomen in a fraction of a second.
[BHUM!]
The figure landed meters away from the demon’s location. Both of his arms quickly began forming a red energy sphere, and he launched the spheres raging with terrifying energy directed at the demon.
The demon didn’t even flinch. He allowed the incoming attack to directly collide with him without any resistance. The figure tilted his head up. The demon had appeared directly above him with both of his claws opened wide.
[SLASH!]
The demon’s claws sliced the figure’s abdomen countless times. Hundreds of pieces of the dark shell composing the figure were torn apart and fell on the ground. The figure stepped back for the very first time, with his hands covering the hole formed in his abdomen.
“Ho? That’s disappointing. I expected at least some struggle,” the demon whispered incredibly close to the figure’s right side, with a long smile stretching over his face, revealing hundreds of teeth in his mouth. The figure stayed still, as he failed to follow the demon’s movements.
—
“Adhrit!” Arav spoke restlessly while landing beside Adhrit. Upon raising his head, Adhrit found Arav stretching his hand forward while his red aura kept slowly dispersing in thin air. The constant shockwaves and sounds of collision trembled the entire dimension, as the fight between the blood demon and the figure still ensued.
“Brother!..” Adhrit’s voice, clearly echoing his sadness and desperation, made Arav’s heart heavy, more so due to Aizen’s lifeless body lying right beside him. Arav gazed at the fallen warrior with respect, even as the Dragon Lord, he hadn’t seen such a strong sense of duty from a human before.
Arav shifted his eyes from Aizen to Adhrit, placing his hands on the young warrior’s shoulder the next instant. Understandably confused, Adhrit gazed at Arav with eyes that demanded answers.
“The blood demon might be stronger than him, but he won’t last long. Yaksh’s body isn’t prepared for handling such force…yet..” Arav explained while his left hand stretched towards the elves.
[HUM!]
A sphere of yellow energy suddenly appeared around the elves and got lifted above the ground. Adhrit noticed some instability in the mantra, yet unseen by Adhrit from one of Arav’s abilities. The shaking arm resting on Adhrit’s shoulder heightened his concern for Arav tenfold, but as soon as their eyes met, Adhrit was more than smart enough to not speak of it.
Arav’s eyes completely contrasted the exhaustion and weakness in the rest of his body, instead were filled with determination that immediately raised Adhrit’s morale. ‘This isn't the time to be faltering. Brother is in even worse condition than me…and Master will never want me to be this weak,’ he thought.
[HUM!]
Arav’s arm summoned yellow energy that swiftly began entering Adhrit’s body.
“Haah…this is our last chance…use this energy to create a path for the elves to escape..”
[Chapter 38: END]