Tides Of Protomis C(100)
100th Chapter y’all. Lets keep the momentum going, and go even further from here!
Mauritimus and Arctaius continued flying over the open ocean. Waves cascading below them, as the pure speed the two moved at began to affect the surrounding area. Even this wasn't enough, as Maritimus saw it. The demon sped up once more. There was something he wanted to be sure of, even if the human somehow managed to escape his grasp, he would make sure that wouldn't matter.
"Once we get to our destination… It’s over for you."
Shortly afterward, the sea began to become the last thing Arctaius noted. No doubt, a result of the air rapidly becoming colder as they flew forth. Arctaius glanced around, finding himself questioning just where he's brought him to. But the answer became clear, as he found that he, and his opponent alike, were on a crash course to a downright gigantic ice sheet. Which began to shake, and crack upon their impact. Before shortly beginning to crumble. Afterward, the demon leaped away, and Arctaius was quick to do the same. Now he finally got a better look around. It was now that he saw a stark white, frigid wasteland.
"Antarctica... He brought me here? What’s his game?"
He didn't have much time to ponder this question, as Maritimus began flying toward him, leading to him digging his heels into the ground, falling into his standard defensive stance. But there was a change he'd taken note of as the demon's attack commenced.
"He’s gotten faster…"
A lateral swing with his paw threatened to carve into Arctaius. The latter knew very well that if he moved too quickly his opponent would likely change his direction to follow. In which case, he would need more precise movements. The plan was acted upon as soon as the demon came close, maneuvering around the large extremity, jumping into the air, and jabbing it with his elbow. The man followed it up with a swift kick to his side. But, to his surprise, it had little effect. The man found himself being flung away by a strike from Maritimus, ripping apart the ice as he skidded backward. With Maritimus swiftly moving to advance on him, and strike once more. Arctaius noted this, and sent a punch forth as well. But, the two found themselves shortly caught in a cross-counter. Retracting their arms, they tried once more with the opposing fist. However, they were met with the same result. But, Arctaius did not continue the striking match, with his foe's increasing strength, he found that to be untenable. Instead, using his opponent's arm as a jumping off point, resulting in him moving overhead, and spamming his heel into Maritimus' skull in an ax kick. The demon pushed forth, forcing his leg away. Which was followed by a slug, a left hook, to his cheek. Which sent him flying back once more.
"It would seem his strength is still increasing…"
Arctaius stopped himself in front of an ice sheet, Watchung as Maritimus began a wild charge toward him once more. Decidedly, taking the same course of action he had before, waiting until the distance was closed enough for him to sidestep. Leaping into the air, and floating above, wiping the red liquid off his lips with his thumb. Beginning his counterattack soon afterward.
The youth drove his fist into the demon's back, increasing the creature's speed, and creating an indentation where the attack landed. Which led to the ice sheet being cracked, and collapsing upon impact, with the area around shaking. But, his claws eventually dug into the ground below him, and Maritimus stopped. He ignored his rapidly moving injures as he turned on his heel, to see Arctaius rapidly approaching, no sooner did a exchange of blows begin. A right hook came form the youth, whivh was promptly blocked. Before it was countered with, by a storm to the stomach. One which crushed Arctaius's guard, slamming into his stomach.
"Getting tired?!"
The hits on that same spot continued, with small cracks eventually beginning to reverberate, as drops of red liquid were coughed by Arctaius. But the man was quick to end this, by stepping in, and firing off a punch of his own, which, similarly, hit his opponent's torso. It was only then that he responded.
"Hardly…"
"I can’t very well use my Solis arts here… I’d easily melt the entire continent… Not only that, but it seems that he’s gotten stronger… I can only think that it’s connected to our environment... If he could’ve gotten this strong back there, he’d likely have done it… Alright, that’ll be the first stage of my plan."
Arctaius began to out this plan into motion, lowering himself, and grabbing hold of Maritimus' body once more. And before the creature
had time. To react, the youth flung him over his shoulder, making him go through the ice below their feet. But this much was not without risk to himself, a gash appeared on his shoulder, where his opponent's claw ran through. A swift rebound took place, and he was in front of the youth once more. But it did not take long for him to be thrown off his feet, as Arctaius charged at him shoulder-first. Increasing his speed as he prepared to fire off more strikes, taking advantage of the fact that he was apparently disoriented.
But he was not able to carry this out. Paws slammed onto the ground, as the sharp claws dug into the ice, as he skid to a stop, holding the youth back. Taking advantage of his freed arms, he raised them above his head. Clasping his paws together before bringing them down. Hammering the top of his head. Arctaius did not have much time to process this, before he found himself barrelling through the icy ground, and into the frigid waters below. He did not plan on waiting there for long, shooting out of the water, though soaked, no worse for wear.
" That isn't enough to take care of me…"
Arctaius shit forward, and grasped the demon's atm. Returning the strike with no delay, slamming multiple jabs into the his stomach. Which, at some point, had even begun to affect him, as a purple liquid dripped from his jaw. As Arctaius stopped his barrage, he took note of the fact that his opponent was dazed. Drawing his fist back, and driving In one last punch, which sent the taker flying. Arcriaus swiftly gave chase, and continued to strike him. But by this point, Maritimus had recovered. Now, the two continued to exchange punches, as they flew over the continent, shockwaves echoing with each impact. Eventually, however, they would begin to exit the frigid land as a whole, something that made Arctaius take note of something. His opponent's counter-strikes had gotten slower, and he was getting significantly closer to hitting him.
"So I was right…" Thought Arctaius.
Though he was ready to fire off another strike, these plans were stopped in their tracks, with Maritimus grabbing hold of both his arms. Before lifting him off the ground, and throwing him away, letting go of his arms as he went upward, before moving to follow, charging into him, and continuing to ascend, despite his opponent's attempts to stop this. Their altitude continually increased, as the air thinned, and the Azure skies turned darker. It was then that Arcriaus noted that the temperature was beginning to drop once more, and that there was air around them, no longer. Arctaius forced the creature away, with a fist, before drawing away. Outside of that short stint with Ardam, Arctaius couldn't say that he was used to the environment he found himself in.
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"I need to end this quickly, I can only be in a vacuum for about 20 minutes."
As he focused on his opponent, he took note of crystals of ice beginning to gather around him, growing more numerous, before condensing on his body's surface. It became very clear to Arctaius what was going on as time went on, the creature had formed a sort of armored suit. With his body glowing red, and his eyes glowing blue. Something resembling a smirk, or, at least, as much as one with a non-human face could produce.
"You see, human... By bringing you here, I've destroyed any chance of your victory. I’m sure you may have noticed how my power changed back then… And I’m sure you can put the rest of the pieces together."
"But of course, you get stronger as the area around you gets colder… You’d have no reason to bring me up here otherwise."
"Correct…"
Even as Marutitmus charged Arctaius, at a significantly higher speed, the man's expression remained unchanged. After a, there was something that the creature didn't know, which was displayed by his surprise expression, As Arctaius weaved around his strike, and drove his fist into his back, forming an indentation where it landed.
"Even so… You’ve given me a direct link to the sun- and, since I no longer need to worry about melting the ice caps, I'm back to my full reputrioare."
A golden light coiled around Arctaius, as the area around him heated up rapidly. Spheres of the same color coalesced within his hand, as he put both palms forth, and shouted out.
"Solis pulsar!!!"
As a red-hot ray of golden plasma shot forward, crashing into Maritimus, and launching him backward. But no sooner was he returning, using a nearby piece of space debris as a springboard. His approach was not a static one, however, instead, he'd chosen to begins zipping around in different directions, in a bid to keep his opponent guessing. But to this, Arctaius only responded with another technique.
"Solis Battery!!"
What followed was what resembled shooting stars coming toward the demon. Who swiftly began attempts to avoid these shots with varying levels of success, many were dodged, but some made direct contact. Only for his armor to keep the wounds from getting too deep, allowing the creature to heal as was needed. What he took note of as well, however, was the fact that Arctaius had begun to move, flying around the creature, using the bursts of plasma for two seperate reasons, both to damage his opponent, and make his own movements harder to read. Regardless of this, Maritimus tried to see where he would come from all the same. Eventually, his instinct gave him the answer to his question.
"He’ll go… Right!!" The demon thought.
Maritimus began to strike preemptively, launching a fist toward the stopping point he'd predicted. But, it seemed his instinct hadn't accounted for something, the humans trickery. Just as soon as he was there, he was gone, with Maritimus' punch going wide.
"What?!"
No sooner did Arctaius appear above him, trying to slam his heel into the top of his head, but it was grasped before he carried out this course of action. Before shortly being yanked into the range of the Creature's free hand. Something which led to a punch slamming into his stomach. Arctaius' eyes widened, as he gritted his teeth, returning with an attack of his own, forcefully freeing himself of Maritimus' grip, and slamming his fist down onto his head. Which almost led to him plunging back into Earth's atmosphere. Had it not been for his own quick action keeping him afloat. But that, by no means, meant the fight was over.
"Human...DIE!!!!"
As he shouted, the demon charged forth once more. By this point, he was starting to get annoyed, even more so than before. AS He sent a fist forward, so did Arctaius, the two's fists clashing and stopping between them. The former withdrew his fist, and fired off once more, and though Arctaius attempted to block it, his guard was shattered. Allowing the demon to follow up, a left hook, to his cheek, that resulted in a crack. Another hook to his right cheek, which had the same effect. The demon began a constant stream of blows afterward, continuing to pile on the damages. But as one would expect from the battle, this did not last long. Arctaius lies in wait, waiting for the best time to strike his opponent to end his barrage of attacks. Something that would not come until his fist was beginning to recede, and the next hadn't come as of yet. Both hands shot forward to grab the fist that was returning to its sender, his muscles tightened, as he put forth all the effort he could, twisting the arm until a Loud snap echoed outward, clearly the sign of a fracture. But this was only the beginning for Arctaius, who continued pulling, until the arm was removed from its socket.
"Tch.."
While being down an arm might have affected him had he been someone else, that was not the case here. After all, his regenerative Ability was enough for a mere arm. On that note, another arm began to grow from the socket. Arctaius noted this swiftly, and went for the second arm. Tearing it out of the socket as well. Before firing off a burst of plasma at the regrowing limb, with the intent of destroying it before the process was complete… Maritimus looked down upon this with surprise, even more so, as the man placed his golden cloaked hands into the ice-covered torso.
"I’d best not use all my cards yet… So you’ll get this!!"
"Solis Flare- MAGNUM!!!"
The rapidly building protomis within him, was launched forth as the man shouted out. The attack carried Maritimus away, similar to a rushing river. But, even in the midst of this attack, the creature's pride, his thrust for victory, did not disappear. He fought against the stream as best he could.
"I can’t be done in, not like this!!"
The Frozen rajnment over his fur began to melt, and subsequently be reduced to vapor as soon as it did, as cracks appeared on the surface of what was left. He was losing his power quickly, something that he acknowledged. If he could have dived out, he would have… But outside of accepting death, the only path to go was forward. He continues wading through the ray, heading straight for Arctaius. Something the man noted, as he began to pull more power from the Sun, being sure to restrict his intake, lest he have a repeat of his battle with Ardam. The beam grew in size, as Maritimus was launched back, who was no longer capable of resisting the increased force… Now, he found himself rapidly approaching the star. Even as he neared death, he had but one thing to say.
"Damn you!!!!"
His body promptly began breaking down, as his power left him. In the meanwhile, the group had come back together in Shima. Standing on the top of one of the city's many skyscrapers. Alarick looked above, as he analyzed the situation.
"Heat, large release of protomis… And it’s all coming from up there. Add what we felt earlier, and it's clear whoever he was fighting must have been tough."
Kazimir nodded in agreement, as he heard this.
"That much becomes even clearer when we think about our own opponents… it'd have been bad if that last attack landed like it was intended." Kazimir added.
"It was the same with that, Water… No liquid, the shark one made…" Miyamoto noted.
"It Looks like we have some tough battles ahead of us…"
In the space above, Arcriaus huffed in his exhaustion as he flicked his thumb over his lip, removing the blood that stained it. Though it was a battle he won, his victory did not come easily, that much was for sure. He began to fly back to Earth's surface, almost unaware of the ship that floated nearby, within a field of space debris. A small one, clearly only meant to carry a few people, and whatever was required for their survival. But such a thing was routine, what was of note, were the occupants. Specifically, One Bijan Lafeyah, as well as three others. His second in command, a young woman with a long head of Crimson hair, wearing a simple outfit, a black t- shirt, labeled with the logo of a band known as Stardust. Ersilia Padovesi, a noble like Bijan, whose family was a Cadet Branch of the Acconio clan, one of the four great houses. The next was a dark-skinned woman, with braided black hair sitting at the controls. Seeming somewhat older than the rest there. a former pilot and mechanic who, though not a combat member, was valuable to the team. Her name, Sheylinn Bates. And the last, A man with a large frame, and a head of white hair, and sharp blue eyes, with the blade on his back somewhat resembling an oversized cleaver. Known as Beaumont Boucher.
These four made up the bounty hunter group, known as "Dark Talons", identified by the patches on their shoulders, which could be said to resemble an Eagle.
"So that's the kind of stuff that's going on Earthside?" Sheylinn questioned.
"Apparently so… it's quite the situation, is it not?" Beaumont answered.
"At least with the Kaemerge we can calculate for something they might do… These guys aren't human, so who knows what's going through their heads…" Sheylinn pondered, before sighing, knowing very well that this would throw a wrench into their work. Apparently, related to this subject, Ersilia finally spoke.
"It looks like the Lavarit hunt will have to wait… Still,a member of one of the four great houses running around. And with how they were spread out in high positions in the empire, they could be anywhere. Who knows what they'll end up trying next?"
As the conversation continued around him, Bijan stood there, watching as Arctaius shot across the cosmos.
" Corde... That’s the same attack you used against Ignatius, isn’t it… I knew it was bad down there, but it seems it’s worse than I thought, especially if even you got injured... All the more reason I need to get down there."
"It looks like we'll have to split up here… A member of House Lavarit running around is nothing we can ignore, but neither is what's happening back on earth. trust that you all can handle it. We’ll split up in louis city, I’ll come back when the situation is contained"
"Well... You’ve never gone back on your word before, alright then…" Sheylinn Commented.
No sooner did the ship begin making maneuvers, turning itself around, and going back into the direction of the moon. All the while, Bijan took a seat in the common area, as he looked up to the metal-lined ceiling.
"Demons, huh…"
To Be Continued