4-86 Even grounds

4-86 Even grounds

Azaela flourished her sword, twirling into a dance of death. Her blade moved in a rhythm that was swift and precise, leaving behind a trail of scarlet golden shimmer.

The red on Rex’s skin deepened as Azaela’s blade slit across his neck. Sparks flew and a sharp dragging clangour spread across the air. The edge left not a cut but a scratch mark that drew no blood as if the blade had cut not flesh or skin.

Rex battered the blade away and lunged at Azaela with a grimace.

Azaela took a step back and dodged a swipe from Rex. She countered with an upward thrust that bounced off his chin. She neither clicked her tongue nor expressed her annoyance at her failed attempt. She simply reeled in her thrust and pressed on with a slash.

Rex, however, tutted loudly as he grabbed the blade aiming for his neck. He tugged the blade and pulled Azaela towards him. Instead of showing urgency or dread, a smirk adorned Azaela’s lips. She tightened her grip on her sword and the blade’s glow intensified. A faint reddish aura surged through the blade in a spiral.

Rex groaned and released his grasp on the blade. Blood dripped from the numerous fresh scars he incurred on his palm. The whirling and raging aura on Azaela’s blade waned and abated.

“Impossible,” Rex grunted. “This is not possible. My defence is supposed to be impenetrable.”

“If that’s what you think, then you do not understand your own abilities.”

“Huh? Are you mocking me?”

“Considering people are always incensed by the harsh and bitter truth, I will say yes, I am mocking you.”

“Bitch!” Rex roared and threw a punch. A spectral tiger with demonic features overlapped with that punch of his. The apparition that was the shockwave of Rex’s punch charged towards Azaela.

“How crude” Azaela muttered. She held her breath and slashed her sword. The spectral demonic tiger split in half vertically and dissipated into nothing.

Rex growled inwardly, gritting his teeth. He then raised his fists before slamming them hard into the ground. The same manner of phenomenon reoccurred. A spectral monster with demonic features charged towards Azaela, the tangible manifestation of the shockwave of Rex’s attacks.

In the same fashion, Azaela cut down the spectre with ease and without breaking a sweat.

Rex roared louder than ever but he wasn’t saying anything coherent. It was just a plain roar, expressing his indignation and frustration. He punched at the empty air repeatedly, throwing a horde of his attacks’ shockwave spectres at Azaela.

“Oh… that’s not good,” Aedan muttered from the sidelines.

“Be quiet,” Azaela said and put away her sword. She then took out five spears with heads of a scarlet shade. The spears were floating upright in front of her. At her will, the spears flew towards the charging horde of spectres while spinning in a spiral fashion, forming an impromptu drill that tore through the onslaught.

“What!?” Rex exclaimed in utter disbelief. He didn’t believe that he was invincible but he had time to believe someone could repel his attacks with such ease and without even straining themselves. His opponent did not look even the slightest bit perturbed. Her expression was that of indifference as if she was unimpressed by the prowess of her opponent so far.

The spears finished tearing through the onslaught and continued on towards Rex. Without any more opposition to hinder the spears’ advancement, the spears streaked through the air at a neck-breaking speed. Rex moved out of the way just in time and the spears gouged into the ground behind him, tearing into the foundation of the ruined streets before disappearing into glitters.

“Is your god the god of destruction?” Rex snarled while painting raggedly after narrowly avoiding his certain death.

“She is the god of whatever she needs to be. If it’s to eliminate an abomination such as you, she can even be the god of death, your death.”

“You have not won!”

Azaela sighed. “I haven’t, true. But it is near.”

“Just you wait. I’ll tear down that pride of yours.”

“You will not,” Azaela said and brandished seven golden metal stakes that were hovering around her. At a wave of her hand, the stakes fenced in her and Rex, connected with filaments of light between the stakes.

“What is this?”

The light filaments expanded. They grew until they covered the two in a dome.

“Illusion?” Rex reckoned but his suspicion was proven wrong when he punched the glowing wall behind him. “It’s real… Just what the fuck is this?”

“It’s a domain, my domain. To be precise, it’s the domain of Ruva’s Apostle.”

Rex snorted. “And what does this domain do?” He stomped the ground beneath him, easily creating a small crater. He then moved in front of Azaela in a split second. “I don’t feel any weaker nor do I feel any slower. I don’t feel anything restraining me at all. How exactly does this domain of yours fill you with so much confidence?”

“The effect of this domain is quite simple, actually.”

“Oh?”

“Anything or anyone in this domain is all now mortal,” Azaela said and swung her sword that she had taken out after her hand was already moving.

Rex tutted and narrowly avoided having his head severed from his neck.

“Including Demons and various other beings that are supposed to be immortal outside of this domain.”

Rex rubbed his neck. “Including gods?”

Azaela shrugged. “I haven’t fought a god before— not in this domain at least.”

“You could be bluffing for all I know.”

“I could be,” Azaela responded dryly and lunged at Rex. Her rapid slash nearly took his head once again but his instinct as a Demoid had saved him.

Rex retaliated hastily in a fit of desperation but he only ended up with his arm receiving numerous cuts and scratches. He didn’t know how she was doing it. His defence was supposed to be second to none but here she was, leaving cuts after cuts and scratches after scratches on his supposedly impenetrable skin.

“How are you doing this!?” Rex growled, trying his best to hit Azaela with his punches but she was too fast for him. She danced around like the wind and struck like a cobra, leaving behind a beautiful trail of scarlet glow.

“You have to be more specific than that,” Azaela said as she landed another cut across Rex’s shoulder.

“My defence is supposed to be absolute! How are you getting through it with that simple blade of yours!?”

“Absolute?” Azaela chuckled. “You delude yourself, sir. Your so-called absolute defence is merely a result of your Mana being condensed to an extreme and then infused into your flesh and skin. I only need to lessen the density of the Mana covering your body.”

“And how could you possibly manage that?”

“But I am doing it. That's the reality.”

“Insolent zealot!” Rex exploded and tossed himself at Azaela. “I’ll see you dead and ruined!”

“Fool,” Azaela muttered and brandished a lance into her free hand. She thrust the lance forward. The tip of her lance failed to pierce through her flesh but it pierced deeper into his flesh than all of her previous attacks.

Rex stopped in his tracks from getting his shoulder pierced. He bit down the pain and pulled the lance out. Before he tugged at the lance, it disappeared from his grasp.

The lance reappeared in Azaela’s hand and she wielded it in a throwing stance with her mark being no more than a few feet in front of her.

“You’re open!” Rex hissed and bared his mouth wide at Azaela.

As she threw the lance point blank, a beam of dark red energy shot out from Rex’s mouth. The energy beam struck her face but her helmet had protected her. Still, she was sent tumbling backwards, resulting in her throw missing its mark. She pushed at the ground in the middle of her tumbling and flipped herself back upright on her feet.

Just as Azaela regained her composure, another beam of dark reddish energy was headed for her. She cut down the beam and took out a buckler that was only a little bit bigger than her head. With a buckler in one hand and her sword in the other, she deflected and cut down the beams as she charged towards Rex.

A bulky reptilian-like tail protruded from Rex’s back and he swung down at the approaching Azaela, who put away her sword and shield and brandished a greatsword. The scarlet glow on her weapon intensified and she slashed towards the tail coming for her. The large blade of hers cleaved through the tail cleanly and sprayed the blood in all directions.

Rex smirked. “Fool,” he said.

Azaela raised an eyebrow and stared curiously at the severed part of the tail she had just cleaved off. It floundered on the ground like a fish on dry land before it promptly morphed into a different shape and appearance. It transformed into some kind of a creature, one that she had never seen before.

The creature the severed tail transformed into bore great semblance to a quadruped beast. It was as large as a dog but it looked considerably fiercer than one would ever expect from a dog. Its deep red gaze was fixated on Azaela, growling with its fangs bared and its drool dripping off its mouth.

“Sic her!” Rex cried and the black beast streaked towards Azaela.