Chapter 223

Chapter 223
Upon the occurrence of the clash between the gigantic thunder sword and the white shield, a huge white sphere enveloped the two of them, creating a raging storm around the area and only a few seconds after its appearance, it exploded, resulting in an immense crater under it and sending both the old man and Arthur flying away .
Being a Sovereign, the old man sustained some injuries that were not serious despite that his robe was dyed with blood, his face was brimming with energy and vitality as if this blow didn't cause him any harm whatsoever .
On the total opposite, Arthur smashed into the earth ten miles away . He had several broken bones and an ugly wound on his chest, although it was quite a severe injury, it healed very fast at a speed even the naked eye could see, this wall thanks to his Vitality stat, which boosted his recovery by a huge margin .
Unaffected by the gushing blood, Arthur got up and shot straight at the old man, Makaze in his hand, but the black flames surrounding him and his blade dimmed a lot and the Sword Energy Makaze was unleashing was decreasing every second . This was due to [Thousand Waves], to unleash its full potential, it required a powerful blade, a user in a high Realm and a big pool of Mana or Nether Energy, he only executed two waves yet it taxed him this much .
The space where the collision occurred was distorting and enormous dust waves blocked vision, the crater had a radius of fifty miles and traces of Godly Thunder could still be seen . The old man caught the falling scepter and stared with awe at his target, which became a streak of lightning, coming straight at him .
Two white illusory hands appeared behind the elder, once Arthur was in range, the old man attacked him, planning to crush the target between the two big palms .
However, before they reached Arthur, he raised his hand and used his newly acquired Spatial Magic and making use of the unstable space around them to distort it completely . Similar to a shattering glass, the space around the hands shattered, rendering them useless for a short time, Arthur made use of this opportunity to raise Makaze and prepare for the third wave .
'It's all on you now, buddy!'
Arthur unhesitatingly poured more Dark Mana into his weapon, further strengthening it . The dark blade yet again changed in appearance, scorching hot dark red flames replaced the usual dark flames, as if it was put in a furnace for a long time, Makaze became deep red, similar to the blood's color .
The old man recognized the change and knew that Arthur's attack wasn't finished, which deepened his fear as his target was stronger than all of his expectations . This pushed him to go all out, wanting to kill this target as letting it go will cause more than simple troubles, such entity could not be left alive, even if he has to sacrifice his life for that to happen!
Just before he initiated his next wave, Arthur snapped his finger, activating the white talisman he slapped on the ground earlier . It was simply a thoroughly prepared Goldy Thunder attack that can cause 'Stunned' effect . It took time to generate the thunder but it was useful, especially in such situations .
Winds howled and rains heavily poured, dark clouds clustered together and thunder noises were heard, this alerted the old man, who put all his focus on Arthur, he thought that the same kind of Thunder Sword would descend again so he through his scepter above again, which became a white shield that defended him from above .
Unfortunately for the elder, the attack was never going to come from above, Arthur used [Faster Than Death] to appear behind the enemy, and just when before he teleported, he deactivated the [Spatial Passage] skill, unleashing a bombardment of Godly Lightning in a form of a snake that opened its mouth, intending to bite its target .
For the first time since the beginning of the fight, the old man used his physical body to defend, he raised his palm to meet the white snake, it was but a simple palm strike yet the white snake couldn't resist for even a split second . The snake dispersed into countless lightning streaks, this pushed Arthur to release way more than he needed .
He coughed a huge amount of blood but still forced himself to deactivate all the Spatial Passages he had prepared . Normally, using two skills at the same time is doable but very difficult, Arthur could do so but it's incredibly stressing and causes heavy self-harm, so he restrained himself a lot but at such a critical moment, he deactivated five different Spatial Passages along with [Thousand Waves] which is still active .
That's six skills at the same time, moreover, to avoid the cooldown of the white lightning and Spatial Passage, he consecutively used [Blood for Blood] which consumed permanent Mental Power thus dropping him his Realm from 9th Grade .
Five white snakes lunged at the old man, who used the same kind of attack to defend against them, however, this time his palm turned golden as it struck the air in front of them(snakes) .
'Punishing Palm!'
As if pushed by the mere wind, the white snakes were pushed a big distance away before they vanished, unable to resist the pressure of the attack .
They didn't their job but they managed to buy Arthur enough time to finally prepare the third wave .
'Third wave, Extinguishing Flames, Fire of Redemption!'
A red blade with blazing hot flames struck the defenseless back of the old man, he wanted to use the white shield to reflect the attack in time but his reaction was a split second later . Arthur's distractions did their job and although he wanted to stun the enemy, this kind of result was welcome too .
Like a meteor falling, the old man was sent flying down with a big wave of dark flames behind his back, illuminating the dark sky and spreading a wave of intense heat that burned some of the forests at the edges of the crater .
This attack has definitely injured the old man and it wasn't some minor wounds like earlier . Arthur panted heavily as blood leaked out of his lips, the dark flames enveloping him disappeared as he returned to his normal appearance .
Even Makaze's appearance returned to normal, just a jet black curved blade that had no aura, it couldn't hold on anymore and it's unwise to continue unleashing the remaining waves of the skill, it will result in the blade's destruction and even if it could, Arthur's wasn't in a condition where he can unleash it, not at his current state, at least .
With the boost from the Dark Magic gone and the absence of Makaze, which was safely stored away, Arthur's prowess has declined with these two gone, fortunately, he still had a couple of aces up his sleeve but there is still the fact that he's injured and used a big amount of his Nether Energy and Mana .
As he was thinking was to do to buy some time for his wounds to recover, Arthur's instincts were alerted when a beam of white light shot straight at his head, aiming for a fatal strike .
The beam was evaded by a quick teleport but what awaited him next was a big illusory fist that came from below . Seeing that teleporting from it is too late, Arthur met the attack with his fist, which emanated flames from all direction .
A large fist of fire materialized itself in front of the illusory fist, soon colliding with it . One side had dark red flames blazing the sky and the other had a bright white light illuminating the gloomy sky .
Arthur made use of his Space Magic again to distort the space near the fist, weakening it and allowing his fist to push it away .
Unfortunately, just as the fist of light was pushed, the old man, who had a haggard and disheveled appearance, appeared next to him with a golden palm striking his chest .
Arthur couldn't cross his hands to defend either could the Dark Barrier be of any use against such an attack . The defenseless and injured chest of Arthur was struck by the golden palm which only pushed him a small distance away but a palm mark emitting light was engraved on him, weakening the effect of the Dark-Star strengthening technique and further wounding him .
Mouthful after mouthful of blood was coughed by Arthur, who held his chest and used Natural Lightning to extinguish the weakening light that invaded his body and acted like a deadly poison .
"To think I would be this injured from a Dark Magic user! Such a disgrace to the Holy Echelon!"
After being injured by the last strike of Makaze, the old man could no longer maintain his calm demeanor, his back was scorched from the flames and his robe was burned . His back was a gory sight of flesh and bubbles of blood that could not be healed even after he cast several Healing spells, even high-cost pills were of no cost, which infuriated the old man .