Chapter 323 - Battle under the rain

As the raining continued to pour heavily upon the Canyon of Death the sound of someone roaring could be heard. Jun attacked Kretos with his full speed and might. On the other hand, the Demon Lord decided to fight Jun barehanded and was continuously parrying attack after attack. 

"Why aren't you using a weapon, are you looking down on me?!" Jun shouted as his ax was once again parried by Kretos. 

"I never look down on my opponents. Those that are willing to fight me have shown their resolve and courage, I will never look down on warriors such as those. It's the same with you, I just feel like using my bare hands is the appropriate thing to do when fighting you." 

Kretos answered and then kicked Jun away when he saw an opening. Jun noticed the action and was able to block the strike, but he was still pushed a few meters back. While Jun was trying to balance himself he saw Kretos took a stance. Kretos's fist was by his waist gathering an enormous amount of mana. Jun didn't know what was about to come, but he knew that it might affect those behind him.

"My God please guide this faithful one!" Jun gathered as much mana as possible and asked for the blessing of his God. The falling rain was turning into ice and the ice started to gather to form giant walls of ice. Several thick layered walls of ice appeared before Jun.

"How wonderful! Let's see if you're able to withstand this strike!" Kretos's smile grew even more vicious as he saw the towering walls of ice. Kretos punch forward and unleashed a beam of mana, this was the same technique the Mighty Lord Kir uses. 

The beam of mana easily smashed through the first and second walls, by the third wall some of its power lessened but it still pierced through. Each wall it pierced through the weaker it became but it wasn't enough to stop it. It continued onward until it finally reached Jun, but by the time it arrived its power was significantly lower. 

Jun roared as he used his ax to divert the beam of mana to the side. Even though it was so much weaker now Jun still had some difficulty redirecting it. When the beam of mana was redirected to the side it carved a portion of the canyon which disappeared. 

Jun felt like if that attack had reached him without the protection of the several towering walls of ice he would be dead. It was so certain that he would've died if that attack hit him, which made him sweat a bit.

"So you can take one strike but how about a second!" Jun heard Kretos's shout and saw that he was once again about to unleash that devastating punch. Jun couldn't use the same move again and he couldn't move aside since that punch could possibly kill everyone who was retreating. 

Jun threw his ax at full power towards Kretos. Seeing the incoming ax that was swiftly heading towards him, Kretos couldn't finish gathering enough mana into his fist to properly use the technique. Instead, Kretos with an incomplete fist technique punched at the ax. 

Upon contact with the sharp end of the ax, Kretos was surprised that the ax wasn't blown away by his punch. Kretos happily laughed as he put more power into his punch. The ax was smashed into the ground, and it was at that moment Kretos felt somebody touch his back. 

Kretos could feel his body being encroached by ice, he was being frozen. Kretos stomped the ground making it crack and unbalancing Jun who was behind him. Kretos then quickly kicked behind him but Jun was able to evade. 

Kretos felt his legs were also being encroached in ice and it was pretty hard to destroy. As he was trying to escape from his predicament hundreds of ice needles were falling towards him. Kretos hastily deflected them but one of the icicles was able to get past him and actually pierce through his left shoulder. 

The icicle had pierced through his defensive barrier and into his skin but not too deep. Kretos pulled the icicle away and burst out of the ice that was encroaching his legs. Kretos then felt that Jun was once again behind him so he turned around and punched, but what greeted him was just the ax. 

Jun had thrown the ax to distract Kretos and once again got behind Kretos. He tried to freeze Kretos but for some reason, the freezing was too slow. Every time he failed, Jun continued to use hit and run tactics on Kretos. 

Upon seeing how strong Kretos was, Jun knew that going on the defensive won't work well for him. The only option Jun had to somehow win this fight is if he doesn't give Kretos the chance to move or counter. Which is why Jun continued to attack without giving Kretos room to breathe. 

Jun was able to keep using his mana in such an extravagant way because it was raining. As the hero of the Temple of the God of Water, as long as it continues to rain Jun wasn't going to lose his mana any time soon. He had the advantage in a battle of attrition. 

...

Kretos was amazed by how Jun kept on using spell after spell as if his mana was bottomless. This was the first time he met someone that could pretty much match his own mana supply. It was at that moment Kretos remembered what Jun said before he attacked. 

"I came to fulfill my selfish desires and at the same time fulfill my role as the hero from the Temple of the God of Water." 

'That's what he said, the hero from the Temple of the God of Water.' Kretos looked at the dark sky above as the rain continued to pour heavily. He looked at it and smiled, he no longer dodged Jun's attacks as he started to gather mana into his fist. It was an enormous amount much greater than the one he used at the beginning of the battle. 

Jun noticed that Kretos's defenses were lowered and he was once again gathering mana into his fist. Jun used this chance to attack Kretos with a full-power strike. Kretos didn't even bother to move nor block as he accepted the attack. Kretos's mana barrier stopped a lot of the force but it still broke through and Jun's ax hit Kretos's torso. 

The ax had penetrated through his skin and was going deep into his muscles, but it didn't go through fully. It stopped and it got stuck, while Jun was trying to pull his ax out, Kretos was done charging mana into his fist. 

"I don't know what kind of God you are, but don't get in the way of my fight! This is between me and the hero!" Kretos punched upward as if he was trying to hit the very heavens itself. A powerful burst of mana was unleashed. The mana beam that came out was so strong it pushed Jun who was near. 

Jun slid on the ground his ax in his hands. The shockwave produced by the mana beam was so powerful that Jun couldn't stand up properly. If Kretos decided to use that attack at him Jun knew he wouldn't be able to defend nor dodge the attack. Yet Kretos didn't hit him with it, instead, Kretos shot it up into the sky while basically cursing at the God Jun served. 

The beam of mana past through the dark clouds and it pushed them aside. It broke apart the clouds and everything in its path. The rain stopped and the dark clouds were nowhere in sight, in its place the sun shone brightly upon the battlefield. Kretos changed the weather with just one punch. After doing that Kretos looked at Jun with that smile of his and spoke. 

"Now that the interference is gone, let's have a proper battle." 

...

After Kretos stopped the rain, the battle became harder for Jun. The only advantage he had was now gone. As he was backing away Kretos appeared before him and punched aiming at his chest. Jun blocked the strike with his ax but that wasn't able to stop Kretos's punch.

The punch got through the ax and hit Jun straight in the chest. Jun was blown away into a wall of rock crashing into it. Jun coughed out blood as he heard his ribcage breaking. After that one strike, Jun was having a hard time standing up. 

Kretos looked at Jun in disappointment. "So that's it? That's all you could do without the help of your God?"

When Jun heard what Kretos said he felt irritated. When Jun saw the look Kretos was given him made Jun's anger burned even more. 

"Demon Lord Kretos, no matter what, even if I need to sacrifice my life, I will avenge my brother!" Jun grasped his ax with his two hands and lifted it over his head. The puddles of water that came from the rain started gathering towards Jun's ax. The water then formed into a gigantic blade that went upward towards the sky. 

"Now that's what I want to see! Show it to me then, o hero, show me how you shall avenge your brother!" Kretos shouted back as he looked at the blade with excitement and glee. 

Jun slashed down his gigantic blade made of water. The blade filled the whole canyon and a flood of water burst forward trying to crush and drown Kretos. As Jun was trying his best to control the blade of water, he saw Kretos piercing through the middle while heading towards him. 

"Pretty impressive, thanks for the battle." Jun heard Kretos's voice and saw that Kretos's fist had pierced through his chest. Jun felt all the power in his body slowly disappearing. His sight was becoming blurry, it was at that moment he saw just behind Kretos was his brother sitting at a table eating a meal. His wife bringing some food to Marlo while carrying a child in her arms. 

"Come brother, it's time to eat." 

...

The second hero Kretos fought the so called hero of vengeance Jun, had died with a smile on his face.