Chapter 460 - Unreachable, Unavoidable

He didn't acknowledge the wicked knight's words as he looked down with his golden-wheeled iris, once again bringing his palms together. 

"Learn to stay in the mud and die–Guayin: Ghastly Fire." 

Without any hesitation, he began the second phase of his attack as his seraphic prayer ignited the thousand arms with billowing flames, further amplifying a light that emanated over the jungle like a ferocious sun. 

Even the distant, leaf-ridden towers of the jungle were set ablaze in the presence of the flame-enveloped arms. 

"Hate to break it to you, but the same attack won't work twice on me," Andraste told him with a casual smirk, despite the bruises scattered on his torso, "I'll show you what it means to face one of the "Victorious Seven"--prepare yourself." 

In return, the knight spit out blood from his mouth before settling his playful expression into one of focus, planting both of his blades into the mud below as he held a single hand up, pointing towards the thousand, flaming arms. 

"Here me and listen well, Son of Titans, King of Gods, Father of Divine…" Andraste began to chant while keeping his azure eyes focused. 

Great magic…? He listened, expediting the descent of his thousand arms. 

Even as the flat, malicious palms began to descend with scarlet flames coating their colossal form, he remained unflinching as he continued his grand chant: 

"Life, death, eternity, fleeting moments…all fall under your authority. That is, the authority of the world itself, fate, destruction, creation…" 

Near complete descent, the endless hands were but moments from crashing down; their fiery heat emitting to the land below as the soil sizzled beneath the knight's boots, who still remained unmoving in his chant. 

Like a wave of fog on a dark morning, the flames that bolstered in the golden hand's descending friction caused the rain to boil, filling the air with clouds of steam. 

"Any who challenge that authority must be punished! Zeus: Titanus Execution!" 

–Nothing came. 

It was fully cast, yet nothing sparked from the outreached hand of the knight, yet he smiled as if victory had been sealed. 

What's going on?...Did he give up? No…he wouldn't--then! He thought. 

Only by his heightened senses did he realize the true nature of the magecraft that was woven:

It came from above. 

As he lifted his widened gaze, he found himself staring at an unnatural coalesce of heavenly, white clouds that roared out with thunder that vibrated the plummeting rainfall. 

But why…? If it's above, then how does he intend to escape the Thousand-Arms?! He thought. 

Before he could find an answer, every fiber of his being ushered him to raise his guard to the maximum as the thunder sounded once more with malice. 

"Vajra!" 

He shrouded his body in a layer of hexagonal scales just before a flash of blinding light emitted from the divine weather above—it crashed down with impunity against him, unseen and unrestrained. 

As if the fist of God himself slammed against his body, he was paralyzed by the abrupt impact; his bones cracked and shattered, immediately being rebuilt through the usage of "Earth'--the function of his ability to manipulate his body. 

It was only by virtue of 'Vajra' that he wasn't immediately felled by the divine smiting; instead battling against the monstrous force of the continuous bolt as it intended to return him to the ground floor. Throughout its time active, his skeleton continued to be smashed apart repeatedly by the overwhelming force, bleeding out of his nose, mouth, and eyes as he was forced to constantly mend his skeleton. 

It felt as if he was being torn limb-from-limb, his muscles being shredded apart as his bones vibrated; the divine thunder swallowed him whole.

You think…this will stop me from crushing you?! He thought. 

After the blinding flash settled, he fought against the lightning that seized his bodily functions, commanding the flaming hands to plummet against the decimated jungle once more. Even after the barrage of lightning ended, leaving his body heavily bruised as half of his complexion shifted to a shade between dark-blue and purple, he felt the effects of the residual electricity in his system. His entire body trembled, bleeding through pores that were unnatural for blood to seep through, but he remained steady in his battle. 

Looking down at the sea of golden, enflamed hands he sent down towards the revered knight, he watched as dozens of bright lines etched themselves across a set of extended hands. 

In the next moments, the lines materialized into unstoppable slashes that cut the hands apart that attempted to crush Andraste, who leapt into the air with a smile fueling his journey towards his opponent. 

He's a monster–! Nothing I do keeps him down! He thought. 

As he squeezed his fist, experiencing the strands of electricity still coursing through his muscle fibers as his hand spasmed, he commanded the thousand-arms to coalesce towards the knight who was leaping towards him. 

Attempting to squash him like a fly, they continued to miss as their mighty palms slammed together with volatile flames following; Andraste used them as further footing as he danced around their reach. 

None of the hands were able to reach his swift form as he moved like bolts of erratic lightning, scaling the arms, swirling around them, and propelling directly towards him as they reunited amidst the rain fallen sky. 

However, not even you can surmount your own power, Andraste! He thought. 

As he clenched his fist, a mixture of cosmic mana coalesced at his hand, pushing it forward as spiraling seals opened in the sky–all pointing towards Andraste, whose expression shifted to confusion in that split-second. 

"Godhead: Vajra -- Asura Slaying Divine Instrument of Indra! Strike, Burn, and Erase!" 

At point blank range, the culmination of the power absorbed by Vajra was unleashed back at the knight, at double strength. 

–But, just before the divine, retaliatory energy fell against Andraste's flesh, the immaculate knight countered with his own spell, at the exact same moment. 

"Zeus: Divine Exile…!" 

Just as it was cast, the knight was slammed down by the powerful, humming beam of gathered energy from Vajra. 

He was left with whatever it was that the knight had cast, looking around as enigmatic, white, translucent spheres manifested all around the space in the air near him. 

What are these…? He thought. 

An answer was received as they began to rapidly expand in a spherical field of buzzing, roaring lightning that forced him to evade while moving in the air through stepping on golden wind. 

Bringing his palms together, he was forced to relinquish his thousand arms as he returned his 'Void Space', warping from raindrop-to-raindrop to avoid the balls of heavenly lightning that filled the stormy air. 

Though he avoided the balls of lightning, he was caught off-guard as an impact crashed into his stomach, causing him to spit out in surprise–buried against his abdomen, both of Andraste's boots dug further from a lightning-boosted kick. 

"You're lacking in experience, Ren Nakamura!" Andraste said as he launched him back with the harsh kick. 

As crashed through dozens of trees, breaking through him, he stopped only once harshly shattering through a boulder. 

There was no time to lay around and recover as Andraste immediately fell from above, stabbing into the moist soil below–only evaded by a last moment roll to the side. 

After jumping back to his feet, he swiftly backstepped as a swift, horizontal slash attempted to cut his gut. 

"I haven't shown you my ability, yet have I?" Andraste said as if speaking casually, resting one of his blades on his bare, bruised shoulder. 

"..."

He neglected to respond to the playful knight, though he was perplexed as the wild, white-haired man pointed at him, or more precisely, pointed at his abdomen. 

"I'll give you a hint: you may think you dodged my attack, but dodging isn't good enough," Andraste hinted with a mischievous smirk. 

As he looked down, he felt his blood run cold as a lengthy slit ran across his abdomen, stretching from one end to the other as blood left profusely. 

How…? I know I dodged it–I did. There's no denying that…so how? He questioned. 

Immediately, he honed his ability to stifle the bleeding, but he was still left damaged from the brutal slash, feeling the lost blood accumulate as he felt a slight sense of dizziness overtake him. 

His focus began to dwindle as he tried to decipher the nature of the man's ability. 

Did he extend the range of his sword at the last second? Was it a slash of wind? Or some other unseen force? How did he cut me?! He thought. 

Andraste laughed as he watched his perplexed expression, "It's always the same: people try to figure out what my ability is or does, but they end up driving themselves into panic. So many options, but so little answers. The only way to know–is to experience it firsthand, right? Let me teach it to you." 

Holding his blade pointed towards the eviscerated young man, Andraste smiled as he savored the look of panic that began to crawl over his enemy's expression. 

As a simple stroke of his blade through the air came, far from his own flesh, he felt his heightened, divine senses flare up. 

–Looking into all possibilities, he saw none; there was no trail of the past that followed Andraste's actions, but only the result–a slash that stretched itself across his shoulder. 

As he foresaw, his left shoulder was eviscerated, spraying out crimson from the sharp, clean cut. 

He immediately stopped the rush of blood from the cut, witnessing Andraste smile as he began to swipe his blade again. 

In an attempt to escape the unseen reach of his blade, he warped, swapping places with a falling raindrop as he reappeared a few meters behind the knight. 

He knew for sure, witnessing Andraste drag his blade down, that he was simply out of reach from its edge. 

–Squelch. 

A massive, vertical slash opened from his chest to his abdominal region, spilling out blood once again as he stood there in shock.