Chapter 533: Joshua versus Dmitry Part 2

Dmitry shot off like a rocket as he went on the assault once more. It seemed as if he realized that Joshua had figured out his ability from the way he smiled and suddenly Joshua could feel an even more oppressive draining feeling, as if Dmitry had upped the force of his draining ability. It was almost twice as strong as before once Dmitry got in close and Joshua knew that his aura wouldn't hold out as long as he was expecting. He dodged one of Dmitry's ferocious swings before slashing his scale blade directly toward his throat, but Dmitry bent backwards rather flexibly for someone of his size and then twisted into an uppercut that Joshua dodged just in the nick of time.

Both sides were once again blurs that clashed in the center of the arena, but this time around the power of the attacks were even more overwhelming. Joshua wasn't holding back on his aura anymore now that he was certain that the draining effect was going to be so powerful even when he was holding back. He needed the extra strength to try to break through Dmitry's constantly hardening skin, especially when he had a small portion of Joshua's aura's healing factor. As the match went on Joshua took notice of the fact that the metallic tint of Dmitry's hands was spreading so fast that it covered all the way down to his elbows. This made Dmitry even more difficult to deal with since he could now block Joshua's scale blade much more easily. Leaving cuts on a hand was doable, but a far denser forearm would be troublesome.

It wasn't only that portion of Dmitry's skin that was starting to turn metallic, but also the bottom portion of his legs. It was clear that at some point Dmitry's entire body would be covered in the stuff and at that point Joshua had no idea how he was going to break through his defenses. So Joshua figured it was time to let loose as the aura around his scale blade grew dense with an energy slash that Joshua slammed into Dmitry who blocked with both of his arms. The force of the blow enough to send him sliding back even with good footing, but the strike had barely left a cut that was currently healing at a rate that was visible to see.

Joshua didn't let up as he went on the assault once more using combinations of different powerful attacks ramping up the intensity of the fight. Every once in a while Joshua would be caught by surprise with an unorthodox strike slammed into Joshua's side or shoulder. The blows were powerful and reinforced by Dmitry's strengthened limbs. Joshua could already feel his body bruising up from them, but he pushed through it and allowed his aura to heal him up as he kept up the onslaught. As Joshua kept up the tempo he was beginning to realize none of the strikes he was getting off were powerful enough to completely break through Dmitry's guard. At the moment Dmitry hand some large wounds all over his body, but even so they were superficial and not nearly enough to take the man down.

Dmitry struck out once more which Joshua dodged, but it seemed Dmitry expected this as he stomped on Joshua's foot and tried grab hold of his shoulder. Joshua knew the one thing he couldn't do in this match was allow Dmitry to get ahold of him. Even in a regular match between the two without either of them using any of their skills it would be dangerous to let such a grappler to get ahold of him. Joshua dunked under Dmitry's arm and slammed his knee into Dmitry's side causing him to stumble back just enough for Joshua to get a full own swing at him with his scale blade. Dmitry jumped back creating space between them as they both backed up a bit to catch their breaths.

Joshua could still feel a slight drain on his aura, but since they were separated by a decent distance it wasn't enough to counter act how fast his aura regeneration rate was. Joshua wasn't just an aura tank, he also had the ability regain aura at a ridiculous rate. Even so he had lost a fourth of his aura already at this point and he could see exactly what kind of effect that was having on Dmitry at the moment. At this point the metallic reinforcement had spread all the way up to Dmitry's upper arm and if they clash kept going it would soon reach his shoulders. Things looked grim for Joshua and he knew that his current tactic wasn't getting him anywhere.

The injuries that were covering Dmitry weren't nearly enough and they would heal up rather quickly. By the time the injuries might actually mount enough to slow Dmitry down he would likely have already absorbed so much of Joshua's aura that his strength and defense would have reached a point where Joshua wouldn't even be able to injure him anymore. While Joshua was trying to figure out how to approach the situation Dmitry suddenly began laughing wildly.

"You're so much like your father even in the way you fight. Thinking about every little move and always trying to be a step ahead." He said with a grin. "Now that you know that you're more powerful tactics can't break through my defenses and only end up making me stronger, then what will you do next? If you wait too long to decide then this match might as well be over."

Just as Dmitry finished talking he used a skill to increase his speed in one quick burst attempting to close the distance between them instantly. Joshua was prepared for such a tactic and blinked away to make sure he kept the distance between them so that the drain wouldn't affect him even more. He then concentrated his aura on his feet before kicking off once more and creating even more distance. "That was surprising." Joshua said with a sigh as he continued to look at Dmitry who happen to have his fist slammed through the arena floor in the exact spot that Joshua had blinked away from. The power of the blow was enough to leave large wide spreading cracks all over the arena floor.

"I hope you're not planning on a game of cat and mouse. It could be fun, but I was expecting more." Dmitry said before charging over towards Joshua once more. Joshua kept moving away as he thought of the best way to approach the rest of the fight. Then an idea came to him. It could be a foolish one, but it was at least worth a try. Instead of playing Dmitry's game and trying to overwhelm him and take him down with one blow, Joshua decided that if Dmitry wanted to drain his aura then he was going to let him. He was going to give Dmitry such a smorgasbord of aura that he was going to be overwhelmed. Joshua could handle the amount of aura in his body after growing use to it and training with it for so long. Dmitry however would have no chance of dealing with so much energy, a person could only handle so much and Joshua was willing to risk finding out just how much Dmitry could handle.

Even though Joshua planned to overstuff Dmitry with aura he wasn't going to do it by fighting up close and personal with him. With the rate that Dmitry was gaining strength he would be a struggle to deal with in close range, especially while using a large weapon like a scale blade. Instead Joshua was going to attack from a distance with anything he could. That way he could not only dictate the flow of the fight, but also give away aura to Dmitry's draining ability at the pace he wanted. Keeping his distance would allow him to let his aura slightly recover on its own while fighting.

With a grin Joshua got to work as he kept leaping away from Dmitry who kept charging after him not caring to much about defending himself with how tough his skin was becoming. Joshua started his assault with a couple of energy slashes that Dmitry let his body greedily absorb. Joshua could see the rate at which Dmitry's skin was changing and used that as a base for how much energy he could handle. Joshua kept this up for a while using his aura steadily as he watched Dmitry become more and more metallic. The more energy Dmitry absorbed the harder it was becoming for Joshua to keep his distance from him.

Every once in a while Dmitry would kick off with a burst of speed and get in close where his energy drain would be more effective. In these cases Joshua would use the force of Dmitry's own attacks to create some distance between them. Eventually the entire body of Dmitry was almost completely metallic and Joshua figured it was the perfect time to unleash a devastating strike to try to force him over the limit. Joshua started too concentrated as he poured tons of aura into his scale blade, but Dmitry wasn't going to just sit back and watch as Joshua tried to give a decisive strike.

Dmitry lunged forward and punched so hard that the tension from his feet caused the arena floor crack as he dug in his feet. If Joshua wanted to land his strike then he wasn't going to be able to dodge this attack. The large energy blade that he was forming would be too easy to dodge if Joshua didn't lock Dmitry in position, so instead of dodging he tucked his free arm in and concentrated his aura directly where Dmitry's fist was going to land. He made sure to dig his feet in so he wouldn't be knocked off balance and grit his teeth.

The moment the fist landed Joshua could feel the force of the strike as the bones on his right arm creaked. If Joshua had been hit in the side he was certain he would have a few broken ribs as a result. His body slid backwards, but Joshua used the moment that Dmitry followed through with the punch to bring the powerful strike down on him. The entire arena was overcast with the blinding light of Joshua's attack before a large explosion erupted the moment it hit home.