677 The Battle Of Gods

If Michaux and Guang Dongyang could see Wang Tong's mastery, they would feel that the world was unfair. Wang Tong was able to mix all different kinds of elements in nature together with such ease. 

On the other side, Patroclus was unfazed by Wang Tong's mastery spell. He straightened his back and lashed out his lance at the two giant dragons. Before the ice and fire dragons were able to unload their death breath onto him, he was able to knock them to the side and evade the attack. Having missed their target, the two dragons collided with each other and perished amidst a huge explosion.

Patroclus stood proudly and announced: "Show me your forbidden power!"

At his level, he knew that the essence of all forms of attacks was the same. Even in arts that were as different as Mastery and METAL combat, Patroclus could see the common foundation upon which they laid. It would be a mistake to think that he knew nothing about mastery. If that were the case, he would not have been able to counter Wang Tong's hybrid element spell.

"Mr. Wannabe, do you know why master didn't use any weapon? Patroclus' weapon seemed to have helped him a lot. He has gained a significant momentum in his attacks."

"Hehe, the key is in control of the flow of the battle, and not the damage output. They are both trying to dominate the battlefield, but in a very different way. Without being confined to using any specific weapon, Wang Tong's attempt is more all-encompassing. On the other hand, Patroclus has used what he is best with, and therefore, can be more effective than Wang Tong's bare hands. It is very difficult to say who can gain the upper hand in the next few moments."

"Then, why would he ask Master to use the forbidden power?"

"Hehe…It's a ruse. If he were able to counter Wang Tong's ultimate mastery, it would be a huge blow to the latter's confidence, and will force Wang Tong to use weapons. Bah, these two guys overthink every single move." Zachery sat down while still floating in the air and started observing the match with a great measure of fascination. Even as a Super Einherjar, he could learn many things from these two warriors.

As Zachery marveled at the talents among the humans, he suddenly felt relieved and convinced that the human race would never go extinct under the protection of its heroes.

Wang Tong cracked a smile at Patroclus' demand. Suddenly, he swept his palm flat across space in front of him as fire sprouted out on his hand. The fire quickly spread around him and then the entire arena. However, Patroclus was unflinching; these fires were harmless to him.

Wang Tong raised himself slowly to mid-air, and with another sweep of the arm, summoned a whirlwind that wrapped the fire around. Above the tornado, dark inky clouds gathered and sent flashes of lightning into the inferno at the eye of the whirlwind cyclone. As more lightening plunged into the fiery storm, the air flow near the surface of the cyclone started to glow; in half a heartbeat, the cyclone was suffused with a milky white gleam.

Wang Tong had mixed four different elements into one attack; not only it was an area of effect attack, but was also deadly effective on a single target.

Suddenly, Patroclus felt that he could no longer effectively command his power. The dark element summoned by Wang Tong acted like a catalyst in the chemical reactions as it brought out the full power of the fire elements. When the boosted fire and wind elements were compressed and concentrated together into a small space, the combined power of the two elements increased exponentially. Meanwhile, overlapping the constant and violent exchange of energy pluses was a layer of the extremely stable and calm light element. 

This spell called for the user's explicit control over each and every element. The smallest imbalance in the system would cause the spell to fail. Such a spell was a perfect example of the power of the soul essence. With the touch of the soul essence, the caster could become one with the elements, and therefore, would control the elements with relative ease. Like a bartender, Wang Tong mixed the different elements together in order to come up with the perfect concoction of death. 

Patroclus felt lethargy claiming his strength. He attempted to counter the spell with whatever energy he could muster, but all the outgoing energies were swallowed whole by the deadly cyclone. 

Inferno Hell!

Surprise was written all over Patroclus' face. He had thought that he knew everything about the energy in nature. But, little did he know that one could master these natural powers with such a degree of freedom. Although Patroclus was not a mastery caster, he knew that combining and merging four different elements was beyond the scope of any mastery techniques. 

The Inferno Hell was invented by another Mastery caster: Guan Dongyang. However, this appeared to be much deadlier than Guan's version. On the other hand, Guan Dongyang had never needed to deal with an opponent as powerful as Patroclus either.

The Inferno didn't stop robbing the world of its essence; it drew the fire elements all around it and drastically decreased the temperature. Inside the deadly inferno, Patroclus started to struggle. 

It wasn't long before the parasitic Zerg started to protest against the extreme environment it was in. Patroclus doubled down on the protective GN shield; without it, the Zerg would have already turned into ashes.

"Attaboy! His imagination is as wild as mine! Haha!" Zachery said with discernible pride. He reckoned that Wang Tong had gained the true insight about power. It was not a measurement of force, but an ability to control and manipulate the situation during a battle.

He marveled at Wang Tong's brilliant strategy, and the power that came out of it. The underlying principle of the spell struck a chord with what gave birth to planets: constant assimilation of new energy that fueled the deadly and violent core under a calm, if not smooth, appearance.

Patroclus gathered himself after he knew he was trapped. The massive drop in temperature and created a world of ice around the cyclone. However, the epicenter of the cyclone, where Patroclus was trapped, was hotter than hell itself. 

Patroclus remained calm and stood unflinching despite the agitated writhing and truing of the parasite inside his chest.

More brutal power weighted in onto Patroclus's GN shield, threatening to tear it apart. Suddenly, a silvery light lanced out from the spinning cyclone. 

Kaboom!

With an ear-deafening explosion, many rays of fire shot out of the cyclone and shredded its calm facade into pieces. Not unbridled by the light element, the concoction of deadly energies spilled forward to fill up the combat field, destroying everything in their path. The walls and roofs of the giant building crumbled in front of everyone standing outside. 

When the dust finally settled, the public saw their champions standing face to face on top of a pile of rubles

"Seems like we have to choose another place to continue our fight." Wang Tong said. In the last exchange, he had gained the upper hand by using the mastery. He had trapped Patroclus and only let him get away at the very last moment due to an obvious flaw in the spell. If Wang Tong had more time before the fight to patch up those flaws in the spell, he would have delivered a devastating blow to his opponent.

"Let's go!" Before Patroclus' voice faded, he took off while tracing a silver line across the sky, trailed by a golden thread behind. In less than half a heartbeat, the two arrived in space near the moon. They could fight to their heart's content out there without worrying about harming any innocent bystanders. In some way, this was the real "Sky" arena.

Even though Patroclus was tortured inside the inferno for a good half a minute, he looked completely unharmed thanks to the perks of being an immortal. The fire had polished the surface of his METAL, making it shiny as ever. There he was, standing gloriously while holding the legendary lance, befitting of the title of Divine Lord. 

Patroclus was the epitome of indifference and aloofness; the silver light that came off his body was colder than that of the moon. Meanwhile, Wang Tong was basking under the warm golden light that—like his personality—had the ability to encourage anyone and lift their spirits.

However different they were, they were very similar in many ways, so much so that one could not have existed without the other. After all, what was warmth without coldness and what was shadow without light?

Patroclus spun the shaft of the silver lance with a twist of the wrist while he thrust it forward, covering a dozen meters in one strike. The attack hit home, and it shattered Wang Tong's GN shield. Wang Tong closed his fists, and with only the slightest hesitation, threw them at the lance and stopped it. Before Wang Tong had time to deliver another punch, he caught a glimpse of Patroclus from the corner of his eyes as the other attacked with abandon. 

The blow landed squarely on Wang Tong's side and knocked him back for a few dozen feet. Patroclus didn't stop there, advancing quickly and delivering a lance attack. However, the lance was stopped by Wang Tong with a single fist. Suddenly, a wave of energy shot through the lance and hit Patroclus' hands. He pulled the lance away from Wang Tong's fist, and the energy disappeared instantly. Without any hesitation, Patroclus channeled more energy into the lance and attacked again.

KOM!

The second attack was able to deliver a solid blow at Wang Tong and wind him. Seizing the opportunity, Patroclus showered him with more lance attacks. 

Wang Tong didn't evade any of the attacks as he allowed the downpour of strikes to land on his body.

Phantom strike!

Finally registering danger, Wang Tong shifted his body to evade Patroclus' killing blow, but he was too late. Pain shot through his body, but he was unharmed. The blow gave him a significant clue about Patroclus' power, and he reminded himself to be more alert for the remainder of the fight.

After the two warriors had moved their battlefield to space, their battle was recorded by cameras and broadcasted live. When Ma Xiaoru saw Wang Tong being dealt a heavy blow, she nearly fainted. Despite being an Einherjar, Ma Xiaoru would forever have a soft spot for Wang Tong. But after seeing that he was unharmed, everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

"Come on, Wang Tong! Use your weapon and finish the fight already!" Karl jumped out of his seat and shouted at the screen. Even when the fate of the human race was hanging by a thread, Karl still managed to remain confident. However, despite the valor of his ignorance, he was an invaluable asset to the human race during a space battle.

Wang Tong flexed his neck muscles to relieve some of the tension. Patroclus was surprised to see that he was unharmed after being dealt a deadly blow.

"Not bad! Seems like your lance technique has improved significantly. Well, warm-up is over, Let's dive right into the real action." Wang Tong stretched his arms and legs as if he were about to do some intense gym exercises. The comical scene made many immortals laugh out loud. Unlike the members of the Great Houses, Wang Tong didn't have a reputation to keep, and neither he had to keep up the appearances. 

After five seconds of stretching, Wang Tong was back in action. His body gave a golden glow that illuminated his surroundings. At the same time, a golden lance appeared in Wang Tong's hand as if out of nowhere. Waves of energies rippled out of him and were gaining intensity by the second.

Patroclus' lips thinned into a smile; this was the Wang Tong he had expected to fight. The thought of an intense battle heightened Patroclus' spirit. As silvery energy spilled out of him and clashed with the golden glows, both warriors took off like two rockets, trailed by a pair of gold and silver lines in space. 

The real battle was about to begin. 

The two of them held each other's gaze while both flew abreast. Sparks erupted in between them when they got a little bit closer to each other. Both warriors raised their lances; each of a legendary quality. But at the end of the battle, only one was going to survive.

KOM!

Wang Tong attacked his opponent with the Einherjar Lance, while Patroclus countered the attack with a thrust of the scintillating Lance of the Deva King. 

When the two legendary weapons collided, the space in between the two steel was folded, crushed, and compressed, releasing an unimaginable amount of heat and light. Each and every impact sent a quickly expanding ring of thermal and kinetic energy into space. The ring was so bright that it easily penetrated the darkness of the space for miles. Suddenly, the humans watched as storm clouds gathered above them, and it wasn't long before the clouds started to pour rain onto the moon. Beyond the dark clouds, people could still make out flashes produced by the impact of the two lances. 

Both immortals and humans watched the flashes come and go expectantly. Stunned by the incredible display of power, some of the onlookers had already forgotten why the two warriors were fighting in the first place. In their stupor, they imagined that they were watching the battle between two gods.

When both warriors had started using their lances, the audiences knew that there was no turning back from this point. Lance was considered the overlord of all weapons because of its practicality and effectiveness. Every clash of the two lances let out energy that threatened to devour an entire planet.

Wang Tong had forsaken the usage of mastery and focused solely on the direct exchange of physical blows.

KOM!

A massive explosion blew both warriors away from each other. So far, neither of them seemed to have gained the upper hand. With the help of soul essence, Wang Tong was able to manipulate the natural forces to aid his defense and offense. Meanwhile, Patroclus' immortal body meant that he was practically immune to physical damage. Patroclus believed that his healing ability was going to set him apart from Wang Tong in the end as the latter accumulated more wounds. Therefore, Patroclus doubled down on his attack and kept the pressure on Wang Tong. 

The tip of the silvery lance gleamed and let out a faint but noticeable pulse of energy. The pulse started weakly, but as it rippled in the space, it started to grow and expand until it threatened to swallow Wang Tong. 

Zing!

The tip of the silver lance thrust at Wang Tong, who acted out of instinct and blocked the attack with his lance. It didn't take long for him to realize that something was amiss. The Lance of the Deva King was rapidly freezing his soul energy. 

Wang Tong reckoned that freezing up the soul energy was much more effective than absorbing it, since at their level, absorbing each other's soul energy would not only take a while, but also give the opponent a chance to lash out. 

Wang Tong's knee-jerk reaction was to move away from the lance of the Deva King; however, he realized that he could no longer move his lance. His golden lance was suffused with Patroclus's silvery energy, and no longer responded to his command. 

Seizing the opportunity, Patroclus attacked Wang Tong with quick pokes and jabs of with the lance, trying to land as many blows as possible. Unable to use any of his lance techniques, Wang Tong seemed to have lost control of the battle. Zhou Sisi covered her mouth, trying to suppress a gasp but failed. Zhou Sisi had seen Patroclus' power first hand. She had learned that not only was he able to control objects with his soul energy, but could also create objects from his soul energy, as he had created all the plants and flowers using it.

No one could tell those flowers he created from the real ones. Not only did they look like the real stuff, but smelled like them too.

However, Zhou Sisi had never thought that Patroclus could convert his gardening skill into deadly combat moves. Otherwise, she would have warned Wang Tong about Patroclus' ability.

Patroclus didn't stop perfecting himself after he had attained the invincible body. After he became an immortal, he started to dive into the deepest abysses of knowledge to search for the meaning of the universe, and was able to find a part of that answer. 

Guided by his new insight, he had found the path toward godhood, and the token ability of a god, he reasoned, was the ability to create life.