Chapter 101 - Turning Point

POV Cynrik

"Teehe HAHA, Well well well, look at this. The youngblood has decided to fight back." Tyler Primal said using the voice I had been hearing this whole time in my head.

An uncontrollable shiver ran through my whole body at the sound of his voice.

-For the duration of this turning point quest, the Host will have unlimited Mana.-

That was the trigger—the release of my unbridled rage. Clenching my fist tight enough to pop all my fingers loudly, I sprung into action. I wasn't going to give this bastard the chance to make the first move.

"[BlackFire]"

Snapping my middle finger and thumbs, I conjured hundreds of basketball-sized Blackfire balls and launched them in rapid succession at Tyler Primal.

SNAP SNAP SNAP

Each snap brought forth more flames, time seemed to freeze, and my surroundings became an abyss of black flames.

BOOM BOOM BOOM

"RAHHHHHH," slashing out wildly in the direction of my opponent, I manifested thousands of fireballs, each one exploded on contact filling my vision with a sea of fire. But I didn't stop there. I had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't nearly enough for some reason.

Extending my arms and channeling Dark Mana into all of my fingers, I activated [Shadow Sewing] next, taking a deep stance; with my left foot forward, I gripped the air and spawned all ten tendrils, sending them through the smoke at Tyler Primal. Unfortunately, I couldn't feel them make contact with anything to my dismay.

"Teehe, Haha, foolish youngblood."

My pupils shrunk to pinholes as the chilling voice came from behind me. Then, before I could spin around to attack, I was assaulted by a massive weight and sent hurtling through the air.

Tyler Primal had teleported behind me and lashed out with a roundhouse kick, which I was unable to block, directly into my ribs.

"I have existed for thousands of years, you foolish child, fought in hundreds of wars, and you think you could simply overpower me with a few weakly constructed balls of fire. PITIFUL."

Soaring through the air, I slammed violently into the rocky landscape dealing significant damage to my body while spitting up a mouthful of blood. Unable to right myself or even control my flight, I watched helplessly as Tyler Primal appeared alongside me and delivered a strong ax kick into my body, slamming me down into a hardened lava flow.

"What, you thought that just because you were pissed off and had no limits to the amount of Mana you could harness, you could easily win. HA, don't fucking make me laugh." Unsheathing the massive Greatsword from his back, I watched in fear as Tyler Primal stalked towards me with a bloodthirsty expression painted on his tattooed face.

Spitting up another mouthful of blood, I struggled to my feet and unsheathed my swords, just as he arrived and slammed down his Greatsword.

BANG

Barely able to hold up my blades and using a crossguard block, I felt my body sink into the hardened lava from the force of his strike.

"TWO KICKS, that's all it took me to put you in this condition; even now, I can see your knees are about to buckle under the weight of my Greatsword. TEEHE, HAHA!" Spit flew from Tyler Primals mouth as he spoke, but I didn't have time to be disgusted by this.

Summoning forth what little strength I had in my arms, I kicked off the ground and parried his sword upward, relieving the intense weight I was feeling.

"Talk, talk talk, is that all you can do, you Asgardian fuck." I shot back my own insult and took the stance to execute my Fyrstr form.

Pumping hundreds of points of Mana into both my swords, I slashed out with my Blóðrauðr Banamaðr : Fyrstr Form - Sun Cyclone, at point-blank range. The massive fire cyclone caught Tyler Primal off guard and slammed directly into his chest, flinging him back several steps before he righted himself and snorted loudly.

Seeing it didn't have much effect on the man, I channeled more Mana into my swords and rapidly unleashed my Fyrstr Form over and over. Each time the strikes would push him back only a couple of steps before he stopped and started walking forward again.

'Fuck, this isn't working. Think, THINK!' Locked in a stalemate with the Æsir Spirit, my brain revolved on all cylinders. I needed to devise some kind of plan.

"Tsk, you disappoint me, Drengr," slashing out with his Greatsword, Tyler Primal effortlessly blasted apart the current fire cyclone coming towards him and vanished from sight.

Sensing danger from my left, I dove to the side and narrowly dodged the massive Greatsword, which intended to cleave my body in half, and rolled away before jumping back to my feet.

The next couple of minutes, I struggled to block a powerful onslaught of attacks from Tyler Primal, each collision made my arms feel like they were about to shatter, but I didn't back down. We traversed the landscape locked in intense one-sided combat, which saw me only ever being on defense until I could finally put some distance between us.

At my wit's end, I channeled Fire Mana into my legs and blasted myself into the air with [Continual Flame].

Climbing into the air, I frantically tried to collect as much Mana as possible into my swords. Then, with a flourish, I spun both my blades into reverse grips, angling them so they'd point behind my body, and started my second form. Feeling my Codex pump all three of my Affinity Types through my whole body and into the edge of my swords, I exhaled slowly to focus myself. I had theorized how this skill would work but now planning was done, and it was time to use it.

Willing Fire and Wind Mana into my left sword and Pure Dark Mana into my right, I cut off the flow to my legs, stopping my [Continual Flame], and felt gravity take hold of my body. I had flown up to a height of around a hundred meters without realizing it but couldn't let the fear of falling control me.

My body slowly started arcing downward as I leaned forward and activated [Continual Flame] again, thrusting forward. Then, cutting through the air like a fighter jet, leaving a trail of blacklight on my right and a swirling reddish-green on my left, I charged directly at Tyler Primal, who stood still watching me curiously. I could see zero fear in his eyes.

He just smiled cockily and waved at me to bring it on, but then his face suddenly stiffened; he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Tyler Primal's eyes widened upon seeing a Mana mirage forming on either side of my body, The Sun on my Left, and the Moon on my right; this was the setup for my Annarr Form.

Increasing the output of the flames erupting from my feet, I finished my preparations and slowly started counting down in my head.

'Five'

My eyes locked onto my target, Tyler Primal's shoulders; this attack needed to land on either side of his body at precisely the same time if I wanted to get the best effect.

'Four'

Sensing impending doom emitting from my two swords, Tyler Primal stood still no longer and brought his Greatsword up, charging a strange purple Mana into it.

'Three'

I cut off the flow of Mana to my legs and deactivated [Continual Flame]; I had already reached the appropriate speed to deal the optimal amount of damage without turning into meat paste. I already knew I wasn't walking out of this attack unscathed; if I were lucky, I wouldn't wholly shatter both my arms with this attack.

My body wasn't ready to use the Annarr Form, but I was left with no choice; this was a life or death battle…a Turning Point for me.

'Two'

My arms began to move forward, dragging along an intense weight as if I was actually attempting to hurl the Sun and Moon at my opponent. I could feel all the muscles start to shred, but I didn't stop; I couldn't stop. So it was either this attack landed, and I hurt Tyler Primal more than myself, or I was dead. Either way, it was all or nothing, and if there was ever a time to be reckless, it was now. I was utterly outclassed in every way by this guy.

'One'

Tyler Primal's face contorted into a pure expression of rage as he pumped as much of the Purple Mana as he could into his sword, so much so that he had overloaded the steel, and cracks were forming on the blade. My eyes faintly picked up on the sight of all his tattoos glowing in the same purplish hue as his blade. Finally, he began his Mana-charged strike, and I slammed my two swords together, dragging along the mirages of the Sun and Moon, bringing them down directly onto his body.

"Blóðrauðr Banamaðr : Annarr Form – Fall of the Sun and Moon"

Chaos erupted around us as the images of the Sun and Moon violently crashed into each other and exploded. As with all the forms in my Blóðrauðr Banamaðr series, they were based on the four signs of Ragnarok. The first was called Fimbulwinter, which occurred due to the Shining God Baldur; my Fire Cyclone represented his final attack before falling. The second sign was the disappearance of the Sun and Moon, which I choreographed with the mirages of both planetary bodies crashing into each other and exploding. To do this, I had to charge my blades with so much Mana that it created a pseudo-construct representing the Sun and Moon.

The explosion of Mana particles didn't last long, no more than a couple of breaths time. I hadn't realized, but I was flung away and knocked unconscious when the explosion occurred. It was an unforeseen consequence of my reckless attack. I was lying outside of a massive crater covered in blood, arms hanging limp on both sides of my body when I came to.

My swords had shattered entirely as well, which was a testament to how over-saturated they were with Mana and just how powerful my attack was. Willing my body to move, even though it was shooting with intense sharp pain, I stood up without the help of my arms and trudged over to the crater.

Upon reaching the edge and looking down, I was stunned by the after-effects of my Annarr Form; instead of leaving a simple hole in the ground, I could see sparks of lighting flickering around inside, and the rocky dried lava had been changed into glassy obsidian.

With both arms utterly destroyed, bloody, and hanging loosely, I stepped forward and slid down the embankment of the crater. I couldn't help but draw a parallel between what I saw and the aftermath of when Frieza blasted planet Namek with his Death Ball. The devastation I had created seemed to match it perfectly.

It took me a couple of minutes to make my way to ground zero since the massive hole seemed to drop off hundreds of feet, but I found Tyler Primal standing frozen in place when I touched down. His Greatsword had been bisected by either the over-saturation of his own Mana or the force of trying to block my attack. Its remains were stabbed into the ground bearing the weight of his body.

His previously pristine upper body armor was in tatters, exposing his chiseled, muscular torso, covered in tattoos, scars, and fresh bloody wounds. My eyes locked onto the faint rise and fall of his chest, which made my heart sink.

Unable to back down, I dragged my tired and beaten body towards him. The closer I got, the more nervous and weary I became. I silently started charging my bloody arms with Mana with each step I took. Unfortunately, the best I could muster if he assaulted me would be to use my arms like Mana-clad whips.

Noticing my approach, Tyler Primal weakly looked up, blood trickling out his eyes, nose, and mouth, and laughed.

"Tee…cough…he…haha…cough."