If previously Emery had been deeply troubled by the dilemma he got in his hands, the incredible power Eeshoo had shown him was a wake-up call that helped clear up his mind.
At this point, he knew he would never be able to defeat the Nephilim protege without using his entire strength and giving all he had.
What's more, losing would automatically mean the decision about Magus Xion's life was no longer in his hands, but in those of his opponent standing in front of him.
With those thoughts in mind, Emery was now determined to do everything he could in order to defeat Eeshoo.
Howwllll!
Once again, Emery began gathering the innate power his transformation gave for a counterattack. Eeshoo on the other side made another gesture with his hands, collecting all 16 of his flying blades back and commanding them to fly around him.
Seeing the two in the arena preparing for another clash, the cheers from the crowd of spectators were heightened exponentially.
After witnessing a disappointing first match between Zetto and the monk Mahinder, where it ended so quickly and so one-sidedly, the people desperately wanted to be entertained by an exciting fight.
Due to the recent tragedy and tense situation with the half-bloods, most of the crowds cheered on the Nephilim genius instead of the half-wolf acolyte,
"Eeshoo, we love you!"
"Give that half-blood a good lesson!"
Their cheers however were meaningless as the two of them currently didn't care about their surroundings at all. They were focusing their entire attention on the other person standing opposite of them.
Eeshoo shook his hand and rang the silver bell one more time. As the soft ringing sound reverberated through the air, it went ahead and prevented Emery from using his spatial spells for mobility. And from the looks of it, the status quo would remain for a while.
As if that wasn't enough, he also took out more artifacts. In a matter of seconds, 32 [Soaring Shuttles] made their appearance in the arena. They added the number of flying artifacts he already controlled, totalling a staggering 48 pieces all hovering around him like sentinels.
It was clear the Nephilim genius was the type of person who didn't play around, he was ready and willing to give his all if that was what it would take him to defeat his opponent.
As for Emery, he decided to bring out his second sword, the [Advanced Lightsaber].
Although wielding two swords would reduce the effectiveness of his sword technique, this was the correct decision – something Emery had to do if he wanted to deal with the ridiculous number of flying artifacts that would attack him.
Since his [Blink] spell was basically thrown out of the table as long as his opponent's silver bell existed, he cast [Light Wing] and [Anti Gravity] to increase his mobility against Eeshoo.
A pair of light wings sprouted on his back, Emery soared into the sky ready to fight the Nephilim in the air.
Now that the stage and preparations were set, the two stared at each other, as if they had reached an agreement, both of them made their moves at the same time. As their figures disappeared, loud cheers erupted from the crowd.
Clank! Clank! Clankk!
Sparks and ripples appeared in the sky above the arena, accompanied by a deafening cacophony of sounds, as Emery and Eeshoo fiercely clashed with each other.
A spectacular battle unfolded in the azure expanse above, with Emery being bombarded and chased by dozens of flying artifacts, avoiding and parrying those he couldn't as he tried to approach the golden-haired acolyte.
Now that his battle power had reached another level, Emery's each swing of the sword was strong enough to deal with the Nephilim's flying artifacts power, sending them back faster than they came.
Clank! Clank! Clankk!
The crowd of spectators cheered as sparks from several steel clashes were seen in the air. Emery was forced back several times by those flying blades, but with each attempt, he managed to get a little closer to his goal.
30 meters, that was the closest he could reach, as the closer he got, the stronger Eeshoo's flying artifacts became.
Realizing the situation, Emery cast his [Void Mist] spell and quickly created three identical clones that accompanied him to attack the Nephilim together, creating multiple diversion targets for Eshoo.
This decision caused the 48 shuttles to be separated into four groups as they attacked, allowing the real Emery to gain another 10 meters closer to the former.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
Once again, the closer he got, the harder it was to advance, and unfortunately, with the ringing of the silver bell, Emery's [Void Mist] figures only managed to display half of their effectiveness since their strength mostly depended on the fact they were able to flicker in and out of void in combat.
However, Emery still didn't give up, as he had another trick up his sleeve. Now that he already somewhat accustomed to the speed and formations the flying artifacts assumed, he began launching his retaliation by casting [Seed Bomb] in succession and throwing them toward the clump of flying artifacts covering Eeshoo.
Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboomm!
Emery's counterattack made a big fuss. It was strong enough to shroud the sky above the arena with thick black smoke that rendered visibility almost zero. Seeing this, a frown appeared on Eeshoo's forehead.
"There's no point in you hiding in the smoke!"
As he saw the thick black smoke around him, Eeshoo honestly thought Emery was trying to sneak up and attack him. But instead of doing that, Emery shot towards the ground.
The moment he landed on the arena, he knelt down and placed both hands on the ground. In the next second, a bright light appeared around the floor of the arena where he was as runic formation took shape.
[Jade Soldier]
The smokes were a distraction to give Emery enough time to create his summons.
Figures began to emerge from the ground. At first there were only ten, then it doubled to twenty, before doubling again to forty and stopping at sixty-four.
The army of Jade Soldiers quickly gathered and stomped the ground at the same time, shooting into the air in unison. Right behind them was Emery's figure, who also soared into the air.
Under Emery's control, the Jade Soldiers became a wall that protected him as they headed for the Nephilim genius. It was a battle of formations, and although the summons were no match against the powerful artifacts and were swiftly crushed, by then they had achieved what they were created for.
To pave the way for Emery.
The Jade Soldiers disintegrated one by one as they lunged through the flying artifacts that attacked nonstop.
30 meters, 20 meters, 10 meters
With multiple scratches grazing his body, Emery finally managed to get past the flying artifacts and reached the decisive distance where his sword was able to strike the surprised Eeshoo without missing a beat.
But then, the moment their eyes met, Emery couldn't help but hesitate as words once again entered his mind."Don't kill him!"
Although small, this half a second mistake gave Eeshoo the time he needed to slightly dodge, which caused the attack that should have been fatal to only inflict an ordinary wound.
Even more, Eeshoo retaliated without holding back and cast his powerful spell.
[Sunbeam]
A flame seemingly capable of obliterating everything erupted from the Nephilim genius, causing the sky above the arena to change color and turn all the still fighting jade soldiers to ashes.
Emery disappeared amidst the blazing red and was seen once more when it fell from the sky and crashed into the ground, engulfed in smoke and flame.
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