1159 Challenging the Heavens (2)
With Scho'doxa officially signaling the start of the match, the orc did not hesitate to charge towards Valyr, retrieving a large war axe from his spatial bracelet before empowering himself with a stat-boosting skill.
Swoosh!
"[Limit Break: Second Verse]."
"[First Encore]."
In response to the orc's movements, Valyr went ahead and activated his own stat-boosting skills. After all, the only way he could even the playing field between the two of them was by empowering his stats as much as he could.
"[Refined Offense Aura]."
"[Refined Defense Aura]."
"[Four Paths Azure Elemental Arts: Raging Azure Phoenix]."
"[Four Paths Azure Elemental Arts: Enduring Azure Turtle]."
"[Rage of the True Wyvern]."
Whoosh!
With all of his go-to stat-boosting skills now activated, the young man immediately felt his confidence in fighting against the orc return, prompting him to take a few steps back as the orc struck out first.
"Graaaaghh!!!"
Bang!
With the war axe's edge glowing a faint crimson red, the orc aimed at Valyr as if he were cutting a piece of firewood in half, chopping straight down.
Wanting to assess his chances at being able to make the opponent in front of him surrender, Valyr responded to the strike by casting multiple barriers and shields in front of him.
...Only for almost all of them to turn useless the moment the attack landed.
Crash!
Stacking five barriers and five shields on top of one another as his preliminary means of defense, Valyr's eyes widened in surprise when only a single barrier remained after the orc's attack.
Being reminded not to underestimate the might that a Myth-level being could unleash, the young man did not hesitate to activate [Flash of the Azure Dragon], swiftly increasing the gap between the two of them.
Whoosh!
"I am definitely not gonna engage him in close combat," murmured Valyr to himself, briefly glancing behind him to see whether the orc was chasing after him.
Surprisingly, the orc remained where it stood after the attack. Though, in exchange, he kept his eyes on the young man, making the latter feel as if the orc was staring daggers at him.
After a bit more running around the arena, Valyr eventually understood why the orc stood in place, raising its war axe once more as its edge turned a bloody crimson.
Then, without hesitation...
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
In response to that, the young man's expression turned grim, only for him to flash a playful smile at the orc not long after.
Looking at the smile the young man returned to him, the orc could not help but slightly shudder in response, getting the feeling that the young man had only shown him a faint glimpse of what he was capable of.
Though, after mulling over the thought for a bit, the orc shook his head as he discarded the thoughts from his mind.
Sure, he thought it was impressive that the young man could utilize both magic and weapons in his combat style, even more so after he found out from Scho'doxa that the young man was at the peak of Rank 4.
'Surely he doesn't have more tricks up his sleeve, right?' thought the orc to himself, gearing himself up for what he would consider a reversal in initiative.
Unfortunately, what he did not know...
...was that Valyr truly did have more tricks up his sleeve.
...
Bang!
"Grrssh gr'shhh!!!" Watching as the young man in front of him conjured a maelstrom of attacks that involved the four elements, the battered and bruised orc thought that enough was enough, immediately voicing out his surrender towards Scho'doxa.
"Valyr, stop!" However, as he did not understand the language of the orcs, Valyr continued with the attack he prepared, seeing the orc's current condition as an opportunity for him to land a severe hit to render the orc unable to fight.
Fortunately, before that could happen, Scho'doxa understood what was going on, directly telling Valyr what the orc said just now.
With that, the young man dispelled his prepared attack before it could even hit the orc, causing the latter to let out a wide sigh of relief as he looked at Valyr with fear.
Out of all the fights both Valyr and the orc have had so far, the two were more than confident that the fight they just had was possibly the longest.
After all, the two exchanged over hundreds, if not thousands of attacks at each other for over half an hour, which would've been more than enough to kill every being on a battlefield if their attacks were directed there.
Then again, the only reason why their fight lasted for over half an hour was because both sides had a lot of ways to defend and evade against each other's attacks, eventually turning the entire fight into a battle of endurance.
With both sides battered, bruised, and beaten up from each other's attacks, the two soon stood in front of one another, looking at each other with respect in their gazes.
With the help of Scho'doxa acting as a translator, Valyr and the orc were even able to hold a brief conversation about the fight, even talking a bit about the ongoing war that was happening between their races.
In the end, the two came to a mutual understanding that if the war ever came to an end and they were still alive, they would share a drink and talk about their experiences even further, forging a bond of sorts through the fight they just had.
"Grkh... grshh' grhk." As these words left the orc's mouth, Valyr looked at Scho'doxa, who immediately translated the message for him.
"I also hope the war ends soon," said the young man as he nodded to the orc, prompting Scho'doxa to translate his message for the latter in return.
With that, the two of them parted ways as Scho'doxa teleported the orc back to his arena with a snap of his fingers, prompting Valyr to take out a couple of potions from his spatial bracelet.
"So..." Watching Valyr down the potions in one go, Scho'doxa paused for a bit before asking the question that came to his mind earlier. "Got any plans on changing your strategy for the next fight?"
"Definitely." Feeling slightly rejuvenated after drinking the potions, the young man let out a sigh of relief before looking at Scho'doxa with a faint smile.
"It's time for me to bring out the arquebus."
This is probably the fight chapter that I enjoyed writing the most so far. Then again... how would Valyr integrate the spear, his magic, and the arquebus together?
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! If you did, please vote for the novel with your power stones and golden tickets! I'd highly appreciate it!