Act 1: Blue Ocean Pavilion - Chapter 340: Against Orden Again

Act 1: Blue Ocean Pavilion - Chapter 340: Against Orden Again

Oscar deflected Orden's hammer, his bones creaking from the reverberations of Ein emanating from the blunt weapon. He ignored the slight discomfort of the rattling, spinning with the flow of Reis and countering with Orden's power. Orden proved himself a tricky opponent, matching Oscar's wild movements by using his incredible reach and height to make it harder for Oscar to land a clean blow.

Several minutes after his friends arrived to help him, Oscar fought hundreds of exchanges and blows against the behemoth, only able to injure Orden once. A bright red wound on Orden's shoulder matched the one Oscar received from Gail's surprise attack.

Oscar grunted, covered in sweat, and put everything into a Shattering Wave. The Adamasreis was approaching its limit. Eirin flowed out of his lance, spreading across the gap between him and Orden. Oscar's deer anima swung its large antlers to join the attack. Orden erected several stone spikes to deter the shockwave and threw his hammer.

Explosions of dust and rubble spread out between Oscar and Orden. Some of the dust landed in Oscar's eyes, an irritating inconvenience of fighting Orden. The battlefield returned to an eerie calm despite the chaos surrounding them. Oscar reviewed his current status, knowing his Adamasreis was unavailable and his deer anima lacked the means to break through Orden's defense.

'In the end, I lack the means to close the gap of his large wingspan, and he's starting to use his feet more. I tried slipping by at the last moments of his attacks, but his reactions are faster than before.' Oscar felt jealous of Orden's large build and legs. His master always said a battle was about territory. For any battle, the territory can be defined by their means of offense and defense and how they can encroach upon another's territory. The winner was the one who took control.

In this melee battle against Orden, who had evolved as a fighter, Oscar could not crack through Orden's territory. Despite using the free-flowing movements learned from Demon and the power of Eirin, he lacked the means to finish the battle.

'If I use the mantle, I can do it. But can I take that risk right now?' Oscar thought as Orden stepped in, not allowing him to catch a breath or wait for his Adamasreis to recover. Ducking below a powerful swing, Oscar felt the cold shadow growing above him and spun on his feet, dodging another fearsome strike.

'Silver Sheen'

The silvery armor formed in time to withstand Orden's heavy stone fist. Oscar trembled inside from the force of the blow. Knowing what came next, Oscar broke out of his Silver Sheen before it shattered under the weight of Orden's hammer. Finally, he felt his muscles loosening, crying out in relief. Sadly, he forced the power of Reis onto them once more, entering the Adamasreis.

'Right now, the Ein Awaken is working well. Eirin is consuming too much Reis and Ein each time. Every moment I get to recover the Ein is not wasted.' Oscar tightened his stance, deciding to change his strategy. He bent his knees and held his shaky arms close to his head in a defensive stance resembling a turtle.

"Are you trying to outlast me? Why don't you use your full power?" Orden looked disappointed. He sighed, lowering his guard. "We've been back and forth with this, yet you hold back...."

Oscar chuckled from behind his arms, understanding Orden's feelings. "There are times when I have to use it and times when I can't. Back then, I had no other choice. Perhaps I would use it if we were in a different kind of battle."

"Is that so? Then I'll force it out of you." Orden said chillingly, elevating his Ein with everything he had. "You better use up everything you have, or else you're dead."

Motes of Ein floated around, surrounding Orden. They transformed into boulders and rocks, levitating around Orden as the center. Oscar couldn't count how many there were, only feeling the reinforced Ein glowing around each one. Each one seemed so compact and heavy as they collided with each other in a cacophony of collisions.

One rock rolled in place, gaining speed and rotating faster. Orden hit it with his hammer, and the rock flew out like a meteor, resounding in a roaring boom and splitting the winds. Oscar was dumbfounded as the deafening sound of the rock mashing against his bulwark flooded his ears. It was heavy, incredibly heavy.

'He learned and became stronger after that battle in Tectusen. What a monster.' Oscar was about to use his final technique when a cool refreshing sensation swept across his body. He glanced around to find a glimmering water washing away the dried blood and dust. The cuts on his skin began to close, and his broken left arm healed slightly.

"This healing?" Oscar said.

"I'm here!"

Everyone snapped their eyes to the nervous girl who arrived on their stone platform. It was Susan. She quivered before the dangerous eyes of the terrifying scions of the Undying Flame Sect, Earth Core Academy, and Thousand Storm Palace. Gripping her bejeweled staff, Susan used her spells and healed up the wounds of the others.

"I can't recover the Ein, but I can stop the pain and help your wounds!" Susan shouted.

"Hold on. How the hell did she get down here?" Orden looked confused.

Oscar was also confused and glanced up. The battles raged above and below them with no end in sight. In no way would a weak person like Susan be able to travel down to these depths without some mishap.

Another person landed on the stone platform. She had splotches of blood on her uniform and face. Her orange eyes gleamed dangerously despite her ragged appearance.

"Emily?" Frederick spoke in a mix of fear and confusion.

"I'll deal with you later. I already did so much to reach this point. Everyone kept getting in my way. Luckily, I got this healer girl to come along with me." Emily spoke coldly. Her staff anima had cracks all over it.

"It's Susan! And I'm doing what I can do best." Susan nodded.

"Haha. I like this one." Emily smiled at Susna before suddenly moving. She rushed toward Orden, linking her staff anima and armament into makeshift nunchucks. It whipped out with Kinetic Core rotating around its ends.

Orden blocked the tremendous blow. The two earth warriors faced each other with brutal desires to destroy.

Oscar breathed out in relief. What a timely reinforcement.