Chapter 327 Fulfilling A Certain Promise
....
Meanwhile,
The forest experienced a catalytic change as two powerful entities clashed against one another. Of the two, one was covered in an armor of green with roots coiled around its body while the other flashed with numerous lightning bolts as they coiled around his weapon. His armor had seen better days as several dents and cracks ran across it while the weapon in his hand wasn't any better too.
However, the weapon seemed different as it continuously repaired itself but the speed of repair was slower than that of its damage. From afar, it seemed as if Ray was on the losing end and in certain circumstances, it was indeed Ray who came out as the weaker one but it wasn't so in other cases.
In terms of strength and battle power, Ray far surpassed the elven chief and he mostly used it as a way of combat. Going melee against the chief, he didn't hesitate when he fought in close quarters. Though, it came with its own disadvantages with the biggest being that while he attacked, he was defenseless and the chief used that to his advantage and struck him right at that moment.
This was the reason why Ray was in such condition. After all, he wasn't in the same Realm as the chief. He was merely in the Magical Realm and was going toe to toe against someone in the Psuedo-Celestial Realm while also fighting in their opponent's ideal battlefield.
But what could Ray even do? His hands were tied and he had to fight here. Though, Ray was sure that if he went all out, he would surely beat the chief but he didn't want to do that because he knew, that going all out would only give his enemy a chance after this fight.
After all, the chief wasn't his only enemy, there were other far stronger ones waiting in ambush for them to take advantage the moment they see any weakness by him.
"Well, i wont go all out but i can surely use some more of my strength. That won't hurt anyone? Now will it?" Ray thought and took a few steps back. Taking a deep breath, he saw his core leaking mana but let it be. It was something that had been happening for some time now and had to be dealt with but not now. Right now, he was using the mana from his surroundings and migrated the problem and that was enough.
Seeing the mana flow through his body, Ray directed most of it to his hands and eyes. Though most of it was directed to his hands as soft hum was produced on them while a soft glow lit up around the irises of his eyes. This was nothing but pure mana that now covered his hands and eyes, devoid of any elemental influence Ray held his spear tightly and supplied all the mana to his spear.
The previous blueish glow on the spear lightened as a layer of mana covered the spear and strengthened it. The cracks that ran on the spear mended as the lightning crackling around it also decreased. From outside, it seemed as if Ray was backing down; slowing his rate of attacks and weakening slightly but in reality, it was the complete opposite. Ray's attacks would only get stronger and hit harder from now.
After all, he was ditching the elemental attacks completely and would only use his body and pure mana to give the elven chief a nice surprise.
"Hehe.." giggling ominously, he stabbed the spear into the ground as a cloud of dust rose in the air. Hindering the elven chief's vision; Ray held his spear tightly and threw it right at the chief and just as he did, he himself kicked the ground and jumped forward. His body transformed partially as his hands turned into two serpentine claws while light scales appeared over his skin.
[Partial Bloodline Transformation:- 10% Bloodline]
His muscles turned stiff while his bones turned denser. His eyes gained a reddish gold hue as faint lines appeared in his vision. These were possible paths that he could use but Ray didn't know this, he only thought of the lines as something part of the bloodline and nothing more.
The elven chief stood tall, his eyes shining a green hue as he saw Ray's body transform right in front of him.
"Hmm, a bloodline. That's interesting," the elven chief nodded slightly as he gripped his staff tightly. The mana in the surroundings reverberated under his command as he decided to show his full strength.
His magic influenced the periphery as the trees and vegetation around him started to move. Roots shot out of the ground while thick branches started grow out of the huge trunks of trees that had survived the initial battle. They rounded around the chief while the chief himself got in a fighting stance. His aura unleashing like never before, the chief intercepted the spear with his staff.
The staff struck the spear's shaft as he deflected it sideways and then stepped on a thick branch in front of him and ran upwards. Running across the edge of the branch, he jumped in the air and smashed his staff at Ray.
Seeing this, Ray didn't change his trajectory or so but simply moved his claws upwards and grabbed the staff with his claws. Then using his strength, Ray jerked his hand and pulled the staff and with it, the chief also came down as there was no support while in the air.
With that, both of them halted for a moment as a struggle for the staff started. Ray pulled the staff towards himself while the chief used all his strength to hold onto it. However, the chief wasn't a warrior but rather a mage and his strength even though being a Pseudo-Celestial paled slightly against the partially transformed Ray.
"Arghhh," Ray growled as he snatched the staff and jumped back, a smirk on his face as he taunted the chief with his eyes blazing fire. Right now, Ray could feel it. He could feel the staff nourishing his cracked core. The mana coming to his body faster and not just that but the staff seemed to be very compatible with the mana of his body but still, it felt rather strange. Ray hadn't had used such an artifact ever and considering what Mag'ladroth had told him, the staff was possibly a part of the world tree and hence a legendary object. Therefore, Ray tended to be more careful and observant when holding it and decided to place it in his spatial storage before anything else.
And just like that, the elven chief saw his precious artifact disappear into the very space around them.
"A spatial storage?" He exclaimed in pain as he stood up and glared at Ray with anger, "Kid, give me back my staff and i might leave you be,"
"Huh? You and let me live? Old man, look around; you have already lost," those were the words that the elven chief heard before a furious wave of heat assaulted him. Feeling the moisture in the air dry up, he felt a tingling sensation creep all over his body.
Looking up, he saw Ray's body heal. As if Time itself reversing, Ray's body came to its optimal condition and it was the same for his equipment. Though it took half of his mana doing this, Ray didn't mind and the elven chief didn't know.
"What are you?" A hint of fear shone in the eyes of elven chief as he saw the spear crackle with lightning while the surrounding temperature continued to increase.
"Me? Well, even I don't know who i am but don't worry, remember that you died at my hand's. That's more than enough for you," saying that, Ray's eyes turned a grayish color as the tip of his spear turned the same color. The space around him ripped as a small portal opened up. Thrusting the spear forward, another portal opened up right above the elven chief. The spear pierced the elven chief's ear and the Ray thrust it once more as he pierced the other ear. He did so fifteen times as he pierced fifteen different parts of his body.
Stopping, he looked at the chief as the chief's whole armor was tattered beyond belief. Ray then looked into the man's eyes and noticed that the man had finally given up on all hope to live. A grin appeared on Ray's face as he took a step forward and appeared right in front of the chief,
"Don't worry, i wont kill you. You are worth your weight in gold for me," saying that, Ray put his hand on the man's shoulder and applied pressure as he shattered the chief's clavicle. After that, high pitched screams resounded in the whole area as Ray faithfully fulfilled a promise he had made to a certain princess of the elven race. A promise he felt obliged to fulfill.