Chapter 215

"As you wish, my lord. I shall not intervene then."

He was looking forward to how Atid would fair against Igor. From the looks of things, Indra's son would be forced to use his lifespan as a source of power soon if he wants to reach higher boosts.

Regardless, this would be a very entertaining battle.

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|DxD|

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As the horns formed on Igor's head, his power increased to new margins. Just from how high it rose, Atid knew he was presented with a very troublesome situation.

"Tch…"

"[BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!]"

Swiftly increasing his power over, he swiftly charged forward.

Su!

Five boosts was the maximum amount he could power with his current amount of energy. Any further and he would have to use his lifeforce. But…

"HA!"

Five boosts should be enough to beat this stubborn redhead into submission.

BOOOM!

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Silence…

As the dust cleared, a sight that shocked the observers once more happened. After boosting himself five times, Atid was undoubtedly stronger than Igor. Yet, he couldn't make him budge in the slightest.

"Ke…ki…"

Despite punching with all his might, Atid couldn't make Igor retreat by a single step. He remained hovering in midair, his fist completely unable to penetrate the dome of energy. Even worse, Igor seemed to not be paying attention to him. His eyes remained forward, his power continuing to increase.

It wasn't until a few moments later that his aura shaped itself into a long indistinct tentacle-like tail. This time, it was subtle, but his power quietly surged once more. As the one who has to face this power, Atid quietly cursed before rising into the air once more.

Raising his hand, a massive green sphere formed in his hand.

"Now would be a good time for advice, Ddraig! HAA!"

Throwing it down, he didn't have much hope in it hitting Igor. He just needed time to plan on how he could take down his adversary.

[If you can manage to touch the mark on his forehead with the sacred gear, I can see if I can wake him up.]

It was the best solution Ddraig could come up with on the spot, though Atid didn't like it.

[Do you want to find a new wielder this soo-?!]

Su!

Reacting quickly, he dodged a massive aura hand that had extended to grab him. He didn't have time to marvel when suddenly, dozens upon dozens of hands reached out to grab him.

Su! …Su! ….Su!

He nimbly dodged each one of them whilst keeping his senses out for any surprises. He didn't dare get cocky or confident for fear of unexpected reversals.

"[BOOST!]"

Regardless, he was in a passive position and the longer this stretched on, the worse it would get on him.

[And this is only the first tail.]

Last he checked, Trihexa had seven. If Igor was slowly transforming into a spectral version of the beast, then he sincerely didn't want to see seven tails or nine other heads sprouting any time soon.

"[BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!]"

"HAAA!"

Yelling out as he surged with power, Atid stopped evading and charged forward.

"[BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!]"

He could feel his lifeforce drain by the weeks, but he didn't dare stop.

"[BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!]"

He nimbly dodged the flurry of limbs diverging towards. All Atid had in his mind was reaching Igor. But it was always easier to perform something on paper than in real life.

"RAAAAAAA!"

Feeling rage at failing to capture his target, Igor released a demonic scream that forcefully repelled Atid back. It was like a windstorm that forced the brunette to shield himself from the force alone.

Su!

He didn't dare linger any longer. Knowing that the arms behind him would descend, Atid decisively vanished from the spot and appeared far behind Igor with his mouth wide open.

"[BLAZING INFERNO OF SCORCHING FLAMES!]"

Instantly, a massive torrent of flames poured out of his mouth. With victory completely in his mind, he was no longer averse to using some of Ddraig's more deadly attacks.

Su!

Instead of evading the flames, Igor got on all fours and charged ahead with incomprehensible speed. Under a torrential wave of flames, a small red streak charged ahead and met them head on.

Soon, Igor disappeared under the flames and Atid felt the impact. But, something was wrong.

"?!"

Something was very wrong. Igor was…running through the flames!

"GrrrrrRAAAAA!"

To his complete surprise, he could barely react as Igor burst out of the flames with his jaws wide open.

"?!"

Out of instinct, he made the fatal mistake of shielding with his right hand…and Igor bit into it.

"AAAAAAAAAH!"

"[BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!]"

Fueled by pain and rage, Atid punched him right in the gut.

"[PENETRATE!]"

With complete ruthlessness, he used one of Ddraig's strongest abilities to pierce his fist right into Igor's abdomen.

"RAAAAAA!"

Feeling his body's defences being bypassed, Igor roared in pain, the resulting shockwave pushing Atid away once more.

Immediately taking the opportunity, Atid reeled back his left hand before charging an attack.

"[BOOST! BOOST! TRANSFER! DRAGON BLASTER!]"

It was an unconventional trick he discovered, but he transferred the majority of his accumulated energy into the blast and fired it.

Ka…DRUUUU!

It swiftly connected and sent Igor flying far off into the distance.

SUUuuuuu...BOOOM!

"Haaa…haaa…haaa…haaa…"

Atid breathed heavily. Everything had happened so quickly that his mind was still slightly muddled. It was only the stinging pain he felt that finally made him pay attention to his arm that was bitten.

Hiss!

The wound was painful. But even more, he could see the corruption spreading from his arm upwards. This corruption was dangerous. It was eating him from the inside. Even his divine energy was helpless to being corroded.

"Damnit…"

Despite his efforts, it had already spread all the way to his hand and even his finger nails had darkened with rot.

"Damnit!"

His entire arm was turning black as the rot set in. If he didn't do anything soon, this corruption would spread to the rest of his body. By then, he'd have no choice but to obediently wait for death.

"..."

Ddraig remained silent, but Atid didn't need the dragon to tell him what needed to be done.

"...damnit it all…"

Moving his left hand over to his right, a green aura blade covered the gauntlet. Atid positioned it right under his shoulder as hesitation clouded his mind.

"Damnit damnit damnit damnit damnit…"

SHIIING!

"DAMNIT!!!!!!!!!! "

Plop…

Cursing through the pain, Atid fell on one knee.

"AAAAAH! G-GODDAMNIT!"

Holding his bleeding stump, he did the best he could to heal it so that he wouldn't bleed out. His forehead was wet with his sweat, his brows scrunched as he grit his teeth through the pain.

"Haa…haa…"

The act of cutting off his arm took his breath away. If Atid had a say in this matter, he would wish for atleast a few minutes of rest. But the rumbling underground told him he had less than a second to leave or else he'd wish he was dead.

Su!

Gritting his teeth through the pain, he vanished just in time to avoid two massive energy hands that burst out of the ground.

A few moments later, Igor appeared out of the ground as well, his empty eyes turning to look at Atid.

"RAAAAAAAA!"

"..."

*Clenches Fist!*

"[BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!]"

Boosting eleven times in succession, Atid could feel his lifeforce drastically drain by the years. But he no longer cared. It would take him a long time to regain his lifeforce, but he'd make sure he'd get his life's worth by pummelling Igor into the ground.

Su!

Rushing forward with rage-fueled boosts, he reeled his fist back before he unleashed a torrential punch.

"HAAA!"

"[PENETRATE!]"

BOOOOOM!

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|DxD|

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Chaos. It was complete and utter chaos. Hours and it was still neck and neck. Atid stood tall, his body covered in blood. Some belonged to him while some belonged to Igor. He had lost count of how many times he had used penetrate, but it was effective when faced against Igor's high defence.

On the other side, Igor was on all fours with two new tails gently swaying behind him. It had been an hour since his third tail form, but the fourth showed no signs of appearing. It was apparent that he had reached his limits.

His energy wasn't surging with the same fervour as before. In fact, it was steadily declining. No matter how monstrous his body was, the effects of constantly being struck with [Penetrate] had pushed his stamina, his endurance, and his healing capabilities to their limits.

As it stood, there was a visible wound between his ribs where Atid had stabbed him with his fingers. It was glaringly obvious as the only splotch of red against his darkened form.

"Grrrrrr…"

The only thing that had yet to die down however, was his immense killing intent.

"RAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"

With one last outcry, he stood up from all fours and began concentrating a powerful attack between his hands.

"..."

Atid knew that this was it. Perhaps both fighters had sensed each other's nearing limits and decided to settle this once and for all. Even if he did rush forward to interrupt Igor, those tails would pin him in place until he wasted his boosts.

[This is it then…]

No longer did his eyes hold fear or rage like before. In front of such a powerful foe, in front of such opposing odds, Atid remained calm as he got ready to meet Igor head-on.

"[BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!]"

As he reeled his remaining arm back, a small emerald orb laced with golden strands of his divine energy formed.

"[BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!]"

This was his last shot. If he failed here, he would lose consciousness without question. By then, he'd be killed with no question.

"Thank you for this fight, brother."

He could see Igor concentrate a powerful crimson-black orb between his palms. Despite its very small size, the power contained within was unmistakable.

"No matter what happens after this…"

He looked at his remaining stump.

"...I have no regrets."

Wherever his arm was, it had probably rotted beyond recognition or had been completely obliterated during their exchange.

"I have grown more in this fight than I have in years."

"[BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!]"

"I thank you for that, brother."

Slowly and unaware of the change, thin, barely noticeable golden stripes slowly spread over his body. Once he blinked, the emerald colour of his eyes was replaced by one of pure gold.

"[HYPERDRIVE!]

Chichichichichichichichi!

Golden lightning crackled to life like a protective armour. In an instant, Atid felt his perception increase to new margins. In slow motion, he could see Igor swallow the orb before preparing to blast it out once more.

"..."

He did not have the time to savour this new state. Ready or not, he had to act now.

"LET'S END THIS, BROTHER!"

"[ASCEND! ASCEND! ASCEND! ASCEND! ASCEND! TRANSFER!]"

The concentration of energy in his palm grew to epic proportions, the sphere ballooning to the size of a watermelon.

"HAAAAAA!"

"[HEAVENLY THUNDER FLASH!]"

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AN

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Shameless promotion here. If you're willing to read ahead, you can find five additional chapters on my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.

Until the next chapters.