Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix-Chapter 1451: Against the wall

While Hilo was confused... Rain changed his path and then charged another Origin punch... for the first time in the battle, Hilo opened his eyes widely. Also, for the first time, Hilo raised his arms to block the punch with a cross guard... when the punch landed, Hilo was sent flying in the opposite direction while spiraling in the air... before long, he stopped moving, but then his arms began to dissipate like mist. His health bar decreased, but soon, those arms were restored.

"The power of corruption and the techniques that can counter it... We didn’t have time to study those until now... it seems that they had the same potential as the corrupt power. Nevertheless, it isn’t that intriguing since it is many times weaker than the aspects."

Rain hardened the Earth on his fist with the power of wrath to the limits, and Hilo absorbed that... as someone who was pretty chill and never got truly pissed, the feeling of anger and hatred overwhelmed him... and then Rain countered that with the power of the patience path.

Level 25: Adaptive Calmness (64)- Learn to adapt calmly to unexpected situations, granting a two percent bonus per level to all parameters when facing new challenges or unpredictable foes.

Level 35 : Stoic Endurance (75) - Develop stoic endurance, reducing the impact of external forces on your performance. Gain a four percent bonus per level to all parameters when facing enemies enhanced with the power of wrath.

Rain was desperate, so he ended up doing something very dangerous at the last minute. It worked, but it could have backfired against most enemies... it only worked on Hilo because he Wasn’t like most enemies.

Attacking Rain recklessly could give him a chance to launch those troublesome counterattacks, so Hilo decided to be a bit more cautious. In any case, Hilo began to fire the void cannons at Rain again, but he moved his arms more slowly... Rain soon confirmed the reason for that when he felt a shiver run down his spine... he looked over the shoulder and then saw one void Cannon approaching him from behind after flying in an arc back to him.

"Give me a break," Rain thought.

"Use me for a bit to gain time," Elisabetha said. "Even if I can’t cause more damage against him, I still should be able to block the attacks."

Rain teleported away from the attack and soon saw more blasts approaching him while Hilo was creating a shield using the void cannons rotating around him... he considered Elisabetha’s idea, but it was just too dangerous. The worst thing that could happen was to lose her to the enemy now, and then he would find some sort of way to use her against Rain. Still... He suddenly had a certain idea.

After forming the void cannons around him, Hilo focused more on controlling the blasts to reach Rain... he thinned up the cannons a bit, and that increased their speed. When he made it rotate, the speed increased even more.

"I am truly improving a lot faster by being forced to do so... It is confusing that this kind of competition was never born among us. I suppose we always saw each other as equals no matter what."

Despite living close to each other for a long period, the machine gods never fostered a sense of camaraderie or kinship among themselves. Instead, their relationships were characterized by a perpetual state of rivalry and competition. Even though they never received explicit orders to compete, their interactions inevitably devolved into a contest of superiority.

This dynamic came from a combination of factors, including the inherent nature of their programming and the desire for individual recognition and validation. Each machine god was driven by a relentless pursuit of excellence, constantly striving to outperform their peers and assert their dominance.

For Hilo, this competitive mindset was deeply ingrained, shaping his interactions with others and coloring his perceptions of the world around him. However, despite his notions, he found himself unexpectedly surprised by the awakening of something new within him, a sense of genuine excitement sparked by Rain’s presence.

It was a revelation that caught him off guard, challenging his preconceived notions of superiority and forcing him to reevaluate his assumptions. In Rain, he saw a spark of potential, a glimmer of something greater than himself. And in that realization, he felt compelled to rise to the challenge, to push himself to the limits in pursuit of his newfound adversary.

Thus, despite the inherent danger and uncertainty of the situation, Hilo embraced the opportunity to test his mettle against Rain, driven by a newfound sense of purpose and determination. For in the heat of battle, he saw the chance to prove himself, to demonstrate his knowledge and prowess in a way that he had never before imagined possible.

The void cannons began to get closer and closer to Rain, even though he was teleporting... the reason for that was the fact that the dimension was shrinking, and the void cannons were taking over most spaces that he could use... while flying around, Rain was slowly putting himself against the wall.

Before Rain could checkmate himself, he turned around and then readied himself to block the attacks with his bare hands... Hilo could tell that he was plotting something, but he still kept going since he was excited to learn what Rain had plotted.

Rain’s hands blocked the void blasts, but soon they began to be erased... the flesh, the fingers, the hands... one after the other began to be erased as if they were particles of nothing. Rain had a hard time keeping his poker face, and then eventually, he absorbed enough energy to create a blast of light magic that took over the area.

The blast of light weakened the void cannons, but it didn’t dissipate them. In the end, Hilo summoned a wall of void behind him when he felt a presence behind him.

"Is that it? I was expecting something more..."