Return of the Mythic Bloodline-Chapter 403: Taranis vs Astrid III
In just a couple of seconds, the bleeding from Astrid’s arm stopped and his hand immediately regenerated beyond the severed wrist.
Realising Taranis could harm him, he transformed one arm into a mace with a thick shaft and the other into a hand shield. This time, instead of grey, the color of his arm turned metallic black.
A thick Aura wrapped around his transformed limbs and the two began clashing again.
Gusts of wind along with dirt flew everywhere. Cracks like spider webs appeared on the ground as the intensity of their duel increased.
Taranis was easily piercing through Astrid’s incomplete Aura, however he couldn’t cut through the resilient black weapon-arms of Astrid.
Taranis’s Sword Aura was surely terrifyingly sharp and overwhelming, however this alone wasn’t enough to bridge the gap of the major realm.
His physical stats, movement, and Soulforce attacks were all significantly lower than Astrid’s.
As the battle continued, both of them suffered several minor injuries, but neither was able to dominate the other. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
Besides the superior Sword Aura of Taranis, he possessed two more advantages over Astrid thanks to the spars he had against Aruma: the undying willpower and tremendous stamina.
Astrid’s breathing had already turned ragged, but Taranis was still completely stable.
The moment Taranis sensed the slight opening in Astrid’s guard, he instantly seized the opportunity.
"Sword of Thunderbane: Chapter Two: Mystic Tiger Severance!"
Along the trajectory of Taranis’s blade, a tiger of golden lightning materialized, its rending claws directed at Astrid.
Astrid instantly raised his shield to defend himself. The four claws clashed with the shield and a moment later sliced it into multiple pieces.
Blood surged from Astrid’s arm. His eyebrows frowned in pain, yet he instantly regenerated his arm, forming the shield again.
"He sliced the shield I formed from cold iron," Astrid muttered inwardly. "Do I have no choice but to use my trump card?"
Although he was not holding back his physical might in the fight, Astrid was not fully unleashing his skills. He didn’t trust that the Banes would not interfere in the battle, or even if they didn’t, that they would let him go—someone who not only betrayed and slaughtered Thunderbanes but also killed their prince.
"Fuck it, if I would die either way, I will at least avenge my brother," Astrid decided, his mace arm turning into a hand again.
From his armor, he took out a small crimson ball and held it tightly in his hand.
Meanwhile, Taranis had no intention of staying idle. He disappeared from his position using Blink and reappeared behind Astrid, a few feet back.
"Sword of Thunderbane: Chapter Three: Qilin’s Judgement!"
A beastly figure of the mythological Qilin formed from the golden lightning of Taranis and rushed at Astrid with a thunderous roar.
Its movement left the ground scorched in its wake and the moment it reached Astrid, a thunderous explosion followed by blinding golden light erupted.
A huge crater emerged on the ground. In its centre sat Astrid on his knees, his body covered in wounds and burn marks from the attack.
"Agh! I would have died if I hadn’t focused all of my Aura into the shield," Astrid gasped, spitting blood and rising to his feet. Before he was fully upright, he had already completely recovered from the injuries, turning his arm into a blade.
His other arm, which was holding the crimson ball, had turned into a large hollow cylinder, its size the same as his torso. On the back of his feet, two similar small cylinders had formed.
Without waiting for Astrid to recover, Taranis rushed directly into the crater, his sword coming for a diagonal slash.
Astrid blocked the sword with his blade while one of his feet began turning crimson like hot iron.
A sudden burst of energy erupted from his foot as it moved forward at a terrifyingly fast speed, hitting Taranis on the chest.
The impact sent Taranis flying into the crater wall, a dent of a foot engraved on the chestplate.
Just as Taranis crashed, energy burst outward from Astrid’s feet and he moved forward with almost the same speed Taranis used with Blink.
The blade limb transformed into a massive punch and slammed into Taranis with a sonic boom.
The dirt wall behind Taranis was obliterated from the impact, his body burying into the debris.
Astrid’s body could take the properties of any metal it touched. Earlier, he had used the ring he wore on his finger, forged from cold iron, to let his body take on its properties, and now he used the miniature cannonball, the same cannon that Soren had used to attack Taranis.
The cylindrical arm of Astrid turned bright crimson, its muzzle glowing like a star and bending the air around it.
The debris shifted and Taranis emerged from beneath, but the moment his body became visible, a beam of compact energy shot from Astrid’s arm.
"Madam Doom: Explosion Beam!"
As the energy beam reached Taranis at a blinding speed, he grabbed the sword with both hands, concentrating the Sword Aura into it.
"Sword of Thunderbane: Chapter Four: Xuanwu Thunder Bastion!"
BOOM!!
A cataclysmic explosion erupted. Amber clouds of fire followed by rings of smoke filled the battlefield.
"Th-this was the technique inspired by the Explosive attribute of my brother that you killed!" Astrid shouted, the corner of his lips rising in certain victory. "Your death from this technique will bring peace to Soren’s soul."
Astrid’s eyes narrowed as he saw something flickering inside the explosion. Once the smoke vanished, a shell of a turtle formed by golden lightning came into view, with Taranis at its centre.
Half of the shell was gone, obliterated by the energy beam, along with the sides and one arm of Taranis.
The remaining arm of Taranis was raised in the air, the tip of the blade in his hand pointing at the sky. The explosion that lasted for thirty seconds gave Taranis enough time to prepare for the attack.
"Im-impossible, h-how did he survive that?" Astrid murmured, his eyes widening in absolute shock. His feet along with one of his arms had returned to normal due to the lack of Soulforce. He had put everything into the last attack. It was lethal enough to even kill a Level Three Eternal Sage, yet Taranis still survived with nothing more than the loss of an arm.
"He already has one foot in the grave," Astrid muttered, his lips shivering. "One more attack, and he is done."
Although he did say that, the dual golden pupils of Taranis glowing brightly inside his helm sent shivers of horror down his spine. His instincts told him that something was absolutely wrong. Even when Taranis seemed barely alive, he had never looked more frightening during the entire battle.
Astrid’s cannon-shaped arm had only begun to glow again when Taranis murmured in a low voice, descending his sword in a sudden jolt,
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