Chapter 180: Narrow Escape
Alysa's bloodshot eyes widened as she tried to comprehend what she was looking at.
"Ah—!"
Before she could finish whatever sound was trying to escape her throat, Aren was already in front of her. His clawed hand came down in a single strike, lightning ether packed so densely around his fingers it caused the air to superheat itself and produce a slight whistle noise.
Alysa crossed her bow above her head, trying to guard against it.
CRACK!
The impact drove her knees into the water. For the first time since the fight begun, she had been forced on the back leg.
Aren narrowed his eyes as he analyzed the exchange. The attack hit clealy and the amount of ether he had poured into that strike should have been enough to shatter her guard completely.
Yet her bow remained intact, trembling beneath his claws while her ice and wind ether clashed against his own water and lightning.
He noticed how her ether wasn't spiraling wildly like his. It clung tightly to the bow, reinforcing only the exact point where his claws had landed. He had thrown more power into the exchange, but the sheer quality of her ether exceeded his.
It was a similar comparison to a gattling gun, constantly shooting and unloading bullets against a sniper rifle's, precise and powerful.
Regardless, it was only due to the extra ether quantity provided by the Fertile Core that allowed him to bridge the gap between their Lines.
Finally, the Core is useful to me. Somewhat...
Alysa grinned beneath the pressure. Even if her shoulders were trembling and her knees were bending, she smiled as wide as she could.
"...Heavy," she whispered. "Finally…deciding…to go…all out?!"
But as soon as Alysa finished her quip, she surged forward, pushing the force forward and causing Aren to stumble back for just a second.
The opportunity was enough for her to drive a knee toward his abdomen once again. Her knee slammed straight into him, even through the scaled armor covering his body. The damage wasn't too much but it caused him to sway.
She followed up with her claws, unleashing a barrage of attacks. He raised his forearms, trying to bear the brunt of it.
The slashes didn't cut deep, but frost bloomed instantly across his arm, biting into the cracks between his scales and trying to lock the limb in place.
Aren grunted, surging lightning to those exact points which forced the ice apart before it could spread any farther.
Alysa kicked off his body and leapt back, landing several meters away with one hand skimming the surface of the water.
"What's wrong?" she asked, voice breathless. "Did you think getting bigger would fix everything?"
"Tch…" Aren clicked his tongue before stepping forward again.
This time, he decided to use more dirty tactics. His tail swept low, striking the water and sending a curtain of spray into the air. Alysa gazed at it for a second, but that time alone was enough.
[Elementalization]
Aren vanished into the rising water, breaking apart before reforming from the spray at her left flank, driving his claws straight toward her ribs.
Alysa turned with him, the movement itself instinctual from her enhanced reaction speed. She barely managed to pull her bow across her body in time, but the strike still sent her flying backward.
Damn it…not even a surprise attack could get her? She's too dangerous. I need to finish her now.
The next time we meet, she'll know all my cards…
Aren followed up immediately while she was still in the air, launching a barrage of claw strikes.
One strike became three, three became six. Each blow carried enough ether to power a crystal for a few days, but still she managed to block them.
The rusted machines around them rattled with every clash. Pipes goroaned and loose panels tore free and crashed into the water below.
Alysa managed to slip away from the center of his attacks, letting the heaviest portions of his strikes tear apart the environment instead of her body.
Every time he forced her back, she managed to sneak in a small attack of her own—a claw across the ribs, an arrow fired from impossible range, and wind blades leaving shallow gashes on his chest.
Aren caught one of her arrows with his left hand and crushed it before it could explode. The ice still detonated between his fingers, causing his hand to go numb instantly.
He clicked his tongue, driving lightning through it before the frost reached his wrist, but he was distracted enough not to see her next attack coming.
Alysa appeared from right under him, claws aimed straight for his throat. Aren leaned back just enough to dodge it, but her claws managed to scrape the Light Refraction around his neck, distorting the illusion for a split second.
For a moment, her gaze seemed to pierce past the blurry shape that Miu had wrapped around him, almost managing to see his face.
But before she could, the light shifted again, smoothing over the outline before she could get a good look.
Though her hesitation was enough for him to retaliate, his fist catching her stomach before launching her flying back.
Alysa's body tore through a rusted railing and slammed into one of the inactive processing machines, denting the metal inward. For a moment, steam hissed from the broken pipes around her, as she groaned and struggled to get up.
But Aren wasn't untouched either. The Fertile Core pulsed greedily in his chest, answering his demand with more ether. Yet his body was still Line 4, ether channels trying their best to stop the overflow.
Shit…I can't keep this up for much longer. I can match her…but not outlast her.
Alysa stepped out from the crater, one shoulder hanging lower than before as blood ran from the corner of her mouth.
"Getting tired, are we?" she laughed. "Because I am. Let's end this, bad boy!"
Her bow rose slowly, wind gathering and spiraling around the bowstring before ice began to condense along its edge. Three arrows formed at once, the air around them began to distort.
"Triple Shot."
The three arrows trembled against the string before the wind pulled them closer, twisting them together until they overlapped into one massive arrow.
Aren knew he couldn't simply dodge the attack. So the only option left…was to meet it head-on.
Then water began to gather around his right arm, swelling and compressing into curved blades along his fingers. Lightning sparked against it, causing the water molecules to vibrate violently.
"Dragon's Claw."
The Art had always been destructive, but in this form, with this much ether poured into it…the destructive force was the equivalent of a few tons of dynamite exploding.
Both of them stared at each other, Art ready to be unleashed, knowing full well that the victor would be decided right here and now.
She let loose at the same time Aren swung his arms forward. The arrow pierced forward with enough force to rip down loose panels from the walls, just meeting Aren's Art at the center of it all.
The collision stopped everything.
The massive arrow spun against Aren's claw, ice grinding against compressed water as lightning cracked through the gap between them. The destruction was so massive that all the machinery that still remained inside was completely shredded.
PUSH…THROUGH!
But as he thought about it, a sudden chill ran through his spine as his eyes focused not on Alysa, but behind her.
Multiple ether signatures were approaching, and fast.
Tch…her reinforcements.
The timing could not have been worse. If he stayed here and finished this exchange properly, even if he managed to wound Alysa, he would be boxed in the moment the others arrived. Miu and the rest would be caught in the search radius. Everything he had done until now would be pointless.
Damn it. I thought I could finish her…but it's too late. We need to leave.
With the decision made, Aren twisted his body, slamming his other hand into the water beneath him. His ether spread all around it, almost like linking it to his brain.
He commanded the water to surge upward from every puddle, evry leaking pipe, and every drainage trench in the chamber. Aren clenched his teeth and forced the flow downward, dragging the clash with it.
Alysa's eyes widened.
"What are you—?"
BOOOM!
The entire thing collapsed on the clash in one go. The facility erupted with it, concrete shattering beneath them as the ground detonated into the old drainage system.
Water exploded upward in a towering geyser, swallowing the chamber in white steam and shattered debris. Rusted machines tore from their foundations and pipes burst open along the walls.
Aren's Full Morph began to recede at the edges, scales disappearing back into his skin as his body screamed in pain. He forced it to hold just long enough to push himself upright, then let his form break apart into water.
"Elementalization."
With this much water going around, Aren blended right into it, cutting all presence.
And just like that—
He was gone.