Chapter 250 - 249 : Second round with the demon lord
Astarte stepped forward.
Mana began surging around her body.
The air trembled as her dense aura gathered around her, swirling violently with every step she took.
"Close combat, huh?" she said with an amused smile. "I’ll humor you. I’ll match your strength too. We have never fought since the first time we met, right?"
Arthur rolled his shoulders as mana spread throughout his body.
"You’re bringing back some painful memories."
The instant the words left his mouth, both of them disappeared.
BOOM!
Their fists collided in the center of the training ground.
The impact produced a violent shockwave that swept across the arena, sending dust and fragments of stone flying through the air.
Arthur immediately followed with a rapid combination of punches.
Astarte blocked the first.
She slipped past the second.
She caught the third.
Then she twisted his arm and drove her knee into his abdomen.
Arthur gritted his teeth but used her momentum against her.
He pivoted, hooked his leg behind hers, and slammed his shoulder into her chest.
BOOM!
Astarte was thrown backward.
She twisted in midair and landed on her feet, sliding several meters across the ground.
Arthur was already there.
His fist crashed into her guard.
CRACK!
A shockwave burst between them.
Astarte countered with a kick.
Arthur blocked it with his forearm.
The impact forced him backward, but he immediately stepped forward again and drove an elbow into her ribs.
For the first time, Astarte’s expression tightened.
Arthur did not stop.
He struck her shoulder, followed with a knee, then spun and drove his heel into her side.
BOOM!
Astarte was launched across the training ground and crashed into the earth, creating a crater.
Arthur landed several meters away.
But the moment Astarte emerged from the dust, she rushed him again.
Her fist struck Arthur’s cheek.
BAM!
His head snapped sideways.
Before he could recover, her knee slammed into his ribs, followed by a palm strike directly into his chest.
BOOM!
Arthur was sent flying.
He crashed into the ground and rolled through the dirt before forcing himself back onto his feet.
Blood trickled from his lip.
Arthur smiled.
"Again."
Astarte laughed softly.
"You’re making it quite interesting."
Arthur raised his fists.
"Just trying to live up to your expectations."
They collided again.
This time, Arthur changed his breathing.
His lungs expanded deeply.
His heartbeat became slower and heavier.
Iron Breathing.
Mana surged through his muscles as his body hardened. His stance became incredibly stable, and every movement carried greater weight and force.
Astarte threw a punch.
Arthur caught it.
The ground beneath his feet cracked from the force.
He twisted her arm and struck her abdomen with his free hand.
BOOM!
Astarte’s body bent from the impact.
Arthur followed with an uppercut that lifted her from the ground.
Before she could recover, he jumped after her and drove his knee into her chest.
CRACK!
The collision sent both of them downward.
They hit the ground with enough force to create another crater.
Astarte rolled away and immediately retaliated.
Her fist slammed into Arthur’s stomach.
He coughed violently.
Another punch struck his ribs.
Then another.
Arthur’s body was thrown backward, but he planted his foot and stopped himself.
Astarte appeared in front of him.
Arthur ducked beneath her punch.
His elbow smashed into her side.
Then his knee.
Then a short-range palm strike directly into her chest.
BOOM!
The resulting shockwave blew away the dust around them.
Astarte was pushed several meters backward.
Arthur chased her.
Their fists collided again and again.
Every exchange produced another thunderous impact.
BOOM!
CRACK!
BOOM!
The training ground was slowly being torn apart.
Meanwhile, in the stands, everyone watched the battle in stunned silence.
The continuous thunder of impacts echoed across the training grounds as Arthur and Astarte clashed again and again. Every collision sent violent shockwaves through the arena, while the ground beneath them cracked from the sheer force of their movements.
Their figures blurred whenever they accelerated, appearing and disappearing across the battlefield as they exchanged attacks at speeds that ordinary eyes could barely follow.
Evangeline stared at the battlefield, her expression slowly turning incredulous.
"Is that even a fight between humans...?"
No one immediately answered her.
There was simply no way to argue with what they were witnessing.
The destructive force behind their attacks was far beyond anything they had expected from two human fighters. Even the way they moved—vanishing from one position and appearing dozens of meters away in the blink of an eye—looked completely inhuman.
Aiden’s eyes remained fixed on Astarte.
"Even though Sister is holding back..." he muttered, his expression becoming more serious, "it’s still unbelievable that he managed to push her back this much."
Another deafening impact erupted in the distance.
BOOM!
The shockwave rolled across the training grounds, whipping through the stands and forcing several students to shield their faces.
Aiden narrowed his eyes.
"He’s actually managing to keep up with her."
Cracks spread through the earth while craters appeared wherever either of them was thrown.
Then Arthur changed his breathing again.
His movements became smoother.
His breathing deepened, and mana began circulating through his body in a different rhythm.
Phoenix Breathing.
The exhaustion that had begun weighing down his muscles gradually faded. His breathing stabilized, and his stamina recovered faster as his body restored itself through controlled mana circulation.
Astarte noticed immediately.
"You have more than one breathing technique?"
Arthur wiped the blood from his mouth.
"Something like that."
She smiled.
"Interesting."
She charged.
Arthur met her head-on.
Their fists collided.
The shockwave shattered several already weakened sections of the training ground.
Astarte grabbed Arthur and threw him.
Arthur twisted in midair and landed on his feet.
He immediately pushed off the ground and returned.
This time, he struck first.
His fist slammed into Astarte’s jaw.
BOOM!
Her head snapped sideways.
Arthur followed with a body blow.
Then an elbow.
Then a spinning kick.
Astarte blocked the kick, but the sheer force drove her backward.
Arthur did not give her time to recover.
He stepped inside her guard and struck several precise points along her arm.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four rapid strikes.
Astarte’s fingers suddenly stopped moving.
Her arm hung uselessly at her side.
Arthur had disrupted the nerves controlling the limb.
Astarte looked down at it.
Then back at Arthur.
"You’ve been planning that."
Arthur breathed heavily.
"I’ve been watching how you move."
Astarte smiled.
Then her mana exploded outward.
The pressure alone pushed Arthur several steps backward.
"You’re learning quickly."
She attacked with her remaining arm.
Arthur blocked.
The impact drove him into the ground.
He countered immediately, grabbing her wrist and twisting his body into a throw.
BOOM!
Astarte crashed into the earth.
Arthur followed her down and landed several brutal strikes before she could rise.
His fist struck her shoulder.
Then her ribs.
Then her abdomen.
Each blow released a compressed burst of mana.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The ground beneath Astarte fractured with every impact.
But even as Arthur’s attacks grew stronger, something strange happened.
Whenever Arthur’s body came into direct contact with hers, intense thermal energy flowed through his hands.
Astarte felt scorching heat spread across her skin.
For an instant, it was almost unbearable.
Then the heat vanished.
Her injuries began healing almost immediately.
The same thermal energy that could burn through matter was being precisely controlled by Arthur, allowing him to stimulate and accelerate the recovery of the damaged tissue.
Astarte glanced at him with amusement.
"So you’re even using your thermokinesis during close combat."
Arthur did not answer.
He simply attacked again.
Astarte blocked his fist.
Arthur grabbed her arm.
Heat surged through the point of contact.
She felt the scorching sensation again, but her body recovered almost as quickly as the heat appeared.
Then she countered.
BOOM!
Her knee slammed into Arthur’s abdomen.
Arthur staggered.
A second strike smashed into his ribs.
A third sent him flying.
He crashed into the ground and remained there for several seconds.
His entire body was covered in bruises.
His breathing was ragged.
Blood ran down his face.
Arthur slowly pushed himself up.
His arms trembled.
His legs barely supported him.
He was already exhausted, yet his eyes remained focused.
Astarte stood several meters away, her damaged arm gradually recovering.
She smiled.
"Still standing?"
Arthur wiped the blood from his mouth.
"Barely."
He raised his fists anyway.
Astarte’s smile widened.
"Then come."
Arthur stepped forward.
Despite his battered body, his mana surged once more.
The two charged at each other.
Their final collision shook the entire training ground.
BOOOOOOM!
A massive shockwave erupted between them, sweeping across the arena and sending dust into the air.
When the dust began to clear, both were still standing.
Barely.
Arthur was covered in bruises, blood staining parts of his clothes as his chest rose and fell heavily. His breathing was rough, and even standing upright was becoming an effort after the relentless battle.
Astarte looked at him for a long moment.
Then, unexpectedly, she smiled.
"Your growth rate is really absurd. Are you sure you’re not hiding something from me?"
Arthur gave her a tired grin.
"What if I told you I have a wife now?"
For a moment, Astarte simply stared at him.
Then she laughed.
"I’ll say congratulations..." Her smile widened teasingly. "And ask who that is. I mean, who’s that lucky person?"
Arthur’s grin remained.
"Yeah. Not telling you."
The smile on Astarte’s face froze.
For the first time since the battle had begun, the atmosphere around her changed completely.
A massive amount of darkness suddenly erupted around her body, spreading outward like a living shadow. The air itself seemed to grow heavier as black energy coiled around her, twisting violently through the battlefield.
Arthur stared at her.
’...Looks like she got pissed off.’
Before he could say anything, Astarte raised her hand.
The darkness exploded forward.
BOOM!
A torrent of black energy surged toward Arthur with terrifying speed.
Arthur immediately focused.
Purple energy erupted around his body, wrapping around him like a second skin before bursting outward with equal intensity.
The ground beneath his feet cracked as the two forces raced toward one another.
Astarte’s eyes narrowed.
"He has a Spirit Affinity too...?"
Arthur’s purple aura intensified.
The two energies collided.
BOOOOOOM!
A violent explosion swallowed the space between them.
Darkness and purple energy erupted in every direction before suddenly vanishing.
And then—
"STOP!"
A powerful voice rang across the training grounds.
Someone had appeared between them.
A woman stood calmly in the space where their attacks had collided.
A veil concealed part of her face, while beautiful golden hair flowed behind her. Her golden eyes carried an unmistakable authority as she turned toward Astarte.
"Are you trying to kill him?" she asked calmly. "If I hadn’t interfered, that could have become dangerous."
Astarte blinked.
Then her eyes shifted toward Arthur.
A playful smile slowly returned to her face.
"Oh?"
She looked back at the veiled woman.
"So you’re the one he was talking about...?"