Chapter 497: Gap In Strength
Outside the massive black pyramid, many lions and lion kings had noticed the fluctuations coming from a particular corner of the pyramid.
They had intended to check it out but had to stop after Kael commanded them not to.
It was strange how Kael had given these kings orders and they obeyed without question. On a regular day, even Exalon couldn’t stop them from peeking if they really wanted to.
At this time, the corner of the pyramid where the fluctuations were coming from, the metal walls shifted.
The metal plates slid to the side just in time for a white female body to fly out from the inside.
Alora’s white hair blew harshly in the wind as she found herself arching through the sky. Her abdomen hurts badly from the kick Kael had given her.
As she fell, she remembered that thing Kael had done when he took over her body. He had created an ice platform that levitated and allowed her to fly.
Back then, Kael had pushed her to tier 6 temporarily.
But that was just ice when it was influenced by the warp effect. Alora couldn’t make her own ice constructs levitate without a jet force to push them.
Still, she improvised.
An ice platform was conjured underneath her falling form. She jumped, pushing herself up before the ice platform submitted to gravity.
She did this a few more times, jumping from one ice platform to another, before landing firmly on the side of the pyramid.
Exalon’s black pyramid was simply way too large, almost the size of a small planet, almost.
Alora had no issue standing properly on the side of the black pyramid. To her, it was like standing on a sloppy metal ground.
The top was far from her sight, and so was the bottom.
Now that she was outside, feeling the breeze brushing through her hair and the eyes of many on her, Alora had to make a decision.
Should she continue fighting, knowing fully well that Kael was very much stronger than her? Or should she leave?
’Leave, just the way you left your father to kill your mother,’ Kael’s words replayed in her mind, causing her to freeze up.
The killing intent within her kept on rising. At first, she really didn’t want to do anything because Kael had saved her life two times.
But seeing as she still considered Kael a pawn, that gratitude quickly flushed away and was replaced with cold indifference.
"ALORA!"
Kael’s majestic voice came from above. It sounded like a call and a warning at the same time.
Alora looked up, her black pupils shrank inside the blue irises. She saw Kael standing at the edge of the hole in the wall.
Golden light shone brightly from his eyes as an oppressive aura flooded his surroundings.
He looked down at her like a god looking down at a mortal, he had disdain in his eyes.
Disdain so clear that Alora could feel it.
She remembered this feeling clearly.
Ibadon.
Back then, on the dragon outpost planet, Ibadon had rendered her immovable and almost killed her with his gaze alone.
In that moment, Alora had felt the disdain with which Ibadon looked at her. It wasn’t the type of disdain that was intentional and done to spite or cause trouble.
This disdain was natural, it was a result of looking at something that was naturally inferior.
A human cannot look at an ant with genuine respect, no matter how both parties delude themselves. The human would always carry disdain in his eyes when looking at that ant, even without their knowledge.
Ibadon looked at her with disdain because she was indeed naturally inferior to him.
Now, Kael was looking at her the same way.
What else could it mean?
"Kael!" Alora shouted, then burst forward with inhuman speed.
She ran up the pyramid, leaving trails of frosty fog and ice layers behind her. As she ran, hundreds of thick ice swords and spears formed around her, shooting toward Kael.
Kael, from above, watched this with a faint smile. He was already thinking of how far he was going to take this beating. He was sure that Alora wouldn’t let down with some small pats.
He needed to be shockingly brutal, he needed to be effective.
Kael prayed for Alora’s sake that she submit, because if it didn’t work, he would just have to kill her and harvest the heavenly beacon for someone else.
No threats allowed.
Kael leaned forward and descended the side of the pyramid.
Shawty ran over to see that Kael was racing downward with golden electricity flowing behind him. He was moving faster than Alora and was approaching the latter with tremendous force.
Seeing Kael coming toward her like an unstoppable wrecking ball, Alora did not stop, instead, she increased her charge and conjured a curved ice barrier in front of her.
*BAM!*
Kael slammed into the ice barrier. The ice barrier was shattered but it had also stopped Kael’s charge for a split second.
Kael was barraged from all sides by ice swords and spears.
All the ice constructs froze mid-air, held in place by Kael’s spatial hold.
He squeezed his hand, shattering all of them at once.
At the same time, Alora had followed up with another barrier construct and layered it well.
She had the thought that even if she couldn’t beat Kael, she could give him a really hard time.
Oh, how wrong she was.
Kael’s eyes flashed with ruthlessness.
He pulled his arms back and flattened his palm, preparing it for a devastating strike.
Then he swung.
*RATATATA!...*
Kael’s palm bashed through all the layers of ice and hot Alora’s face.
The slap was powerful as it was disrespectful.
In fact, Kael may have used too much force as Alora was immediately blasted away.
Blood trailed out of her mouth and she briefly fainted before regaining consciousness.
Kael did not relent, he ran down the pyramid, chasing after Alora.
Two distinct flames wrapped around his arms. Coming from his left hand were the usual golden flames, this was the Original flame enhanced by his Conquering Essence.
Coming from his right hand was a dark, almost black, flame with faint hints of purple here and there.
Hellfire.
One was intended to burn as it should be, the other was designed to cause nothing but prolonged suffering and destruction.
The hellfire didn’t burn, it ate. It devoured anything that touched it that wasn’t its wielder.
The heat it emitted was low and very dry, sucking up the moisture from its immediate environment.
Hellfire was one of the abilities he got from the Fox Primordial of Fire. After the contract, Kael had gained the ability to control eight different types of fire.
As Kael pursued Alora, he left behind a trail of gold and black.
His form was very eye-catching to those watching the battle from different places.
This was the first time they were all seeing Kael in action and they were intrigued by the abilities he was exhibiting.
Shawty, who watched from the hole, also noticed the peculiarity of Kael’s flames. Earlier, it was that green fire that he was playing with, now it was this black fire.
Meanwhile, Alora recovered mid-air. She created a giant ice scythe and slashed at the side of the pyramid, scratching the metal and stopping herself from falling.
However, she didn’t have time to recover as Kael was already in front of her with his flaming fist rushing straight toward her face.
*BAM!*
Alora took the unexpected punch and was sent flying once again.
Kael pursued.
Alora recovered faster this time, her combat awareness crunching to provide maximum efficiency.
Before she touched the metal ground again, he created a gigantic hammer hundreds of meters wide.
Using the weight and momentum, she swung down at the approaching Kael.
Kael threw his right fist which was covered in hellfire at the incoming ice hammer.
*BAM!*
The head of the hammer exploded into multiple large fragments. Each fragment was encased in the dark gritty flames that quickly consumed the ice and left nothing but primal dust.
Kael leaped at Alora, appearing like a flash of lightning and delivering a devastating knee strike to her abdomen.
Alora coughed up blood as she continued flying down the side of the pyramid. Her body bounced up and down the metal surface and before she could recover, Kael was upon her to deliver another blow.
The fight was one-sided, it was plain bullying.
But weren’t they the same tier?
"Alora," Kael said, pausing his rain of blows to see Alora stumble to her feet with blood staining her white skin and hair.
It was a sorry sight. The only thing majestic about Alora at this moment was her will and fighting spirit.
Alas, even those were wavering at the moment.
"Can’t you see? We’re at the same tier, yet there’s so much difference in our power level," Kael said while stretching his arms to the side, emphasizing the gap in their strengths.
"I don’t mean to boast, but I once fought three tier 5 tigers at the same time, one of which was a chimera.
I was tier 4 back then
That I am alive today should tell you that I survived. I came out as the winner, as it should be.
Alora, ask yourself, how exactly do you hope to surpass me?"
What Kael said shocked not just Alora, but all the lion kings watching the fight.