Chapter 578
The sudden start took Ajax off guard, he had been prepared for a fight and even moved back a step as he felt the Aura of HelSotHein change to one more aggressive but that also meant he was going in the wrong direction. By the time he charged past the hydra Ajax had already wasted two seconds of his seven second head start.
The streets were convoluted but Ajax didn’t waste any time with that and he sprinted straight up one wall and was looking to cover as much of the distance as he could in a straight line. In the distance he could see the tall building getting closer with every step. He did however make sure to only power [Mana Syphon] with his own Mana, he wanted to surprise HelSotHein with the Mana drain effect.
After the first seven seconds Ajax was already two miles closer to his goal when [Danger Sense] flared and he could feel the Mana gather behind him. Ajax barely had a moment to pull out his shield before a red beam of Mana connected with him causing an explosion.
Ajax had no idea what kind of Mana that was, what he did know was that it was fast and explosive. The one upside he could see was that the beam caused an explosion on contact with anything.
With the explosion forcing him back to the street level Ajax adjusted his pathing. Instead of going in a straight line above the ruins Ajax realized there was a safer way of doing this, heading in a straight line through the buildings. It wasn’t cheap but [Telekinesis] worked wonders with Ajax not even needing to slow as he ripped walls apart as he continued sprinting towards the library.
The roar he heard from behind himself let Ajax know that not only had HelSotHein figured out what he was doing but that they also didn’t approve of his approach. Without a direct line of sight between them Ajax could feel HelSotHein change his approach to Earth Mana.
This was something Ajax not only knew but he was very familiar with. His fighting style made ample use of his earthshaping abilities and while he knew he wouldn’t be able to overpower HelSotHein over a large area, from the amount of Mana he was feeling and the strength of that Mana he knew it would be pointless he could break his control in his immediate surroundings not to mention weaken everything with [Mana Syphon].
Ajax was already a tenth of the way to the library as he felt his spell clash with HelSotHein’s as he was attempting to raise a wall of rock to block his path. Unlike the hydra Ajax wasn’t willing to throw hundreds of Mana at the spell so he only managed to slow it down rather than stop it. But slowing its rise was enough for him to jump on top of it and use it as a stepping stone to returning to the rooftops.
Much as he wanted to avoid line of sight after the opening attack from the hydra Ajax was pretty sure he could handle another similar attack, in fact now that he knew about it he was confident he could make sure the resulting explosion would blast him towards his goal, all he would need to do was heal the damage.
Looking back Ajax could see that HelSotHein was closing in, already he had closed the distance between the two of them to about one mile. Ajax just couldn’t help but be jealous of HelSotHein’s ability to multitask. It was clear from the way Mana gathered around the heads that while two of the heads were focused on casting spells the third was more focused on boosting the body and chasing after him physically. This extra focus meant that the hydra was being much more efficient with its Mana.
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“Fine then have it your way.” Ajax recognised the Mana gathering was the same as the first attack that hit him, rather than bring up his shield to defend against it however Ajax instead took out his hammer and used a Vibration strike to shatter the top of a building and send the ruble flying towards HelSotHein.
Not only did the rubble block the incoming explosive beam but the destroyed building also created a wall of dust that gave Ajax enough cover to cloak himself in Shadow Mana. He didn’t try entering the shadows just yet, he was too far away from the goal and doing so would not only slow him down but he was also pretty sure the hydra would have a way of detecting him and he wanted to keep that ace in the hole.
“Stop hiding!” Ajax could recognise it was Hein who roared his disapproval for Ajax’s tactics. His [Sense Mana] also told him that it was Hein who was in charge of the body as well as seeing as the body slowed for a moment as Hein let out his frustration with a roar having no doubt lost track of Ajax for a moment.
A brief moment was all that Ajax got however as the hydra quickly began moving once more and closing the distance between them. Ajax wasn’t yet sure if it had found him under his cover of Shadow Mana or if it was just heading in the direction of the library since that was his goal but he didn’t slow down to find out. He had already made it twenty miles and thanks to a quick application of Light Mana he fully recovered from the impact of the first explosive attack.
Ajax was sure he had been found when another explosive beam was shot towards his direction, this one packing twice as much power as the first one. Knowing what to expect this time Ajax was able to dodge out of the way while also forming a small ice wall behind himself. He could have gone for an Earth wall but he could still feel HelSotHein’s Mana in the ground and not only that but the ice wall would work better at cushioning him from the heat and blast of the explosion.
The blast sent Ajax in the right direction but he hadn’t been able to perfectly position himself. While he was still heading in the right direction the blast had also sent him airborne. Ajax let go of his Earth spell and instead focused on Air as he tried to not only control his direction a bit more but also increase his own speed as he flew.
Ajax was now more than halfway there but HelSotHein was almost on top of him. Ajax wasn’t sure how the massive hydra was able to move around the ruins with such impunity without flattening the builds, he was sure that while the stone structures might be able to support the hydra’s weight there was no chance the wouldn’t crumple as it kicked off during the chase.
Ajax could feel the Mana gather for another explosive beam. This one was the same strength as the last one only this time he didn’t have a way to dodge or anything to throw in his way. Turning around, Ajax was pretty sure that there was glee on the hydra’s face as it saw its victory. But there was one thing HelSotHein hadn’t accounted for.
While being so close meant that Ajax had almost no time to react to the attack it did also come with good news, HelSotHeing was in range of [Telekinesis]. Ajax put three hundred Mana into his Legendary Skill as he yanked with his whole being to turn the head charging the beam towards another head.
“HSSSSSS!” A high pitched hiss was his only clue to the hydra’s reaction as he felt the the shockwave of the blast behind him, even [Sense Mana] couldn’t get a clear read on what had happened behind him since the abundant release of Mana from the blast created a temporary blind spot for him.
The blast was powerful enough that it took HelSotHein a moment to recover before it could continue its chase. That brief delay meant that Ajax was already within five miles of the library by the time it managed to shrink the distance between the two of them once again. Ajax could feel the damage the blast had done to one of HelSotHein’s heads and Ajax was sure that he would offer the hydra his services as a healer after this as he was not looking to part on bad terms but first he had a race to win.
Not feeling a need to hold back anymore Ajax dashed straight into the first shadow he could and started to shadow travel the rest of the way. The shadow pocket messed with his perception of the outside world the same as it always did but Ajax could tell that not only did it not take HelSotHein long to figure out what he had done but it was already casting a spell targeted at him.
Remaining in the shadow would leave him vulnerable to incoming magic yet exiting would put him in front of the three heads filled with sharp teeth. Ajax was stuck between a rock and a hard place so he did the only thing he could do. When both options were bad you had to come up with a third.
With the pressure of the chase Ajax focused as much as he could on emulating Fluffy. At the last possible moment as he felt the shape take form as HelSotHein launched it Ajax had successfully managed to shadow jump.