Chapter 1503: Light
Rain gritted his teeth, the pain contorting his features as his arms screamed in agony from the searing heat engulfing them. Every fiber of his being urged him to flee, to escape the torment that threatened to consume him whole. His instincts clamored for retreat, his brain sending urgent signals of self-preservation. But Rain resisted.
With his iron-willed determination, he suppressed the primal urge to flee and stood his ground, refusing to yield to the relentless assault. Despite the intense pain coursing through his limbs, he summoned every ounce of his resolve and steeled himself against the onslaught. Every muscle in his body tensed as he braced for it, his mind a maelstrom of anguish and determination.
As the flames licked at his flesh, leaving behind a trail of charred skin and blistering wounds, Rain endured. He refused to falter, his spirit unyielding in the face of agony. Though his arms were left a twisted mess of pain and destruction, he had weathered the storm, emerging battered but unbroken from the pain of the battle.
"Not bad, not bad at all. It is rare for me to obtain this kind of battle data. I guess it makes sense that you would be able to adapt even faster after obtaining Rais’ knowledge. Still, do you think that you have that much time to waste holding back and not trying anything too big?"
"You shouldn’t be so impatient," Rain said while he was healing his arms. "Let me cook for a bit more. The battles with you guys always happen like this unless you are planning to face me a bit more seriously. It is your call, seriously."
Arel could tell that Rain was planning to conserve his energy for a single attack when she exposed herself, but that wouldn’t work since she wasn’t planning to do that. Another option was the possibility that Rain wanted to use his friends to surprise her. Once they get rid of her, they will be able to split up to face Lonos and Fortus.
"Well, if you are willing to go that far, then I should at least respect your will a bit. Playing the deceitful act is pretty tiresome, after all. I also did that for far too long in the prison."
Arel used her power to make the space around Rain bend and quake with Portal Conjuration... they weren’t that close to him, but considering the scales of the attacks, they would be enough to cause him a lot of harm. Rain decided to respond to that accordingly by summoning dark ice around his arms. Before long, the massive fire blasts crossed the portals to consume him, but Rain only took a single deep breath before attacking them with all his might using Palm Strikes.
The attacks were pushed away completely this time... and that made Arel furrow her eyebrows. She didn’t think that Rain would do that, but it seemed that he was holding back as well, and that was quite something considering his already current level of strength.
As the blasts of fire spread away in all directions, a decent amount of it was absorbed by Rain’s body and then his skin got red for a while thanks to the heat, but soon his body adapted to it.
"I can’t change the speed and effects of Time Dilation without making her wary of my plans, so I have to use all this energy for something else.