366 Heroic Influence (2/2)

Raven heard a few of Carl's bones breaking but he knew that he's not dead yet. He was about to release another attack but a surprising development occurred.

Carl's body suddenly emitted a very bright light that almost blinded him. It was then followed by an explosion that caused Raven to retreat a couple of steps back. Once he regained his vision, he then saw Carl in a different state than before.

The damaged he caused on Carl's Holy Armor were gone, almost as if they were never there in the first place. He was levitating in the air, his pupils were gone like he was being possessed by some kind of spirit. Intense law fluctuations could be felt around him, Raven saw how Light was warping and refracting due to Carl's overwhelming presence.

When he saw this state of Carl, Raven's face immediately turned solemn. He then whispered:

”Damn, I was hoping to finish him off before he goes onto that state, but I guess it's no longer possible.” Raven clicked his tongue in annoyance. ”This battle is going to be harder now.”

This special state that Carl is under is called: 'Heroic Influence', a state that is only achieved by those who reached Hero Realm.

Heroic Influence is a state where a Hero spreads their Influence on their surroundings, creating some sort of an area where they are the ruler. This area is called a 'Territory' and inside the 'Territory' the Hero's power scales up by a lot.

The reason behind the boost is because the Hero could transform their surroundings into an advantageous stage where their abilities could shine and they could exert the full potential of their power.

As Carl entered the Heroic Influence State, the space around him was filled with sparkling motes of light. Raven could even see that the image around him was constantly twisting into different shapes and size due to the refraction of light.

Raven had seen Carl enter this state multiple times so he knew what kind of trouble this will give him. Carl Territory is about 5 kilometers around him, and inside this place, he similar to a God.

He's already within Carl's territory, and due to Carl's speed, he abandoned all thoughts of running away. Instead, he took a deep breath in and prepared for another clash.

*Phew!*

Raven's instinct screamed danger, he tilted his head to the side and evaded a transparent beam of light that should've pierce his skull already. Carl didn't move from his spot at all nor he deliberately showed any signs of attacking. That attack just now was purely from Carl's desire which was then made possible since his Territory was active.

After the first beam of light, many more was sent towards him. Raven managed to dodge all of them with the skin of his teeth but his stamina was being expended faster than he liked due to all of the dodging he had to do.

All of a sudden, Carl disappeared from where he stood and appeared right next to Raven. Carl attempted to punch a hole on Raven's skull but the latter managed to dodge and move out of the way. Beams of light were sent toward him but Raven was in an awkward position since he was just recovering from the dodge.

In order to defend himself, Raven smacked the ground with his hammer causing an arm to appear beneath him and forcefully elevate him so that he could dodge the dangerous projectiles.

As soon as Raven regained his balance, he already Carl nearby and ready to slit his throat. Raven managed to lift his hammer right on time to redirect the thrust but it was then followed by a few more stabs targeting the gaps between his armor which were all performed with the speed of light.

Raven couldn't completely dodge all of this so he did what he could and maneuvered his body in a way where he won't be fatally wounded.

Feeling the blood seeping through body didn't feel good. Raven wanted to create some distance between him and Carl so he performed the 4th step of the 9 Destruction Steps. Unfortunately, since he was inside Carl's Territory, his own techniques are weakened.

Originally, the 4th step should've caused destruction within 1 kilometer but the it was lessened to a mere 700 meters. Even through that still quite a distance between them, Carl could cross that distance in a blink of an eye and that's precisely what he did.

In the end, he managed to almost stab Raven's neck but the latter reacted on time to prevent that from happening. He got a little bit of breathing space but nonetheless, Raven's incensed.

”How annoying…”