1225 Battle to the Death 1 (1/2)
Bang!
Garen's long saber slashed down hard on Slayer's umbrella, and the red paint was jolted off by the impact, revealing the black metal underneath.
With a whoosh, Slayer's arm spun, and the umbrella began to spin at high speeds. Just like that, it parried Garen's blade.
”You've grown stronger again…” He leaped backward lightly and retracted his round umbrella, using the movement to reduce the impact of Garen's vicious force.
The two of them were equal in speed. Slayer used to be faster, but thanks to his average attribute points, Garen's speed was now equal to Slayer's.
Without an ounce of hesitation, Garen dashed forward, his blade transforming into a circular whirl of silver that aimed straight at the enemy. At the same time, he lifted his leg, kicking up a wave of seawater that crashed at his enemy like a solid attack.
Considering how powerful his Strength was, even simple old seawater could be converted into a terrifying murderous weapon under its influence.
”Lunar Eclipse.”
Slayer's eyes flashed with a red light, and his umbrella began to spin madly at high speeds, just in time to fend off the silver whirling blade. At the same time, he sliced downward with the edge of the umbrella, and perfectly cut through the wave of seawater pouncing at him.
Psst psst psst!!
Instantly, more than ten invisible air current blades shot out of the umbrella, attacking Garen from the left. All the air current blades gathered together, leaving clear white traces on the surface of the ocean. Although they were obvious, they were also very fast. Slayer also took advantage of the moment when Garen was most vulnerable. Since he had just made his move and used up all his power, he was completely helpless and unable to fight back.
”Are you trying to beat me in move transformation?” Garen's blade turned slightly and shot out a blast of saber wind that crashed directly into the air current blade. The saber wind cut straight through the air current blade, and made sure the air currents had completely scattered before it faded away naturally. This was a demonstration of Garen's surgical precision in the way he applied his strength; not a single ounce of power went to waste.
”Explode!”
Slayer closed the distance between them in an instant. The red umbrella began to spin crazily, crashing into Garen like a large screen. The muscles in his left arm had abruptly expanded to almost twice their original size, so thick they barely looked human.
Before the surface of the umbrella reached him, Garen could already feel an intense pressure descending upon him. Somehow, in complete contrast with Mind Reader or Yuria, Slayer was already a peak-level expert in his utilization of the Soul Ring. Garen had no idea how long he had to live in order to accumulate such vast experience.
This explosive power was rooted in the instantaneous expansion of his muscles, causing the power behind the move to at least double in magnitude. At the same time, there was a powerful spinning force behind it. The slightest mistake would mean that Garen's defenses would be easily broken through.
Garen had just completed his move and had yet to recover his strength, so the only thing he could do was tilt his body slightly to evade this attack.
”Eroded Moon Shadow!” Slayer's umbrella gave a jolt, and with an abrupt tearing sound, the surface of the umbrella immediately split into more than ten pieces. These pieces turned into more than ten flitting shadows that darted into the ocean, surrounding Garen from all sides like swimming fish.
”Four Directional Winds.” Garen's blade spun, and at the same time, silver light rose all around his body, blocking off the black shadows. The silver light and the black shadows collided and canceled each other out.
Boom!!!
On the surface of the ocean, a giant tidal wave, more than ten meters tall, exploded over the area where the two crashed into each other.
The tall wave fell down as a spray of rain, each droplet splashing into the ocean around them.
Whoosh, whoosh. There were two clear sounds, and more waves rose around both Garen and Slayer as they dashed at each other. The blade left trails of intense light as it crashed into the red-black umbrella handle, unleashing golden sparks of different sizes.
The long saber immediately became an afterimage, each slash brought with it strong winds and new waves.
The tip of the umbrella handle was sharp, so Slayer used it as both a spear and a staff.
”Dragon Steed.” Slayer's spear jolted and quickly spun around him once, swimming nimbly on the water around him like a living snake. At the same time, he himself constantly dodged Garen's barrage of blade slashes with great agility.
Swoosh!
A gigantic circle appeared on the ocean around Garen and Slayer, and an oval-shaped hole opened up slowly in its center, biting at Garen like a deep black abyss. It was a giant whirlpool!!!
”Hmph!”
Garen was completely fearless, and did not shrink away in his assault. He and Slayer fell into the eye of the giant whirlpool at the same time.
In the deep blue whirlpool, they were surrounded by the deep-blue, almost-black walls of water. At the very center of it, the two of them were falling straight downward. It was like falling into a bottomless abyss.
Strangely, the giant whirlpool was actually still expanding, growing larger and deeper. The enormous hole in the center continued to deepen, as though it was an abyss that led straight to the ocean floor.
There was immense pressure everywhere, and the walls of dark-blue, almost-black seawater were all that could be seen. Other than the tiny pricks of white light above their heads, there was no other source of illumination.
Garen could clearly feel that, under these circumstances, Slayer's strength and speed were both increased to almost 1.5 times their original value. He could instantly sense the pressure on him piling on.
”So you're creating an advantageous terrain for yourself, huh?” Garen's expression was cold, his attacks gradually slowing down.
Swoosh!
The long spear narrowly swept past his throat, missing by mere millimeters. Garen's feet trod down hard on the water wall, and with an audible 'bam', he borrowed the momentum from the high-speed spinning. Instantly, man and blade turned into a saber wheel. He quickly landed behind Slayer, and spun toward the latter's back.
Clang!
The umbrella handle and saber crashed into each other. Slayer did not turn around, blocking Garen's attack backhandedly. His entire body was sent out flying, straight into the wall of water.
”Garrotte,” Slayer murmured softly. The sound waves seemed to come with an accompaniment, some tremors of power.
Barroom. White snake-like waves instantly darted out of the countless water walls, rushing at Garen as though by magic!
Garen's attack was blocked, and he leaped back lightly, landing on the whirlpool water wall behind him. The soles of his feet vibrated at high speeds, neutralizing the immense spinning force of the whirlpool's walls of water. As a result, he stood as steady as he would on flat land.
”Now that you're all warmed up, isn't it time to bust out the big guns?” His spear immediately vanished, leaving an afterimage, and his whole person lit up with white flames.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh. All the waves were easily slashed apart, vanishing. The spear appeared again instantly, and Garen held it in his hand, pointing it diagonally downward.