8 One Falls, One Stands (1/2)
Rathe, like Dioro, was using his earthen armor to defend, yet he still maintained his gauntlets to try and sneak a few strikes at Vloz when left an opening. He was obviously on the losing side of this battle but to still be standing after such a brutal beating from an expert a full tier higher than him, this was a feat on its own.
”Yo Vloz, that all you got?” Rathe glance up over his lacerated arms. ”Were you ever able to get that one technique right? I think you know the one I'm talking about.”
Vloz reappeared in front of Rathe. ”You remembered after all this time? I guess we weren't partners for nothing. Since you've bothered remembering my favorite trick, I'll just have to show you. I'm amazed that your defenses have reached this level, to compact your essence armor to such a degree. Sadly, all good things will come to an end, including our friendship.”
All of a sudden five more copies of Vloz materialized and surrounded Rathe, leaving him no chance to defend every blow.
They staggered their attacks to throw off Rathe's rhythm and strike different points consecutively. Some aimed for the joints like the back of the knees or the side of the ankles while others pointed towards vital areas like the throat or heart.
Rathe stiffened. He remembered Vloz using a similar move to suppress those stronger than him. Thinking back, he remembered its weakness, that not every copy was a true body. If one could discern which was real, they could force themselves out of it and counterattack.
With a clear mind and alert senses, Rathe pounded his gauntlets into the earth below, causing an eruption of small rocks to fly out in every direction. Rathe smiled as he watched the little rocks hit every copy of Vloz, waiting to find his opening. The clones just ignored the incoming rubble and essence erupted from each of them, causing the lifeless rocks to disintegrate on contact.
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The slight smile on Rathe's face became a beaming grin, exposing a sense of admiration. He realized something; he wasn't being underestimated in the slightest.
Vloz was a full level higher and his combat prowess had grown exponentially, he no longer used after images but was fast enough to appear to have multiple bodies at once that could sustain damage and act on their own in close combat.
With that, Rathe understood that no matter what he did, there was no way that he could catch his rival off guard. Rathe gave up entirely on offense and squeezed every bit of his essence into this final defense, knowing fully that he may die. The armor expanded slightly as it became corporeal, in an attempt to reduce the impacts of the oncoming barrage.
Countless claws stuck his body, gradually cracking the earthen armor. Soon it collapsed entirely and allowed the attacks to slash Rathe's flesh continuously. A pool of blood gathered under Rathe's feet. His entire body stiffened, forcing itself to stay together under the barrage of life-threatening blows.
”You're tougher than I would've ever imagined; still standing after all that, albeit in such a miserable state. Just accept the obvious, you're no longer my match,” after a few moments the clones vanished and Vloz reappeared where he was standing before, facing the now ragged-looking Rathe. ”Are you satisfied with that? Or must I get my own hands dirty and remove your core myself?”
”Ha…Ha, ha…” Rathe stood there, immovable even now. ”So, that's your special move huh? It's pretty good, you almost had me for a moment there.”
”Rathe, please, just give up,” it hurt Vloz to see Rathe like that, and it hurt even more to know that he had done it himself.
”Why? You showed me your special move and now it's my turn,” Rathe's smile was even more immovable than his stance. ”Brace yourself. I'm gonna beat you the same way Dioro beat me long ago when he was still a full level lower than, with one punch.”
Vloz was dumbstruck. He had never heard of such a heaven-defying technique or surely, he would've tried to get his claws on it. With nothing to lose since he had already done all but cripple Rathe, he let Rathe attempt a single punch.
”Bring it on.”
Rathe's smile finally calmed and became serious. His aura retracted completely as he began to steady his breathing.
Vloz thought this was strange because typically it was impossible to create high-level attacks without using essence, but Vloz was suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of fear as Rathe's fist began to faintly glow.
The energy was unlike anything Vloz had ever felt, boundless and full of life. Rathe's body was bathed in it, absorbing it and even repairing itself at an incredible speed.
After a couple of moments had passed, Rathe held his breath and the world seemed to be frozen in time. Both Rathe and Vloz were fully focused on the glowing fist as if the rest of the world had vanished temporarily.
When Rathe exhaled, all remaining spiritual energy in the surrounding area was instantly devoured by the glowing fist that now glowed intensely as it rocketed towards Vloz.
The leopard was scared stiff, his very soul wanted to leap out of his nonresponding body. His joints had all locked up and his muscles tightened to the extreme, not letting him move a single step. He couldn't move and almost instinctively accepted his defeat and death as the glowing fist defied everything, even splitting the ground below as it passed through the air.
Just before impact, the glowing energy vanished and left behind the gorilla's bare knuckles. Rathe struck Vloz's undefended cheek and launched him through the air into a tree a few krin away.
This shocked Vloz back into reality as the leopard slowly rolled back to his feet. Vloz stared at Rathe, waiting for him to start explaining the phenomenon that just took place.
”Ha, you've heard the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat', right?” Rathe laughed aloud, even though it shook his now weakened body. ”So, what did you think of Dioro's special technique? As part of the deal, he taught it to me; and even though I agreed to give him all of our divine cultivation materials, I'm free to do as I please after he makes one more breakthrough. Besides, this is a soul technique that doesn't require any cultivation materials, so it was pretty much a win-win situation. That enough explaining for you?”
”Ye-yeah…” Vloz swallowed some saliva still stuck in his throat from earlier.