Chapter 367 Clash of Champions
"That berserker really is something, isn"t he?"
"Of course! He"s my training partner, after all," Hadurt laughed. "Lorwynn, when are you going to fight me instead of hiding behind your barrier?"
"Who said I haven"t already started fighting back?" Lorwynn asked, not smiling nor frowning.
Hadurt was perplexed until he realized something. Halting his onslaught of attacks against the barrier around Lorwynn, Hadurt gathered more and more energy around his crude greatsword while looking to the sky above.
"Now you realize what was happening…" chuckled Lorwynn. The mage lowered his staff, but the barrier remained unaffected. Instead, a humongous fireball of condensed flames dove down through the dark clouds. It was similar to the attack of the sorceress yet her attack couldn"t compare in size or destructive power.
"That"s more like it!"
While Lorwynn floated away, Hadurt lunged toward the small star aimed right at him. His pitch-black blade was thrown against it, cleaving into the fireball despite some obvious struggle.
However, unlike Ollan who had destroyed the entire fireball, Hadurt cleaved it in two and let both halves fall to the city below. With a cruel smile on his face, the chaotic champion watch as one half of the fireball fell into the marketplace and the other destroyed countless buildings to claim the lives of countless citizens.
Lorwynn was completely unfazed by the scene. Against Hadurt, he had no choice but to be on guard at all times. Should he show a moment of hesitation, then Hadurt would expose it immediately.
"Don"t stop now, Lorwynn," Hadurt ordered in a pleading voice as if he was begging for Lorwynn to try that again.
"Who said I stopped?"
Just then, four more of those fireb.a.l.l.s fell through the storm clouds. Each came from a different direction, forcing Hadurt to try harder.
The black berserker grinned as he charged his sword and made a three hundred and sixty degree swing.
All four of the ma.s.sive fireb.a.l.l.s were met with a circular wave of black energy that cleanly cut all four fireb.a.l.l.s in half. As the fireb.a.l.l.s collapsed and fell to the city below, Hadurt charged his sword again, stating, "If that"s the best you"ve got, then just come and die already."
"You"ve gotten much stronger since last time, Hadurt. What level are you now?" asked Lorwynn.
Hadurt smiled. "I"ll tell you mine if you tell me yours."
Nodding, Lorwynn added, "I"m lv. 87."
"Lv. 88," Hadurt replied with a confident smile.
"Then this should be much more interesting than last time," stated Lorwynn. "Show me what you"ve learned since then and we"ll see if you"ve earned the strength to back your wild claims."
"With pleasure!" Diving toward Lorwynn, Hadurt"s black energy left the sky stained as he streaked through the air.
A second staff appeared in Lorwynn"s other hand. This one was covered in jewels of all kinds and colors. It gave off a powerful aura, not shrinking in the face of Lyrun"s staff in the mage"s other hand.
Lorwynn lifted his second staff, letting the yellow gemstones glow blindingly bright as a bolt of lightning rained down on the staff. The lightning entered the barrier but didn"t damage it in any way. Also, the black lightning from the storm clouds was being attracted by the ma.s.sive bolt that Lorwynn had summoned. Then, Lorwynn pointed the staff to the incoming Hadurt, sending the lightning directly at him as if the staff was directing the current of electricity.
Hadurt"s smile lessened, growing more serious. That black energy started to cover his body as well while the black berserker hacked the lighting away bit by bit.
"No fair! Wielding Lyrun"s staff and Kylon"s staff isn"t fair at all!" shouted Hadurt.
"And equipping Skaryn"s full armor and wielding his sword isn"t?" replied Lorwynn, not buying into Hadurt"s false fear.
"Then I guess we"re about even in that regard…" No longer trying to hide the nature of his equipment, Hadurt sliced the lighting down the middle in a single attack with a wave attack. "It"s down to tactics and determination, my specialty!"
Changing colors from yellow to blue, the air around Lorwynn felt as if it froze. The clouds above him started to change as well, affected by the instant drop in temperature.
When Hadurt was a few meters away, a glacial wall appeared between the two champions.
It wasn"t hard for Haldurt to force his way through the glacial wall, but Lorwynn was now much higher in the sky. At the same time, Kylon"s staff was now glowing red and another fireball started to fall through the clouds. But that fireball dwarfed Lorwynn"s previous attacks, blocking out most of the sky as it fell.
"If you can beat this one, then I"ll be forced to take you more seriously."
Hearing Lorwynn"s taunt, Haldurt"s smile vanished. All he felt now was the determination to win at all costs and respect for his powerful rival.
"Fine!" Hadurt"s shout filled the city as more black energy gather around him. However, that black energy wasn"t coming from Hadurt. The storm clouds themselves were being pulled toward the chaotic champion, turning into fuel for his power.
Lorwynn squinted at Hadurt, angered by such a tactic. "That"s quite a dirty trick your G.o.ds have played, Hadurt. Do they not believe you can win on your own?"
"Shut up!" Frustrated and angry to follow the plan he was given, Hadurt charged at the fireball with relentless black energy pouring into him from all directions. When his sword met with the great fireball, a furious explosion of fire and darkness erupted in the sky until the fire was consumed by the darkness.
Emerging victorious from the clash, the demonized berserker glared at the mage still hiding behind the green barrier.
Seeing Lorwynn unperturbed by his increase in strength, Hadurt shouted, "Fight me for real already! Otherwise, you"ll die for nothing!"
"Fine."
Kylon"s staff disappeared form Lorwynn"s hand, soon replaced by a golden scepter. "Since you"ve come at me with Skaryn"s equipment and the boosted strength of your G.o.ds, I"ll let you see the might of Halmut"s Scepter."
A ray of golden light shown down on Lorwynn, piercing through the clouds unabated. More and more rays of light shown down on the champion, boosting his strength in a similar fas.h.i.+on to Hadurt"s demonization.
"We never chose to be each other"s foe, Hadurt, but you must still die," Lorwynn shouted.
Hadurt grinned. "Either way, someone"s dying today and I can"t wait to claim your corpse as my greatest trophy."
Down below, the only people still fighting was the Adventurers a.s.sociation. And since the a.s.sociation was busy fighting their own battle, the citizens were left to face the fires ravaging the city on their own.
Chaos ensued as the world was supposedly coming to an end. Fire and lightning rained down on the city mercilessly, wrecking everything and everyone. It seemed unavoidable as the city"s destruction grew with each pa.s.sing second. The poorer citizens on the outskirts were the happiest as they managed to flee through the city gates before the traffic of the wealthy carriages sealed off the escape route unintentionally.
It was ma.s.s pandemonium. No one felt safe as they witness the greatest city of Modern Kartonia go up in flames. And when they thought about the G.o.d-like battle in the sky, they felt calamity had claimed the place dubbed the safest city in Kartonia.
Soon, the poor were fighting with the wealthy, destroying their carriages to allow everyone else to exit. The city gates had turned into riots as the poor attacked the wealthy and the wealthy shouted orders to their guards to kill the poor. And in the end, the wealthy lost as many of their guards turned against them in protest like the other citizens.
After that day, Federal City would never be the same.