Tower of Heaven

From the outside, it really did look like the sun exploded. The environment was filled with bright yellow light that forced all observers to close and avert their eyes. All other color was blown away, and anything within the range of the explosion was incinerated.

Even Darian's First Sun Squadron had retreated far enough away to avoid the explosion. The only two still inside were Atlas and the man who created this scene.

Darian gritted his teeth and endured it. As the technique came from himself, he didn't have to deal with the damage it caused. He was only struggling because the winds he caused were pushing him back and making his wounds hurt more.

Really, Atlas was the one that had to worry.

Vooooom!

Others could only assume what it felt like. He had to personally feel it with his body.

Wave after wave of extreme heat energy slammed against his body. His innate flame affinity could not protect him from such an assault. In fact, because of this affinity, he was not instantly turned to ash, but that was the most it could do.

"Khhhh…!"

The moment the energy appeared, he sensed how dangerous it was. The image of the sun setting over the horizon played out slowly for everyone else, but it happened in just a few seconds for him.

He could only desperately put up as many possible defensive techniques as he could.

[Stone Buddha's Perseverance]

[Great Tidal Shift]

[Flames of Protection]

[Nature's Embrace]

Along with a natural qi barrier, he rotated between defensive techniques of each of the four Daos he practiced.

Unfortunately, none of them were able to perfectly compete with the assault.

The fire barrier was almost directly bypassed by stronger flames. The water barrier was evaporated and the qi was dispersed into nothing. The wood barrier was incinerated, and though the earth barrier was able to protect him well, it was also extremely taxing to maintain.

"KEUGH…!"

Atlas struggled with all of his might, but he could not stop it entirely. He had to deal with the consequences of falling for Darian's trap.

VOOM!

Huge plumes of flame rushed past the barriers Atlas enacted and consumed his body.

AAAAARGH–!

He let out a guttural roar as his skin was melted into charred bits. His muscles were charred as well, and though he stopped feeling real pain when his nerves were burned, the phantom pain that followed was equally bad.

Atlas forced his [Regeneration] to ignore those wounds. He grunted and groaned in pain, but he coped with the burns on his skin and flesh. [Regeneration] made it absolutely certain that nothing else would be too deeply damaged. That was the most Atlas could ask of it.

Unable to progress forward or move back, Atlas sat there defending himself in place for over a minute, fighting against the burns and his qi consumption.

That was when he sensed a presence on the other side of his earthen barrier.

BOOM!

As if he had been waiting for this very moment, Darian crashed through the defenses with his massive sword. Looking at the burn-scarred Atlas, his eyes only became more serious.

Within the inferno, the two started to desperately battle again.

Darian wasn't in a good position either. He had several internal injuries adding to the pain and exhaustion caused by the massive gash in his chest. Atlas' wounds looked worse, but the key was that he could not feel the pain directly. This was his advantage.

Plus…

'He can heal.'

That was why Darian didn't waste time.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

His sword swung out with the same skill and technique that he had been training for decades. His movements were simple. With his massive greatsword, he couldn't dance around like a beautiful sword fairy.

No, he was powerful and domineering, forcing his way with nothing but the most simple sword techniques.

Vertical slashes, horizontal slashes, blunt attacks with the flat side of the blade…

Atlas had to fight and fight and fight, block and block and block.

But he could not dodge.

Right, that was perhaps the most important thing taken from him.

The current Atlas could barely feel his legs. He could only rely on instinct to dictate his movements.

This was enough for him to engage in close combat, but the speed advantage he had been abusing was gone.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The fight was no longer one-sided. It no longer had a scene where neither combatant was taking damage either.

With every strike that Atlas and Darian exchanged, they drew blood. With every exchange, they became more exhausted.

'He wants to defeat me here. He is taking advantage of my wounds to push me to the limit.'

He was doing exactly what Atlas had done to him earlier. Atlas' body was covered in cuts and bruises that bled bright red blood. That blood oozed out of his rocky skin like pus, making him look much less than heroic.

He knew that if Darian was able to execute his plan perfectly, he definitely had a chance of defeating him before he could heal to a better state.

'I will not allow that.'

If Darian wanted to end things here, then he would end things here. Only, it would not happen in the way that he wanted.

A greatsword came swinging his way once again. It was the fourth strike at the end of a chain, so Atlas knew it was bound to be something big.

[Setting Sun Slash]

It was the same technique, only manifested through a vertical slash. Atlas saw the qi projection flying towards him and turned his body to the side. The vertical version of the technique struck over a much smaller area, so he was able to dodge with only that much.

The energy flew by him just in time to illuminate the blade of a sickle flying through the air.

Shing!

Atlas yanked at the chain and sent qi through it like it was a channel in his body. The sickle rapidly whipped to the side, cutting into Darian once more.

However, Darian didn't acknowledge the injury in the slightest. He charged forward and slammed his shoulder into Atlas, catching him off guard and pushing him back again.

The two continued to fight. They continued to look for weaknesses in each other's defenses before realizing that it would be better for them to create those weaknesses themselves.

Darian's eyes narrowed into pinpoints. After fighting for over half an hour, he had been able to dissect Atlas' movements to an extent.

Continue your adventure at empire

This man was currently moving passively and stalling for time. He was waiting for his body to heal so he could defeat him without any unexpected variables.

A person like that who was still very slightly withholding their power…

Darian gnashed his teeth. Veins bulged out of his muscles as he powerfully swung his sword once more. Atlas raised his blades to block it as he'd done several times already, but it didn't go the same way as it did before.

Mid-swing, Darian dropped his sword. From an angle that Atlas was least expecting, he struck with a fist instead.

When it made contact, it would leave Atlas with several internal injuries at the very least.

Only, he didn't know that Atlas had been awaiting that very same moment.

When the first struck his side, he released two techniques one after another. It happened so instinctually that he didn't even realize the grand accomplishment he made.

[Burning Heaven Avatar]

[Guriyatra's Life Seed]

The energies of Fire and Wood manifested themselves in such quick succession that it looked like they were used simultaneously.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

And Darian was the one who had to deal with the consequences.