Chapter 44 - And Yet I fell.
Kai stared within his body.
The bloodline cores, spheres made of connected hexagons, glowed far brighter than before. His mana vines were now truly visible. His mana had become purer and more powerful, while his bloodline essence flowed unbridled at a level he had only ever seen from Ray.
Kai released a guttural roar.
The veil around him dispersed.
Kai's aura truly manifested.
A mixture of gold and crimson descended upon the entire arena.
[Aura of Sanctity: When activated, you lose 5 points in Intelligence for an aura that surrounds you. This aura absorbs anything magical thrown at it while physical attacks pass through. Anything absorbed enhances random aspects of you and refills your mana pool.] (15,000 mana per minute)
Ray jumped back in surprise as he raised both hands, sending two more spheres of the same power toward Kai.
The aura only grew stronger.
Much stronger.
Kai grinned as he opened his mouth and mentally said,
[War Cry of Mana]
[War Cry of Mana Level 1: Release a guttural war cry, causing mana to favor you and flock toward you, creating an impregnable wall of mana around your body. If any skill is fired at this wall, it is absorbed and turned into mana, increasing your mana cap if you already have full mana, while also improving all of your skills by nearly twice.]
Kai had nearly forgotten this skill.
Now was the perfect time to use it.
As he watched Ray fire fifteen more spheres of destructive energy, each one stronger than the last, Kai realized that with both skills working together, his body was about to gain something insane.
Kai grinned, his eyes wide.
He laughed manically at the incoming attacks.
The people outside were stunned.
First, the veil had appeared, then came the sounds of an intense battle.
Now the veil had disappeared, revealing a powerful, overbearing aura erupting from Kai and causing the weaker spectators to collapse unconscious.
Kai said,
"I was a shadow."
"Now I am the flame."
"Funny, isn't it."
Kai raised his hand.
A sword appeared within it.
He poured twenty-five thousand mana into the weapon.
[15,000/30,000]
Kai coughed up blood from the backlash.
Honestly, he was surprised he was even standing.
With the amount of mana entering and leaving his body, he should have suffered a far greater backlash.
It might have been because of Overcharge.
Kai said coldly, "Die."
From the tip of the shortsword, an enormous amount of mana condensed together before transforming into a crackling beam mixed with a bolt of lightning.
Even the system didn't have a name for it.
[You have created a new mana based attack.]
[Name it.]
Kai laughed as he silently muttered, "Beam Bolt? Bolt Beam? Ahh... who cares. I'll do that later."
[Would you like to name it 'Beam Bolt? Bolt Beam? Ahh... who cares. I'll do that later'?]
Kai blushed, "What? No!"
The backlash suddenly hit him like a truck, snapping him back to reality.
The massive mana beam shot straight toward Ray.
Ray released every last bit of his bloodline aura along with the remainder of his mana.
Thousands of barriers appeared before him.
One after another, they shattered.
Elder Huan slowly stood up and sighed.
"Should have just told me what you could do."
Kai suddenly felt a sharp gaze fall upon his back.
He knew immediately it belonged to Elder Huan.
Kai watched as Elder Huan somehow appeared between the beam and Ray.
With a casual swipe of his hand, he batted the attack away as though it were nothing more than a fly.
Kai nearly coughed up even more blood from the sheer absurdity of it.
Mentally, he screamed, "JUST HOW STRONG IS THIS MONSTER?!"
Kai braced himself before suddenly remembering.
Those were his attacks to begin with.
He raised both hands and grinned.
Using [True Mana Manipulation], he bent the beam through the air.
It curved magnificently before turning back toward Ray from behind.
Elder Huan sighed.
He clapped his hands.
A pulse of powerful mana burst outward, mixed with something Kai didn't recognize aswell as Bloodline essence.
And another mysterious energy.
All three blended together.
Kai recognized that unknown energy instantly.
It was the same energy he had sensed while Overcharging.
This time, however, the beam completely dispersed.
Kai didn't hesitate.
He seized control of the remaining energy and absorbed it back into his body, refilling his mana once more.
Suddenly, Kai lost his balance.
Using God Eyes, he looked at himself.
Blood trickled from his nose.
More flowed from his ears.
His body swayed from side to side.
Before Kai suddenly fell unconscious.
The last thing he saw...
Was Ray collapsing as well.