Chapter 160 – Conquest
The arena wasn’t usually filled with blood.
Demons, in comparison to humans, don’t cut as easily, adding to the fact that most demons used their bodies as weapons, which usually were kicks and punches; blunt attacks were the way to go. Not to say there wasn’t any slicing or dicing, but usually a demon would be knocked out or hit in the stomach so hard they couldn’t get up.
So today, there was a new record reached on the amount of blood spilled in the crater.
The blood hooks flew around chaotically, striking from various angles. If the blade even broke in the slightest, more blood flowed and rebuilt it.
Anlesa was fighting more up close, dashing in and out, punching, and then sliding around to hit from the other side, all while the hooks attacked from different angles. Her shield was stuck to her wrist with blood straps as support.
Alraius laughed. “It looks like you are still holding back.”
“Sometimes one has to balance the pros and cons.”
Alraius threw both his arms out, and the sudden explosion of pressure shot out. Pushing Anlesa back for a moment and sending Hohra’s body flying.
Anlesa immediately charged back in; by now thick gauntlets of blood had covered both her arms and had spread out slowly, covering her body in armour, but she was still also bleeding from her mouth, and the blood from that was being used to create plating on the face, but something about it coming from that location seemed less intentional.
Alraius vanished and instantly reappeared beside Anlesa and sent a chop right down her back.
The blood on her back shot up moments before contact as a mini barrier. His attack still smashed through it and knocked Anlesa onto his foot, where he proceeded to kick her like a ball.
But one of the hooks finally stabbed into Alraius' leg.
As she was sent flying, she bounced back and reoriented herself. Blood covered her sword and stretched further beyond the blade’s original size.
“Tricky one.”
The blood hook broke, but Anlesa already had the momentum. She slammed down her blade, and Alraius teleported again, but Anlesa predicted where he would move to and sent a kick towards his face.
Crack
The boot of blood cracked, but so did Alraius’s neck.
“Argha!” Once again, a wave of pressure sent Anlesa back.
“That’s annoying, don’t you know.”
“It’s meant to be, and now, how about you? Getting attacked from three different angles can be tricky to handle.”
“If I must say, my hooks only managed to cut you once.”
“And it hurts.”
Anlesa replied, “Despite that, you are standing quite fine, so I don’t perceive what the problem is.”
“I’m a tough one, and now how about you?”
“Repeat that phrase again? Not very creative.” Anlesa taunted with a quick shrug.
He asked, “Do you want to keep something hidden?”
Alraius wasn’t blind to notice ‘Syrus’ fighting style had shifted. She was much more aggressive and brutal with her strikes, but at the same time, still as equally precise. However, she had completely stopped using her flames for one, and before she had seemed to be ready to utilise something, but that had appeared to no longer be the case. Alraius had seen many unique abilities and combinations of powers, and by living in a place where fighting was common for such a long time, his instinct and sight made him curious.
Anlesa replied, “No, I just know best what my body can handle.”
“Such a shame then; I would’ve liked to fight you at your best.”
Anlesa politely smiled, “Please, only say that after your victory has been assured.”
“Then I should step it up a notch.” He then roared like a tiger, and his marble-like upper half shone and then cracked. Suddenly, spikes grew from his body, his lower body’s fur spiked out, and his demon horn grew slightly longer.
Anlesa paused. “I’m going to ask, how many attributes do you have? I am guessing between two and three.”
“Heh, I’m not going to give that information away.”
Anlesa chuckled back, “Fair.”
Their quick back-and-forth ended, and it was back to their brawl. Alraius' movement became faster, and strikes became more dangerous. After one hit on her armour, Anlesa immediately decided dodging was the priority. If that wasn’t bad enough, his skin on the upper and lower halves of the body became even tougher.
The number of demons remaining in the crater had dropped to the single digits, but none of the others had interfered with the clash in the centre.
Alraius grabbed and snapped one of the wires, which made Anlesa decrease the range on the second one.
Anlesa moved the shield back to her hand in a quick motion to deflect a blow, then, using the momentum, she slid under him and stabbed him in the back.
“Argh!” He didn’t do his vanishing act, which he hadn’t done at all since his transformation. Anlesa couldn’t figure out if it was some limitation he decided to put on himself or if he couldn’t use it anymore.
He slammed backwards, which Anlesa barely dodged, not expecting that choice of retaliation.
Then he spun on his feet, and his fist went straight for Anlesa's face.
Bang
His fist collided with the shield, and massive cracks began forming on it.
Anlesa said, “You are more flexible than your figure would make you out to be.”
Alraius smiles as he spins his body back to an upright position. “Always have to be in top shape.”
“Yeah… it is nice to be like that.” Anlesa's smile soured, and she jumped in for her next attack.
Another quick back and forth of dodges, parries, and punches to the gut occurred, with Anlesa mostly on the losing streak. For every three hits she managed, Alraius would manage one strike that she either parried or blocked, but his attacks were far more effective than hers.
Then, her blade shattered, and the shards of blood and metal stayed in shape as she forced the weapon into form as she brought it down on the man’s arm.
“Argh!” Alraius groaned as he supported his right arm with the left.
Then he slammed his head down right into Anlesa’s arm and kicked her so hard she nearly reached the edge of the arena.
Anlesa's body was worn down, and the blood flowing out from her body had slowed, and the wounds that were allowing the flow had healed.
“You still have determination in your eyes,” Alraius said. For the first time today, he had left the centre of the arena and walked to Anlesa.
She slowly stood up. “Well, you will never know when it's your last day.”
Alraius walked closer again, but Anlesa did not immediately react as he simply walked casually over. Then he stopped.
“I declare this human defeated!” Alraius shouted, and not a single demon complained.
Confused about what was happening, Anlesa was about to reply, but Alraius patted Anlesa on the shoulder, “Sit down, you have bled enough.” He walked her back towards the centre.
“Fair enough.” She took a few steps back to not be in the way of the remaining fights, and before her legs started to wobble, she sat and lay on the ground.
For some, even if she hadn’t lost yet, Anlesa knew she was done. It was hard to maintain their current state, and if she didn’t stop now, she would only collapse soon after, creating a worse situation for her.
Her mind faded slightly. The rest of the demons brawled it out; some of the remaining figured they had a chance since Alraius’ intense fight, but he didn’t hold back and finished the rest of the demons quickly.
Once that was done, cheers erupted from the mountain, and the crystal in the centre lit up, engulfing Alraius, and then its light spread to everyone within the crater. Anlesa’s body welcomed the light, and they felt the injuries sustained in this fight were healing, and beyond that, further issues were finally having a chance to properly recover.
“This feels nice…”
“Now, please, may I stop existing...”
The physical damage healed, and with that, a click, Anlesa’s body froze as if it was dead for a moment and–
[Arghhh!] Syrus nearly rolled over, ready to vomit, but their stomach was already empty.
[.......] Luna tried to focus on her own distorted memories, but it only brought pain.
While Eva couldn’t be heard, as her mind had completely crashed out and was resting in the Soul Space.
While benefits were certainly had, there was a cost that none of them wanted.