Seth had thought up a lot of solutions for possible scenarios, but that his spinal cord would be injured hadn't really crossed his mind, and despite Zuroc being the enemy he had to applaud the man for his smart thinking.
Were one of his hands to have been severed, Seth figured he could ride through the pain and use his other hand to attack, and as for the chance of both his hand being cut, well that was almost impossible.
As far as Seth knew, the ritual needed someone alive, and unless Zuroc was a dummy which he had proved he wasn't, then severing both of Seth's arms would only end up killing him.
With the amount of blood, Seth had lost from his injuries, cutting both his arms should only cause a near-instantaneous death, and so Seth was quite sure Zuroc wouldn't take that option.
Though on the slight chance that the man did, Seth figured he could always try using his mouth to attack, a shudder running through his body as he imagined how badly such an action will end for him.
As for the severing of his legs, Seth pushed aside such though, as they spelled for him doom in almost every angle.
With all these anticipations in mind, Seth had been quite surprised when his back got pierced through and he realized he had lost control of his legs.
To other cultivators, such an injury would be gruesome and though could heal from his attack, the problem of healing time cropped in.
Flesh he could heal even within seconds deepening on the size of the injuries, but for bones, minutes were involved, and if Seth wanted to surprise or catch Zuroc off-guard, then his movement speed was his priority.
Unfortunately for Seth, "Man proposed while circumstance disposed" he could only suck up his ill luck and try to make the best of the situation.
Try as he might, Seth couldn't stop his body from trembling when his spinal cord was attacked, as his nerves all went haywire and began doing their own thing refusing to listen to their owner.
When his body finally calmed down and went into a short shock, Seth waited for his opponent to come to him, and when he felt a slight fluctuation of Qi from Zuroc, Seth sprang into action.
Flooding his injured spinal cord with qi, Seth set in on the course for healing while he used his still functioning arms to turn his body around, ready to raise his right hand and blast off a finger on it if he needed to.
Like the genius or experience expert he was, Seth watched as Zuroc immediately kicked the ground and flapped his wings, wishing to fly away from Seth while also charging up his sword which was at the ready.
With this performance, Zuroc made things very difficult for Seth, but refusing to let the man go and allow his earlier suffering to be in vain, Seth decided to sacrifice the fingers of both hands, that way he could increase the chances of one of his beams hitting the Zuroc dead in the head and ending his life.
This was Seth's plan but just as he screamed within his mind and pushed himself to turn around and face Zuroc, he felt an energy blossom from within him, the energy was very minute yet powerful, and in a flash went to heal his spinal cord and then disappeared
The feeling was clear but dreamy as he had only felt it after it had done its work and disappeared.
"was that my origin energy," Seth thought in shock.
While this short event fascinated and shocked him, Seth could only forget about it for now and push his now functioning leg to their feet, canceling his initial plan as with a burst of qi he initiated shadow dash and a second later, shadow walk.
Not thinking he would be lucky as last time, Seth was ready for his body to be drowned by a world of pain, yet other than a slight and short intense headache, his body went back to normal and with determination, his right hand shot out and grabbed Zuroc's left hand before the shocked man could react.
After almost seemingly pushing Seth to the edge of desperation and almost sending him to the underworld, the last thing Zuroc had expected was for Seth to be able to fly.
Immediately he had felt Seth's qi spike, Zuroc had taken to the air, and it wasn't because he was being cautious, No, it was because he felt a sort of power within Seth that scared him, and in the heat of the situation, decided to take a safer path.
With every fiber of his being, Zuroc had sent himself into the air, his sword at the ready for any surprises which Seth might unleash, yet he's readiness had been in vain, because before his very eyes, he watched Seth's figure turn into a dark blur, and then nest thing he knew the man was right in front of him, his right hand firmly clamped on his right hand.
Suddenly having to fly with an extra weight put Zuroc off balance, and before he could go about fixing this, a powerful punch landed on his face, completely destabilizing him and sending him falling from the sky, his sword leaving his grip.
That he was falling from the sky didn't worry Zuroc, what worried him at the moment west was the hand that remained firmly clamped onto his even as they fell.
He looked to the owner of the hand, and the sinister grin which adorned Seth's face told him that he might actually die here today.
With a short 'boom" but combatants fell to the ground, both landing on their feet and without fail they both entered into another round of combat, one that involved only their legs and one of their hands.
Having nearly tasted death, Seth's hand gripped Zuroc's left wrist like it was a lifeline which it was, because should Zuroc have a chance to freely go into the air one more time, it will be the end of him.
Their eyes firmly on each other, they both threw a punch at each other, and it was only when their fists were about to hit that Zuroc understood his mistake, but by then it was already too late.
A second later, Zuroc's fears were proven as a headache-inducing punch slammed into his jaw, throwing his body off its feet and into the air, but in the end, Zuroc didn't have to worry about flying off and hitting an object as Seth's grip on him kept him in place.
By the time the momentum from the punch had died out, Zuroc fell to his knees, and a few seconds later he wobbly stood up, blood flowing from the corner of his eyes, and with red angry eyes looked at his opponent, only for Seth's smiling face to come into view.
"Ready to go again," Seth asked, not even looking like he had been punched.
New novel chapters are published on fr(e)ewebnov(e)l.com