Chapter 1427: Keep Pressing
Nyssara’s face exploded apart.
Half of her head vanished beneath the force of Eccar’s punch. Flesh, blood, and fragments of bone scattered across while the shockwave continued traveling through the world.
A savage grin immediately appeared across Eccar’s face.
But he did not celebrate.
The Earth Dragonborn had already learned enough from watching Aesa’s battle. Nyssara was dangerous precisely because she always had another trick hidden beneath the surface. The moment someone relaxed, she punished them for it.
So Eccar pressed forward.
His next punch arrived before Nyssara’s ruined body could even begin falling backward. Golden and black Earth Magic wrapped around his fist before it slammed into the remaining half of her face.
The impact obliterated it.
More punches followed. Eccar transformed into a relentless storm of destruction. His fists struck Nyssara’s chest, stomach, shoulders, neck, and torso repeatedly. Every impact blasted chunks of flesh apart and tore enormous holes through her body.
Dark crimson blood sprayed across the frozen landscape.
Her body increasingly resembled a mangled corpse rather than a living being. Large portions of flesh vanished beneath the barrage while shattered organs and exposed red muscle became visible through the countless holes covering her frame.
But Eccar did not stop. The ice restraining Nyssara gradually began melting, but Eccar had no intention of allowing her even a second to recover. He would destroy the entire body.
Far away, Erend watched with narrowed eyes. Despite the overwhelming advantage, he remained cautious.
Something felt wrong. Nyssara was taking too much damage.
And then it happened.
Just before Eccar’s next punch could completely destroy what remained of her body, ten dark clones suddenly materialized around him.
They appeared so quickly that even Eccar’s eyes widened slightly.
The clones attacked simultaneously from every direction. Dark swords flashed with those shadowy movements that overlapped.
The clones did not possess enough strength to truly injure him, but that was never their purpose. Their presence disrupted his focus. For a short moment Eccar’s attention shifted away from Nyssara.
That single moment was enough. The ruined body suddenly dissolved into countless black sparks. Nyssara vanished from the spot.
A second later she reappeared several dozen meters away.
Her body remained almost completely destroyed, but she was no longer trapped. Then black sparks began appearing around her wounds. More and more of them emerged and her flesh regenerated, bones reconstructed themselves, and her muscles reformed.
The horrifying injuries gradually disappeared.
Not far away, Aesa observed everything while still recovering from her own wounds.
Her eyes narrowed. Something about Nyssara looked different. The cosmic being’s expression had changed.
The amusement was gone. For the first time, Nyssara looked genuinely angry. And beneath that anger, Aesa thought she saw something else, fear.
The emotion disappeared almost immediately, making Aesa question whether she had imagined it.
Eventually Eccar destroyed the remaining clones.
By the time he finished, Nyssara’s body had already fully regenerated.
The cosmic being slowly turned toward Aesa and smirked.
"You deceived me," she said. "So you weren’t actually dead."
Aesa remained silent.
The pain from that sword still lingered throughout her body. The weapon was undoubtedly dangerous.
But she was a Dragonborn. A single stab wound was not enough to kill her. But she silently acknowledged that she would need to be much more careful moving forward.
Before Nyssara could say anything else, Eccar attacked again.
The Earth Dragonborn slammed his foot against the ground and black earth beneath him erupted violently.
Dozens of enormous spears formed instantly before launching forward one after another.
They crossed the battlefield like oversized arrows moving at impossible speed.
Nyssara raised her black sword.
Dark sparks exploded repeatedly as she intercepted the incoming projectiles.
Erend watched carefully. Then he noticed it. So did Aesa and Eccar.
Nyssara’s movements had slowed. Not by much. But it was enough.
The oath was taking its toll. The wounds were affecting her. She was weakening!
The realization immediately spread through the Dragonborn. Without exchanging words, they reached the same conclusion. They needed to press harder.
Aesa joined the assault.
Massive waves of ice erupted again, blizzards swallowed entire sections of that wasteland. Razor-sharp hail descended from the sky. Glaciers rose beneath Nyssara’s feet and attempted to imprison her repeatedly.
At the same time Eccar continued bombarding her with Earth Magic and relentless physical attacks.
Nyssara appeared genuinely pressured. More clones emerged around her.
The copies rushed forward to intercept the combined assault while Nyssara herself remained behind them.
Her expression tightened. Dark energy surged around her body. She looked as though she were exerting far more effort than before.
Eccar saw it and grinned.
The Dragonborn exploded forward. Golden cracks spread through his arms while Earth Magic wrapped around both of his fists.
In a single instant he tore through the remaining clones and arrived directly in front of Nyssara.
His fist shot forward and the punch landed squarely on her face.
The impact detonated. Nyssara’s body disappeared into the distance.
She flew hundreds of meters across the black earth that exploded beneath her trajectory.
Eccar watched Nyssara’s distant figure. A grin remained on his face as golden and black energy crackled around his body.
"I think we can beat her." Eccar’s voice echoed through the telepathic connection linking the three Dragonborn.
"Don’t let your guard down," Erend immediately replied. His eyes never left the distant dust cloud. "She’s still hiding things."
"Erend is right," Aesa added. "We still can’t predict what that thing will do next. Every time we think we’ve figured her out, she reveals something else."
Eccar clicked his tongue before rolling his shoulders. "Well, alright then. Time to press harder."
"Use long-range attacks first," Aesa said. "Force her to reveal more abilities before you get close again."
"Okay!" Eccar replied.
Without wasting another second, he raised both hands toward the dark sky.
The dead world trembled.
Across several kilometers of wasteland, the black earth began tearing itself free from the ground. Massive chunks of stone and hardened soil rose into the air while countless cracks spread through the landscape beneath him.
The floating debris rushed together as Earth Magic compressed and refined it and formed together until five enormous spheres of black earth hovered above Eccar.
Each of them measured nearly five meters in diameter and radiated tremendous pressure. Golden cracks spread across their surfaces while Dragonborn energy surged through them.
Far away, Nyssara’s silhouette finally emerged from the dust cloud.
Eccar smirked. Then he thrust both hands forward. The five boulders shot through the air.
The atmosphere exploded around them as they accelerated. Sonic booms rolled across the air while the colossal projectiles tore straight toward Nyssara’s location.
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