The air in front of them shimmered, warping as the illusion faded with a cadence as though reality itself were being torn apart.
From the distortions Lassim’s spiritual sense caught a figure cloaked in shifting shadows and emerald light.
Nalzerak, the Kharthi Abyssal assassin, stood tall and menacing, his angular, inhuman jawline features stretched upward into a twisted grin. His emerald eyes glowed with an unnatural intensity, the mirage-like distortion around his body making it difficult for Lassim to pinpoint his approach.
Catching sight of the attacker happened in a fraction of a second before Nalzerak’s mirage-like form flickered again, and then he was in motion. His claws slashed through the air faster than Lassim could track, forcing him to put as much power into [Lifestream Aegis] as he could.
A barrier of translucent, swirling energy enveloped his body, and Lassim barely managed to deflect the strike with his halberd, though the force sent him skidding backward. The constellation of the great Leviathan above his head seemed to roar in rage as it flew through the air backwards with Lassim. The ground beneath his body cracked and shattered under the impact.
There was a giant hole above Lassim’s right lung, near the collarbone, which was pouring blood into the clumps of dirt and grass that nearly buried Lassim. The [Lifestream Aegis] went to work instantly, ebbing and flowing like a stream to quickly triage the wound.
Nalzerak chuckled with a strange and eerie voice in the Nexarian common tongue, though the accent was awkward, "Quick reflexes," he said. "But let’s see how long you can last."
The oppressive weight of Nalzerak’s spiritual pressure bore down on the plains even more heavily, making breathing feel like a struggle.
Without warning, the assassin moved again. He crossed the distance in a blur, his claws glowing with a sickly green energy as they slashed toward Lassim’s throat.
Lassim barely managed to react, activating [Tempest Steps] to propel himself backward. The strike missed his neck by a hair, grazing his chest instead.
Even the light contact sent a burning sensation through his body as the green energy left a jagged gash that [Lifestream Aegis] struggled to close.
Nalzerak didn’t let up, pressing forward with relentless speed that shifted in and out of the odd mirage-like camouflage. Each strike of his claws came faster than the last, forcing Lassim to parry and dodge in a desperate attempt to keep up.
Sparks flew as the halberd met the assassin’s claws, the impacts creating shockwaves and explosions of mana reacting negatively against the corrupted abyssal energy that scorched the ground around them.
Despite his best efforts, Lassim couldn’t avoid even a handful of the attacks. His opponent was just too powerful. A cut from the assassin’s claws to his thigh nearly sent him to the ground, and a deep cut on his left shoulder and bicep left him momentarily disoriented as it was accompanied by a large amount of whatever the green energy that flowed through the assassin’s claws. It had this odd dizzying effect that made his mind ache in a way he’d never experienced before.
Rlyis and Eno didn’t sit idly by in the few seconds since the attack began, springing into action, launching coordinated attacks to give Lassim some breathing room.
Rlyis activated a series of advanced, pre-made lightning traps that she threw towards the Abyssal assassin from her tool belt, bolts of energy crackling through the air as they arced through the air. Eno followed up with a barrage of razor-sharp metal shard tools as he waved his hand, his elemental aura flaring as he powered them forward into deadly projectiles.
Nalzerak sneered, his movements impossibly fluid and illusory as he dodged and deflected their attacks. The green energy around him pulsed, forming a barrier that dissolved the metal shards and redirected the lightning bolts harmlessly into the ground.
With a flick of his claws, he sent a wave of emerald energy toward Rlyis and Eno. The attack hit them before they could react, the green tendrils of energy latching onto their bodies in a way that hadn’t happened to Lassim, digging deep into their chests like parasitic worms. It was like they had no barrier against the attack compared to him.
Rlyis let out a strangled cry, her body convulsing as the energy spread through her mana pathways. Eno staggered, clutching his chest as blood spilled from his mouth. Both collapsed to the ground, their faces pale and their breaths shallow. Lassim turned toward them, his heart pounding as he saw the extent of their injuries.
"Rlyis! Eno!" he shouted, his voice filled with panic. He started toward them, hopefully to see if his [Lifestream Aegis] could help, but Nalzerak appeared in his path, his twisted grin widening.
"They’re finished," the assassin said, his voice dripping with mockery. "My soul corruption is already spreading through their bodies. They won’t last long. And you…" His emerald claws glowed brighter. "You’ll join them soon. You’ve brought too much attention to yourself, mortal with the twin parasites."
Nalzerak lunged again, his claws aimed directly at Lassim’s heart. Lassim could react on instinct, his halberd sweeping upward in a hasty defensive arc. The weapons clashed, the force of the impact sending a shockwave through the air. Lassim staggered under the pressure but managed to hold his ground.
The green energy around Nalzerak’s claws surged as he gripped Lassim’s halberd too. The energy wrapped around Lassim’s handle like vines and Lassim felt a deep burning where it touched and in a deep part of his core. It was an excruciating pain, the likes he’d never experienced before, as it attempted to seep into Lassim’s mana pathways too.
But as the energy reached the core of his pathways, it met resistance. The Lightning Fish that inhabited Lassim’s newly fused mana and system instinctively swarmed to intercept the invader, their intent-filled forms devouring the corrupted energy before it could take root.
Lassim grit his teeth, sweat pouring down his face as he fought to maintain control. The effort of fighting both externally and internally was overwhelming, and the strain was beginning to show.
Nalzerak’s eyes narrowed as he sensed the resistance. "Interesting," he murmured. "You are… quite unusual, aren’t you. You really need to die."
Lassim used the brief pause caused by the assassin’s talking to wrench his halberd free from Nalzerak’s grip with a shove, but the assassin moved with terrifying speed in response, his form blurring as he closed the gap once more.
The air around them twisted and churned as the Spirit Mystic-level abyssal demon’s movements became even more ferocious. Each swipe of his claws left trails of emerald-green energy, the corrupted tendrils slicing through the air like razor-sharp blades. The sheer force of his strikes sent shockwaves rippling outward, cratering the ground with every swing.
Lassim pivoted once more on instinct, his halberd spinning in a defensive arc that barely intercepted Nalzerak’s next attack. The impact jarred his arms enough that he felt the bones in his forearms nearly crack and shatter, the force driving him back several feet as sparks of his own odd fused lightning, water and space mana interacted violently with the streaks of green, corrupted abyssal energy that vibrated the space violently between the two.
His [Lifestream Aegis] stabilized his arms for him to seize the opportunity to attack to which Lassim channeled his mana into a full powered [Slash], the halberd glowing with brilliant light as he swung it in a wide, downward motion. A spiraling vortex of his fused mana erupted from the blade, tearing through the battlefield in a tempest of destruction.
The vortex roared toward Nalzerak, its chaotic energy carving deep gouges into the ground as the embedded lightning fish with their squid-like tentacle rears darted within it. Their jagged charges amplifying the storm’s intensity as they swam within the vortex. The ground and tall grass in its path were torn apart, their fragments disintegrating in the vortex’s turbulent grasp.
The air shimmered with residual lightning arcs, their crackling trails leaving faint, glowing fissures in their wake and a glittery substance, like the weave of space, was slicing and dicing, making the vortex even more terrifying.
Nalzerak evaded the vortex with an inhuman twist of his body, his mirage-like form flickering as he blurred out of its path. The ground where he had stood was obliterated, a gaping crater surrounded by blackened scorch marks and huge chunks of the ground just seemingly vaporized into nothingness.
Before the vortex could dissipate, Nalzerak turned its remnants against Lassim, raising a claw wreathed in green light. The corrupted energy coalesced into a jagged, semi-solid barrier that absorbed the last of the vortex’s force before exploding outward in a volley of sharp, crystalline-like shards.
Lassim barely managed to leap aside as the shards rained down around him, each one gouging into the earth with enough force to send debris flying. A few grazed his enchanted personal disciple grade Sect material attire, the corrupted energy hissing as it attempted to burrow into his mana pathways. He gritted his teeth as the lightning fish in his pathways surged to repel the intrusion once more, their protective efforts taxing his reserves further.
Reeling from the counterattack, Lassim shifted his grip and prepared a [Slam], channeling his fused mana into the strike. The halberd’s shaft pulsed with energy as he raised it high, the glow intensifying into a concentrated mass of power.
As he brought the weapon down, the mana and a swarm of the lightning fish coalesced into a massive version of the fish that weighed down the halberd as it surged forward with feral intent. Lassim did his best to lock on where the assassin was and then the halberd struck the ground with a resounding crash. The fish’s jagged jaws snapping shut as they tore are huge chunk into the earth and even space itself.
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The attack was devastating.
A shockwave rippled outward, fissuring the ground and sending chunks of rock and soil flying in every direction. The fish seemed to bite through reality itself, its condensed energy leaving glowing, jagged scars in its wake.
Sadly, the demon evaded again, his form flickering as the fish’s energy narrowly missed him. However, the force of the attack left him momentarily unbalanced, forcing him to land and stabilize himself amidst the rubble.
Lassim pressed the advantage, pivoting mid-strike to launch a follow-up [Thrust]. The halberd’s tip crackled with energy as hundreds of lightning fish splintered off, their glowing forms darting toward Nalzerak like a predatory swarm.
The fish moved with clear focus and uncanny precision, weaving towards their target, homing in on the assassin’s form from multiple angles.
Nalzerak twisted and turned, his mirage-like body blurring as he dodged the majority of the strikes.
Yet for the first time, a few of the fish truly connected and caused actual damage to the demon, their sharp charges exploding on impact and leaving deep gashes across his shifting form.
Dark, thick, ichor-like blood dripped from the wounds, sizzling against the corrupted ground. The fish’s trails left glowing, crackling scars in the air and space, their aftershocks causing smaller detonations that littered the field with crater-like marks.
But Nalzerak was a relentless Spirit Mystic stage abyssal demon.
As the last of the fish dissipated, he retaliated with a sweeping strike of his claws, the green energy condensing into a new form of whip-like tendrils that lashed out toward Lassim. Each tendril carved through the air with horrifying speed, and the abyssal energy seemed so at odds with the reality of this dimension that they left faint, jagged distortions in their wake.
One of the tendrils struck Lassim squarely across the waist, the impact tearing through his armor and sending him sprawling. Blood sprayed from the wound that threatened to slice his body in half, the crimson streaking down his body as he struggled to maintain his grip on the halberd.
[Lifestream Aegis] flared to life once more, its light surrounding him as the wound began to close. Yet the process was agonizingly slow this time, the corrupted energy within the tendril fighting against the regeneration. The toll of constant healing was beginning to weigh on Lassim, his breathing ragged as his mana reserves dwindled. He estimated they’d only been fighting for not even 10 minutes.
This would be an amazing feat if anyone else could witness it, but currently it was only Lassim and the abyssal demon currently conscious and the construct had gone dormant with the lack of anyone to control it at the start of the fight. Rylis was unable to get out any orders to it before she and Eno were taken out.
Nalzerak’s next attack came without pause.