The sound of metal clashing against metal resounded throughout the arena as Mrazivy met Ghazi's ax with her sword. With each strike the two of them made the ground shook and the adamantine stage beneath them crumpled.
Both of them were displaying extraordinary feats of power, but Mrazivy was clearly at a disadvantage.
Though she had been able to keep up with him while her unique skills were in effect, now that they had worn off it was taking her everything she had just to receive Ghazi's blows. Ever slash from his ax caused her hands to go numb and her face had warped into a pained grimace.
"You seem to be much slower now. What happened to the warrior that was dashing around me and attacking with such ferocity? It is as if I am facing a kitten now instead of a tiger."
With a disappointed look on his face, Ghazi used an attack skill that greatly boosted the potency of his swing and blasted Mrazivy back.
Even with all of her strength she had been unable to hold herself up and was sent bouncing off the ground before she smashed into the barrier around the stage. And had she been fighting alone Ghazi's follow up attack likely would have been enough to finish her off.
However, Marcus interposed himself and began unleashing a barrage of mana blasts at Ghazi in order to give Mrazivy the time she needed to recover.
"Hmph! As if attacks like these will stop me."
Barely giving any attention to Marcus' attacks, Ghazi slashed his ax into the air and sent a colossal slash of mana at Marcus that dwarfed the blasts he had been unlashing.
Of course, the attack was also infused with a great deal of spiritual energy that prevented Marcus from simply using his ghostly abilities to avoid it. As the strongest man in the nation of Aezam, Ghazi needed to be able to combat any threat, and that included intangible beings such as ghosts.
'There is no way I can block it.' Marcus thought watching his entire view get consumed by the green light of the mana attack coming for him.
Had he been able to use magic than perhaps he could have used multiple powerful defensive spells to protect himself, but without casting any new spells there was simply no way he could stop this attack.
This left Marcus with only one option, to dodge.
Luckily, in terms of evasion he had plenty of powerful abilities.
Just before that tack reached him Marcus turned into a ball of light and moved far faster than the human eye even enhanced by skills could keep up with.
To all those watching it just seemed that he suddenly disappeared before reappearing elsewhere in a flash of light. Except there was one person that had anticipated Marcus' move.
Certainly, Ghazi could not keep up with Marcus' Light Speed Movement, but it was possible to predict where he would appear after using the unique skill.
To use the unique skill Marcus first needed to pick a location within his line of sight and choose it as his destination before transforming his form into pure light. His body may have been able to move at the speed of light, but his mind was not able to think anywhere close to as fast. It was possible to watch his eyes and figure out his destination before he initiated the skill and move to intercept him. Which is exactly what Ghazi had done.
'Damn it.'
Marcus braced himself to be cut in half by Ghazi's horizontal swing that was aimed at his waste, but the attack never reached him.
Right before Ghazi's ax cut him in two, Mrazivy' jumped in and blocked him with her sword. Yet unlike last time she was not knocked back and actually pushed Ghazi away.
Currently Mrazivy was clad in a dark blue aura and unlashing an unbelievable amount of power thanks to her Supreme Skill that she had just used.
"Mraz stop! You are not going to last if you keep it activated!" Marcus said, noticing how fast Mrazivy's energy was draining.
Her Supreme Skill Strongest Dragon gave her immense power temporarily, but at the cost of draining her mana and spiritual energy at an alarming rate. The more strength she summoned the faster she would run out.
"Sorry, I would not have been able to make it in time or push him back if I did not use it there."
Mrazivy began to breathe heavily the moment she dispelled her Supreme Skill. Even just using it for that brief moment had cost her a great deal of energy since she had used it at nearly full power. Especially since she was not yet fully competent with the skill, having received it not long ago.
"Here, you cannot continue fighting like that." Marcus said, enveloping Mrazivy in a silver light.
In an instant she was back up to full power thanks to Marcus' Ultimate Refresh.
"It looks like you two are not as worn out as I thought. That last his was really something. I can't remember the last time I was hit that hard" Ghazi said, a jovial smile on his face.
Nevertheless, despite complementing Mrazivy's attack, he did not look much worse for wear.
There were several viable bruises on his body, but they were fading fast thanks to his regeneration skill. If he had taken any serious damage, it had already recovered in the time that Marcus was recovering Mrazivy.
'I don't think a war of attrition like we wanted is going to work. We can't stop him with half measures while waiting for you to steal the rest of his mana.' Mrazivy said using telepathy.
Sadly, it was just as she had pointed out. Marcus had been hoping to exhaust all of Ghazi's mana and beat him once he was unable to use several of his skills. But the strongest warrior in Aezam was not easy to stop, and each of his attacks threatened to take one of them out.
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