The battle raged on within the storm, as attacks of incomparable power blasted out each second.
As Thunderzen and the others battled for their lives, not a single one of them was uninjured, with Raijen suffering most of the wounds. Massive wounds covered many parts of its body, and one of its claws was mangled to the point that it could no longer be used. Thunderzen felt his heart pained as he saw his companion injured to such an extent, but could do nothing about it.
Raijen still fought with furious intensity, as if the wounds covering its body only strengthened its resolve and power. It unleashed beams of horrifying lightning towards the Asura, forcing it backwards whenever it tried to surge past them.
After an exchange between the two, Thunderzen drew in lightning from himself as well as the storm above, and infused it into Raijen. After doing so, he glanced behind him, towards the Alliance leader, who was still standing on Raijen's back, his mind focused on the storm and the sacrificial formation art he was using.
The Alliance leader, once brimming with vitality despite his old age, now looked like a desiccated husk. His flesh had diminished, his skin sunken down to wrap around his bones. He looked more like a walking skeleton than a living human, but despite all that, the incomparable power surging from the Alliance leader continued to flow outwards, powering Thunderzen and Raijen to levels they would have never been capable of on their own, and also continued to restrict the Asura's movements, making it so that its speed was just barely manageable to keep up with.
Thunderzen shifted his gaze into the distance through the storm, where the others fought the Astral Emperor to a stalemate. There he saw the Grand Elder, who looked no better off than the Alliance leader, his life force soon running to an end as well.
Thunderzen's gaze suddenly trembled, and he turned to peer into the distance. He instantly spotted the ship John and Lilian were fleeing in, and his heart sank.
'Not enough! We still haven't bought enough time!' he roared within himself. While they could stop the Asura from reaching the ship, if the Asura started to attack the distant ship as well as them, they would not be able to stop every attack that it unleashed towards the ship.
If that happened, everything was lost!
With this in mind, Thunderzen fought with furious intensity, no longer worrying about playing the defensive. Raijen did so as well, the battle climbing to new heights. The Asura welcomed the challenge with a snarling grin, its attacks unrelenting, its might unstoppable.
Raijen and Thunderzen fought with everything they had, but eventually that was not enough. After two of its sabers blasted against Raijen's claw, knocking it backwards, its two other sabers slashed outwards, sending an attack piercing into the distance.
"Raijen!" Thunderzen called out, pointing towards the attack.
Raijen roared and unleashed a beam of ruinous lighting, which slammed into the side of the saber image piercing towards the distant ship. The attacks collided and exploded with ruinous power, the explosion fading shortly afterwards.
Thunderzen felt despair flood his body as he watched the attack pierce out from the storm towards the distant ship. Raijen's attack and the storm itself had weakened the Asura's attack, but it was still far too strong for either John or Lilian to resist, and with the ship focusing on speed above all else, there was no hope in stopping the attack from destroying it.
Even if the ship fled into the spatial chaos, the Asura's attacks would reach it. The ship only skimmed the spatial void to move forward faster, but was still part of this world. An attack as powerful as the Asura's pierced through the spatial barrier easily. There was no escape from it.
Had she been free to attack back, Lilian might have been able to defend against the attack, but she could not stop the ship for even a second, or the storm would catch up, and everything would be lost.
"We've lost!" Thunderzen mumbled, his mind dazed. After everything they had done, everything they had sacrificed, it had still not been enough.
The Asura sneered at the ship, and then turned to Thunderzen, its maw widening with the most sickening smile Thunderzen had ever seen.
"This was fun," it said, its voice deep and rumbling like the storm all around them, "but your futile struggle was not enough to stop me! It's time to feast!"
Boom!
An explosion of power blasted out in the distance, causing everyone, the Asura included, to stare at the sudden source of power that had appeared. The power climbed upwards like a raging bonfire piercing towards the heavens, its might growing by the second. The raging bonfire of power continued to climb upwards in strength, eventually stopping just below the level needed to join the battle within the storm.
"The ship?" Thunderzen mumbled questioningly.
If Lilian had used the remaining spirit crystals to power the ships offensive and defensive capabilities to the maximum, it would be capable of resisting this one attack. But that was useless, as then the ship would not be able to flee, leaving the Asura to reach them in an instant.
"No," Thunderzen shook his head, "Lilian wouldn't do something so stupid. Then what?"
Thunderzen took a moment to study the aura of the power, his face of grief and regret replaced with a smile. He watched as a stunning attack blasted out from the ship towards the oncoming attack, the attack flickering brightly with the ruinous power of lighting.
Boom!
The attacks blasted into each other a hundred miles behind the ship, enveloping the sky and ocean with a calamitous explosion. Space shattered, and the ocean beneath evaporated for hundreds of miles, sending blasts of steam and mist in all directions. The steam parted from the force of the explosion, revealing nothing at all on the other side.
Thunderzen held his breath as he stared forward, each second seeming to be a lifetime. And then a flash of light appeared, followed by a ship piercing out from the void of space a distance away. Thunderzen smiled and shook his head at himself, his spirits reignited.
"Just how many surprises can one youth be capable of?" Thunderzen muttered to himself with relief.
Raijen roared triumphantly and then unleashed another beam of lightning towards the frowning Asura, their calamitous battle resuming within the storm.
