The battle within the storm raged on, the fury and power of the battle without compare. Daoist Eternal Weapon, Thunderfist, and the Grand Elder fought the Astral Emperor with everything they had, while Raijen continued to thwart the Asura's assault towards John.
The battle between the two titans shook the skies, even space giving way to their ruinous clashes. During their battle, the Asura continued to unleash attacks towards the distant ship, each attack stronger than the last.
Thunderzen watched from atop Raijen's head with narrowed eyes as the Asura battled them, a large, viscous smile on its face. To them, this was a brutal battle for survival, with each exchange bringing them closer to the edge of death. To the Asura, this was nothing but a thrilling hunt.
The fact that the Asura's attacks towards John grew in power each time revealed that fact to Thunderzen. It was testing John, testing his limits. The Asura had no care in the world about them escaping, as if this entire world was its domain. In a way, it was.
Thunderzen glanced over towards his shoulder, towards the ship. Another calamitous explosion blasted through the sky, John having unleashed another attack to block the Asura's attacks. Thunderzen frowned with worry. While John's performance had been beyond their wildest imaginations, even someone as heaven-defying as him had his limits.
Each explosion behind the ship was larger than the last, and the explosions had started to slam against the ship with incredible power, John unable to fully deflect every bit of the attack. Before long, the explosions would reach a level that would destroy the ship, destroying their hope at the same time.
"Almost there, Raijen," Thunderzen sent to his companion through their soul connection. "Stall the Asura for a single minute, and then be ready to flee."
Raijen roared in acknowledgement, although the thought of fleeing hurt its draconic pride. However, there was nothing more it could do. It was flee and survive, or stay and perish. Raijen opened its massive mouth, which glowed brightly from within, a powerful beam of lightning blasting towards the Asura a moment later. The Asura smiled and slashed his sabers towards the attack, enjoying the thrill of battle, the desperate fleeing of his prey.
…
Boom!
A devastating explosion blasted behind the ship, and then slammed into it a moment later. The ship shook violently within the explosive storm, as if it was about to fall apart at any moment. It pierced out of the explosion a moment later, still in one piece, but signs of damage on its hull.
John breathed heavily atop the ship, his firm yet exhausted gaze still locked on the storm which was almost upon them. His body still brimmed with incredible power, his bloodline ability not nearly exhausted yet. However, the seemingly unlimited power from his bloodline ability had one great downfall; the rate at which it damaged his body.
Laia's healing energy had already been exhausted, and damage was starting to accumulate throughout his body once more. The damage and fatigue made John feel as though he were about to collapse at any moment, but he pushed aside the pained exhaustion as best as possible, focusing on his task at hand.
'I still have the orb of vital essence Laia gave me long ago,' he thought through the exhaustion. 'Should I use it? I was planning to save it until I had no other choice but to use it. Has the time for that finally come?'
He debated whether to use the orb to heal his injuries and renew his vitality or not. The orb was something far more profound than the energy Laia had recently given him, and was almost certainly something Laia could not give him often, if ever again. As such, its value was incomparable, and was not something he wanted to waste unless absolutely forced to.
He felt as though he had one more Dragontail Decimation in him before he became spent, unable to fight anymore. If he had to face another attack from the Asura after that, he made up his mind to use the orb at that time.
As he feared, yet expected, another attack pierced out from the storm, directly towards the ship. John's body brimmed with power as he had been holding his Dragontail Decimation the moment the previous attack had been blocked, making him feel like an overinflated balloon about to pop.
His finger pointed towards the approaching attack, and his body exploded with strong lightning Qi.
Dragontail Decimation!
The sky seemed to become filled with a draconic roar as a massive beam of lighting, shaped like a dragon's tail, pierced out of the void before him, blasting towards the Asura's attack. The two attacks collided, the resulting explosion blasting over the ship. John's aura flared with everything he had to resist the explosion, but he was nearly overwhelmed.
His body groaned with pained agony as the explosion blasted against his skin, nearly knocking him off the ship. Using the last ounce of Qi he had, he braced against the explosion, keeping himself firmly rooted to the ship. The ship pierced out of the explosion, damaged even further as if it were about to fall apart at any moment.
John's skin was broken and charred in many places, blood dripping out from wounds formed on his body. He was not able to utilize his Asura Transformation at the same time as his bloodline ability, as he would not have lasted long enough had he done so. Without him using his strongest defensive transformation, the explosions were enough to gravely harm him.
John felt his mind, soul, and body on the verge of collapse. His vision grew hazy, dark, as if he was about to lapse into unconsciousness. He shook his head to remove that feeling, as that would mean sure death. Even still, he felt spent, unable to muster any more strength at all.
'I guess its time to use it,' John thought, the orb appearing in his hand. The Asura had a certain rhythm to his attacks, and the next one would appear in about fifteen seconds. He couldn't afford to wait any longer.
He moved the orb to his mouth, the orb glowing brightly, giving off a vibrant life energy beyond compare. His hand paused as a voice entered his mind.
"You've done well," Lilian's voice sounded in his mind. "We're here!"
