( Max's POV )
" Are you prepared for round 2? " Seraphiel asked as Max looked at the inhuman being and panted, trying to catch his breath.
" Will you mind if I ask for a moment? " Max asked as Seraphiel signalled to him that he may take as much time as he needed, which was a great relief.
A constant barrage of attacks was very taxing to pull off, however, Max had literally stretched himself to the limit by trying to bombard an entire 2D plane covering roughly 1km^2 with high intensity shots.
Even then the damage he was able to inflict on Seraphiel was a mere -5 Health points which was borderline shameful.
Nonetheless, he won round one and after having a few moments to catch his breath he felt ready to fight round2.
" Okay, I'm ready! " Max said as the moment he said these words Seraphiel took a step towards him, however just like the previous instances he magically disappeared this time as well, with the only change being that he did not move laterally this time but rather approached Max directly.
Max's eyes widened in disbelief as the soul vessel behind him began glowing intensely trying to push away the invader, however, in a split second Seraphiel covered a near 300 metre distance to stand neck to neck against Max and brandished his sword with the intention to send Max flying.
[ Buddha's Avatar ]
Max immediately assumed the golden Buddha form and blocked Seraphiel's attack with his bare fist, however the impact sent shock-waves throughout his body.
" Strong- " Max mouthed as he tried to punch Seraphiel with his other hand, however, the mysterious being moved out of his range of vision once more and horrifyingly appeared behind Max, on the other end of the soul vessel.
" Fuck! " Max said as he turned and immediately used [ World Ember ] on Seraphiel, however he had already swung his staff with the intention to break Max's soul vessel by then.
*BOOM*
Max's soul vessel sent out a violent burst of divine energy when Seraphiel's staff came too close to it and knocked the man back as he was forced to escape the area since Max's World Ember had also been triggered.
*KABOOM*
World Ember missed its mark as Seraphiel appeared in his original position once more, 400 metres away as he eyed Max with the gleam of a predator.
Max, who had very nearly lost his life just now understood the dangers of fighting Seraphiel perfectly now-
If in round one Seraphiel was fighting with 40% of his total strength then round 2 was like 75%.
While in round one Seraphiel did not directly approach Max and his strength was still suppressed by the soul vessel, in round 2 he could approach Max and the soul vessel at will.
His movements were mysterious as if he was traversing a fourth dimension that Max could not get a grasp of and hence fighting him or predicting his move was proving to be a challenge for Max.
While in round one, he could still make a far-spread guess based on a rough estimate of his planar movements, with him having the added dimensionality of depth on his side, predicting his movements had become a thousand times more difficult for Max in round two.
Overall, Max felt like he was fucked and that his enemy had the full intention to end his life, however, he did have one ace up his sleeve that might level the odds but he had only one chance to get it right.
Clapping his hands together, Max disabled the Golden Buddha form and began gathering divine essence.
For a moment, Seraphiel turned vigilant as he did not seem to be sure as to what Max was up-to, however, once 5 seconds had passed and Max made no movements, he took the bait and swooped in for the attack once more.
Once again, he came face to face against Max, but this time around instead of dodging Max decided to take Seraphiel's attack head on as he unleashed two moves that he had prepared back to back.
[ Divine Concealment ]
[ Constant Regeneration ]
Seraphiel's staff with its mystical floating orb on top that seemed to have no pointed edge, somehow managed to blast a gaping hole through Max's abdomen, however, Max was not fazed as he looked Seraphiel straight into his void like eyes and smiled with confidence.
" I got you- " Max said as almost as fast as the wound appeared it began closing down as well as Max began preparing a compressed inferno.
To avoid coming into contact with the blast radius at point blank range, Seraphiel tried to move through his fourth dimension skill once more, however unfortunately for him, he hit the pink wall of the divine concealment spell that Max had cast and found himself hopelessly trapped within a 4X4 metres small cubic box.
Seraphiel tried to break the barrier, but to his absolute horror he could not bypass it's restrictions. The barrier was unlike anything he had ever witnessed, it was a paradox that prevented any attempts to break it and even someone like Seraphiel felt helpless against its strength.
[ Inferno ]
Max unleashed an extremely potent compressed inferno spell and Seraphiel welcomed it with open arms.
To be able to cast such an intricate spell was enough proof of Max's competency for Seraphiel and he decided Max to be worthy of proceeding to the third round.
-25,000
Despite having a clear shot, Max was still only able to deal miniscule damage on Seraphiel, but a hit counted as a hit and he was able to clear round 2.
" Victory is mine…. " Max said, as he saw Seraphiel softly clapping for him as if he were genuinely impressed.
" A tier10 concealment spell, well done Max, truly well done " Seraphiel said as he appreciated Max's achievement in being able to cast something so complex.
" I won't go after your life anymore, feel free to go wild in round3 for you have nothing to lose and everything to gain from here on out " Seraphiel said as Max chuckled a dry laugh.
He wasn't going to give up easy, that much was for sure, however, in his heart he knew that his odds of winning round3 were not looking too good.
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