Beneath the skies that bled with dark crimson light, the atmosphere around Asher and the Moon Guardian was ever-increasing with tension.
"Do you want to know who among them is going to die for you first? I have already seen it," Lupus's words, laced with ominous foresight, hung in the air like a guillotine's blade.
Asher, his resolve tested by the chilling prophecy, felt a tremor of fear but quickly steeled his mind, "Your mind games won't work with me!" he declared, his voice a defiant roar against the tide of dread Lupus sought to instill.
With a burst of determination, Asher lunged, his right fist aimed with all the fury and hope he could muster. He had barely any mana left after taking down all those draconians and wanted to save the last few wisps of mana for the desperate situation where he might have to enter his Damned Dimension to escape.
His stats also suffered from the backlash of using Ghoroq's power.
Yet, Lupus, embodying an immovable force, caught Asher's fist with an ease that belied the gap between their strengths while his other hand was still behind his back.
Asher's eyes widened in disbelief as his assault was halted by a mere gesture, Lupus's hand seemingly an unmoving mountain.
Undeterred, Asher launched another attack with his free hand, a desperate bid to break through Lupus's defenses. Yet, again, Lupus intercepted the blow with a casual grace, his other hand capturing Asher's fist with the same effortless dominance.
Asher was taken aback by the lightning speed at which Lupus reacted. His reaction speed would make Drakar seem like a snail.
"Your bones might have evolved in strength, but you still lack speed. If I wanted, you would have died so many times over," Lupus commented, his voice calm and deep, a stark contrast to the fire raging within Asher.
Asher grimaced, feeling the pressure of Lupus's grip. To his astonishment, his bones weren't even creaking when before they would have easily been crushed.
But despite the immense strength of his evolved bones, they were not the advantage he had hoped for against the Moon Guardian, and he knew Lupus wasn't wrong.
The realization that Lupus' speed vastly outmatched his own was a bitter acknowledgment of the daunting gap between their capabilities.
He was far too slow against someone like Lupus.
He knew Moonbinders were the fastest beings in this realm because they were empowered by the power of lightning. So, one could only imagine how fast the strongest man in this realm could be.
Still, despite knowing that he was fighting a 500-year-old monster, Asher refused to give up to make sure Rowena and the others could get back safely.
With a last-ditch effort, he aimed a kick at Lupus's stomach, hoping to find an opening in Lupus' defenses. But Lupus, swift as the lightning that empowered him, countered with a devastating punch to Asher's abdomen before he could even fully unfold his leg.
The force of the blow was cataclysmic, a direct strike that sent shockwaves through Asher's body. Every organ trembled, and the breath was violently expelled from his lungs as he was forced to his knees, his eyes widened and struggling to take a breath.
But despite taking such a powerful punch, he didn't get knocked out and instead only tasted iron in his mouth.
Still, he refused to use his mana to heal since he was desperate to buy more time.
But Lupus left no room for Asher to draw breath, let alone mount a defense. With a merciless grip, Lupus seized Asher by the hair, lifting him with an ease that belied the disparity in their power, "You are fighting a battle that can't be won," Lupus declared, his voice a harbinger of the finality that awaited.
The punch that followed was cataclysmic, a force so potent it tore through the air with ear-splitting shockwaves. Asher's skin rippled under the impact, a mouthful of blood escaping as he was sent hurtling backward. His body, akin to a broken kite caught in a tempest, crashed to the ground, rolling over the rugged terrain for hundreds of meters before coming to a jarring halt.
"Urgh…"
The agony of his efforts to rise was palpable, each movement making him feel like his body was being stabbed.
His lips were split, and blood trickled down his chin, staining his dirty robes.
With great effort, he attempted to push himself up, every muscle screaming in protest.
But right then a bolt of crimson lightning pierced through the air, illuminating the scene with an eerie glow, revealing Lupus' hulking figure.
He lunged forward, catching Asher by the arm, and hoisted him up as if helping him to stand.
Asher hung there, limp and dazed, struggling to focus amidst the throbbing pain and deafening ringing in his ears. "Look at you... desperately holding on without even understanding what you are fighting for. Fooling yourself with an illusion of purpose you created," Lupus said with a shake of his head.
But in the next instant, his blood-red eyes became filled with ferity, his hands becoming a blur, unleashing a torrent of punches with such speed and ferocity that they were invisible to the naked eye.
Asher's body began to violently shake with each punch as groans of pain escaped his lips.
Overwhelmed and battered, Asher could find no recourse, his blood pooling on the ground beneath him as his body succumbed to the relentless barrage, falling to the ground.
But despite falling, he held onto his consciousness, which was teetering on the brink, and tried to get up again, determined to keep Lupus busy.
"Ungh!"
Lupus' foot suddenly struck him down as he coolly delivered a chilling proclamation, "You have fought bravely, young one. Now rest in the Seven Hells," Saying so, Lupus raised his foot, preparing to deal the killing blow.
Asher gritted his teeth, ready to escape into the damned dimension though he was filled with fear, regret, and frustration that he couldn't buy enough time.
He could only hope Rowena and the others somehow managed to regroup with their allies and reach home safely.
However, Lupus froze his action as he shifted his head to look up.
From the darkened shroud above, a barrage of blazing blood spikes, like arrows of defiance, streaked towards Lupus with deadly intent. Yet, with a gesture as dismissive as swatting flies, Lupus obliterated each spike with just a flick of his wrist.
The silence that followed was shattered by the arrival of an avenging force. Bursting from the tempestuous clouds, a dragon, majestic and fearsome, cut through the oppressive atmosphere. Rowena, Ceti, and Isola, mounted behind the mighty Flaralis, their faces etched with shock and despair, bore witness to the bloodied figure of Asher, close to death.
Lupus, unshaken, cast a glance over his shoulder, his voice a rumbling depth of inevitability, "Didn't I tell you that you were under a illusion. Your choices always dictate their fate," he intoned, each word a nail in the coffin of hope.
Asher's heart pounded against his chest, wondering why they came back when he clearly told them to go back to the kingdom with the key.
He wondered if Lupus was calm all this time because he knew they would return.
But suddenly, Isola's melodious voice echoed in his mind, "Don't worry. Lady Naida woke up, and we entrusted the key to her. She returned with the reinforcements to make sure she got back safely. But we won't leave you behind just like how you won't." The revelation brought a bitter mix of relief and dread. The key was safe, yet their presence heralded a confrontation for which they were ill-prepared.
He knew they wouldn't be able to take down this old monster.
But he didn't even have the energy to shout at them or scold them. All he could do was helplessly watch as they got closer.
Isola and especially Ceti were nervous and knew what they were rushing into, but they would rather die than let Asher suffer alone. Ceti knew more than anyone how powerful the Moon Guardian was, though her fists were tightly clenched, prepared for the worst.
Rowena's wounds had barely healed after she wanted to get back to Asher as fast as possible without bothering to waste time healing herself.
Since she had fulfilled her duty as the queen to make sure the key would be get back to the kingdom safely, she was now determined to fulfill her duty as his wife...To stand by his side until the end.
And so, with a cold, shimmering rage in her eyes, she directed her injured dragon to fly towards Lupus, who was slowly walking away from Asher.
Lupus's weathered face betrayed no sign of fear as he watched the colossal dragon hurtling towards him like a firestorm on wings. With a defiance born of either bravery or madness, the old man planted one foot in front of the other, his gait steady and unhurried, walking towards the dragon, making Isola wonder if this old man was mad or…
Rowena's cry of desperation, "Flaralis!" echoed in the air, yet it was drowned out by the deafening roar of the dragon's fury. Its maw gaped wide, like the very gates of the underworld yawning open to devour the insignificant morsel before it. Within its cavernous depths, the inferno raged, casting hellish light and shadows upon the ground. The air itself shuddered with the heat.
Yet, Lupus, a shadow of calm amidst the chaos, advanced towards the impending inferno with a serenity that belied the madness of the moment while Asher managed to turn over and crane his head up in worry, only to see something that made his eyes widen to the extremities.
