Souta and Manduk continued their battle for a few minutes.
As time passed by, Souta was getting used to his ability. The Crimson Twilight's ability was extremely compatible with his fighting style.
He could use blood to form a shield, boost his attack, or heal his wounds. A good ability for an all-rounder like him.
As long as there's blood, he could do anything. There more blood in the surrounding the more powerful he would become.
Swoosh!!
Lightning and flame gushed at his direction.
Souta pulled back his sword and waved his other hand. The blood around him formed a huge shield in front of him.
The blood shield wasn't ordinary. It had an attribute of dark to boost its overall effect.
[Blood Reign: Dark Blood Shield]!
Boom!!
The attack exploded and the entire place shook heavily. Violent energy was raging in every direction.
In the next second, the blood shield was shattered and Souta quickly swung the vajra sword in his hand.
Boom!
Another powerful explosion erupted.
Souta glanced at the system and smiled. He didn't think that Element Drive would perfectly synchronize with his [Blood Reign]. There's no rejection at all.
Noting that he needed Saya's help every time he used [Bestrou] and [Fifth Form: Rage of the Thunder God]. Because of the rejection, he couldn't control its power that's why Saya was helping him control it.
But this... Everything was flowing perfectly.
"You're amazing! Manduk! Let me defeat you right here right now!!"
He rushed forward with a huge grin on his face. Ten black balls formed behind him and he pressed down his other hand.
Boom!
Heavy gravity bore down inside the barrier trying to crush every living being and object inside it.
Manduk gritted his teeth as his figure was enveloped by flames and lightning.
[Lightning and Flame Dominating Body]!
He then charged forward.
Souta and Manduk collided several times.
Boom!! Boom!! Boom!!
The warriors that were watching the battle were thrilled. The battle was intense and it gives them goosebumps. They totally forgot about their bet.
Eztein was amazed, "Fuck! Boss is enjoying the battle! I don't think that I would witness a battle like this!"
"I want to fight like that too." Franklin, who was beside Eztein, said with an ecstatic look on his face. He, too, wanted to have a battle like that. A battle that would wipe the boredom in his life.
Eilish, who just arrived, smiled wryly. "I don't think that I could win against him in that state."
Alice glanced at her and said, "He hasn't even used his release form. Souta is just familiarizing himself with his current strength."
Eilish shook her head. "Yeah, he's simply amazing. I couldn't describe him aside from that one word."
Souta and Manduk exchanged blows for several minutes. They were throwing everything at each other. Souta even activated [Cat's Speed], [Triple Muscle Strengthening], [Agility Boost], [Strength Boost], [Night Overlord's Aura], [Shadow Steps], and [Shadow Cloak] to help him.
Manduk was really pushing the limit of his base form. No normal Shackled Realm could do it. Rowan would definitely not last longer if he fought the current Souta.
Boom!
Souta was blown away and crashed into the barrier. Blood flows out of his mouth. He didn't need to wipe it as it floated in the air and went around the vajra sword.
"Time is running out for both of us..."
He loosened his grip on the vajra sword and it floated beside him. He opened his arms and spider webs flew out of the tip of his fingers.
In the next moment, the webs turned red and dark energy enveloped it. An ominous aura surrounded it.
"Shit!"
Manduk opened his eyes widely. His wariness skyrocketed as goosebumps appeared on every part of his body.
His instinct was screaming that this was dangerous.
Blood red threads covered every space in front of him. Manduk realized that he couldn't avoid this attack. The only choice he had was to block it.
"Ehe, just as I expected..."
Manduk smiled to himself as he crossed his arms in front of him. A semi-transparent figure of a giant turtle appeared behind him.
[Solid Turtle Shield]!
He knew that it wasn't enough.
[Lightning Oracle]!
[Burning Violent Wall]!
This should be enough but he shouldn't be optimistic about it. His chances were pretty low from the beginning so he had to gamble everything that he had.
"This time... Let me reach you!"
Roar!!
Souta raised his eyebrows. He saw a huge dragon made of lightning and flames charging at his direction. It possessed unbelievable speed to it would reach his position in the blink of an eye.
He closed both of his palms. A dense amount of best feram smoothly flowed in the blood-red color webs.
[Bestrou]!
'Don't reject it. Flow inside...'
Intense energy fluctuated inside the webs and the threads vibrated as it produced an ear-piercing sound.
Eeeeiing!!
Souta's eyes constricted as his concentration reached the limit. He loses sight of everything outside the barrier. His entire perception was focused on the things inside the barrier.
Nothing could escape him.
[Blood Thread: Dark Weaving]!
With a wave of his hand, a net of webs smashed the dragon. The net covered everything and at the center of impact, a ripple expanded.
BOOM!!
Another explosion occurred inside the barrier and it blocked everyone from seeing the things that happened inside. Smoke and dust covered the entire field.
Some of the warriors started to talk to each other. They were wondering what happened inside since there was no sign of movement after several seconds.
The high-level warriors already knew the outcome so they turned around and left.
"It's good..."
Inside the barrier...
Souta spat a mouthful of blood. He looked at his chest and saw a huge and deep wound. Blood was gushing out like a waterfall.
"That's too powerful..."
Manduk's attack had a property that could ignore some of his defenses. Not just that, it also contained power enough to break down his [Shadow Cloak] instantly. It also possessed a paralyzing effect and burning that tore down his flesh bit by bit.
"If I was still a third evolution monster... A graze of this attack would be enough to heavily injure me and I would have no way of blocking it."
Souta said as he stood up and placed his hand on the wound on his chest. Manduk's brutal aura was still lingering on his chest and it was preventing the parasite from repairing his body.
The remaining aura was tearing down every cell and flesh that was going to close the wound.
Ohm!
Best feram gathered on Souta's hand before he grabbed Manduk's remaining energy. He used his best feram to remove his opponent's energy from his body.
Soon, the wounds started closing at a visible speed.
The dark and light aura around him slowly disappeared.
Souta rubbed his chin and muttered, "So this is the limit of my Element Drive... Ten minutes... I trained it almost every day and this is the result. Well, it's not bad."
It's the same as his opponent.
He turned his head ahead and saw everything with his eyes.
Manduk was on his knees breathing heavily. His body was covered in blood and wounds. He still has some energy left in his mana pool but his Element Drive had reached the limit too.
'Oh, he could still stand... Manduk is really a strong person.' Souta said inwardly.
Manduk heard footsteps. He raised his hand and saw Souta approaching him.
Souta sighed and said, "Let's end this here. If we keep up, it will not be a sparring anymore."
Manduk nodded. "You're right. I'm quite tired too. I couldn't even force you to use your release form."
Souta smiled and didn't say anything.
...
The battle had ended and the news of it quickly spread in the entire Third Set. The monster in their Set reached fourth evolution stage and displayed powerful might that could defeat a One Shackle Realm.
Inside the base of the Astros Squadron...
Souta was laying comfortably on a sofa. He was reviewing his battle against Manduk. During the battle, he discovered a lot of things about the potential of his current species.
Element Drive was an important part of it. It will be the foundation of his battle style in the future along with [Blood Reign].
In the battle before, he learned that [Blood Reign] could perfectly synchronize with his two elemental affinities during Element Drive. Also, it will become a medium that let him create a combo of different skills resulting in a more powerful and effective skill.
He could still remember the feeling when he flowed [Bestrou] inside the threads. It was impossible to do it before. He could only flow [Bestrou] inside the vajra sword and Saya had to help him suppress it too.
But now...
Souta smiled and mumbled, "I'm looking forward to what it can do in the future..."
He will train his Element Drive to increase its time limit.
Crimson Twilight's potential wasn't bad at all. It didn't let him down.
