Kaal was being showered with a lot of praise for his talent.
The audience was in awe after witnessing his transformation. If his looks were intimidating for his opponent, they were praiseworthy for all the children of Echidna.
However, Kaal's father Ror was not happy with the way Kaal had used his trump card. Or to put it more precisely, he was forced to use his trump card in a hurry.
Ror looked at Varhan the Orc Leader and narrowed his eyes. He knew that he had purposely played a mind game with Kaal to force him to use his trump card early.
'Hm. Still, Kaalmaahen's transformation can't be underestimated. It doesn't matter if you have been forced to play your hand if it is good in the first place.
Just be careful, my son. This orc looks like bad news.'
Ror said to himself as he watched his son's actions.
"Varhan"
Kaal spoke in a deep voice that didn't sound like his own. He was looking at Varhan, who was also watching him closely.
Kaal felt like he'd lose his reasons and give in to his beastly temptations right away if he let his guard down. The controlled state of Echi was difficult to control and not everybody could do it.
This state was a blessing and a curse at the same time. It all depended upon how the children of Echidna handled it. In good hands, it could completely change a negative outcome. And if it was used by an incapable person, it would cause more harm than benefit as the user would lose their reasoning.
Kaal shook his head and took control of his blurred mental state before commenting.
"Let me warn you, Varhan. You'd have to forgive me if I end up severely injuring you before the ritual of final sacrifice."
Kaal warned not only Varhan but also other Echidnae with his statements. The final ritual needed for the defeated worshipper to stay alive after their fights got settled in the battle ring. He couldn't just kill him here like the rest of the matches before.
"Don't worry. I'll have someone intervene if either of you is about to lose your life."
Har Jahar spoke from his seated position in a voice that was laced with absolute confidence. Kaal bowed toward his king before picking up his weapon once again.
"Varhan… here I come!"
Said Kaal as he gripped his weapon tightly. In the next moment, he disappeared from his position, leaving a large depression at his previous spot. Contrary to the ground beneath, the wind was completely silent and didn't generate any motion, seemingly breaking the common sense for Monster Soldiers.
'He is fast.'
Varhan only had this thought before activating his time element spells to enhance his perception to his maximum. Alephee also aided by stacking the spells further, augmenting their effects.
As a result, Varhan ducked just in time to let Kaal's broadsword pass over his head. And even his exceptional reaction time wasn't enough to save the tip of his hair from being cut in the process.
Varhan saw Kaal raising his right leg to be used as a pivot axis. He was planning to spin his weapon around in 360 degrees while inclining it downwards to take care of his opponent.
Kaal could keep track of his status as well as his opponent's due to his enhanced perception granted by the transformation. That's why he was shocked by Varhan's reaction time with which he had managed to dodge his blow.
Eren used his right arm like a foothold to stand upside down. He then spun around and connected the base of his toe to his opponent's chin– trying to give him an uppercut with his kick.
Swoosh. Connect. Boom.
The lightning mana-coated kick landed straight under Kaal's chin forcing him to pause his weapon movement and making him look upwards. But that's all it could do. It couldn't damage the Ogre Lord in any way.
Eren wasn't waiting for the damage to show its effects anyway. Right after landing a kick, Eren had used the arm that Kaal was using to swing his weapon with as a base to stand on it with his other leg in a seemingly unnatural manner. As if his body didn't have any bones capable of maneuvering like that.
He then used the same arm as a platform for him to jump away from his opponent. He had a serious look on his face as he successfully fended off Kaal's first attack.
'Forget speed. His body is as tough as steel now. This is going to get…'
Eren was unable to complete his thoughts as he felt his opponent approaching him in his almost stagnant world. He gritted his teeth and spun in midair, meeting Kaal's broadsword with his two swords.
Clang. Force. Swoosh.
Eren was thrown about 20 meters away from his position. The force generated by Kaal's weapon wasn't something he could brush away. His body was hurled in the same direction Kaal's attack was launched in.
'I'd get cocky too if I had a transformation like that.'
Eren thought to himself as he prepared himself for Kaal's incoming attack. He could still perceive the monster's attacks just fine and could effectively take the necessary steps to come out unscathed from most of them.
However, the main problem was something different. Eren had lost the ability to injure Kaal while he was in his transformed state. His body was pumping mana through his body like crazy, strengthening his muscles and natural mana defense to whole new levels.
Eren didn't have infinite mana to support his spells. Plus, he could only apply aspect fusion to his lightning cloak as of this point. If the situation continued, he would run out of his mana storage, enabling Kaal to win by default.
'You think only you have the trump cards up your sleeves?'
Eren narrowed his eyes as he watched Kaal approach him with a ferocious stride and wild weapon movements. In his near stagnant world, he cast his movement spell, approaching the Ogre head-on.
Eren smirked and activated one of his trump cards.
Soul sense.
