Seeing Orion agreeing without hesitation, Grim smiled and began walking forward to his position so the battle could start quickly.
Orion also walked forward and stopped when he arrived at his position opposite Grim.
"Get ready," Grim warned, preparing himself to attack.
At first, Orion thought Grim would test the waters and transform into his golden eagle form. However, as he witnessed Grim shapeshifting into his giant serpent form, he immediately understood that Grim took this seriously and wanted to end the battle as quickly as he could.
The beast's jaws widened to roar; however, all that came out were loud, menacing hisses before Grim suddenly launched himself towards Orion without hesitation.
Grim had already assessed his current level of strength and wasn't planning on holding back his strength. Seeing the massive serpent with enormous wings that cast a gigantic shadow before him, Orion didn't activate his gift. Instead, he released his Vylkr energy, allowing it to flow throughout his body.
He planned on facing Grim with a body that currently rivalled that of a two-star warrior.
Orion thrust his fist towards the serpent's body.
BANG!!
Unsurprisingly, Grim's massive figure was sent flying backwards when Orion's fist slammed into his scales.
Grim's figure caused nearby trees to collapse; some were even uprooted due to the impact. He recovered his composure, quickly stabilized himself, and relaunched his massive body at Orion.
However, this time around, instead of closing the distance within minutes and launching straight at him, Grim suddenly halted at a distance.
Orion furrowed his brows in confusion, wondering what Grim was planning.
Nonetheless, his eyes immediately widened once he witnessed what was happening. Suddenly, several large bumps appeared on Grim's shapeshifting serpent form. The bumps grew bigger until they unexpectedly detached themselves from Grim's body and transformed into several small, winged serpents, each only as long as an arm.
The surprising thing was that this didn't stop until they completely filled up the surroundings, numbering close to a hundred!
Meanwhile, Grim's size was reduced to about 10-meters (33 ft) less than his previous 15-meter (49 ft) form.
At a distance, Gorg furrowed his brows as he observed Grim using one of his best abilities. "Do you think this would be a difficult match for Orion?" Gorg couldn't help but ask, his words directed at Tala.
Although he didn't doubt that Orion was stronger than them, that didn't change the fact that Orion was still a one-star warrior at the same level as Grim.
No matter how carefully he had honed his skills, it didn't change the fact that since Grim was already in his strongest form, if Orion wanted to win, he would have to give it his all and not underestimate Grim.
"He'll win," Sura, whose eyes had never left the battle before her, as this was the first time she had ever had the chance to witness Orion fight, couldn't help but say.
She turned her head towards Gorg with a serious expression on her face. "It doesn't matter how strong Grim is because Orion is stronger," Sura responded.
Though she didn't know what came over her, even after seeing Grim's gift, she didn't doubt that Orion would lose but was curious about how he would win.
Gorg wanted to respond, already knowing that Orion was going to win. However, having fought Grim, he understood how difficult of an opponent Grim was, and he considered mentioning that it wouldn't be an easy win. Yet, he quickly sealed his mouth shut and berated himself.
How could he doubt his best friend so much?
Remembering that Orion had escaped from Stronghold Leader Drakar, a three-star warrior, Gorg could feel his body firing up as he observed Grim's and Orion's battle in the distance.
Tala, however, agreed with Gorg's previous words that this would be a difficult battle for Orion to win unless he decided to go all out and give it his all.
Meanwhile, Orion observed as the jaws of every winged serpent figure opened, and a red misty gas came out of their mouths, immediately filling the air around him like fumes of smoke.
Orion gradually felt his mind becoming dizzy. He fought off the dizziness before immediately circulating his Vylkr energy from his two Vylkr containers around his body to completely suppress the dizziness caused by the strange red gas.
Suddenly, Orion's instincts flared, causing him to move to the side. When he shifted, a small, winged serpent figure flashed past his previous position.
Again, his heightened senses sensed the wind rustling beside him, prompting him to dodge the attack and carefully move his body to another position, mindful of where he placed his legs.
Nonetheless, Orion couldn't help but frown, as what Grim had just demonstrated exceeded his expectations, much like Grim and Tala.
Seeing that it would be a little troublesome for him to win this battle without using his gift, the moment Orion's instincts flared, sensing at least two attacks launching straight towards him, he stretched both of his hands and immediately caught them.
The two winged serpents within Orion's grasp opened their mouths, wanting to spit out more reddish gas.
However, before they could release anything, Orion immediately activated his gift.
CRACKLE!!!
Fierce bluish lightning surged from his fingers, stunning and electrifying the two winged serpents within his grasp until they fell unconscious.
Suddenly, several loud, painful hissing sounds resounded around him, allowing Orion to understand that Grim and the other smaller shapeshifting forms shared the same senses. This meant that whatever harm he inflicted on one of them would spread to others without hesitation.
Orion couldn't help but smile as he had figured out one of Grim's weaknesses. Although he didn't know how much stronger Grim's gift would transform in the future, he was sure it would easily become formidable, just like the Village Chief's shapeshifting gift.
Orion grinned, impressed by how much Gorg, Tala, and Grim had all grown. Orion sensed several attacks quickly heading towards him and immediately controlled his lightning to create a lightning cage net around him.
CRACKLLEE!!! CRACKLEEE!!!
The winged serpents collided with the lightning-chained net and were immediately electrified.
