Beyond

The Blutgar focused his energy into his right fist, striking Edrick right across the jaw. But just as the scion had stated, things were different from last time… Previously, even while using his sasquatch transformation, Anoteros had been unable to deal much damage at all–Even with a successful surprise attack utilising the Red Guardian’s lack of information.

This time, despite landing a direct hit on a vulnerable zone, it was the Blutgar who found himself unable to deal significant damage. Edrick took the blow and instantly replied with an uppercut.

The defender’s teeth crashed against one another as his head was flung upward.

He felt some of his lower teeth dislodge whilst upper ones cracked. Unexpectedly, the noble had also used energy to empower his own punch… It was one of the most basic spells he had acquired from his newest bloodline, and although it was far from mastered, even this incomplete usage of energy manipulation–When coupled with Edrick’s great brute strength and immaculate striking technique–Hit incredibly hard.

The Blutgar was dazed, causing him to fall back on the old reliable and emit a burst of energy to prevent his opponent from taking this chance to land more attacks. But this reaction was highly predictable. He always went for this particular move when in a pinch… So Anoteros had been planning something else entirely.

After letting ambient energy refresh his mind and heal his injuries, the protector looked ahead, only to find the human absent. He turned around immediately, but Edrick wasn’t there either, so his next thought was that he had transformed and leapt in the air–Also wrong.

‘What-?’

The Red Guardian’s strong instincts and reflexes kicked in as he suddenly directed energy to his legs to jump away from his current position. He saw his right hand fly through the air alongside a spray of blood… He had avoided the worst–Only a shallow cut had formed upon his neck... This had been the actual target of his opponent, and as much healing as he was capable of, the Blutgar would have been rendered vulnerable while healing such a grievous injury.

It was clear that any moment of weakness could be exploited and turned into a cause of defeat here. The human noble was incredibly dangerous… And he seemed to have acquired not just greater strength, but many more means of attack as well. Case in point: The Blutgar had just been slashed by something invisible.

“How could a human even master the ways of the Underwood Elves? Or are you using one of their items?”

The guardian grunted out, not expecting any answer. However, it was hard not to express himself in the face of something he deemed ridiculous. Never would he have expected Anoteros to go invisible out of nowhere like this.

‘Where is he now…?’

He looked at the ground for signs of disturbance in the grass. As stealthy as Edrick may be, he was still a large and heavy individual. His steps should crush the feeble blades of grass, no matter how hard he tried not to be noticed… And indeed, the Blutgar did find signs of Anoteros, but they indicated something else entirely.

The scion had rushed over to the edge of the temple after his attack. He was–Without a doubt–Standing on stone while invisible. There, he could walk around with much less to worry about.

…Not being an idiot, the realm defender stepped away from the temple, rather certain that Edrick wouldn’t try to infiltrate it. The human noble was an odd individual who definitely couldn’t be trusted–But right now… It seemed likely that he was going for a straightforward fight and wouldn’t move away from the conflict in any shape or form.

The orcish protector was correct. As he looked around, he suddenly spotted an arrow popping out of thin air as it was headed straight at him. Not wanting to find out whether the scion’s arrows would pierce through his skin this time, the guardian struck it down before it hit him, striking it with the back of his hand.

He then held up his bloody stump and, with a burst of energy, sent his disembodied limb flying at him, putting it back on before using ambient energy to heal himself. The hand was sluggish, and the fingers weren’t quite responding correctly to his will, but it would recover in a few minutes at most.

Although the Red Guardian could use ambient energy to regrow a limb, he knew very well that it would be far too straining to do in the midst of a fight… It would weaken him too greatly. Even reattaching the hand was rather consuming to him, and the result wasn’t even perfect.

More arrows came for the protector.

It was a good thing that the invisibility on them did not linger after they were shot, but it didn’t help much to pinpoint the human’s location. Edrick was moving around constantly, firing shots from completely different places. The defender was currently just a sitting duck–A practice target without any clear way to fight back.

…Fortunately, the noble seemed to run out of arrows, and ended up giving away his position–As he picked up a large piece of debris, lifting it above his head before launching it directly at his adversary.

With a kick, the Blutgar shattered the large projectiles... Only to reveal that Anoteros had cancelled his invisibility and been running directly behind the piece of debris. Without delay, Anoteros dropkicked his opponent in the chest, breaking several ribs amongst other bones.

Edrick then summoned Arm Of Depravity in the form of a Kanabo, using the ability of Oni Smash to send a trail of destruction at the defender before he could heal himself. The ground blast did little to actually damage his opponent, but it was more than enough to make the red-skinned fellow’s footing unstable, allowing Edrick to throw the Kanabo directly at his adversary’s face before unsummoning the weapon.

The Blutgar launched a mass of ambient energy at Edrick’s feet–So when the noble dodged the attack, it still detonated against the ground, putting something between the two of them and allowing him to heal.

‘What a disgraceful display… He is far stronger than he was last time. How did I not notice this dire increase in strength? Where and how did he even gain the ability to become invisible, and to wield some form of energy manipulation?’

Uncertain about the answer to these questions, the Red Guardian took a few steps back. He had never been pushed so hard in a fight. It was frankly a bizarre feeling to actually have to fight. He had always been the strongest being around, and all within the realm respected him by default… As such, he had never made use of one of the gifts Eltysia had given at the moment of his creation.

Edrick marked a pause as he watched the guardian’s body morph. His bones seemed to shift position beneath his skin, stretching and enlarging as even his flesh began to twist into something else.

The Blutgar’s limbs grew thicker and longer. His nails became claws, and his handsome face became monstrous as his maw took up the majority of it, basically splitting his own skull as it opened.

His hair grew even longer and spread above his spine, ending before the newly-grown tail…

The Red Guardian now resembled some sort of bizarre, scaleless lizard creature–All whilst still retaining most of his previous look. Only… Warped.

He howled at the sky, using his tail like a spring to propel himself toward the human.

“Aah… Now that’s interesting!”