Thalos' eyes vision was filled with white after fighting Lethel for just a couple of minutes. It was like trying to stare at the sun
His shoulders were heavy for the first time in months, and the heat singed every hair from his arms. Even when the man wasn't attacking, you could feel the heat rolling from him.
This was definitely the strongest opponent he had fought in about seven years, and winning this would take everything he had.
But that was always how it was when he fought people in higher Ranks.
As long as they weren't too far above you, it came down to who was better prepared for the fight. Marrowbiter was deadlier than Lethel's cloak that could block some attacks. And Lethel knew this, so even with the cloak, he didn't let Thalos get close.
Fire danced through the air, brief flashes of white, so bright and fast that you'd think Lethel was throwing lightning bolts at Thalos, who was equally as fast, moving in violent bursts of energy.
There were only two types of movement techniques in Blood Demon School: one meant to move the arms faster, and another specifically meant for speed and instantaneous movement.
These were the fifth and sixth techniques respectively, [Frenzy] and [Death Shadow]. These were often used in tandem with two other techniques.
Three incandescent strokes of flames tore through the air at him.
Thalos lowered his body, slowing down and calling on [Frenzy] to vastly increase his slash speed, then he used the seventh technique of the Blood Demon School.
He slashed Marrowbiter through the air, aiming right at the flames coming for him, arms turning in dark blurs. Three crimson arcs were released from his sword, each colliding with the flames at a distance.
Each flame wasn't that big but the air rapidly expanded from their explosion and washed the room in a wave of heat.
He didn't let the fire get close to him, but he still felt the sting even through his enhancement.
A single touch from one of those would burn him to ash.
But he couldn't let that stop him. He had to get in close and strike Lethel down.
The ground rumbled as he took two steps; the first leap moved him around the flames and the second to bounce off the walls of the small room to get at Lethel behind his fire.
His opponent guessed the wrong direction and was looking away from him. Thalos shot towards him in a second and struck, using Marrowbiter's ability to cut spirits too, just in case.
He was so fast that all you'd see was him jumping against the wall before he took your head.
But Lethel wasn't so easy to kill.
The moment the sword reached the fire Spiritmancer, he turned into flames, disappearing completely.
Thalos landed and turned towards Lethel, who was now standing on the other side of the room, where his attacks had started a small fire.
"You're an annoying cockroach, aren't you," Lethel hissed. "Stop trying, you can't touch me. Your loss has already been written into the heavens."
"By who," Thalos returned. "You haven't landed a single hit on me, mighty Rank 4 Spiritmancer. You're not even going to be the most impressive Rank 4 I've killed."
Lethel's bearded face reddened, and a vein popped on his skull. His dark eyes narrowed on Thalos.
"You dirty barbarian, this is why I hate the use of your pointless party tricks. It gives simple mutts, commoners, and adventurers the gall to compare themselves to us. Do you think the men you've killed were true Spiritmancers? Shall I show you the depths of your delusion?"
Thalos already knew that Lethel wasn't an Arete user, but he was shocked to find out that the man looked down on it. After all, he looked so scattered and unkempt. Even Thalos looked more dignified than him right now.
"Dad! I'm going to do something that might be dumb," Percy shouted suddenly. "Don't worry about me."
They both turned towards him while still keeping an eye on their opponent. Sebas was a smoking pile of sand, and Percy was running towards the entrance.
He needed to strike now. To keep the fight away from the others, there were some directions he couldn't move in, since one of Lethel's stray attacks would reach Percy.
The thought of the white fire reaching his son made him shiver.
They were undodgeable to anyone below Rank 3 in Arete. Even George and Hugo, who were probably Rank 2, would never see them coming.
Thalos let out a hiss from his chest and moved, essentially disappearing.
But Lethel kept up, firing multiple lightning-fast white balls of flame, each nearly reaching him the moment he moved.
He dodged left, then went back to the right once they passed, not allowing Lethel a second to even consider firing at Hugo behind him.
But that gave the Spiritmancer time to use more spells.
A plume of flames expanded from around Lethel, expanding in every direction to force Thalos back.
But he wasn't falling for that one again.
Those flames were weaker than Lethel's direct attacks.
Instead of running, Thalos used the second technique of the Blood Demon School, Bone Break, to bolster his defense to the maximum and tore through the flames.
Lethel's eyes widened as Thalos jumped through the fire.
But he wasn't done; the next second he appeared beside Lethel with [Death Shadow] and used Marrowbiter's second ability to enhance piercing attacks while fully focusing on stabbing through Lethel's heart.
There was a lag in Lethel's fire shifting—his ability to teleport between flames. Orıginal content can be found at 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⚫𝙣𝙚𝙩
Lethel would disappear from the legs up first, so if Thalos could stab his heart before—
The sound of Percy screaming drew his entire focus. A reforming Sebas gripping onto Percy and burning him.
There wasn't a moment of hesitation.
He disappeared from in front of Lethel, hardening his sword to cut spirit, freeing Percy with the first slash, then slashing through Sebas' head with the second, quietly hoping that was enough to kill this monstrosity.
Lethel didn't seem to like being ignored and sent a barrage of white flames at him, which he jumped back and mostly blocked with the combination of Frenzy and Death Scythe.
He watched Percy sink into the ground and prayed silently that his son would be okay. But these days, he trusted Percy more than he trusted himself. The boy would find a way.
What he needed to focus on was finding a way to kill Lethel before things got worse.