Chapter 187 - Dark Serpent's Breath

  Ricardo:

  I was regaining my sciousness, having bcked out from physical exhaustion and maion.

  Eliza’s Fire Samatacked furiously, trying to crush the boy, but he dodged skillfully, ung thurikes as he sped toward me. I was still lying on the ground, nearly out of mana and exhausted from maintaining that spell for so long. Just as he was about to hurl a bolt of lightning at me, Eliza jumped in front and deflected it with her mana-infused dagger.

  "Ign me, you little bastard?" Eliza yelled, charging at him aggressively.

  "Harsh words for a beautiful dy," he replied, skillfully blog her strike.

  The two began exging blows in a deadly dance of bdes and powers.

  "You know that if I kill you, the golem disappears, right?" he taunted, dodging and teritacks.

  "Try to kill me, then," she retorted, spitting a jet of fire that forced him to retreat.

  Damn… I thought, struggling to get up.

  "Eliza, I’ll support you from a distance," I mao say, trying to gather what little mana I had left.

  The Samander shed out at the boy, who quickly raised a wind barrier to protect himself, while Eliza tried to strike him from anle. He was utack from all sides, his right hand maintaining the wind barrier against the Samander, while his left hand parried Eliza's attacks.

  He suddenly dropped both barriers, pointing downward and creating an upward force that unched him into the air, allowing him to kick the Samander’s jaw. He then started cirg the creature, trying to stay out of reach.

  The golem’s fming tail whipped toward him, but the boy dodged with agility, sliding underh it.

  "Time to kick things up a notch!" he shouted, jumping into the air as a n of water surged beh his feet, lifting him as if he were walking on it.

  Water? How many elements does this boy have? I thought, stunned.

  "Sea Serpent!" he yelled, and the n of water morphed into several massive serpents, a forbidden spell known for its destructive power.

  The water serpents crashed into the Samander, which roared furiously, spewing fire toward him.

  The boy stood directly ih of a colossal fire ray—a bzing, relentless inferno that threateo e him entirely. Yet, his expression was one of unwaveriermination. With a resolute gesture, he unleashed a spell of devastating power:

  "Storm Art: Dark Serpent's Breath!"

  He exhaled a dense, pitch-bck mass, as dark as the deepest night. It rapidly expanded into a sinister, pulsating cloud that writhed like a liviy. The Samander's gigantic fire bst collided with the dark cloud, geing an explosive impact that shook the grouh them. Azure lightning crackled within, as the cloud turned into a chaotic elemental battleground.

  The Samander roared in fury, ung relentless waves of searing fire, desperately trying to break through the dark barrier. The boy, his gaze fierd his hands steady, ahe growing cloud with absolute precision. The bck mass expanded further, morphing into a stormy prison that enveloped the creature in a vortex of wind aricity, as if nature itself were at war.

  With a bold move, the boy extended his hands forward, densing part of the cloud into a sphere of raw, bck power. He then blew on the sphere, causing it to rapidly expand into a colossal serpent with scales made of dark clouds and eyes glowing like lightning in the darkness. The serpent rose, majestid terrifying, and with a thunderous roar, unleashed a titanic jet of water directly at the Fire Golem.

  "GRAAAAHHH!" the storm serpent roared as it coiled around the Golem, squeezing it with crushing force. The torrential water cshed violently against the creature while lightning bolts erupted withiorm prison, creating waves of vapor and raw energy. The air became saturated with electricity, and the ground cracked uhe immense pressure of the csh.

  The boy eled all his mana with relentless iy, his aura radiating a dark glow as he maintaihe serpent and the storm in full fury. The Fire Golem, now pletely immobilized, writhed in desperation as the lethal bination of water and lightniated it, corroding its fiery essend redug it to a mere shadow of its former power.

  He unched aal fusion of three elements! What kind of boy is this!? I wondered, feeling a growing sense of dread as I witnessed his power.

  "Thunder Art: Sphere of Electrical Rupture!" he shouted, smming his hand onto the ground amid the howling winds and pulsing dark clouds. The air seemed to freeze for an instant before the clouds exploded in a brilliant, blinding blue light.

  ‘KABOOM!’ A massive boom echoed as lightning spewed from the bck clouds like spears of pure electricity, striking with uing fury. The surrounding space was instantly filled with a radiant blue light, and the deafening noise was like the sky itself being torn apart.

  "AAAAAAARGH!" the Soul Golem bellowed in agony, its fming structure trembling violently as it was overwhelmed by the brutal storm. Sparks intensified, enveloped in a whirlwind of untrolble power that shed the air with explosive bursts.

  The boy, his eyes burning with determination, moved his hands as if dang with chaos itself. He maniputed the wind with relentless precision, shaping it into a massive regur prison of cyic barriers. The air densed into t walls of swirling winds that roared like a wild tempest. Water, geed by the dark clouds and the raging serpent, flooded the enclosed space, creating a chaotic torrent that overflowed in every dire.

  The Fire Samander, noed withierrifying vortex, was fully submerged in a sea of water aricity. The crushing pressure broke down its form, as electricity surged through its body with devastating waves of energy.

  The boy’s aura ure dispy of raw power as he poured all his mana into sustaining the colossal barriers of wind. It ocalyptic spectacle, a demonstration of unstoppable destru, where nature itself seemed to bow to his and. I stood frozen, uo act, watg him face the Soul Golem alone amidst the chaos.

  I saw Eliza rushing like a shadow towards the boy, her daggers gleaming with lethal i. The two cshed fiercely, exging blows in a deadly dance of bdes, each attack filled with savage iy. The wind barrier shattered with a thunderous burst, and water began to spill freely, flooding the forest around them and turning the battlefield into a chaotic aquatic se.

  I couldn’t stand still. Despite my mana being nearly depleted, I gathered what little remained and formed a massive n of earth beh my feet, propelling me forward like an arrow. The force of the ast nearly toppled me, but I remained determio join the fight.

  Suddenly, the Soul Golem re-emerged from the turbulent waters, a monstrous and ravaged sight. Much of its body was burned, riddled with gaping holes from electricity and fire. One of its limbs was pletely destroyed, and one of its eyes was now a charred crevice, evidence of the relentless damage it had suffered. Yet, with sheer force of will, it reignited in fmes, its fiery essence dang fiercely around its body, ready to tihe fight.

  The boy and Eliza tiheir brutal battle; she unleashed rapid, deadly strikes with her daggers, trying to break through his defense, but the boy blocked each attempt with precise, calcuted movements. The csh of bdes sparked with light amidst the chaos.

  Suddenly, the boy leaped into the air, spinning, and delivered a brutal kick to Eliza’s face. The impact resounded like a muffled thundercp, powerful enough to send her sliding back several meters, her eyes burning with renewed rage aermination.

  "AAAAAAARGH!" the soul golem roared, swinging its fming tail and striking the boy, sending him flying.

  "We o kill him, fast!" Eliza shouted at me as we charged toward him, determio end this battle.

  "What the hell did he just do?" I asked, trying to prehend the situation.

  The boy used wind to cushion his fall, nding softly in mid-air before jumping again, now standing before us, ready for another round.

  We rushed at him, and as I advanced, I swung ara axe, retrieved quickly from my ste bracelet. trating my mana, I exploded ah pilr beh me, propelling myself forward to strike him with speed and force.

  I aimed directly at his neck, but he blocked with precision. As our bdes cshed, I looked into his face, shocked by what I saw.

  THE SON OF A BITCH IS LAUGHING!?

  He seemed to be enjoying himself despite the iy of the fight. We tinued exging rapid strikes, and Eliza, seizing the moment, attempted to stab him from behind.

  "That won’t work on me," he said, without even turning around, blog her attack effortlessly.

  "How did you know, damn it!?" Eliza shouted, frustrated.

  The boy wielded a yellow sword in one hand and a metal sword iher. With a disdainful tone, he expined, "I always maintain a massive wind shield around me, infused with electricity. It’s an invisible protective field that keeps me aware of anything approag."

  "That's impossible," I said, in disbelief.

  He shrugged, ued. "Are you going to stay impressed, or are you going to try to kill me?"

  "You bastard!" Eliza screamed, lunging at him with all her might. "Maximum Attack!"

  At her and, Eliza's soul golem began to swell, sug in the surrounding air. I reized the immi danger.

  I lunged forward, trying to strike him with the axe, but he blocked it with his metal sword, showing no signs of weakness. The pressure increased as Eliza readied her dagger for the final blow.

  "I see, you’re immuo yolem’s fire. Looks like that thing is going to blow, taking me along with it," he said to Eliza, his voice eerily calm as he pushed my axe downward, preparing for the move.

  I began to back away, well aware of how devastating Eliza’s spell could be. Her golem was swelling rapidly, on the verge of unleashing a massive explosion of energy.

  "It’s a pity your tractor won’t be able to kill me in person," he added with an ironic smile.

  Eliza leaped at him, screaming, "As long as you’re dead! I don’t care if it lowers the tract’s pay!"

  The golem was about to detonate, and the tension in the air alpable.

  Is she really going to blow this pce up!? I thought, running as fast as I could to escape the immi explosion, as her golem swelled even more, ready to unleash its overwhelming power.