章 71: Malcom Vs. Astro (1)

But his opponent moved with more speed, and trying to hang Malcom's head with the mass, forced him to duck and then try to step on him with his feet.

Malcom rolled on the ground, trying to evade the stomp and watching his opponent turn his head to follow his movement. Despite its size, he could move perfectly through that reduced space. Malcom could not make sense of what was happening. When seeing how his opponent was preparing to attack, a vine grabbed his free arm and one of his legs.

The Marked was caught, and the huge mass descended in his direction. No idea came to his mind, and raising his plastered hand as a reflex to defend himself from the blow, he waited for the worst.

Malcom waited for the impact with his eyes closed. His mind was blank, and in that instant, he felt a stabbing pain in his arm, a strong thread of pain that ran through his body, awakening his mind. When he saw the brake, he saw how a magic shield stopped the attack that the huge beast tried to deliver.

The shield in front of him was the same shield that had saved his life in the hospital alley, working again. The pain in his arm was noticeable but nothing compared to the damage that blow would have caused.

The huge creature tried to attack again, and Malcolm, using his speed, moved what was necessary for the Sledgehammer to destroy the plants that stopped his foot and his hand.

With a spinning motion, he kicked Astro's face with strength, the huge creature fell back only for Malcom to jump in the direction of the vines running at full speed using the speed of his magic treasure.

When he crossed the corridor, the vines tried to catch him again, but Malcom calmly took one of his cards and, activating it, let out a huge flare that covered the entire hallway. With speed, his bodyscaped of the fire, living a smokescreen that covered his retry. Flames burned through the vines as he drew distance between himself and the creature that nearly crushed him.

"Damn, I had it!" Emanuel said with frustration, "What happened to Astro? I thought he was strong!"

The girl glared at him and said.

"Don't worry, I'll catch him...! Where did he go! "

The man concentrating on the map saw something strange and scratching his head, he said.

"This is very strange. The map says he is in three places at once!"

Malcom, in a strange room that resembled an auditorium, sat calmly. He had used two of his cards that had dummies that resembled him.

The pain in his arm bothered him, but the fact that the shield had been activated said that his own magic was already running on his arm. Thinking calmly, the Marked said out loud to himself.

"The vines are not that strong, but they are annoying. If it weren't for the shield, I would be dead…!" His breathing was agitated. He hadn't received any direct blow, but the tension of the fight was hard to carry for him.

He only could use one hand and even if he magic shield worked changing between cards and dagger with just one hand added so much difficulty to the fight and not being able to use both hands stopped him from using the different attacks he had.

"I can't use my runic cut! That sucks!" Said Malcom looking at his cast and trying to think of a strategy. "That monster makes no sense! How can it move like that with that body and not crash against the wall! Something is not right… Anyway, I need to change to the offensive. If I keep defending, they will catch me!"

At that moment, a lot of vines entered the main door of that auditorium. Malcom prepared his card to activate another blaze and end them all, but the vines showed strange flowers that released purple spores the moment he used them. When the flames came into contact with the spores, a huge explosion appeared.

Malcom had to move at full speed to get out of that room, escaping from the flames.

When he went through the door, he saw the huge mass of Astro trying to crush his head, and using his agility, he managed to escape the blow only to be cornered by the creature.

"We have it!" Sarah said confidently.

And at that moment in all the ruin, the voice of Emanuel was heard again.

"Listen, Marked if you give up now, you won't take too much damage!"

Malcom let out a snort. In front of him, Astro was preparing to fight. Malcom took his dagger and, turning it into a sword, pointed at Astro with determination. The creature was huge, and Its entire body was covered in sturdy armor.

While looking at it, the Marked couldn't find his weak point when suddenly Astro threw his shield again.

This time Malcom was ready, and avoiding the shield, he turned to watch Astro move with speed and catch it behind him to execute an attack identical to the one he had done before.

Malcom dodged both attacks and, with a smile, said.

"So you can shrink to increase your speed... interesting!"

Saying that, he put his dagger in its sheath, and taking two cards in his hand, he smiled as he said.

"It's over, big man!"

He threw a card against his enemy, Astro raised his huge shield to protect himself, but only a huge source of water came out of the card.

Astro was instantly soaked, and at that moment, the second card flew towards him when a huge icy blizzard opened, freezing the water that was around the monster, stopping his attacks instantly.

Astro seemed stopped but growing in size, he freed himself from the simple trap that Malcom had elaborated.

When his body grew, Malcom moved with great speed, and landing on its shoulder, he used his free hand to take one of the horns of his enemy's helmet and, with agility, snatch it out of the helmet and escape before the huge, slow, and heavy limbs of Astro could take him.