บท 124: With Multiple Abilities
"Ack…"
—Move into one of the classrooms.
After being tossed around like some sort of ball, Balanos began actively helping him in evading the Valian.
However, there was only so much she could do when giving advice.
Sebastian used his speed to dash into one of the classrooms but a few seconds later, the wall collapsed as the Valian had punched straight through it.
—Break through the window and drop down before climbing up the roof. He shouldn't be able to go up without having to land.
After dodging another one of the Valian's blows and returning his own with a swipe of his spear, Sebastian jumped out of the window.
The Valian, assuming he was still escaping, jumped down after him but…
"See you!"
Sebastian created a hand out of flames to pull him up to the roof as the Valian fell down. Of course, he didn't forget to fire a shot of lightning.
—You've bought yourself a few seconds. There's no possible way for you to defeat him without Soul Armor.
"If need be… I'll reveal my other abilities."
—It's most likely what the Sage is after, there's no harm in doing so.
"..."
The only reason Sebastian was afraid of revealing his stigma was because if any of his friends and relatives were to find out, they might be silenced. However, now that he was being branded as a criminal anyway, there'd be no harm in showing that he could wield multiple abilities.
"You're really slippery, you know that?"
Sebastian frowned as he turned his body back. The Valian had just arrived, there were cracks on the roof that he had stepped on.
The academy had a roof that students weren't given any access to. But, even though it was Sebastian's first time up here, he knew that the roof wasn't that weak to have cracked just from his landing.
—He's slowly raising his power.
"So he wasn't at his best?"
Sebastian tightened his grip on his spear.
"You know, for an Apprentice, you're lasting pretty long."
"Thank you for the compliment, how about you drop dead as my reward?"
"Feisty."
The Valian whistled and cracked his knuckles.
"As much as I want to prolong our battle like before, I was ordered to end this as soon as I could. At the very least, I have to achieve my objective before those house heads return."
"...And what is that objective of yours?"
"Hah? Do I look that stupid to you?"
"That's a difficult question to answer."
The Valian snorted and tapped his feet.
"As someone whose strength I acknowledge, I'll tell you. I don't know. I wasn't told anything, just to deal with you while my partner and everyone else do the rest."
"..."
Sebastian peeked down at the chaos happening on the academy grounds.
There were dozens of injured from both sides due to the clash and the academy's buildings were on fire. Sebastian couldn't quite clearly see the situation from where he was, but he could roughly tell that both sides were currently even.
"?!"
Just as Sebastian turned his attention back to the Valian, he vanished. The next thing Sebastian knew, he was on the floor with his vision going double.
"Aggghh…"
He was knocked down with a single punch.
'Is my jaw still safe…?'
The Valian had leaped from his position and hit Sebastian's cheek which sent him crashing into the ground.
Luckily, Sebastian had strengthened his body more than usual. If not, he would be out then and there.
After giving up the pretense of not being able to enhance his body above a certain point, Sebastian decided to use more energy to strengthen himself.
With this, at the very least, he could survive a few more hits from the Valian's devastating punches.
Sebastian swung his spear from the ground but it didn't manage to do anything to the Valian.
"Looks like this is it."
The Valian raised his leg and was about to finish Sebastian off but just as his foot was about to crush Sebastian, his target disappeared.
"What the...?"
"Thunderclap!"
The Valian was pushed back. His feet slid on the ground for a few meters before coming to a halt. He looked at the direction of the attack and he could see Sebastian with his spear pointed at him.
"Looks like you have more tricks up your sleeve, huh?!"
The Valian tried to repeat his actions earlier. Using his superior strength, he kicked the floor and was about to land a hit on Sebastian's abdomen. If he aimed for the head, there was a bigger chance for him to dodge.
However, forget hitting Sebastian, his attacks went nowhere near. Just before reaching the end of the roof, he managed to stop himself by burying his feet into the floor.
"Death Throes!"
In the end, the Valian was still thrown off of the roof. He was struck in behind by Sebastian's spear and was blown away by an explosion of sound.
"I can't believe that worked…"
—It is the first time you've used it in actual combat after all.
Small tendrils of shadows and darkness slowly receded from Sebastian back into his own shadow.
During the earlier exchanges, he sank into his shadows and then got out and attacked. He didn't expect it to work with the Valian's reflexes, however.
BOOM BOOM BOOM
All of a sudden, Sebastian heard a series of sounds as if walls were crumbling one after another.
"Ack!"
"Got you!"
It was the Valian. He had exerted more of his strength and jumped with so much force that he broke through all of the walls and ceilings that he had to pass before reaching Sebastian.
With the both of them in the air, Sebastian wasn't able to go into a shadow. But, that didn't mean he was helpless.
Sebastian used his free hand to control the shadows made from their leap. Tendrils made of shadows manifested and wrapped around the Valian's leg.
"Hah?!"
The Valian hadn't expected it at all. He was pulled down and slammed into the roof with Sebastian along with him. However, the Valian was the only one to hit the roof, Sebastian had vanished once more.
"Shit. What an annoying power."
For the Valian who liked straightforward fights, what he was facing now was a nightmare.
—It's time, nobody's left inside the building.
"Got it."
"?!"
The Valian suddenly heard Sebastian's voice and looked around but he was nowhere to be seen. He noticed the shadows moving and looked up.
"When did you get up there?!"
The Valian laughed and jumped off the roof. He planned to meet Sebastian's fall halfway.
"Lightning God, Third Form…"
Sebastian readied his spear and muttered.
"Lightning God's Rage!"
Lightning wrapped around Sebastian and his spear. His figure vanished accompanied by a flash of light as his spear made contact with the Valian's body.
BOOOOOOOOOM
An enormous lightning strike. It came from the clouds and was strong enough to break through all of the floors.
"What was that?!"
One of the teachers reacted. As there were no thunder clouds anywhere in the sky, it was strange for there to be lightning suddenly coming down.
But, that wasn't the end of his shock.
The building that had been struck by the lightning suddenly began to break apart. Although it wasn't enough to collapse it, at the very least, it was capable of breaking apart concrete.
He didn't know of any natural lightning capable of doing such a thing nor did he know anyone attending the school able to use lightning.
Under the rubble of the collapsing building, Sebastian coughed a few times.
As he surveyed the damage, he recalled Mile's words as he trained the third from of Lightning God.
"You know, in truth, the third form is a bit special compared to the others. Lightning Strike isn't its completed form."
"Eh? There's something stronger than this?"
"Then, let me ask you a question: where does lightning come from?"
"The sky…"
"Exactly. The sky. Would it really be called lightning if it was limited to the ground? I don't think you'll be able to use it so soon but I'll show you anyway."
Mile used her lightning to travel to the sky in the blink of an eye. Then, Sebastian saw the clouds begin to rumble followed by a large bolt of lightning.
It was the largest bolt of lightning that Sebastian had seen in his life and if he had just taken a few steps forward, he would've taken the brunt of the attack.
The scenery he saw after left him speechless.
The ground was scorched and razed. Mile was standing in the center with her spear lodged in the ground that was elevated lower than before.
"Lightning Strike truly shines when it is paired with a lightning bolt and used from the sky. I call it… Lightning Emperor's Rage."
"Jeez… I know what she showed me wasn't its full power but to think that it's this strong…"
Sebastian dropped down on one knee.
The amount of energy it took to produce a lightning bolt that strong and use Lightning Strike from within was enormous.
He only had a third of his energy left, even with the stigma's increased energy.
"Ouch…"
"..."
Sebastian raised his head. He saw the Valian moving the rubble on his body out of the way. There was a wound on his chest, but it wasn't anything major. At most, it could count as a scratch.
"That technique was terrifying. I felt like I was up against Markus Luna's Divine Punishment…"
In the end, an Apprentice was an Apprentice. Sebastian didn't have enough power to truly damage the Valian even with the strongest move in his arsenal.
"Inheritors really are troublesome with their abilities, aren't they?"
The Valians were limited to close combat like normal humans. They didn't have any extraordinary ability other than increased physical attributes.
The only reason that Sebastian had lasted this long against the Valian was because of his versatility.
"Do you give up now?"
"Not on your life."
"Haa… Don't make this more troublesome than it has to be. It should be obvious by now that you aren't able to damage me without bringing out that green armor from before."
"You're right. But, I have no intention of letting you get away so easily."
Sebastian took a few steps back and sank into his own shadows.
"Now that we're underground, you won't be able to touch me anymore. In this world of shadows, I will make you fall."
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