Garden Of The Abyss

"Scales of The Hollow Tyrant" amplifies my physical prowess and my magical abilities, and gives me an adaptive defense. I've never lost when using it–that's why I try to avoid it, as it's pretty boring. But, I'm done with that childish crap, he thought.

As he continued a flurry of attacks, Vainglory kept his eyes on each fist that came his way, blocking against them as each impact resulted in a deafening shock wave.

Vainglory attempted to counter with his own, colossal blows that carved through the field, but his own speed far surpassed the man's attacks.

This speed–not just that, his strength is also amplified greatly, Vainglory thought.

"It's no surprise Sloth lost to you," Vainglory said, guarding the attacks with his fists.

Each time he connected a hit that was guarded against Vainglory's arms, it felt as if he was hitting impervious steel that made his own attacks chip at him, superficially, but still hurt him to some degree.

"Cool story," Sirius said, using his ludicrous speed to warp continuously around Vainglory.

An onslaught of attacks pelted against the man who carried himself with an immutable stride, striking him with punches and kicks that were bolstered by lightning strikes that sizzled the air and burned the nearby grass.

After choosing to directly take a hit, Vainglory smiled as Sirius' face slammed against the man's forehead, causing it to bleed and bruise, but not cause any further damage.

Huh–? He purposefully took the attack? He thought.

He figured out why as Vainglory's fist slammed into his gut with an impact that vibrated throughout his entire body, causing the wind to roar out from the sheer force backed behind his fist.

All of the air left his lungs as they felt on fire with any attempt to draw in any breath into them, feeling as if an explosion had directly sent off against his abdomen.

It left him momentarily stunned as he held his gut, catching his breath for a moment as his dark, living armor intertwined further and crawled, reconfiguring itself.

"Doesn't feel too good does it? Most people aren't standing after a punch from me, or breathing," Vainglory told him casually.

Another fist came in from Vainglory, smashing against his gut, but this time it held no effect as Sirius remained unmoving while the man's knuckles were pressed against his scale-armored abdomen.

"Huh?" Vainglory raised an eyebrow.

"Doesn't feel too good does it?" He turned the man's words back on him, sending a fist directly against Vainglory's nose.

The fearsome counter cracked the wind as lightning filled the surrounding air, causing Vainglory to stumble back as the man wiped fresh blood from his nose.

My "Scales" adapt to any attack received once and make it meaningless any further time, he thought.

"Annoying," Vainglory said, "This is exactly why I didn't want to fight you. Lightning mages at your level are a pain in the ass."

Using the time in which Vainglory spent talking, he blitzed to him with a combination of spatial magic and lightning, gathering an abundance of gyrating, ominous lightning in his hand as its sheer, magenta radiance blinded Vainglory.

Even the silver-haired, lackadaisical man fell silent in the face of that magecraft, attempting to raise his guard, but Sirius was too fast.

Slapping his scale-clad hand against the man's chest, a shock wave propelled against the valley before a resounding, ear-numbing explosion unleashed.

In the center of the coalesced lightning, forcibly squeezed and expanded repeatedly, a heat exuded that turned the air itself into flames, melting the soil below into a charred, forever infertile patch.

This is…? Vainglory looked down with surprise in his eyes.

It vastly surpassed the energy of a nuclear explosion, then was amplified and compact, being condensed into an unstable force that then blew Vainglory back at a ferocious speed that shattered the sound barrier in succession, turning the surrounding field into a desecrated, electrified barren land.

Obviously I wasn't showing you my complete speed at first. That'd be a rookie move, he thought.

It was utterly deafening; the unorthodox spell was created by him using inspiration from a weapon on Earth—a "railgun".

Only, this was taking that to a divine level.

After crashing through a series of trees and ending his travel by slamming into a boulder, Vainglory picked himself up as his shirt was left in tatters, with the lightning impact embedded in his chest, leaving a trail of smoke as he coughed out.

"...Well, shit," Vainglory let out with a grunt, "It looks like I won't be able to win without using my ability. Oh, well."

Ability? He thought, wait–he survived that? I intended to kill him with that attack–he barely seems phased at all. This guy isn't normal–he's way more dangerous than Sloth.

It was only for a moment, for the first time from the nonchalant man who seemed indifferent–he felt a rage burning from him. A dense magical pressure that intertwined with his bloodlust exuded into a suffocating air.

What's this…? He thought.

Vainglory slowly walked towards him, cracking his neck again with a lofty sigh leaving his lips, "I'm withdrawing."

"What…?" He let out in confusion.

"I won't be able to beat you without killing you, and that's a bit problematic. So, I'm leaving," Vainglory said, nonchalantly walking past him as he retrieved his coat from the ground, "They only sent me because there was a chance you'd show up here, so it's not like I was expected to retrieve you. Oh, well, I got something else–thanks for showing me that ability of yours, Sirius Federov."

Before he could say anything else, Vainglory already crushed what seemed to be a teleportation rune in his hand, vanishing from his sight in an instant.

"...What the hell was that about?" He questioned.

Though before he could choose to stand around and question it further, he remembered his original goal.

Emilia…! He thought.

Moving as a bolt of magenta lightning that surpassed the speed of its natural element, he returned to the capital with such swiftness that none of the guards could perceive him entering as he relocated to the dingy base he was last at.

Without wasting a moment, he opened the door without even touching it, propelling it off of its hinges as it flew inward through the room behind it, crashing against the far wall.

While he was certainly impatient, it was the "scales" that bolstered such feelings, bringing his patience low and his roughness high.

"Huh–? What's this?!"