Lightning Is the Only Way

BOOM!

Gravis used his full acceleration with his lightning and body to quickly reach the elder again. Even though the elder was prepared, he was still taken by surprise by Gravis' ridiculous acceleration. He hadn't used that in this fight before, making it impossible for the elder to react appropriately.

BANG!

Manuel had appeared before Gravis, having summoned a humongous shield before him. Gravis' kick exploded on the shield, blowing it into fragments that shot towards Manuel, who stood right behind it.

Clank, clank, clank!

With impressive control over his weapon, Manuel blocked all the fragments with his sword. Meanwhile, the elder pointed his weapon over Manuel's shoulder, releasing a concentrated beam of sword force.

CLANK!

Gravis angled his saber over his still outstretched leg, making the beam deflect off of the surface of the angled saber. The direction of the beam changed, and it shot into the sky. If he had blocked it directly, Gravis would have been pushed back, but with this maneuver, he wouldn't have to retreat. The beam's force pushed Gravis towards the ground, which immediately exploded with lightning as Gravis shot forward again.

WOOSH!

Manuel sidestepped the second kick as if he had seen it coming. Apparently, he was also proficient in pre-dodging, just like Gravis. Manuel immediately started slashing towards Gravis' outstretched leg, intending to cut it off.

SHING! BOOM!

Gravis' right leg was cut off at the knee, but a concentrated lightning spear came out of the leg's stump, hitting Manuel right in the chest. The flesh on Manuel's chest exploded off, and he got shot away. Gravis had traded his leg for a severe injury.

SHING!

The elder released an attack as Manuel shot away, and it shot towards Gravis. Gravis quickly kicked his severed leg with his stump, making it hit the crescent of sword force. His body was powerful, and such a hastily released attack didn't have the full power of the elder. As his severed leg hit the sword crescent, both of them exploded into a wave of destruction and blood.

SHING!

Gravis quickly used his saber and cut off a diagonal chunk of the stump that was his right leg and then shot forward at the elder again. Gravis slashed with his saber, and the elder blocked it with his sword.

Clank! SHING!

While the sword blocked Gravis' saber, Gravis' leg nearly cut off one of the elder's arms. How was this possible? Gravis had cut off a diagonal chunk of his leg to sharpen his own bone into a sharp pike. The protruding bone had part of it cut off, which made it pointy. It was painful, but winning was more important! The shorter range of his leg also helped him pull this stunt off since it was easier to hit something closer to him.

The elder's left hand only hung from a thin strand of muscle and skin. Apparently, his body hadn't been as tempered as Gravis'. If it had been, Gravis' wouldn't have been able to sever the bone of the hand. The elder was shocked dumb by this development, and he couldn't react to Gravis' next attack, which was a loaded fist hitting the flat side of the blocking sword.

BANG!

The sword stayed in one piece, but with the elder shocked and only having one hand to block the attack, the sword shot backward and pierced the elder's torso. It stabbed into the middle of his torso, with only the hilt remaining visible. The eyes of the elder widened as Gravis punched straight at him.

BANG!

Another huge shield appeared before the elder as Manuel had returned. Manuel had retrieved the shield from his Spirit Space and placed it right before the elder to block the attack. The shield exploded again, and its fragments shot backward again. But this time, there was no Manuel to stop the fragments since he was still in the process of running back. Thus, the fragments all buried themselves in the elder's body. The elder was also shot back due to the force.

Gravis gritted his teeth in frustration. He had been so close to killing one of them! This was the third time that Manuel had saved the life of the elder. At least the elder was severely injured now. Meanwhile, Manuel was very close to Gravis again and readied himself for an overhead slash. Gravis used his sharp stump to kick towards Manuel's hands, but his leg was too short.

BZZZZ! BANG!

Gravis used 50% of the inherent Energy of his body to make his leg instantly regenerate. Manuel's eyes widened, and the kick hit Manuel's hands. Sadly, Gravis hadn't had time to load his kick with lightning. Yet, some of Manuel's fingers still broke due to the kick.

BOOM!

Gravis' other leg exploded with lightning, shooting him forward while his right leg was still outstretched. Manuel had lost his balance due to the kick, and he managed to barely hold his saber above his head. Yet, the kick would arrive before he could regain control over his saber.

BOOM!

Another shield appeared, and more fragments shot at Manuel, but this time, he didn't have the luxury to block those. Some of them buried themselves in his torso as he barely avoided others. The force of the fragments shot Manuel into the distance.

BZZZZ!

Gravis' body released lightning again, and the jagged fragments pulled themselves out of Manuel's and the elder's bodies, creating multiple blood fountains. The fragments hit Gravis' hand but got stopped easily by the magnetism.

THUMP!

Something with a humongous weight appeared before Gravis. It was some kind of construct with four long, metallic bars that were held together with some non-magnetic materials. The bars pointed at the elder. Gravis immediately put the fragments between the four bars. Gravis had created this thing with the materials that he had exchanged with Elder Byron.

BZZZZ!

Lightning appeared on all four bars, and the fragments started floating inside of it. Then, the lightning shot forward along the bars and became stronger, pulling the fragments with it. As the fragments passed the tip of the four bars, a small explosion appeared behind them as they shot out with unreal speed. The elder quickly blocked with his sword since he had no time to dodge.

Clank, clank, ptsh, ptsh!

Some of them got blocked, while other fragments buried themselves deeply into the elder's body. The elder, who had just gotten back on his feet, got shot into the distance again. By now, Manuel had gotten up again and charged towards Gravis. Gravis quickly angled his contraption towards Manuel. Then, he retrieved some liquid metal and made it appear inside the contraption, using his lightning again to make it float.

WHOOM!

Manuel used his funnel and pushed Gravis away from his contraption. Then, the contraption vanished, but it wasn't put into Gravis' Spirit Space, but into Manuel's. He wouldn't allow such a dangerous weapon to stay outside. As long as Gravis didn't have physical contact with it, he could manipulate it, just like Gravis.

Gravis regained his balance and charged forward again. Yet, this time, he wasn't using his lightning. He had used it too many times, and his storage was running low. He had to remain frugal with it now. They came closer to each other, but suddenly, Manuel lowered himself and spun around once, creating a circle of sword force that grew bigger as it shot away all around him.

Gravis quickly jumped over it, but he knew that this was what Manuel wanted. Manuel wouldn't have made such an easily avoidable attack without reason. Sure enough, Manuel had already pulled his sword close to his body, gathering all his strength for a stab.

BZZZ! WHOOM!

Lightning appeared on the floor, attracting the sword as it pushed forward, slightly changing its angle. Due to this, it only went through Gravis' kidney, creating a clear hole in Gravis' body. Manuel quickly reacted and took out his funnel again.

BANG!

Yet, another concentrated lightning spear appeared, pushing through the weak sword force and hitting the funnel. The funnel was metallic, and the lightning went through it, right into Manuel's hands, which quickly blackened. On top of that, Manuel was electrified, making him unable to move for a short time.

BZZZZZZZZZ!

A violent sphere of lightning appeared before Gravis, and he pushed his saber through it. The sphere vanished, absorbed by the saber, and Gravis slashed right towards the middle of the area between Manuel and the elder. The elder had just barely gotten off of the floor just 20 meters away from Manuel, while Manuel had just regained control over his body. The explosion of this attack would destroy everything in a 100-meter diameter. There was no way for them to survive. Gravis slashed down.

BOOOOM!

Suddenly, Gravis was surrounded by a gigantic, thick, metallic fortress, many meters tall and thick. The slash hit the inside of the fortress, and the explosion destroyed everything around him, including the metallic fortress. Half a second later, the explosion had already vanished as the surroundings thundered and trembled. Gravis didn't feel any Energy entering his body, which signalized that both of his opponents were still alive.

Gravis had no idea why they were still alive. This fortress wouldn't have been enough to shield them completely. Without hesitation, he used his eyes to look for Manuel. Gravis knew about the brightness of the explosion, which was why he had closed them for a second. The Energy and disorder in the surroundings made it impossible for a Spirit to get an accurate look at the surroundings. On top of that, the explosion should have blinded them. He still had a chance!

Gravis quickly spotted Manuel and saw many metal fragments before and behind him. Apparently, a second fortress had been summoned around him and also around the elder. Gravis was baffled about the size of their Spirit Spaces. Such a fortress took up way too much space, yet there had been three? Gravis quickly threw that thought out of his head and charged at the blinded and disoriented Manuel. Gravis quickly kicked with all his power.

BANG!

Gravis hit something metallic and immovable. The bones in his leg got obliterated while its flesh exploded. Gravis was tremendously shocked. How did something this powerful appear out of nowhere?

Whom!

The thing disappeared, and Gravis froze when he saw a person appear. A middle-aged man with long green hair stood between Gravis and Manuel. He was looking intensely at Gravis, and when Gravis felt the power of this person, he despaired.

'Tree Stage!'