NOVPUB
Chapter 141: 141
Ikem frowned as he felt the tingling sensation from the lightning, while Meray was having a hard time holding onto the lightning spear; Ikem’s physical strength was much more than his.
The two continued to exchange quick blows, causing damage to each other, but they were also healing up just as quickly. All of a sudden, red roots grew from the ground, holding Meray tightly to his position.
Taking that opportunity, Ikem waved his sword, aiming toward Meray’s neck when suddenly he felt a huge wave of heat heading for him from the sky.
Jumping back to dodge the flame, Ikem looked up to see Barlo with his wings spread apart flying in the sky above them.
The Balor saw Ikem staring at him, so he smiled provocatively at Ikem when suddenly a red figure from the ground tackled him from the sky as they both fell down.
Meray used this small opportunity to escape from the binding roots as he quickly created distance between himself and Ikem.
The lightning spear in his hand grew bigger and stronger, but this time he threw it to the sky. Ikem, not understanding the action, paid it no mind as he moved in to close the distance.
Just as he took his first step, lightning fell on him, catching him off guard. A scream of pain left Ikem’s mouth as he was stunned.
The lightning wasn’t over as more headed for Ikem, who had to react immediately, and roots grew out from his armor, throwing him to the side.
This gave him enough time to recover as he began dodging the rain of lightning. Meray saw how Ikem was easily dodging the lightning, so he called the book over as his hand grew earthly yellow.
Stone spikes began jetting out from the ground combined with the lightning falling from the sky. Ikem had to focus his whole senses on dodging.
Knowing he couldn’t continue with this for much longer, as he dodged the spike that grew from his feet, he stomped the ground and took off into the sky, opening his mouth where traces of red flames were brewing.
Focusing on where the lightning was falling from, Ikem turned with his back facing the ground as a wave of red-hot flames left his mouth and impacted the lightning center.
A wave of explosion was sent throughout the sky, propelling Ikem further back to the ground. Meray saw this as an opportunity as the stone spikes on the ground shot up to the sky in an attempt to pierce through Ikem.
Turning mid-air, Ikem caught two of the stone spikes, but that wasn’t enough as more headed his way. Ikem’s armor reacted by generating two more arms, catching two other spikes.
Ikem sensed he was still in the center of his realm and sent out a thought to the tree. A huge wave of root system came from the ground, catching Ikem mid-air and giving him a foothold.
Meray, surprised by that, watched as Ikem stopped on the huge root system. The stone spike in his hand lit aflame with red flames as he threw the spike at Meray who halted the spear mid-air. But it was Ikem’s turn to smile this time as the stone spear exploded.
Meray, caught off guard, was thrown back, but more was heading his way as Ikem threw out the spear he had in his hand. With each explosion, the spears got closer to Meray.
A coughing sound could be heard as Meray looked bad from all the damage caused by the explosions. He was bleeding heavily and missing a lot of body parts, and the book was also damaged from the explosion.
Ikem was about to move in and finish him off when he frowned and looked back to see the Balor holding Bara, who was now ablaze and screaming. Ikem quickly commanded the roots to retract back to the ground as he jumped off of it, but he left enough to entangle the already damaged Meray and his book.
Ikem was surprised at Bara losing; he knew that Bara wasn’t at his full strength. The treant figure of his was just a divided part of him; the main Bara was the red tree at the center of Ikem’s domain.
"Thank you, Bara. I got it from here," Ikem was very thankful as Bara had already done enough by holding Balor back so that he could handle Meray. But now it was time to take care of the Flaming demon.
The Balor saw Ikem looking at him as he dropped the burning Bara and sneered at Ikem’s approach. "You think you can defeat me, demigod? I am the harbinger of destruction!"
Ikem’s muscles tensed as he anticipated Balor’s next move. With the scent of burning sulfur heavy in the air, he readied himself for the clash. The Balor, its eyes ablaze with malice, descended upon him with terrifying speed, its flaming whip crackling with infernal energy.
As the Balor struck, Ikem sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the searing lash. With a swift motion, he countered, his sword singing through the air as it sliced towards the demon’s midsection. The Balor, however, was quick to catch the sword. Ikem reacted quickly, placing the sword where the Balor caught it, and sharp spikes grew, draining the demon’s fiery blood. This caused the Balor to release the sword.
Angered, the Balor unleashed a barrage of scorching flames, enveloping the battlefield in a blistering inferno. Despite his best efforts to dodge and deflect, the searing heat seeped through his defenses, searing his flesh and leaving him reeling in agony.
Ikem noticed something about the Balor’s flames; they were almost the same as the flames of Red. Unlike normal flames, which he had no problem with, these were exceptionally hot. Ikem couldn’t even remember the last time a flame affected him this way.
In an attempt to protect himself from the flames, Ikem surrounded himself with his own blood-red flames. With a roar, Ikem lunged forward, his sword slicing through the air with deadly precision. But the Balor was quick to react, its whip snapping out with blinding speed to intercept the blow.
Ikem gritted his teeth as he pushed against the force of the Balor’s whip, his muscles straining with effort. The Balor somehow matched him in physical strength. Sparks flew as their weapons clashed. With each blow, Ikem sought to gain ground, his sword and shield a blur of motion as he pressed the attack.
But the Balor wasn’t done. It conjured another flame whip on its other hand, its movements fluid and unpredictable. With a flick of its wrist, it deflected Ikem’s blows with uncanny precision, each strike met with a swift counterattack. The whip danced through the air like a living thing. Ikem had to sacrifice his shield for another sword to keep up.
With a desperate cry, Ikem summoned forth the power of his domain, the roots of the earth rising up to grab hold of the Balor’s hands, stopping its onslaught. Ikem let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as the Balor struggled to tear off the roots holding it, but the roots held steady.
Ikem took the small time to take a look at their surroundings. The quick exchange of their fight had left the whole place destroyed, especially the flames from the demon that caused a lot of earth around to turn into liquid lava.
Ikem walked towards the struggling Balor, the two swords he was holding brought together as they turned into a huge sword which Ikem lifted to cut off the Balor’s head. But the Balor wasn’t done; a wave of flames exploded from its body in an attempt to blow away the roots holding it. Bara was angry about his clone being beaten up, so as the explosion occurred, he held on tightly as the roots dug into the Balor’s skin, draining it of blood which the roots used to generate their own flame to counter the flames burning around it.
Protected by the red flames around him, Ikem saw the Balor getting weaker. He made no hesitation as the huge sword he was holding headed for the Balor’s neck, and with one swift motion, the head was taken off, thick heavy yellow blood spraying out from the wound.
"Thank you for that, your highness," was what Ikem heard as he was sent flying. Looking back, he saw Meray now fully healed, standing over the Balor’s body, when the book he was holding turned into a big mouth that swallowed up the Balor’s whole body.
Red roots from the ground caught Ikem before he could leave the realm limit, standing up and looking at Meray who had a smirk on his face. 𝖓𝔬𝖛𝔭𝔲𝖇.𝔠𝔬𝖒
Ikem shook his head and said "You shouldn’t have let your book do that"
Meray looked confused at Ikem’s word before he looked over at his book that was suddenly shaking uncontrollably as red flames grew around the book. Meray quickly distanced himself from the book but was caught by the red roots that grew from the ground.
