Atticus focused his gaze on the robot, which was descending gently to the ground, and instantaneously, an intense aura radiated out from its form once more.
'Looks like it's not joking around anymore,' Atticus thought. He couldn't help but notice the major difference between the expert rank and the master rank.
When he battled Astrion, Vorlock, and Malora back at the Raven camp, while their aura had been intense, it hadn't been this overwhelming.
Despite being 300 meters away from the robot, Atticus could still feel an intense intimidation emanating from the robot's aura.
Regardless of the fact that he could match master rank individuals with speed and strength, apart from his bloodline, Atticus's aura was still subpar.
Atticus continuously circulated his mana throughout his body, trying to free himself from its aura.
"I better use it," he muttered to himself.
Atticus's right hand gravitated towards the katana by his left waist as he started unsheathing it slowly.
The Katana vibrated with intensity; Atticus was finally going to use it!
It didn't even care about the fact that he was unsheathing it first. Since when did Atticus have to unsheathe it first to use its arts? It was just glad to finally get used.
'My bloodline is still subpar compared to it. The Katana should solve my attack problem. Plus, I can't use it that much anymore,' Atticus realized.
He had used his all to defend against that attack. And because of this, he would have to use his element sparingly, lest he wanted to run out of stamina.
Atticus held the katana in front of him tightly with his two hands, its sharp tip pointed upwards.
Atticus's passive speed was still slightly below that of the robot, so he quickly stimulated his air bloodline with mana, and his body instantly became weightless.
Both intense gazes locked onto each other, and then, the earth trembled as they each moved.
The earth on which the robot stood instantaneously imploded as its form tore through the air, leaving an orange steamy blur in its wake. Each step on the earth seemed to leave deep foot indentations that emitted intense amounts of heat.
It closed the distance between it and Atticus in an instant, its palpable golden aura having molded into a massive hammer raised skyward as it instantly unleashed a massive downward swing at Atticus.
Atticus's form was the opposite of the robot's; his form was almost weightless and incredibly lightweight, leaving next to no visual cues as he moved. There were no restrictions at all in his path, no wind resistance. It was as though he himself was the wind.
Atticus could feel how intense the temperature was close to the robot. It was like being close to a mini-sun.
Seeing the massive downward swing, Atticus's eyes flashed as he released a burst of air on his right side, pushing his form away from the trajectory of the swing. Atticus's retaliation was instant.
With both hands holding his katana, he took a massive step forward, his hands slightly raised up as he unleashed a devastating thrust directly towards the neck of the robot.
Its response was immediate as the golden glow around its neck intensified, molding into a thick barrier that covered every inch of its neck.
Just when it seemed like the barrier was about to block the thrust, the tip of the katana gleamed as its form effortlessly pierced the barrier, its tip inches away from the robot's neck.
The robot's expression, which had constantly maintained its creepy smile throughout the duration of the fight, finally changed; its eyes widened.
Its form instantly radiated an intense amount of golden light, the temperature increasing to staggering levels.
"Shit!" Atticus's eyes widened, and he reacted immediately.
Focusing on the earth element, his form sank at fast speed into the ground. He kept manipulating the earth to take him deeper and deeper while simultaneously controlling the elements of ice and water to encompass his form.
Then, the robot went supernova.
Intense vibrations traveled through the earth, reaching Atticus despite how deep he was underground, followed by an intense wave of heat. Atticus strained himself, trying to maintain the barriers that he erected. Although it was hard, it wasn't as hard as the first time when he was on the surface.
After a few intense seconds, Atticus swiftly manipulated the earth, his form shooting upwards and emerging on the surface in under a second.
He was instantly met with the aftermath of the wave. The earth was completely charred black once again.
Atticus's gaze landed on the figure of the robot, whose golden glow had dimmed significantly compared to the last time.
"It got dimmer," his gaze landed on the gem embedded in its forehead. Compared to the first time he saw it, it had significantly lost a lot of power, its glow dim.
'It can only use it once,' Atticus deduced.
The robot looked at the katana in Atticus's hand warily, its senses alert. The glow coalesced in its arms as it formed two massive hammers made of light.
Atticus tightened his grip on his katana, his resolve steeling as he activated his air bloodline, propelling himself forward with incredible speed to close the distance between himself and the robot.
Their movements became a blur as they engaged in a frenzied exchange of blows, each strike and parry executed with lethal precision.
Atticus's attacks were calculated and swift, his strikes aimed at exploiting any weakness in the robot's defenses. In contrast, the robot's attacks were relentless, each blow heavy and scalding hot, threatening to crush Atticus with its sheer force.
After exchanging hundreds of blows, the robot's eyes once again widened as it saw the state of its molded weapons. Despite being heavier and bulkier, each time it clashed with the katana, a chunk of its form would get lost.
It had been feeding the hammers more energy all this while, but it was already running out of energy as it had already gone supernova for the third time. The hammers were on their last ropes.