BAM!
The walls of the pit crumbled as Atticus slammed against them with force.
He staggered to his feet, every muscle screaming in pain as rubble crumbled from the wall he had been embedded in.
'So fast,'
Despite ramping up his perception to full throttle, Niall had punched him before he could even react.
Niall's eyes burned with an intense red, his fist already cocked back for another bone-crushing strike.
The next punch came, fast and deadly. Atticus barely managed to twist away, the force of Niall's blow shattering the wall where his head had been, jadded cracks snaking upwards.
'Fuck! He's really trying to kill me!'
Dust and debris filled the air as Atticus rolled to the side, manipulating the air molecules around him to speed his movement. He then retaliated with a blast of wind, whipping up a cyclone around Niall.
Niall planted his feet, unmoving, but Atticus wasn't done. He thrust his hands forward, and the cyclone transformed into a vortex of fire. The flames roared to life, swirling around Niall in a blinding spiral of heat.
The entire pit was bathed in an orange light, the flames threatening to reach the surface.
Niall growled, his aura flaring, and with a single, earth-shaking punch, he dispersed the firestorm.
Atticus had already anticipated this and was already moving, his hands flicking through a series of elemental shifts as he ran across the pit.
A torrent of water surged from the ground, slamming into Niall's side. It wasn't enough to push him back, but it gave Atticus a moment to gather more power.
His focus shifted to the ice element, freezing the water solid into jagged spikes that encased Niall's arm, locking him in place.
Niall sneered, flexing his arm to shatter the ice. Before he could break free, Atticus summoned lightning, crackling and alive, dancing around his whole body.
It coalesced in front of his palm, swirling with uncontained power before shooting toward Niall, the bolt streaking through the air like a predator.
The lightning struck, the electricity crackling all over Niall's form. But he merely grimaced, absorbing the impact with a snarl, and tore through the ice binding him.
Atticus wasn't finished. He slammed his hands into the ground, focus shifting to the earth molecules. The floor beneath Niall erupted, jagged rocks and sharp spikes shooting upward, aiming to pierce and trap him.
However, Niall simply stomped down with enough force to shatter the rising spikes and send an intense shockwave outward.
But Atticus was ready, shifting the ground beneath Niall's feet into quicksand, trying to drag him down.
Niall sank for a moment, but a palpable red aura suddenly surrounded him. He started to rise from the sinking earth, standing on its surface.
'Fuck,'
Atticus was utilizing all his elements to attack, but it hardly had any effect on Niall.
'It's that armor. What's it made of?'
Atticus's elements were already at the master+ rank in both potency and mastery. Niall might be a grandmaster, but he was taking his attacks head-on; it should at the very least leave some damage!
'I can't stop,'
Atticus focused on the darkness molecules. Shadows curled around his arms, and with a flick of his wrist, they surged forward, wrapping around Niall and constricting his movements.
Simultaneously, he focused on the light element—blinding and searing beams that cut through the shadows and landed on Niall with intense power.
Atticus's gaze couldn't help but light up as he saw the results.
Niall grunted; the light beams had scorched his skin, and he staggered three steps backward. However…
'This is crazy,'
Despite the insane firepower of each of the light beams continually hitting him, that was all they could do.
Niall suddenly flexed, breaking through the shadows and deflecting the beams with sheer force.
Atticus gritted his teeth. Niall hadn't even used any of his abilities, and yet, Atticus couldn't cause any significant damage to him.
He was a juggernaut. Atticus was holding himself back from using his katana arts. He might have increased his mana pool and stamina after the rank-up, but they were still limited, and his katana arts were draining.
He would quickly run out of energy if he used them.
'10 minutes is a very long time,'
He needed to utilize his elements for now.
'First, I need to find a way to hurt him. I'll see what works.'
The chitin-like armor around Niall's body was strong, but it had to have a weakness among all the natural elements.
Atticus brought all the elements together. Fire and lightning crackled around him, water and ice swirled in the air, the earth trembled beneath his feet, the winds howled, and light and darkness materialized. He looked like the god of the elements.
However, Niall simply walked undeterred, his body brimming with power.
With a narrowing of his eyes, Atticus unleashed his attack, a maelstrom of elements crashing down on Niall. Fire seared, lightning struck, water surged, ice encased, earth shattered, wind roared, and light and darkness clashed in a brilliant explosion of power.
The collision was cataclysmic, the sheer force of the elements crashing down on Niall sent shockwaves through the arena, shattering walls and cracking the ground.
An intense smoke covered the pit, and Atticus had trouble seeing the result of his attack.
But soon enough, the dust settled, revealing the figure of Niall walking forward with a measured gait.
Atticus's gaze trembled. 'Only a few scratches,' he thought.
That was the highest firepower he could achieve with his elements, and yet, it only made a few bloody scratches appear on Niall's body.
'Was the distance between a master+ rank and grandmaster- this high?'
Niall suddenly laughed out loud, an action that belied his otherwise calm demeanor thus far.
"Are you done struggling!? I'll make you pay for the disrespect you showed our sovereign!"
Niall blurred, the ground on which he previously stood buckling.
Atticus barely had time to react before Niall's punch connected, a devastating blow that sent him crashing into the earth, the ground shattering beneath him.
Then, everything went dark.