Blessed Influence—Orbital Wind!
It allowed Narkahamy to accumulate a total of five wind blades around himself. And each wind blade had the combined might of all wind blades an activation of Shredded Lunge generated. He didn't miss a beat and lunged again towards KalTara, watching the latter evade quickly. 'This guy is quick to react.'
'In terms of Nature activation, he is a beat faster than me.' Narkahamy thought as he observed that even though KalTara was evading in a hurry, he lunged to positions that placed him right beyond the danger zone.
The distance of around 12-15 metres that separated the duo was enough time for KalTara to evade Narkahamy's wind blades. He had a sufficient enough reaction time. And even if Narkahamy could control the wind blades as a Spirit Weapon, they would lose their power as KalTara continues to evade them.
They wouldn't have the same potency as their initial charge.
Nature—Shredded Lunge!
Nature—Prana Shock!
A trickle of sweat dripped from the side of KalTara's forehead as he activated two Natures one after another. However, right upon activating Shredded Lunge, through the usage of Mystic Sumatra Art, he caused a hiccup in his Prana circulation at the feet.
This had been done in such a way that he managed to complete the lunge, but the wind blade wasn't generated promptly after. It was because the Prana supply was cut off at the exact moment. A hiccup later, Prana flow resumed and generated the wind blade, exactly when he had activated the Nature of Prana Shock.
Shockwaves gathered into the wind blade and blasted it straight at Narkahamy, startling the latter. It packed a punch and curved through the air under KalTara's psychokinesis.
"Tch!" Narkahamy clicked his teeth as one of the three wind blades revolving around him moved forward to intercept the attack. The two wind blades collided with each other and generated a fierce wave of wind. 'That…guy!'
'Right at the contact time, he exploded his wind blade.' Narkahamy analysed the situation. When the two wind blades dug into each other, the stronger and sharper one would have severed through the other and sped forward.
KalTara was aware that his shockwave-boosted wind blade wasn't as powerful, as even if it appeared like a single wind blade, it was a series of eight, thin wind blades stacked right behind each other without any gaps.
He had reached absolute mastery over Shredded Lunge to align the wind blades with such precision. In a straight conflict, these wind blades would be cut through casually by Narkahamy's wind blade. After all, in the latter's case, these eight wind blades had been fused into a single, stronger one.
Therefore, the moment they slightly cut into each other, KalTara exploded his wind blade, accurately dispersing the shockwaves through Narkahamy's wind blade in such a way that it collapsed quickly thanks to wind resistance as it moved forward.
'That requires exceptional control!' Narkahamy thought as he observed his wind blade losing its structural integrity a mere four metres after the collision, 'In terms of sheer technique, he has me beat.'
"Monsters, the both of them." Inala muttered from the stands as he observed the fight, 'KalTara has inferior abilities but superior technique. Narkahamy has superior abilities and inferior technique.'
It was brought about by the difference in their existence. KalTara was a Clansman with the body of the Boar King. Even in human form, he was able to tap into the processing power of his Pranic Beast form, which meant he could calculate faster and execute his abilities with insane precision.
Narkahamy, on the other hand, was a Free Human. Though they were on the same intelligence level, his brain's processing speed and capacity were inferior. However, as a Free Human, his planning and foresight were better.
These racial differences were being manifested in this fight, perplexing both the Wean Clansmen and the Varahan Empire's citizens, as none of them could predict who would emerge as the winner.
"What do you think of this battle, Leukeu?" The Panger, Loya arrived and took a seat next to Inala and asked, "You have sharper senses than mine."
"Both sides are still probing each other." Inala shook his head, "I cannot predict until they become serious."
'This talent in fighting is something I can never have.' Inala sighed mildly as he observed the fight. Whether it was the Royal Zinger Inala or the Brully Inala, there was a limit to how strong Inala was in a battle.
Most of the time, he used various other factors to give him an advantage in a battle, with his fighting skills being pretty down the list. He was still pretty gifted in battle, 'But it's nowhere on this level.'
'They're pretty close to Resha's level.' He judged, which was extremely scary. As until now, Inala had yet to encounter anyone with as much fighting strength and talent as Resha. Wittral was a close second, but he lacked Resha's aggressiveness which could have made him more destructively competent.
Inala called the duo to be close to Resha's battle talents, but there was still a wide chasm between them. It was just that they were closer to Resha than anyone else he had encountered.
There were plenty of geniuses on Sumatra. However, most of them had limited knowledge and resources, which made their accomplishments limited. But with enough of everything, these geniuses could mature into genuine monsters.
"I see," Loya nodded, noticing that it had broken into cold sweat at some point in time, "What a scary scenario."
Loya had pictured itself facing the duo, individually. And even then, it saw plenty of defeats. This was when the duo had yet to get serious. It had no idea how far outclassed it was until the duo started to fight for real, "How are Pranic Beasts supposed to contend against these monsters?"
It had Mystic Sumatra Art, but Loya wasn't confident in being able to replicate KalTara's feats. Whatever KalTara used until now was sourced from the Gold Varahan Library. Loya knew exactly what Skill was being used and how it was being used.
"The sheer speed and presence of mind to use it is something I lack," Loya commented its thoughts. It then observed Inala to ask, "What about you?"
"Is the Brully Race able to replicate such feats?"
"Nope," Inala shook his head, "But I don't have to."
"I excel the most fighting as myself." Inala grinned confidently, "That's how I win my fights."
It was wise to use your strengths against the opponent's weaknesses. It was unwise to use your weakness against your opponent's strengths. That was Inala's point of view towards a fight. It was why he wouldn't hesitate to hit under the belt, because that would wrap up the fight.
"You're right!" Loya chuckled at Inala's words and was able to watch the fight with greater ease, "I was a tad overwhelmed by their skill and forgot my objective."
Loya subtly eyed the Death Knells nearby and didn't comment much on the matter. However, it was ready to fire off multiple Skills and activate its Primary Nature at a moment's notice. Its power ran counter to the Death Knells.
However, its attention was primarily on the Grim Knell, ready to guard against the latter's Secondary Nature of Akashic Transfer. Through a Vara Slip in Inala's possession, it communicated by using its Glove Slip Skill.
[If the Grim Knell were to take action, I'll shield you. I can't guarantee in regards to the rest of your senses, but I'll ensure you'll be able to retain your sense of touch.]
If the sense of touch remained, Inala would be able to use his Prana detection means, which would be enough to locate the Grim Knell's position and target it. Since the Grim Knell didn't have the capacity to dig a hole and bury itself underground, it couldn't evade detection.
[I understand!]
Inala simply responded as usual, showing that the moment a fight occurs, he would be at the front without hesitation. All the librarians communicated with each other, not out of concern for the combatants, but for maintaining the status quo.
After all, through their affiliation with the Gold Varahan Library, each Librarian was benefitting tremendously. Loya had even used the Quip Clan's services to send a few Information Slips to the Panger Race.
It made the Panger Race stronger, giving them the confidence for a population expansion despite the Brimgan Empire's threat. Every other Librarian was in a similar situation, and hence, they intended to protect the Gold Varahan Library.
And for its function to remain stable, the Varahan Challenge shouldn't be interfered with. Inala too had the same opinion, since he considered himself a Pranic Beast, nothing more, nothing less.
While the Librarians prepared countermeasures, the fight between Narkahamy and KalTara was growing in intensity.
Upon managing to neutralise Narkahamy's Blessed Influence of Orbital Wind, KalTara continued to lunge from one spot to another, generating shockwave-induced wind blades erratically. Suddenly, when he completed a lunge, his presence disappeared.
It threw off Narkahamy's senses as for a moment, KalTara's figure seemed to disappear from his sight, hearing, nose, etc. And a fraction of a second later…
Swoosh!
A crimson shade spread through his left eye as Narkahamy's face was smeared with blood. His left ear had been cut off by a wind blade while some of the shockwave residue in it had racketed his head, giving him a mild concussion.
Nature—Statue!
KalTara had activated it right at the end of his lunge, alongside Mystic Sumatra Art to turn absolutely still, like a statue. It was only for a moment, during which he had released a shockwave-induced wind blade.
Right after, he began to move as his location was perceived by Narkahamy's senses. However, using that momentary blindness that had confused Narkahamy's senses, the wind blade struck his ear.
KalTara had actually aimed for the neck. However, Orbital Wind reacted to the wind blade and countered most of it. Only Narkahamy's senses were fooled, as the target of his intense focus vanished for a moment.
The Orbital Wind functioning as a satellite was working fine and intercepted the attack. However, this was where KalTara's exceptional control came into effect, one that had long since surpassed the original Pranic Beast.
It was still an Iron Grade Nature, but was being wielded by a Gold Grade existence as if it were its own Nature. That was the height he had reached.
When the Orbital Wind intercepted the shockwave-induced wind blade, KalTara controlled the shockwaves to detach one of the eight lined-up wind blades and sent it towards the neck.
It would have originally struck the neck, as planned. However, when the Orbital Wind destroyed the shockwave-induced wind blade, it created a ripple at sonic speeds, which affected the detached wind blade and caused it to miss its mark.
But even if the attack had failed, it still succeeded in giving a mental blow to Narkahamy.
He had instinctively swapped his bodies and began to think from a pristine self, observing his injured body recover in a second. He stared at KalTara in absolute shock, his lips quivering as he muttered, "…How?"
"How did you do that?"
His words were like thunder in the ears of all Free Humans from the Varahan Empire. Some of them began to despair, as this was the second time the Varahan Emperor had been injured. First time was a gash, but the second time was a cut-off ear. In contrast, KalTara had yet to be injured.
The Free Humans felt stifled, losing hope. In contrast, the Wean Clansmen roared in excitement. The Pranic Beasts too stared in awe, while the remainder had mixed responses.
However, there was one individual in the audience who had a completely different reaction. It was Inala, smirking a bit in pride, 'He took a page from me.'
Spurt!
The Empyrean Colosseum ruptured into silence as suddenly, against everyone's expectations, a thin line appeared on KalTara's neck. And then, it rolled off the body, to fall on the rocky floor, spurting blood.
Behind KalTara was a hole in the stone floor, leading into a tunnel. And having just jumped out of it was one of Narkahamy's bodies.
Blessed Influence—Stealth!
Blessed Influence—Ring Blade!
"Huff!" Upon succeeding in the endeavour, the body of Narkahamy retreated into the tunnel that closed up. At the same time, the figure of Narkahamy who had been in a state of absolute shock fluctuated, revealing a surprising fact.
Its presence indicated that the stack was at the 9-Life Stage, when it showed he was at the 10-Life Stage from the beginning. "My gamble worked."
A hole appeared next to him as the tenth body extended out, touched his body, and merged into the stack.
Blessed Influence—False Presence!
"Now, there's a difference in our strength." Narkahamy let out a breath in relief as he stared at the figure of KalTara who had fallen to the 9-Life Stage. "I have the advantage of an extra body over you."