Rudra's heart was surprisingly calm as he faced Lucifer. The first time when he fought against the devil he was a bit jittery, he could feel his palms sweating as he gripped his sword and he was too stiff in his movements, afraid to make a mistake.
However, this time around that was no longer the case. Although the stakes were the highest they had ever been, Rudra was not really feeling any panic internally as he smoothly defended each and every strike from the devil with precision.
Rudra had the biggest boon while facing Lucifer in the form that the devil's right arm was holding the prison of darkness and could not be used in battle , which not only reduced his overall fighting ability but also significantly reduced his fluidity of movements as his right arm was hinged to a sort of fixed lever and movement was only permissible across that lever.
Although Lucifer could drag the prison of darkness in any direction he wanted , his right shoulder remained stiffly extended while his movements which meant that the devil's range of motion was limited.
This gave Rudra a lot of breathing room while facing the devil as the pressure his opponent gave off was not like his training with Micheal and Sariel anymore and it felt like playing with a cheatcode.
Although Rudra was not able to put in a single move of offense in over fifteen minutes of fighting. The world was stunned to see that he had not recieved a single point in damage either.
Sariel's teachings were ingrained deeply into his fighting style as he tried to dodge all the attacks that he could hovering towards Lucifer's right side trying to become out of reach while constantly creating pressure on the right side as well, for the devil to make a mistake and him eventually freeing the gods.
However it was only wishful thinking on Rudra's part to think that Lucifer would give him such an opening as the devil was fully aware of the only liability he had in this fight and was extremely careful as to not fall into any traps.
As the sparks flew in the air and the breathtaking sword dance broke the cityscape underneath, demons and humans alike could not help but feel mesmerized by it's seamless beauty.
This was fighting at its very peak, and although for many viewers watching from home the moves exchanged between Lucifer and Rudra was nothing more than a blur of fast movements , for the tier 4 generals watching live it was the epitome of swordsmanship.
When after fifteen minutes , neither side was successful in delivering a single point of damage, one of the demon generals gulped as he said " The lord is just messing around right? He can overpower that human in an instant right? They cant really be even can they? ".
Jhonny who was standing nearby stroked his beard and smiled as he said " My child , although the human is weaker he is not missing out by much."
The demon general nodded his head before he realised that it was a human talking to him as he glared at Jhonny and said " you are not my father , you stupid old man".
Jhonny only laughed as he said " I'm not , or am I? "
The demon looked at Jhonny up and down again and again trying to contemplate the mystery of his existence. Although he was sure that he knew his father the demon, the confidence with which Jhonny spoke those words coupled with his cool and calm visage casted a shadow of a doubt in the demons mind.
However just as he was contemplating the stalemate between the duo in the fight was finally broken as Lucifer unexpectedly unleashed a beam of powerful darkness blast from his mouth which caught Rudra offguard and sent him blasting towards the city.
-180,000
Rudra crashed through an already broken house over a wooden table as his wings got crushed between his back and the ground.
Not being born with wings Rudra was not really in-tune with his new form which is why he did not brace for impact taking his wings into his mind as muscle memory told him otherwise.
Biting his lip Rudra stood up once again, however as he looked towards the sky he saw a massive ball of fire that looked exactly like the sun that was about the size of a football field created over Lucifer's left palm.
Pointing it towards Rudra the devil smiled heniously as he said " Divine Move : Dark Sun Blast ".
Instantly the huge mass of sun shot out towards Rudra faster than the speed of the Holy Lance as Rudra was left baffled as to what to do.
There was nowhere to run from a move of this size also nowhere to fly back and defend towards.
He was in a situation where defending was impossible while he was not sure if he could sustain the hit if it struck.
Just what was he to do now?
***********
( Meanwhile Max)
Max was at his girlfriends home when although he was with her his mind was constantly going back to what happened to the war which led to him being completely absent minded in all conversations.
Eventually Sophie got irritated of his behaviour and said " WHAT? where are you lost today Maxie? "
Max closed his eyes as he placed his head in his palms and said " It's the war , i need to know if my brother's okay".
Sophie pouted, not happy that even when he was with her he cared about his brothers wellbeing more , but since this was a once in a lifetime major event she conceded as she grabbed the remote and acted as if she was furiously tuning onto the channel.
The two were quickly engrossed when they saw how fluidly Rudra was fighting against Lucifer and Sophie could not help but be impressed.
She said " So when you surpass your brother you will be as strong as a god huh. Nice job Maxie ".
Max flinched as he heard this as he thought about revealing his problem about feeling mana to Sophie, but instantly his heart hesitated as he knew that her reaction was not going to be any good and that he might loose her if he told her.
It was at this moment that Max finally saw the light and realised that Sophie did not actually love him for who he was. She loved him for what he could one day become and their relationship hung on the frail balance of him constantly improving.
Max realised that he was living in a house of glass.
/// Bonus chapter. Enjoy! ///