Chapter 766: Ashes Against Lorgar!
Translator: Transn Editor: Meh
The holy duel between Osha clan and Wildflame clan was about to begin as planned.
The Land of Fire had never been as lively as it was today, with the spectators almost surrounding the high platform—in order to ensure that more people enter the holy land, Iron Axe also released on loan a box of God's Stone of Retaliation. As long as one clan had no more than 50 people, the rest of the clans would not say anything.
Even if they wanted to, they wouldn't be able to stop them.
Osha nowadays was already the popular second strongest clan. As long as they did not oppose the Three Gods, anything they required had to be taken into careful consideration.
Under the cheerings of the crowd, Ashes slowly walked on the platform—the Ironsand people of the Mojin Clan were full of respect for real fighters and her performance the past month had earned her everyone's respect.
Some were even calling her the strongest fighter in the Northern kingdom.
Thus, this fight was regarded as the battle between the strongest of the Nothern kingdom and the strongest of the Southernmost Region.
Ashes was still dressed like usual, her long hair tied into a ponytail and hanging down her waist. She was wearing a black robe without any armor and not carrying any weapons.
But it wasn't because she was arrogant.
The Wildflame clan's request for an "unarmed fight" meant according to Thuram, a fight without any weapons, armor or other supporting items including God's Stones of Retaliation. Obviously, banning God's Stones would help Lorgar to some degree, since it would inadvertently weaken the Extraordinary's combat strength. Ashes believed that it was a coincidence, because in the past month, she had found out that they were not aware of the categorization of witch's powers. As long as one had awakened, she was regarded as a Divine lady, but they did not know of the most special type of witch: the Extraordinaries.
The opponent probably just wanted a good fight.
She ultimately agreed to this request, after taking into account that the ability of Princess Lorgar of the Wildflame clan still belonged to the melee type—this information had not only been confirmed by Thuram's description but also from many other sources. The Divine lady Lorgar's ability was almost similar to that of Maggie's, as she could turn into a monster while obtaining strength and agility far beyond that of ordinary people. This made her extremely excited. Who would be stronger, a transformed witch or an Extraordinary?
If it was an opponent like Anna, Ashes would have never accepted.
The unpredictable Blackfire could both defend and attack so there was no way to fight against it. Without the protection of God's Stone, it would almost be impossible to get closer than ten meters.
On the other hand, an equal combat would also be beneficial for her.
Since she found out about the Transcendent, Ashes were always thinking of improving her ability.
According to Agatha, becoming a Transcendent required everyday practice as well as continuously battling with strong opponents. This way, through life and death situations, one could achieve high evolution.
This was the main reason that led her to accept the opponent's request.
At that moment, a sudden cheer burst from the crowd as a woman wearing a hooded cloak swiftly jumped on the platform, heading towards Ashes. Being the strongest of them, the Sand people's cheering for her was slightly louder. There was no doubt that she was the opponent she had to face today—the Wildflame clan's Divine lady, Lorgar.
"You are Ashes?" she took off her hood and revealed her red curly hair as well as...a pair of tall fluffy ears.
Ashes was stunned, "Are these..dog ears?"
"Wolf ears!" Lorgar corrected her and her face instantly became red.
"Oh, you aren't wearing shoes? Isn't the ground too hot?" She gazed down at her bare feet.
"Mojins are never afraid of the hot sand," She tiptoed while taking off her cloak, exposing also a fluffy tail behind her.
Judging by her expression, it was obvious that it was hot...Ashes shrugged, "You are getting used to the consumption of magic power by always maintaining your transformation? It seems like a good way to practice."
"I don't understand what are you saying," Lorgar waved her tail. "This is the price for this ability given by the Three Gods, it's not some kind of practice—I have no way to transform back to human form so I can only live on as half human and half beast."
So that was the case, Ashes realized. Because she did not want to expose her appearance, she had to wear a cloak even such a hot place... and revealing her animalized form once she was already on stage would make everyone think that she had transformed because she had entered the battle.
So what the intelligence referred to as a monster, was actually a wolf?
She wasn't sure whether it would be effective or not to decrease Lorgar's fighting capacity by using a bone to allure her and distract her.
At least for Maggie, that would be extremely effective.
"What are laughing at?" Lorgar frowned. "Are you underestimating me?"
"No, nothing," Ashes suppressed her smile, "I just remembered a funny friend...since you are ready, let's begin."
"My thoughts exactly." Lorgar raised both of her hands and the once smooth female arms transformed into a pair of thick wolf claws. "Father, please knock the gong!"
Is this...partial animalization through free will? Ashes raised her eyebrows. Even though she was ignorant of the mysteries of magic power, she was still able to control and utilize her power properly. This was hard even for Maggie and only in dangerous situations were she able to do it.
As the chief of Wildflame hit the gong with intense, Lorgar pushed with both feet and lunged towards her.
The Wolf girl's speed was pretty fast but in the eyes of Ashes, it still wasn't that different from ordinary people's. She could even determine where the opponent's landing position would be and thus prepare her own attacking position in advance.
But she didn't do it.
Lorgar was obviously not using her full power but instead was planning to test her strength through such a move. So, Ashes decided to oppose her head on in order to make her realize that she had no chance to defeat her unless she completely transformed first.
She held out her hands and firmly grabbed Wolf girl's paws like a pincer. Then she turned her body and, using her opponent's momentum, she held her above her shoulders and smashed her forcefully on the ground.
This was the advantage of an Extraordinary. Partial animalization meant only partially strengthened power for Lorgar, but as for Ashes, each of her fingers, each of her tendons were strengthened at all times. Magic power would strengthen her body every day, continuously and no matter the time she would always feel her body surging with power.
She punched downwards, smashing the ground where Lorgar was lying. As for the latter, she had rolled over to dodge her and then put her hands upside down, bent her knees and kicked towards her.
But the kick that would have caused a viscera rupture on any adult was single-handedly grabbed by Ashes, who instantly squeezed it peeling off the skin of Lorgar's calf, almost breaking it. At that moment, Wolf Girl realized the danger through her pain, kicked towards Ashes' head with her other foot while simultaneously transforming her foot into a wolf leg!
Ashes loosened her five fingers and bent to escape the sweeping strike. Lorgar finally escaped and did not dare to keep on testing so she transformed her other leg into a wolf leg too—as a result, all four of her limbs had been completely animalized, which not only increased her height quite a bit but also improved her speed and strength.
As far as Ashes was concerned, her opponent's situation did not improve that much though. Any parts of her body that had not been animalized were obviously her weak spots.
For example the head and the abdomen.
The Extraordinary fiercely punched with two fists, forcing Lorgar to also use both of her paws to stop her. Then, she smirked and before the Wolf Girl could realize what happened, she forcefully hit the other's forehead with her own.
"Woo—"
Princess Lorgar couldn't help but utter a painful cry, with tears and blood coming out simultaneously. The huge impact had crashed her nose and she was forced by the the intense pain to close her eyes.
Ashes turned around, kicked Lorgar's soft abdomen and sent her flying!