MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

Chapter 1479: Myriad Prodigies: Attrition

ʼ[Four Paths Azure War Arts].ʼ

ʼ[Wrath of the Azure Dragon].ʼ

Having activated [Flash of the Azure Dragon] beforehand, Valyr swiftly closed the gap between him and Erika as an azure dragon manifested around his spear.

”[Crimson Bulwark].” In response, Erika calmly took a couple steps back before conjuring a shield in front of her, confident that the shield could hold the attack of a peak Rank 4 being.

Crack…

Bang!

However, contrary to her expectations, the shield she conjured was instead easily pierced through by the young man, causing her expression to become serious as she swiftly sent out a few attacks in a row.

”[Bloody Phantasmagoria].”

Hastily casting a few spells on the fly, a maelstrom of various crimson objects began to fill Valyrʼs vision, all of which made him feel a slight sense of fear.

ʼ[Limit Break: Second Verse].ʼ

ʼ[First Encore].ʼ

Nevertheless, the young man remained calm, keeping an eye of all the projectiles coming for him as he buffed up his stats.

ʼ[Four Paths Azure War Arts].ʼ

Sparing a brief glance at Erika to see what she was doing, Valyr was slightly surprised to see that a faint smirk now adorned her face, making her seem as if she was confident her attacks would land on him.

Feeling a hint of amusement at dispelling the notion, the young man imbued his spear with energy before swinging it upward, conjuring a barrier that would return all of the attacks back at her.

ʼ[Bastion of the Azure Turtle].ʼ

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Watching the barrier Valyr hastily conjured crumple under her attacksʼ might, the smile on Erikaʼs face gradually grew wider as she thought it wouldnʼt be long before her secret would be kept once more.

Though, just as the barrier looked to be on the verge of breaking, it instead bounced back to the shape it originally took, causing all of the attacks Erika sent to come flying back at her once more.

”[Crimson Bulwark]!”

Although she still had control over the spells she cast, the sheer size and number of them made it next to impossible for her to not get hurt.

With that, she conjured a shield in front of her once more, giving her more than enough time to think over her next course of action.

That is… if Valyr didnʼt interrupt her.

”[Descent of the Azure Phoenix]!”

Bang!

Activating more of his usual buffs along the way, Valyr struck against the shield from up above, quickly rendering it useless as most of the attackʼs momentum continued towards Erika.

”[Blood Control]!”

Now beginning to feel a sense of danger towards the young man, Erika decided to reveal more of her prowess, activating a skill that swiftly stopped Valyr in his tracks.

Thud.

Seeing his momentum come to a running halt all of a sudden, an odd expression appeared on Valyrʼs face as he attempted to strike at Erika one more time.

However, no matter how much his thoughts urged his body to move, the latter didnʼt listen to any of it whatsoever.

ʼ…What…?ʼ

”Be gone.” Feeling a sense of catharsis from the troubled expression Valyr had at that moment, Erika then swept one of her hands to the side, which immediately sent the former flying under the effects of her skill.

Fortunately, just before he collided with one of the walls, Valyr regained his control over his body once more, allowing him to use [Blink of the Azure Dragon] to close the distance between them yet again.

Whoosh!

Seeing that the current situation had just returned to how it was at the beginning, a slight frown appeared on Erikaʼs face as crimson energy began to radiate from her body.

”Must you throw away your life for something like this?” she asked as multiple crimson orbs began to manifest above her head.

”Who says Iʼm throwing my life away?” answered Valyr in return, awakening his Intent as energy began to circulate throughout his body.

”Youʼre gonna regret doing this.” Getting confirmation that the young man before her would stop her no matter what, Erika decided not to hold back any further, sending out all the crimson orbs at him.

”[Scarlet Maelstrom].”

On the other hand, Valyr bravely faced against the crimson orbs as he conjured a spell of his own.

”[Azure Phoenixʼs Lament].”

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

With each of the crimson orbs not containing that much power behind them, the young man was able to sweep many of them away with his spear with relative ease.

Though, as Erika pushed more and more energy into the skill, the number of orbs Valyr had to defend against gradually became uncontrollable.

Thankfully, it was around that moment his own spell activated, immediately relieving the burden he felt before beginning to tip the scales to his favor.

Under the coordination of the spell, he gradually boxed Erika into a corner, forcing the latter to make use of [Blood Control] once more to even out the playing field.

Continuing to exchange attacks back and forth, the two gradually looked more and more disheveled as both sought to take the other down.

With her arsenal of blood-related skills, as well as the elusive [Blood Control], Erika was able to stand her ground from a decent range, leaving Valyr with little opportunity to close the gap between them.

On the other hand, with both short-range and long-ranged attacks available at his disposal, Valyr could give himself the opportunities he needed, even if it meant he had to take five attacks just to deal one back.

Of course, throughout this entire fight, both took note of Ataraxiaʼs presence away from the battlefield.

With that, it was no surprise that Erika would aim for him every once in a while, hoping to destroy the evidence of her connections before it could be seen by others.

However, with Valyr making sure to be nearer to his other identity at all times, such attacks were foiled before they could even hit the latter.

And even if it did get close, Ataraxia could just make a move of his own.

…

”…Iʼve got to say… you have got to be the worst opponent Iʼve fought against.”

Slightly gasping for breath, Erika looked at Valyr with disgust as she recovered a bit of her energy.

”All the opponents Iʼve fought against so far either had great strength and low stamina, or low strength and great stamina,” she said. ”Why the fuck do you have both?”

”Is that really something you should say in the middle of a fight?” replied Valyr, sending out yet another attack at Erika just like before.

Whoosh!

Watching the womanʼs reaction towards his attack, the young man mostly expected her to defend against it. Of course, with how long theyʼve been fighting, he also began to expect it to actually land from the exhaustion.

However, contrary to both expectations, the attack instead disappeared before it could land, causing Valyr to look back at Erika with a confused expression.

”I didnʼt want to do this…” Oblivious to the gaze the young man was giving her, Erikaʼs head drooped as the crimson energy she let out gradually turned black.

”But you forced me to.”

By the time the energy she gave out fully turned black, her aura transformed into something more overbearing, causing Valyr to take a few steps back from the pressure he felt from it.

Though, once heʼd distanced himself far enough to not be affected by it, his expression turned solemn, recalling that he had already sensed an aura just like that in the past.

”Tsk.” Taking only a few seconds to realize what made it familiar, Valyr eventually clicked his tongue.

ʼSo sheʼs part of the Underworld, huh.ʼ