The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

'Again? No matter how many times you try, it can't get through my snake's flames.' Within the view of her Prinstyct, Maia foresaw the flow of Ein on Oscar's hand, which she had already judged to be his ranged spell. The most annoying part was that Oscar kept out-predicting her as she moved to dodge, so she had no choice but to face the silver star and defend against it. Additionally, the silver star flew faster because of the Reis boost, but still, it was no threat, only a minor inconvenience.

Maia continued to move around for the off chance Oscar would miss and waste a shot, throwing out more flames to bombard his general location. However, her ears experienced a slight discomfort from the acute ringing sound, similar to something scraping against metal continuously. Staring deeply at Oscar's hand, by his fingertips, Maia saw an unusual sight.

The silver star spun so fast, unlike anything before, that the perfect spherical form appeared like an oval, but even stranger was that it vibrated so much she could not grasp a singular star; rather, it appeared like multiple stars clumped in one due to how erratically it shook. How fast was it spinning and shaking to create this visual falsity and sharp ringing? Her red eyes narrowed in caution, and she moved faster while whipping around the air.

On the other side, Oscar himself was in shock at the silver star that seemed to be on the verge of bursting apart. The loud ringing pierced his ears, and his arms began to tremble, but Oscar did not falter. His eyes locked on Maia, using his Prinstyct to see her future movements.

'Lift.' His arm rose at the ready as his feet moved to dodge the flames overhead.

'Steady.' His chest heaved up as Oscar took a deep breath before releasing.

'Loose.' With a single tap, Oscar unleashed his wild spell right at where Maia would be next, timing it to when she could not change her motion without expending quite a bit of effort.

The silver star flew like a javelin through the air, but its erratic motions made it shift positions constantly like a knuckleball while keeping true to its trajectory. Due to the Prinstyct being unable to judge the movements of a spell after its release, Maia missed it with his whip, catching only an afterimage of itself. Her face looked taken aback as she clenched her teeth at the sheer speed of the silver star, far faster than previous ones.

'Even if it's faster, it won't get through my flames.' Maia felt herself to be safe, but then, when the silver star was only a few feet away, it exploded.

The explosion was so loud that Maia felt her eardrums about to burst from the shockwave, and her eyes shook around from disorientation. Within the throes of her shaken condition, she still caught glimpses of tiny fragments that flew everywhere, including her. The flames of her snake burned furiously to melt the shards of the silver star, but they flew so fast that some got through.

"Kyah!" Maia screamed in pain from the several shards lodged into her body. One shot right into her leg, another into her shoulder, and the last in her right forearm, which protected her face. These hot molten pieces of metal also burned into her flesh, steaming smoke from the small holes they made on her body. "You bastard!"

Oscar witnessed everything that occurred and was in awe of what had happened. The explosions had accelerated the shards and fragments so much that some breezed past the defenses. However, he did not feel too much joy as the wounds on Maia were shallow; the screams of pain came only from how unexpected it was for her to be injured.

'I can't use Adamasreis again for a time. Also, that silver star required so much concentration that my steps slowed. If I'm caught at the wrong moment, I'll be the one to die here.' Oscar hoped the slight injuries would prompt Maia to come closer out of rage, but that became a moot point when she continued her long-range bombardment. Slowly after a time, Oscar felt his tense muscles relax, indicating it was ready.

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'Adamasreis'

The flow of Reis integrated itself into Oscar's transformed muscles.

'Shattering Star'

Oscar named his new technique, the fusion of 'Shattering Wave' and 'Silver Star', as 'Shattering Star' and lifted his hand again; the similar ringing, unreal spinning, and erratic motions all came as one. He saw Maia's expression change as her snake hissed, burning more fiercely this time.

His deer anima grunted and charged ahead from the side as he shot his spell forward. Before Maia's red whip could try to deter it, his deer anima sped in and blocked the blow with its antlers, allowing the star to pass to her again.

In a fit of rage, Maia shouted and forcibly stomped on the ground, releasing a burst of flames to move faster, but tears formed on her legs from the overexertion of Ein, drawing blood. She managed to get past Oscar's 'Shattering Star' as it exploded but with the new distance she had created, her snake's flames melted it down in time.

Oscar's Ein burst forward as his chance had finally come. Maia lacked mobility due to the wounds on her legs, and he had a few Ein left in his core for this final opportunity.

'Silver Burst'

Silver rods burst from his heels, kicking him off the ground with so much speed his eyes had to squint to see properly from the winds. He clenched his teeth and formed a 'Silver Lance' around his arm as his deer anima came to join the attack, but he had no Ein to spare on creating more lances for it.

As he came close, Maia realized it was too late to retreat and use her exploding wisps. Her hands came together, and she decided to make a last gambit, unleashing the dense beam of fire right when Oscar came a foot away.

The bright white concentrated flames nearly blinded Oscar. He held his bulwark high to block the flames, digging his feet into the ground to prevent himself from being knocked over. With a shout, his lance thrust ahead to skewer Maia, with his deer anima following up from behind.

However, the snake anima proved a formidable foe as its head coiled around Oscar's lance, and its tail whipped out at the deer anima. The flames on its scales burned and melted down his lance, which did not hold the 'Shattering Wave' because Oscar rushed in before his Adamasreis could recover, not wishing to waste this chance he had created.

"Kuh!" Blood dripped down Oscar's lips, coating his chin red. His anima had been entangled by the snake's tail, burning and melting to death. Each passing moment of his deer anima in agony sent more pangs of pain to flood his core, but Oscar willed himself forward.

Oscar pushed his arm forward, drawing up the last of the Reis he could muster in a final attempt.

'Ripple Shroud'

He unleashed everything. The shockwave of Reis blew away from the melting lance, deterring the snake for a small moment. In that instant, his deer anima grunted loudly and pulled the snake anima away with all its might, despite the cracks and melted hooves and antlers.

With the defense of her snake anima peeled away, Maia looked incredulously with widened red eyes and a pale face as she saw a large burnt fist draw closer. Time seemed to slow down for her as her mind churned endlessly to find a way out, but her legs were shaky, and her Ein was near depleted, only able to manifest her snake anima for the moment.

Oscar's burnt and large fist inched closer in slow motion as Maia could do nothing but watch as it neared her left cheek. She let out a sheepish cry as the fist made contact with her face, slow ripples of flesh reverberating from the point of impact to all over her face. All the while, her mind reeled and screamed at her.

'This cannot be!'

With a booming sound, Oscar punched Maia in the face. There was no hint of Reis or Ein remaining in that blow because he had spent it all just to reach this point. However, the results made him smile.

Maia's body slammed against the ground, bouncing up and down and rolling across the ground until she came to a halt by one of the trees. Her body trembled as she lifted her head, revealing her teary red eyes, a bruised cheek, and blood dripping down her lips from her torn gums.

Despite the pleasant feeling of punching this person back to reality, Oscar vomited more blood and clutched his chest. His deer anima had collapsed from Maia's snake's flames, and the full rebound of anima destruction came to him. Thankfully, Maia's snake also dissipated as she had finally run out.

"I WILL KILL YOU!" Maia screamed while covering her left cheek. Her red eyes, which had dripped tears, were bloodshot and crazed.

Oscar spat out more blood and smiled. "I said I'd do it. But this fight isn't over yet."

With a forceful grunt, Oscar stood up and dragged his tired body full of burns, slowly getting closer to Maia, who also stood up with a shout, holding up her whip.

They had no more Ein, but if so, they'd fight like mortals and savages.

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