Chapter 242 - Chased
The prince's previous unbridled arrogance was nowhere to be seen as it was washed away by pure fear, especially now that he knew none of his men would protect him. Heck, he would be grateful if they didn't stab him in the back.
Then, to everyone's surprise, Janus decided to run away. He quickly dashed towards the forest, in the hope of escaping alive.
Of course, Tristan would not let that happen.
[Fire Aura]
With his hand covered with blazing fire, Tristan quickly gave chase to Janus, trailing behind the latter like a homing missile.
The Forlorn Prince was a stage 5 Katra practitioner, which meant he had something known as Immortal Body. Not only was this Immortal Body a nigh-indestructible body, it also came with an ability to distort gravity on some level, allowing one to fly in the air at great speed. However, Tristan's blood elf body was able to catch up to Janus before the latter managed to reach the forest.
Slamming his hand onto the back of the frantically running Janus, Tristan sent the other party into one of the buildings in the city, creating a massive hole and collapsing the whole building altogether.
Dust flew violently in the air and Tristan couldn't see the fate of the Forlorn Prince. While he was wondering if the other party was dead by his one attack, loud sounds of rumbling could be heard which was followed by streaks of lightning seen within the cloud of dust.
[Thunder Wave - Tier 5 Lightning Spell]
Janus was seen pushing his two hands in the direction of Tristan, and a wave of crackling lightning immediately rushed at the latter, sending him hurtling backwards and crashing into a building.
Seeing that the only one who could stop him was gone, Janus planned to start his escape again. But then, his steps came to a halt, when he heard Tristan's voice coming as if he was right behind him.
"You want to continue running? What would that make you then? A trash prince?"
The Forlorn Prince, who was already in the air, turned his body around. His gaze hardened. While floating, he watched as a figure came out of the smoke of the now destroyed building.
Meanwhile, Tristan was thinking of another way to hold the Forlorn Prince back as he knew the provocative words he said earlier weren't enough.. The fact that stage 5 Katra allowed the other party to fly was really a problem for him. He needed to somehow induce Janus to fight, or make him mad altogether.
"You know what? Forget it. Go! Just go! Run, nobody here wants you anymore."
Looking at the anger on Janus' face brought a smile to Tristan's face. Of course, it was a faint one as Tristan couldn't afford his prey to notice his intention.
"Run to your momma, you little chikenshit!"
It seemed Tristan's insult had successfully washed away Janus' fear and turned them into anger.
"I'll make you regret saying that to me!!" roared Janus angrily.
The Forlorn Prince brought his hands up to the air, and Tristan wondered what the other party was trying to do when he noticed an abrupt change in the weather. The bright, sunny sky was suddenly covered by dark clouds. It was just as if a storm was imminent, which was weird.
In the blink of an eye, a lightning bolt swiftly descended from the sky and struck the Forlorn Prince. However, unlike what Tristan expected, it looked like there was no harm done to Janus, and instead, he somehow turned into the literal personification of a living lightbulb with lightning bolts streaking around his body.
While Tristan was wondering what the other party was doing, a spell name suddenly appeared in his mind. Apparently, the memory fragment provided him with a massive trove of knowledge regarding magic spells. This one was definitely something that Tristan never saw, but he knew what it was.
[Call of Thunder - tier 6 lightning element magic]
[Accumulating the power of lightning within one's body, greatly enhancing the effect of lightning-based magic for certain duration]
The lightning bolt that descended had destroyed all the clothes Janus wore, and beneath them, Tristan could see a black armor that brightly gleamed. That armor must be a high grade treasure, as it managed to stay intact after being hit by a literal lightning bolt.
Janus quickly took out his tier 4 spear once again, and started buffing himself with spells. [Energized] took effect as a faint layer of energy enveloped his body, while his spear was shrouded with lightning currents - proof that [Lightning Infusion] had taken effect. The Forlorn was set to fight.
He rapidly descended towards Tristan like a lightning god, with his spear brandished in front of him.
Seeing the upcoming attack, Tristan swiftly created the largest sword he could possibly construct at the moment with his [Blood Synthesis], and compressed it until it became a large sword with similar build to his previous claymore.
For a moment, he felt a small sense of accomplishment from the successful result. Next, he stomped the ground and leapt to the sky, meeting the Forlorn Prince head on.
CLANKKK!!!!
The sound of the tier 4 spear and blood claymore clashing at each other was so loud that they echoed throughout the city and caused every citizen to turn their head in the direction of their fight. The resulting impact force of the two weapons was so strong that both Tristan and Janus were thrown back violently.
Stabilizing their own respective bodies, Tristan and Janus once again clashed.
The Forlorn Prince had no problem fighting in the air as he could fly, but Tristan had to jump for each strike which was really annoying for him
Clankk!!! Clankk!!!
The buildings around the area where Tristan and Janus fought were in a miserable state as they were gradually destroyed by the aftermath of their clashes. The two were fighting on an entirely different level that Elroth, Serene, the elders, as well as all the Forlorn elves could only watch and gasp from distance away.
As Tristan swatted another stab from him, he couldn't help but think the other party seemed to be faster than they last fought; this must be because of his [Call of Thunder] spell.
Fortunately, Tristan had received an improvement to his Katra, elevating it straight to stage four. Hence, even though the other party was slightly faster than him, he could read the attacks much easier than before.
Tristan's blood-synthesized large sword was seen smashing its entire weight at the spear in Janus' hand, which caused the latter to be repeatedly pushed back. Several exchanges later, the Forlorn Prince finally found an opening and took it immediately by thrusting his spear forward.
Even though Tristan clearly saw the spear coming for his body, he wasn't even the slightest bit afraid. He let the spear pass his defense and pierced his shoulder, with a smile. Seeing the smile on his face, Janus felt a bad premonition and he was proven right moments later.
A shadow appeared above him, and the Forlorn Prince brought his head to be welcomed by the sight of a massive sword swiftly descending at him. Its target: to split Janus' head, and his body preferably, into two.
Clankk!!!
Unexpectedly, instead of the sound of flesh being torn, a loud sound of metal clashing was heard as the sword was not able to hit Janus' head. It was just somehow being repelled, as if there was a shield.
Tristan's memory quickly recalled a certain armor in his memory, one that had a defensive capability of an energy shield. Apparently, the armor the Sad Prince was wearing was of that type.
Inwardly, he shook his head.
"The benefit of being a prince, huh…"
Unlike what one expected, Tristan wasn't worried that his attack wouldn't land. He was just wondering if he would look good wearing that armor after this fight.