Chapter 75: Four Arms Against The Serpent [ 2 ]

Frey slipped outside the continuing slash and attacked, forcing Jet to defend before he could think about what had happened. Their swords collided twice before Jet created an opening and drove one Asura fist toward Frey’s chest.

Again, Frey chose not to dodge.

Vritra intercepted.

BOOM!

The impact flattened grass around them as the Coil wrapped around the crimson-black arm and compressed.

[Energy Successfully Captured.]

[Calamity Reservoir: 12%]

Jet tore his arm free and moved several steps away. The faint change inside Vritra hadn’t escaped him this time, and neither had Frey’s deliberate decision to intercept two attacks he could have avoided.

Keeping the Vorpal Blade raised, Jet watched the spectral serpent forming behind Frey’s shoulder and said, "You deliberately caught both attacks. That Reservoir you mentioned this morning is already charging, isn’t it?"

Frey shifted one sword into a reverse grip as his grin widened. "Twelve percent. Apparently, you hit hard enough to make excellent ammunition, provided Vritra gets between me and the attack first."

That changed the spar completely.

Jet rushed him again, but when Vritra moved to intercept the Vorpal Blade, he shortened the slash and snapped the weapon upward instead. Frey crossed his swords in time, sparks bursting between them, while Jet’s upper Asura Arm came toward him from the side.

Another Coil moved to catch it, only for Jet to stop the manifested fist before impact and use his natural left hand to seize Frey’s sword wrist.

From that moment, the fight became a contestover positioning.

Jet wanted clean attacks that bypassed Vritra entirely. Frey constantly maneuvered his Coils into the path of anything carrying enough force to feed the Reservoir.

Silver steel, crimson-black fists and spectral serpents tore through the clearing.

Frey ducked beneath the Vorpal Blade and attacked Jet’s exposed side, but an Asura hand caught his forearm while the second manifested fist descended from above. Vritra intercepted the blow.

BOOM!

[Calamity Reservoir: 17%]

Jet withdrew the arm before the Coil could maintain compression and used his grip on Frey’s wrist to drag him forward. Frey twisted free before Jet could strike again, and both curved swords flashed through the narrow space between them.

Jet retreated beneath three rapid cuts, then planted an Asura palm against the ground and abruptly swung his body sideways around the additional point of support.

His heel slammed into Frey’s chest.

THOOM!

Frey flew across the clearing, but a Coil wrapped around a nearby tree and tightened. Using Vritra as an anchor, Frey redirected his momentum around the trunk instead of crashing into it and launched himself back toward Jet.

Both curved swords descended.

Jet caught them with the Vorpal Blade.

CLANG!

His boots sank into the ground beneath the impact, but both Asura Arms immediately seized Frey’s wrists.

Jet hurled him upward.

Frey shot toward the canopy, clipping several hanging branches before Vritra wrapped around a thick trunk above him. The Coil contracted, changing his trajectory, and Frey kicked away from the tree before descending toward Jet like a projectile.

Jet punched upward with one Asura Arm.

Two Coils crossed around the incoming fist.

BOOOOM!

The collision released a pressure wave that swept through the clearing. Grass flattened, branches shook violently overhead and several weaker limbs snapped from nearby trees.

Vritra’s two Coils distorted under the impact but held long enough.

[Energy Successfully Captured.]

[Calamity Reservoir: 26%]

Frey landed near the clearing’s edge with blood at the corner of his mouth, while Jet’s manifested arm recoiled from the resistance. The spectral serpent surrounding Frey was beginning to look different now. Something turbulent seemed to move beneath its translucent body whenever the Reservoir increased.

Jet closed the distance again.

He thrust the Vorpal Blade directly toward Frey’s chest. Vritra moved to intercept, but Jet released the weapon with his natural right hand halfway through the attack.

The lower Asura Arm caught the hilt.Its grip altered the thrust’s angle just enough for the blade to slip past the closing Coil.

Frey twisted violently, and the Vorpal Blade scraped across his protective equipment instead of reaching flesh, leaving a bright scar across the surface. Jet’s natural right hand was already free, however, and his fist struck Frey’s shoulder hard enough to spin him sideways.

Frey regained his footing and stared at the sword now held by Jet’s manifested hand. "That transfer almost got me. You’re learning how to use those things far too quickly for my liking."

Jet returned the Vorpal Blade to his natural hand as the two Asura Arms spread behind him. "Then stop giving me opportunities to practice while you’re busy trying to steal every heavy attack I throw at you."

They collided again.

The clearing deteriorated rapidly around themas Frey brought more of his five Coils into the exchange. Spectral serpents twisted between the trees and across the battlefield, intercepting Jet’s strongest attacks while forcing him to constantly change angles.

Jet responded by becoming more disciplined with his four arms, using the manifested limbs to redirect blades, seize Frey’s wrists and support sudden changes in movement rather than throwing attacks simply because another fist was available.

Frey still managed to feed Vritra.

[Calamity Reservoir: 31%]

Jet bypassed the next Coil and struck Frey directly across the shoulder.

[Calamity Reservoir: 35%]

A heavy sword strike was caught.

Jet began using Frey’s desire to charge the Reservoir against him, deliberately loading attacks before abandoning them whenever Vritra committed too early.

Frey adjusted and became more patient.

Another Asura punch disappeared between two spectral Coils.

[Calamity Reservoir: 39%]

By then, the quiet clearing they had entered was gone. Churned soil had replaced much of the grass, shallow craters scarred the ground, one tree had been partially severed by the Vorpal Blade and broken branches littered the surrounding undergrowth.

Sweat ran down Jet’s face as a dull mental pressure grew behind his eyes from maintaining Asura Arms, while Frey’s clothes were covered in dirt and several bruises marked the places where Jet had successfully bypassed Vritra.

Neither slowed. During the next exchange, Frey deliberately left his flank open.

Jet recognized the bait but attacked anyway, bringing an Asura fist down with enough force to make Frey commit.

Two Coils erupted above him. They wrapped around the descending arm simultaneously.

Jet felt Vritra tighten and, instead of withdrawing, drove the punch down harder.

BOOOOM!

The ground beneath Frey fractured several meters outward. Both spectral serpents flickered under the pressure as his boots sank into the broken earth, but the Coils held long enough for another pulse of energy to race through them.

[Energy Successfully Captured.]

[Calamity Reservoir: 46%]

Jet tore his arm free and jumped backward while Frey did the same.

For several seconds, the clearing finally became still.

Dust drifted through shafts of sunlight beneath the canopy as leaves continued falling around them. Jet lowered the Vorpal Blade slightly and watched Vritra manifest behind Frey again. The serpent possessed a density it hadn’t carried at the beginning of their spar, with turbulent energy occasionally flickering beneath its spectral scales.

Then Jet realized something.

Frey hadn’t spent any of it.

Keeping his eyes on the serpent, Jet tightened his grip around the Vorpal Blade and said, "You’ve spent this entire fight charging the Reservoir, but you haven’t used Calamity Release even once. You were waiting until there was enough stored energy to make the first test worthwhile."

Frey raised both curved swords as the grin returned to his bloodied face. "Forty-six percent should be enough. Just don’t expect me to know exactly how violent the first release is going to be, because you’re about to find out at the same time I do."

The accumulated energy inside Vritra stirred.

Jet lowered his center of gravity while both Asura Arms spread behind him.

A crimson notification appeared before Frey’s eyes.

[Calamity Reservoir: 46%]

The stored destruction answered his command.

[Calamity Release.]