Chapter 82: Disturbance In The Imperial Capital (2)

"Let go of me!"

Mors struggles as much as he can to escape from Azrael's tight grip, which he eventually succeeds in. He then takes several steps back to gain distance from Azrael. However, he seems to break his arm in the process.

"I don't know what you want from me, but you're going to have to stop this nonsense."

"You really pushed me this far, kid. You have to be a disaster-class threat." Mors ignores his words. "But this will end soon. O Lord, lend me your strength!"

In a matter of seconds, his dislocated shoulder suddenly snaps back to position, and he regains his form anew. Not only does Mors feel brand new, but his body is now overflowing with immense power.

"What the hell is this?"

Azrael is baffled by the nature of the aura that Mors is emitting. He can recognize that it is still his own magical signature, but he can sense foreign energy wildly incorporated into it.

He hears that he called for someone earlier; it could mean that someone is providing him power.

Borrowed power, huh?

Mors's mana capacity continuously grows at an alarming rate. His mana eventually doubles, and there is no sign of it slowing down. His mana is now colored purple on his radar.

As his powers grow up, Mors's body begins to swell up. Veins are popping and his muscles are bulging. Steam starts to emerge from his skin as his body is heating up as his powers.

The air around him thickens to the point it is suffocating. The people nearby who feel his aura cannot stop themselves from shaking, intimidated. Some are lucky enough to run.

In the middle of all of that, Azrael just crosses his arms and watches the transformation to unfold before him. He knows he can stop him, but Azrael thinks that this is an opportunity to fight a powerful opponent.

Collateral damages may be unavailable, but he can just blame it all on him once this is finished.

Suddenly, his mana stops rising once it reaches four times his original mana. He is now as powerful as Dareon in terms of mana capacity.

Shortly after, multiple faint lights simultaneously cover his body. Azrael can feel that his body keeps getting stronger and better.

Now he is buffing himself with stacks of enhancement magic. And he can already do silent casting.

Azrael is secretly envious of him for achieving such a level of magic.

"Behold! Witness my full power!" Mors shouts at the top of his lungs. "Combat Form!"

On top of stacks of enhancements, Mors ends his massive power-up by doubling his physical attributes with a supreme-tier magic spell, and his body is enveloped with a pale white light.

Due to the spell, all the abnormalities on his body, the bulging and the heat, quickly dissipate, and he has reached his all-time peak. From what Azrael can observe, this jacked man in front of him might be currently more powerful than base Claire, or the version without the Evanescent Apotheosis multiplier.

"This is the most powerful I can become."

"By using borrowed powers?"

"..." Mors goes silent for a few seconds. "What about it? I promised to bring you to him after all."

"Come on. Bring it on." Azrael taunts him by repeatedly waving his right hand.

"You're the one who wished it."

◆◇◆

Taking his opponent's provocation professionally, Mors bends his knees before he lunges himself toward Azrael at an insane speed. His launch is so powerful that it destroys the road and sends bricks flying behind.

Multiply Mass.

In a split second, he channels a portion of his mana to apply the spell Multiply Mass on his gauntlets, increasing their mass six times heavier. Mors stretches his arm midway to gain space for the next punch.

Clink!

Even forcing his fist to move supersonically, Azrael is still able to move faster and uses his sword to block his powerful punch. But with enhancements like Power Boost and the Multiply Mass on the gauntlet, the momentum of that punch is still so tremendous that the low-grade mithrill blade snaps in half.

Shatter!

Leaving no choice but to engage in a hand-to-hand combat, Azrael quickly rotates his body to the left before he uses his gloved hands to meticulously push the fist sideways. Mors immediately recovers his stance and swings his left arm to throw a left hook at Azrael's face.

In response, Azrael reflexively raises his right arm in an attempt to block the gauntlet. The punch lands directly on his metal bracer, but the force is so much that it folds like paper, and the full force of the attack is transferred into his own flesh and bone instead.

"Gah—!"

Even though Azrael is able to handle Mors's attack easily, as the attack only budges his arm by less than an inch, Azrael still lets out a groan. His body and defenses may be durable due to his ridiculously high mana and tough dragonic flesh, but he cannot tolerate all the pain.

Immediately after that, Mors turns his hips around and executes a right roundhouse kick to Azrael's ribs. Azrael is able to quickly read his movements, and then he folds his left arm to block the kick. Since it is not as powerful as the punches, Azrael easily withstands the leg.

Mors quickly disengages his leg and skillfully steps back before he poses a stance and folds his arms. Using his refined footwork, he steps forward to throw a hypersonic right jab to Azrael's left chest.

Before the fist can reach him, Azrael quickly crosses his arms in front of him. The jab is actually more powerful than Azrael expects. Mors has increased its weight ten times before. The increase in momentum allows a sonic boom and a shockwave to echo in the area.

Boom!

Once the gauntlet hits his forearms, Azrael fully absorbs the impact, and he is pushed back by a few meters, dragging his boots along the damaged brick ground. Using his awakened ability, he has to turn his arms into mithrill under the sleeves just to sustain the punch.

"Why aren't you fighting back? You are making his fight boring. Is that all you got?"

"Hmph. I might destroy the city if I stop holding back."

"Initially, I would say that you are exaggerating. But witnessing how much you can endure his attacks without that much effort, I am afraid that you are not bluffing. And for that reason, I really need to stop you getting in our way."

Whoosh!

In the blink of an eye, Mors dashes forward and readies himself to throw his body to his opponent. His speed has reached the supersonic speed, and Azrael crouches and tries to take him head-on.

Once Azrael is within his grasp, Mors grabs Azrael by the waist. Azrael tries to resist his advance, but the weight difference between them, in addition to his speed, gives Mors an advantage. Without his multipliers and intentionally holding back, Azrael is not able to fully stop a force comparable to a fully loaded semi truck moving at three hundred kilometers per hour.

"Kuh!"

Mors tackles him and drags him toward a partially destroyed building nearby. They both crash into the wall before Mors pins him down to the ground, causing the whole building to collapse on them.

After that, Mors quickly raises up from the rubble before he lifts his arms overhead, attempting to crush Azrael. Realizing what he would do, Azrael throws his legs upward and lands a kick to his chest. Mors goes flying in the air for a few seconds before landing back on the street. Azrael quickly gets back to his feet and immediately rushes toward him.

When Azrael sees him, Mors already has something in his hands. It is a chain with a golden hue and a grappling hook end. Each of the chain's links is roughly a centimeter thick, making the chain quite heavy.

Mors rapidly spins the chain vertically before he hurls its thick and dense hook at Azrael, to which he swiftly avoids.

"?!"

Suddenly, to his surprise, the hook takes a U-turn and targets him again; it seems to be following him. Azrael runs around and tries to outmaneuver it, but it does not seem to be effective as it continues to pursue him.

It's fast!

The chain is as fast as Mors's punches, and Azrael is having a hard time not to get caught by it. But it is not like he is struggling, as it is manageable as long as the chain does not go any faster or he does not slow down.

As he runs, the chain destroys anything it catches. The more he runs, the worse the vicinity will become. He knows he can just fly, but he is actually slower in air in his human form, and he speculates that this chain can also go upwards.

Suddenly, he senses a huge gathering of mana nearby, and he knows that this is not a normal casting. Before he knows it, there is already a magic circle following below him.

"Binding Chains!"

Before he knows it, a powerful spell is cast on him, and he cannot escape it.