Chapter 362 - 361: Grace

Chapter 362: Chapter 361: Grace

Shatterer grinned, flashing his stark white teeth. "Using this means I’ll be stuck in bed for the next three days. But if it means I can defeat you, it’ll be worth it!"

The words had barely left his mouth when he stomped a foot on the ground, threw his head back, and roared, "Grace!"

As Shatterer roared, a murky, dark red light erupted from his chest. Grayish-white veins crawled across the whites of his eyes, and his pupils shrank into two points of burning, turbid red light.

His aura multiplied in intensity, and Seraphina Sinclair’s body immediately tensed.

’So...’

’This is his trump card!’

’Right now, Shatterer’s defense comes from his stone-like skin, and his attack is empowered by this ’Grace’ skill.’

’If Seraphina hadn’t obtained the Water Dragon Roar, her chances of surviving this encounter would have been slim to none!’

Shatterer turned his murky red eyes toward Seraphina Sinclair. "Now, it’s my turn."

A red light erupted from his body. In that instant, a web of cracks radiated out from his feet, spreading across the arena floor and sending shards of stone flying.

He shot forward like a stone cannonball, a heavy thrum of displaced air accompanying his charge straight toward Seraphina Sinclair.

He was nearly twice as fast as before. The heavy Battle Axe felt as light as a feather in his hands, becoming a blur as it swung down on her.

His Strength, Speed, and defense had all surged!

Seraphina Sinclair’s pupils contracted, but she didn’t panic.

’She knew that any Secret Technique that grants a forced power-up must have a price, and it must have a limit!’

’I can’t take him head-on, so I’ll have to stall for time!’

With a light tap of her foot, Seraphina Sinclair’s body, light as a feather, smoothly glided backward a dozen paces.

Swift Steps could only be used once per day, but at the right moment, it was a life-saving Skill.

The heavy Battle Axe slammed into the spot where Seraphina Sinclair had just been standing. BOOM! It gouged a shallow crater in the ground, sending rubble flying.

As his strike missed, the vicious glint in Shatterer’s murky red eyes intensified.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he pivoted his massive, stone-like body with surprising agility. Using the rebound from the impact, he swung the Double-bladed Battleaxe in a horizontal sweep, which whined as it tore through the air, chasing after Seraphina Sinclair’s retreating form.

The pressure from the axe’s swing made Seraphina Sinclair’s breath catch in her throat.

She didn’t dare hesitate. Bending backward at the waist, her body became nearly parallel to the ground as the Battle Axe’s edge grazed past the tip of her nose.

The cold scent of metal and the ferocious wind stung her cheeks.

Using the momentum from her backward bend, she slapped a palm against the ground, spinning like a top as she slid to the side and once again put some distance between them.

Simultaneously, she flicked the Water Dragon Roar in her hand upward, releasing three azure streams of Blade Aura.

It was the Water Dragon Roar’s Skill, Dragon Breath Following Form!

The three blue streams of Blade Aura tore through the air, flying in a triangular formation toward Shatterer’s chest and abdomen.

Shatterer neither dodged nor evaded. He let out a low growl, and the grayish-white patterns on his petrified skin suddenly flared with light.

The Blade Auras struck his body with dull CLANGS, leaving only three shallow white marks. Sparks flew, then quickly vanished.

It was only then that Seraphina Sinclair noticed that the strange Grace was also enveloping his body, and its defensive power was astonishingly high.

"Are you trying to tickle me?" Shatterer sneered. His speed, far from decreasing, actually increased as he swung his Battle Axe in a wide arc. A powerful diagonal chop sealed off Seraphina Sinclair’s escape routes to the left and right.

Seraphina Sinclair’s gaze remained as calm as still water.

She had figured it out. While Shatterer’s Strength and Speed were immense, his rage had made his movements somewhat rigid. His attack patterns were direct and linear, lacking any subtlety.

As the axe blade closed in, she suddenly pushed off her toes. Not to the left or right, but forward—straight into the path of the attack!

In the split second before the blade could land, she exploited the opening in Shatterer’s swing. Seizing the perfect moment, she slipped past him. With a backhanded sweep, the Blade of her Water Dragon Roar slashed across Shatterer’s petrified side.

It was an incredibly risky move, timed to absolute perfection.

A harsh grating sound echoed as stone fragments flew. The slash still hadn’t broken through his heavy defense, but it caused Shatterer’s forward momentum to falter for an instant.

Seraphina Sinclair was already behind him. Without hesitation, she flicked her wrist, and the tip of her blade shot out like a striking viper, stabbing toward the nape of Shatterer’s neck!

It was the seam where his helmet met his shoulder guards—a spot that the petrification didn’t seem to have fully covered.

Shatterer felt the rush of air behind his head, and a flash of fury crossed his murky red eyes.

He didn’t have time to turn. Instead, he stomped his foot, using his left leg as a pivot. He forcibly twisted his massive body, bent his right arm, and rammed his hardened stone elbow backward—another tactic aimed at trading blow for blow!

If Seraphina Sinclair insisted on stabbing his neck, her own chest would be struck by an elbow that was as heavy as a battering ram.

In a flash, the trajectory of Seraphina Sinclair’s thrusting blade abruptly changed. The stab turned into an upward flick. DING! The tip of her blade precisely tapped the point of Shatterer’s descending elbow.

A tremendous force traveled up her blade. Seraphina Sinclair used the momentum to float backward, her Wind-stepping Boots leaving two shallow skid marks on the ground.

The web of her hand throbbed, now numb from the impact. She had a much clearer understanding of Shatterer’s current Strength.

’What in the world is Shatterer using?’

’His attack, defense, and Speed have all been enhanced.’

’This... This is just absurdly overpowered!’

’But this is where it ends!’

Seraphina Sinclair steadied herself, her gaze as sharp as a knife.

She could finally see the price of Shatterer’s explosive power.

After every explosive movement and attack, the grayish-white patterns on his skin dimmed slightly, and the blood vessels crawling across the whites of his eyes grew more pronounced.

His breathing was growing increasingly ragged. Although masked by his roars, the exhaustion of a spent force was beginning to seep through his frenzied exterior.

The enhancement from Grace clearly came at the cost of overexertion and physical damage.

Shatterer lunged again, swinging his Battle Axe in an impenetrable flurry. The crimson afterimages of the axe seemed to seal off all the space around Seraphina Sinclair, the ferocious pressure suffocating.

But this time, Seraphina Sinclair did not dodge.

The Moon Protection, granted by the Moonlight Jellyfish’s Holy Tree, blocked the attack for her.

Moon Protection was a form of Rule Protection; no attack below C-level could break through it.

No matter how strong Shatterer became, he could not surpass that threshold.

With the blow blocked, Seraphina Sinclair seized the moment of Shatterer’s shock to deftly dart forward. The Water Dragon Roar in her hand no longer aimed to break his defense in a single strike, but instead became a continuous stream of flowing, azure light.

Her blade tapped, flicked, shaved, and swept, specifically targeting the gaps in Shatterer’s joints and armor.

The CLINK-CLANK-CLANK of impacts was as dense as a rainstorm.

Sparks constantly erupted against Shatterer’s stone skin. While she still couldn’t inflict substantial damage, her attacks were like a thousand tiny ice picks, constantly chipping away at solid rock.

"Annoying fly!" Shatterer roared, his frustration overwhelming his reason.

He had been on the offensive for a long time without success, and the power within him that sustained Grace was rapidly fading. The sharp pain of the backlash had already begun to gnaw at his nerves.

’He had to end this battle now!’

Shatterer abruptly stopped moving. He gripped his Battle Axe with both hands as the murky red light gathered frantically at the blade, causing the axe’s haft to hum as if under an unbearable strain.