God Agent: All Hail The Great Kobold

Swish!

Grash reached Tud’or first. His body surged forward with the terrifying acceleration granted by Mana Body, and his battle axe came down viciously, the blade wrapped in a dense layer of azure mana.

Tud’or’s pupils contracted as he read the trajectory and immediately shot sideways. The axe tore through the space where his head had been a heartbeat earlier, and the sheer force behind the swing sent dust and loose stones flying. Tud’or’s feet barely touched the ground before he accelerated again, leaving behind a fiery trail as he moved.

Grash followed and Tud’or shot left and Grash turned.

Tud’or abruptly changed direction and darted right, his crimson body becoming little more than a blur surrounded by heat. Grash’s eyes remained locked onto him as he pursued, his movements frighteningly precise despite the speed.

Every time Tud’or changed direction, Grash adjusted almost immediately, his axe repeatedly cutting through the fiery trails Tud’or left behind. Neither warrior was willing to give the other even a moment to breathe, and the ground beneath them rapidly became scarred with deep cuts, scorched patches and shattered earth.

"Hmph!"

Tud’or suddenly stomped both feet into the ground. Instead of continuing to retreat, he stopped.

The sudden change in momentum forced Grash to adjust as he came toward him through the air, battle axe raised above his head for another devastating strike. Tud’or’s amber veins brightened beneath his crimson scales as he stomped the ground again.

The earth beneath Grash’s approaching figure exploded open.

"Fire Magic: Geyser!"

BOOOM!

A pillar of fire erupted from beneath Grash.

The goblin’s eyes widened as the blazing column struck him from below and launched him violently upward. He immediately lowered his battle axe across his body, using the weapon as a shield as scorching flames engulfed him. The force still pushed him higher into the sky, his body disappearing briefly inside the roaring column before bursting out above it.

Tud’or was already waiting. His legs bent and his shoulders rotated. Fire began gathering around his right fist until the air around it distorted from the heat.

"You will know fear, little goblin Chieftain!" Tud’or growled, his eyes burning with violent determination.

He thrust his fist forward and the flames around it compressed into the shape of an enormous flaming fist that surged upward toward the unprepared Grash.

"Fire Magic: Fire Fist!"

BOOM!

The flaming fist struck Grash directly. His body folded around the impact before being blasted backward through the air. His battle axe was ripped from his hand by the sheer force of the collision, tumbling away as Grash spun uncontrollably. A strained groan escaped his lips as the flaming attack carried him farther and farther from Tud’or.

But Tud’or wasn’t finished.

The moment he saw Grash being launched away, he lowered his body into a running stance.

Fire erupted across him.

It didn’t merely surround his body this time. Flames poured from his scales, his limbs and his back until his entire figure became engulfed in roaring crimson and amber fire. The ground beneath his feet cracked from the sudden release of heat.

Then he launched himself forward.

WHOOSH!

Tud’or shot through the air like a meteor.

He rapidly closed the distance between himself and the flaming fist he had launched moments earlier, his body becoming completely consumed by fire as his acceleration increased. Within seconds, there was barely anything resembling a kobold left to see. He had become a gigantic flaming projectile chasing another gigantic flaming projectile.

"Fire Magic: Meteor!"

Lucy stared and her bow had lowered without her realizing it.

Her face flushed as her eyes followed the impossible sight of Tud’or literally chasing his own Fire Fist across the battlefield.

"He’s chasing after his own spell!" she gasped, unable to hide her disbelief. She had witnessed countless battles and had seen magic used in ways she couldn’t understand, but this was something she would have laughed at if someone had described it to her beforehand. The sheer recklessness of accelerating through the air after an attack that was already powerful enough to send Grash flying was absurd.

Brox’s expression had lost its usual amusement.

"Chief is helpless against this guy, even with his Mana Body," he muttered, his massive fingers tightening around his club.

Rudor said nothing.

His crimson eyes remained fixed on the battlefield, and for perhaps the first time since the battle began, there was genuine concern in them.

He had never seen Grash so thoroughly suppressed in direct combat. Not even when facing stronger magical beasts.

Grash was being driven backward and Tud’or wasn’t giving him the opportunity to recover. Like a shooting star tearing through the night sky, Tud’or slammed into his own Fire Fist.

The collision didn’t stop him.

Instead, the flames surrounding the spell wrapped around his body and exploded outward, transforming the already devastating attack into something even more violent. Tud’or became a burning spear driven by the momentum of his own magic, and the instant he reached Grash, his flaming body smashed into the goblin chieftain with terrifying force.

BOOM!

Grash was launched backward.

This time he moved several times faster than before.

The force of the Meteor attack sent him hurtling across the sky like a projectile, his body spinning as flames consumed his chest and shoulders. He couldn’t even regain control before the forest rushed toward him.

CRASH!

Grash slammed into the forest floor.

The impact created a violent depression in the earth, sending dirt, stones and burning fragments of vegetation flying in every direction. Several nearby trees shook violently, and one partially scorched trunk finally collapsed under the force of the impact.

Tud’or descended behind him.

His flames gradually diminished as he fell, revealing his crimson scales beneath them. His body trembled violently from the strain, but he twisted his body at the last moment and landed on one knee, one fist pressed against the ground.

BOOM!

The impact of his landing sent a small wave of dust outward.

For several seconds, Tud’or remained there. His head hung low and his chest heaved.

The Elemental Body was still active, but the flames beneath his scales had become unstable, flickering unevenly through his veins. Every breath burned. His lungs felt as though he had swallowed molten metal, while something deeper inside his body throbbed with unbearable heat.

Then the forest moved and Tud’or slowly raised his head.

Grash was still alive.

The goblin chieftain pushed himself upright with one arm. His body twisted in agony as he attempted to stand, but his expression remained hard. Burnt patches covered his torso, and his entire chest had been scorched black from the combined effects of Fire Fist and Meteor.

He coughed and blood spilled from his mouth. Grash stared at it for a moment before wiping it away, then his expression hardened.

"Lumen Carn Kael."

A golden halo immediately appeared around his body.

The light spread across his wounds, sinking into his burned flesh as damaged tissue began repairing itself. The bleeding stopped gradually, the scorched areas of his chest slowly recovering as the healing spell restored the damage.

Tud’or’s eyes narrowed as Grash slowly pushed himself fully upright, but halfway through the motion, his body suddenly stopped.

His face tightened and he coughed violently and spat another mouthful of blood onto the ground.

Grash stared down at the red liquid covering his palm and his eyes narrowed. He had been injured far more seriously than he initially thought. That attack had penetrated deeper than his Mana Body had been able to protect.

Grash slowly raised his gaze.

Across the battlefield, Tud’or was still kneeling. The kobold’s body was trembling. His breathing had become much heavier, and steam poured from his nostrils with every breath.

Despite his obvious condition, a mocking grin had formed across Grash’s face.

"Your magic will kill you before I do," Grash said with a sinister grin.

Tud’or didn’t answer. He couldn’t even if he wanted to.

His lungs were working desperately to draw in enough air, but every breath felt like fire passing through his chest. The Elemental Body was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. His organs were scorching beneath his scales, and the heat accumulating within his body was approaching the same level that had nearly killed him three years ago.

His thoughts became increasingly bitter.

If three years of refining his body could only maintain this form for a few minutes, then his calculations had been wrong.

He had believed five years would be enough. It wasn’t even close.

The technique was far more demanding than he had anticipated, and while his body had grown significantly stronger since his first attempt, it still wasn’t capable of fully containing the power he was forcing through it.

Tud’or clenched his teeth.

"Five years..." he thought bitterly. "Even five years won’t be enough to completely master this power."

He hated the realization. But there was no time to dwell on it.

His gaze returned to Grash. The goblin was standing again.

So was Tud’or.

Slowly, the kobold planted his remaining foot beneath him and pushed himself upward. His legs shook as he rose, but he forced them straight. Across from him, Grash rolled his shoulders.

The two warriors rose at almost the exact same moment.

Tud’or wiped a thin line of blood from the corner of his mouth.

"I don’t have much time left in this form," he admitted, his breathing still heavy as he raised his fists. "I’ll end this now."

Grash stared at him. Then he slowly nodded.

He understood exactly what Tud’or meant.

The kobold’s body was consuming itself to maintain that power. Grash could simply retreat and wait for the Elemental Body to destroy its user, but that wasn’t what he wanted.

He wanted to defeat Tud’or himself. Tud’or had challenged him directly, and Grash intended to answer that challenge the same way.

Azure mana began flowing through his veins again.

"I agree," Grash said, his gaze hardening as he lowered his stance. "Let’s end this."