Chapter 105: Skill and Might
The aura of that Flame Golem was dense and terrifying, clearly several times stronger than the initial flame skull. When that monstrosity approached, Priam felt a momentary sensation of suffocation.
It was the first time he had witnessed a move like that... it was an elemental manifestation. He had read about it in the elemental knowledge. But the density of Ether and elemental control was so great that only high-level Mages of the Divine Plane could use it.
This kind of method was rarely used, despite having many advantages and disadvantages.
Attacking the creator of the manifestation now was almost impossible, because the entire small environment, sealed by the barrier, was filled with flames. Fyovu was benefiting from that environment.
If Priam tried, the Golem could dissolve its body into flames and then appear in a second before her. At that moment, Priam would have to deal with the Golem and her together.
In other words, it was better to fight separately and destroy it, since a manifestation burned a lot of energy. When defeated, all the power contained inside the Golem would be lost, and whoever created it would lose everything. Then, it would become something fragile and easy to take down.
*Woooosh!*
Both arms of the Flame Golem arrived before him and struck violently.
Priam had no time to think. He activated the Blood-Feast Fists, then moved all the power of the winds and flames he possessed. His energies exploded, and his fist struck the enemy in front of him.
*KBOOM!*
Together with the thunderous sound of the explosion, a huge and deep vortex swept through the air. The Flame Golem was hit and staggered backward!
Priam fell like a cannonball, violently crashing into the floor and bouncing for a few meters until he hit the barrier. When he finally stopped, there was a dark-red stain of blood at the corner of his mouth.
Not only that... internally, that impact also broke dozens of his bones, and he felt his vision go dark.
But... with an almost instinctive thought, the Primordial Pristine Core acted. An intense power of nature healed him, making him recover his composure in moments.
He wiped the corner of his mouth and was about to get up when he heard the sound of ghosts crying above his head.
"!"
The Flame Golem had already reappeared in the air above him, with wide-open eyes and pupils like will-o’-wisps, descending toward him.
*Sky-Rending Wind!*
There was no time for any reaction, and Priam attacked with his best ability as quickly as possible.
*BOOOOM!*
Priam crashed violently against the barrier on the opposite side. His body slowly slid down to the floor, completely covered in blood.
The clothes on his chest were completely torn, and more than ten scars of different depths marked his skin.
Everyone in the hall was frozen, watching that battle of unimaginable level. They could barely believe Priam was still alive and surviving.
Grand Elder Ladomi’s brows furrowed deeply. He turned to the Ylisse clan’s table and said in a low voice, "Who would have thought the Vanculari would produce such an extraordinary child..."
Everyone had underestimated Priam again and again, laughing, sneering, and believing that, eventually, he would be defeated.
But now, the most powerful people in the hall knew better than anyone how terrifying that Flame Golem was. They had never imagined Priam would be capable of exchanging blows with it.
All that while being under twenty years old... and yet, his strength was terrifying to this point.
No one had paid much attention to that detail until now. But Priam, in truth, had several levels less than all his opponents. The truth was that the strength emanating from him was far superior to someone of the same level, so no one had even thought to analyze his current level.
After this fight ended, the people would definitely realize that fact. At that moment, his feats would be amplified even more in their minds.
The people swallowed hard. That was because they saw Priam heal himself again in the blink of an eye.
He sighed heavily. The power of nature was incredible. It was as if Luvinah was always beside him, helping him while he fought.
"Humph, not bad. This Lady didn’t expect you to survive two moves from my supreme Golem. That surprised me very positively."
Although Fyovu’s voice sounded only slightly surprised, inside she was panicking. Priam had not only survived, but he could also heal himself completely in just a few seconds.
All her power was being consumed very quickly; because of that, she did not personally attack in sequence... at least, that was what she used to justify herself internally.
In truth, she and anyone else in the same situation would have tried to finish off the enemy, but... right now, Priam was like a living nightmare in the Demoness’s mind.
She deeply feared that he might counterattack, so it was better to stay far away.
Maybe her energy would run out before his healing power was exhausted. There was no way to know who would win if it continued like this.
She snorted and forced her face to show the cold expression of a judge. "Then, how about this?"
The Obsidian Corruption Sword shimmered with blood-colored light while Fyovu laughed softly. A wave of flames appeared in front of her. Amid the "ghostly screams," the flames condensed and slowly...
Two... two new Flame Golems formed, identical to the previous one!
Not only were their appearances identical, their auras were equally dense and terrifying.
Now there were three. Since Priam seemed to be only barely holding on against one, she chose to consume 100% of her power and the sword’s power in a single go. That way, the three could attack together a few times, completely guaranteeing her victory.
Even better! She could stay safe at a distance, only commanding them.
In the hall, exclamations echoed from every side.
The people at the Ylisse clan’s table remained catatonic; that was simply way too broken!
But, unlike what everyone expected to find on Priam’s face... he seemed not to have noticed any change. It was as if everything was still completely under his control.
Internally, however, Priam sighed.
If he had acted arrogantly, pretending to be weak to defeat as many enemies as possible and farm points from the System, he would have fallen flat on his face beautifully.
’There’s no way around it, I’ll have to burn my vital energy.’ He lamented slightly, because that would weaken him quite a lot.
After that, only his Power Rune and a small remnant of Ether would remain for him to use.
The power of Nature was not a miracle. It burned his Ether, converting it into that healing. As for his offensive wind strike, it also burned a lot of Ether, and he could only use it two more times at most.
So, if the fight dragged on too long, he would not be able to heal or truly attack. Thus, the best option was to burn his vital energy and hope a little Ether remained at the end.
Inside his body, all his vital energy began to burn.
The Blood-Feast Fists were pushed to the maximum, and his eyes took on an intense red.
The people in the hall held their breath. In one second, Priam’s entire body began to radiate power, and a strong smell of blood was felt.
Everyone clearly realized that he was using a forbidden Magic Art that burned his own life. Then, the most powerful ones turned to the Leader of the Ylisse clan.
But when they saw her calm expression, they were stunned.
She was clearly worried, but it was as if she had seen this before.
How was that possible? Vital energy was very difficult to recover after being burned. Wasn’t that suicide?
Three clusters of dark-red flames advanced rapidly toward Priam.
The three Golems united into a single movement, as if there were an infinite sea of flames behind them.
Priam snorted and advanced quickly, throwing a punch with a casual motion.
*RUMBLE!*
The instant his attack hit a target, a fierce wave of air rose, and the sound of the explosion was deafening.
The air became extremely distorted. The fire covering the entire area was easily dispersed, and a huge vacuum appeared amid the flames.
Priam began to move, advancing directly into the sea of fire.
"What... What?!"
Fyovu’s face went pale with shock, and her hands trembled as she quickly raised the sword to control the Golems. The first move should have killed or at least stunned the target, but it seemed Priam had felt absolutely nothing.
Now, the three flame monsters howled in an unholy cacophony as they advanced from three different directions.
*BOOM!*
Priam’s silhouette collided with the first Flame Golem, and with a violent explosion, countless fragments of that Golem were launched in every direction!
Everyone in the hall almost jumped backward. He was really damaging the Golems in a direct confrontation!
*BOOM! BOOM!! BOOM!!!*
Everyone held their breath.
Showers of large dark-red fire fragments were thrown everywhere.
Priam moved like a ghost, fighting in a chaotic dance among the three fire Golems. He was almost never hit and managed to cause continuous damage, weakening all three.
When he was hit, he managed to retreat, heal himself, and immediately return to the fight without losing rhythm!
He was like a god of battle, facing three more powerful enemies using pure skill.
The minds of all the young men in the hall seemed to spin. As for the hearts of all the girls, they pounded intensely. That was a sheer display of skill and might.
...
After several minutes, the three fire Golems were completely destroyed, and all of it happened clearly, step by step, before everyone’s eyes.
When the last one fell, Priam did not hesitate and shot directly toward the main target.
Fyovu was so shocked that her eyes almost popped out of their sockets. She reacted by raising the sword in her hands and slashing...
...but Priam easily dodged, and his fist violently slammed into her chest.
*BANG!!!*
"Arghhhhh..."
A loud and miserable scream, as shrill as the wail of an evil spirit, tore through the air.
Under the immense destructive power of Priam’s blow, Fyovu’s defenses resisted only for an instant before shattering like fragile glass.
Fyovu’s body fell like a meteor. In the next moment, she violently crashed into the floor, immediately bouncing back up. When she hit the ground a second time, she ended up crashing against the barrier.
Silence.
No one managed to react immediately.
The number one Demoness of the young generation...
Coming from the number one clan of the Alliance...
Using their inheritance weapon...
Was completely defeated!
"Fyovu!!" Seconds later, the leader of the Sun of the Underworld Clan roared desperately and rushed forward.