Besides, the demon wasn’t fighting just him.
Shan bounded all around the giant, taking swipes with his claws, and biting into the giant’s armor when possible.
Cirayus initially ignored the gnat… Until he realized the gnat was far more deadly than he’d thought.
Even with his augmented strength, Shan’s claws and bite did nothing against the armored Bairan. Giant’s Hide alone would have stopped the wolf from dealing much damage.
Shan, however, boasted not only physical strength, but Ash prana, and unlike Vir, he was under no compunction to hide it.
With Prana Fang and Prana Claw, Shan’s attacks were not something the giant could ignore.
That alone ought to have evened the match—it didn’t.
Against an opponent like Cirayus, every attack was a dance with death, and even as he spoke, the giant slashed Sikandar, forcing both Vir and Shan to abort their attacks.
Not only were large weapons excellent at fighting multiple opponents, but Cirayus had mastered every aspect of the enormous blade.
Vir knew blocking it was a good way to have his weapon destroyed… Or be flung off the stage. That was, of course, if Prana Armor even held. Unlike a polearm with a metal tip, Sikandar was lethal at every point along its enormous blade.
What a ridiculous weapon. Though Vir had seen it in action countless times, he couldn’t help but appreciate its absurdity. By all rights, it ought to have been a useless, ungainly weapon. The combination of Cirayus’ strength, experience, and his Bloodline Arts—both Bairan and Gargan—easily rendered it the deadliest weapon on the battlefield. Even without Balancer of Scales.
The only option was to dodge the blade, but Cirayus knew that. He’d be ready. The Gargan Lionheart boosted all of Cirayus’ physical capabilities for a time, and Cirayus could alter the blade’s direction almost as well as with Balancer of Scales—something Shan was now exceedingly wary of. The wolf no longer attacked aggressively, and was now circling around the giant, observing him carefully for an opportunity.
Up or down?
The natural tendency was to sink beneath the blade, but Cirayus would expect that. The riskier move was to jump high, but once in the air, Vir lost all ability to change direction. He’d be easy pickings.
Which was why he did neither. Just as with Sikandar, Vir had seen Cirayus wield the monstrosity of a sword on numerous occasions. And during all that time, he’d scrutinized Cirayus, analyzing his strengths and weaknesses. And while, when wielded by an expert, it might have nothing so severe as a weakness, it certainly had one trait Vir could exploit.
Vir twisted and jumped… but not high. In fact, his jump barely had his feet clearing the blade, and in a feat made possible thanks only to Haste, Vir timed his fall to land on the blade.
Even with the slowed passage of time and Vir’s not-insignificant dexterity, it took all he had to stay on.
Thankfully, Cirayus also had his fair share of difficulties. Sikandar’s tip fell, but Cirayus braced and wrenched the sword up before its tip hit the ground. Leveraging his incredible strength, he then flipped the blade and slashed the sword high into the sky, but he was too late.
Vir had already Blinked the rest of the distance, plunging his katar at the giant’s throat. Shan, having anticipated the attack, moved in at the same time, swiping at his leg.
The crowd gasped, and through the effects of Haste, Vir’s ears perceived it as a deep roaring thunder. With the world at a crawl, Vir was also able to see Cirayus pivot his body ever so slightly.
There was no avoiding these blows, but with that one small motion, Cirayus had turned a match-ending attack into something superficial.
Even that would be hard-won, as Cirayus slammed both Vir and Shan with Life and Crown Chakra aura. As nonlethal Chakras, these were fair game, and having already expected a Life Chakra attack, Vir had already opened his Foundation Chakra.
The Crown Chakra, was another story.
Vir experienced what it was like when Cirayus opened the highest Chakra, so he thought he knew how to deal with it.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t have been more wrong. Already preoccupied with keeping his Foundation Chakra open, both Vir’s and Shan’s minds were infected by the grandeur of the Crown.
The wolf aborted its attack and bounded away, where it whimpered and cowered in fear.
Vir could hardly blame him.
The aura projection wasn’t hostile on its own. It augmented the effects of all the other Chakras. To the point where even with his Foundation Chakra wide open, Vir found himself unable to resist the mental attack. The proximity only made it worse—in just a few seconds, he’d lose consciousness.
Plenty of time to throw his deadliest weapon.
Cirayus saw the Artifact Chakram light up and immediately moved away. Even stunted as it was, the disc could slice right through his thick skin, and he knew it.
Both Chakras cut out, and Vir was released from his mental attack.
The three fighters stood exactly where they had when the match began. All uninjured.
Vir took a long, deep breath as it dawned on him that this fight would not be a short, simple affair.
Judging from the smile that plastered Cirayus’ face, Vir knew the Ravager would not want it any other way.
Unfortunately for him, Vir had other ideas. The time for playing nice was over.
Now it was time to win.
116
THE FIGHT OF A LIFETIME (PART TWO)
Vir again Blinked across the stage, and for the first several moves, their bout went much the same as it had before, with Vir attempting to bypass Sikandar’s enormous reach while Cirayus thwarted him.
Cirayus, having led Vir to think he was being pressured, switched from defense to offense so quickly, it left Vir reeling, and he was barely able to get away.
The giant unleashed a vicious barrage of attacks with the enormous sword, forcing Vir to duck, dodge, or otherwise retreat. Deprived of Balancer of Scales, Cirayus was forced to rely on his prodigious strength and skill to be deadly with the weapon.
As time went on, Vir began to read the flow of the giant’s attacks. It was nothing so simple as memorizing the timing, for that changed with every strike. With Balancer of Scales, the weight of Cirayus’ weapon altered between attacks, and so too did the timing. Though the giant was unable to use the ability here, those timing shifts were an ingrained part of his training.
It was a testament to Cirayus’ skill that he not only wrangled such a vast array of timings, but did so with relative ease. Each weight profile required subtly different technique and stances, which he must have mastered over centuries. Stances and techniques he could employ even without the ability.
It wasn’t quite the same as if Cirayus had deployed Balancer of Scales, but the effect was enough to throw off Vir’s pace, leaving his strikes mistimed and awkward, and his defense open and vulnerable.
Even so, Vir was nothing if not a quick learner, to say nothing of Shan. Each time Cirayus varied his technique, Vir and Shan were taken by surprise. The second time they saw it, they expected it, and by the third, they had both learned to adapt.
At long last, Vir found the window of opportunity he’d been looking for.
Each attack committed Sikandar to the strike. Once swung, the mighty blade could not so easily be used to defend. It wasn’t only a matter of switching the sword’s directions—which Cirayus had some trouble with without his Ultimate Bloodline Art to assist—he’d also have to reposition his body to be able to block. That was even harder.