Free Web NovelChapter 257: 257:Test.
Lilith appeared behind him. Atheline twisted, and his sword met her dagger.
BOOM.
The mountain beneath them shattered. Cracks spread across the plateau. Entire sections collapsed into the valley below.
He flew backward. She remained exactly where she stood, unmoving. The difference in strength was obvious.
Atheline landed hard. Stone exploded beneath his feet. But then he smiled while blood ran from one corner of his mouth.
Lilith noticed.
"Still smiling?"
He wiped away the blood.
"You said not to complain."
She sighed then disappeared. His eyes widened, she was too fast for him to even track her. He barely raised his sword in time.
CLANG.
The impact launched him through an entire mountain. Stone exploded and snow erupted around him. He crashed through three separate ridges before finally stopping.
Pain shot through his body, several ribs were probably broken.
Atheline laughed. Lilith was absolutely ridiculous which made this fun. Aether surged through him again and his body healed but not completely.
He emerged from the rubble and drew a single arrow. This one arrow was different from the others.
She noticed immediately.
Atheline pulled the bowstring. It looked as though space was warping around the arrow. Every element was forcefully merged.
Her eyes narrowed slightly. But he only smiled and then released. The world seemed to have exploded. The arrow became a beam of pure destruction.
Mountains vanished before its path. A path several kilometers long appeared across the landscape. Everything inside it ceased to exist.
Lilith finally moved seriously. Shadows gathered around her. There were thousands maybe even millions. The darkness compressed and condensed then collided with the arrow.
The resulting explosion shook the entire mountain range. Snow cascaded from distant peaks into an avalanche, valleys cracked around them and entire forests disappeared.
For several moments, neither side could see anything. Dust and smoke covered the sky.
Atheline landed heavily, breathing hard. His Aether reserves had dropped significantly. The attack had cost him a lot.
The dust slowly settled. Lilith, as expected, remained standing within the destruction. Atheline wasn’t surprised but still a little disappointed.
She examined the destroyed landscape then looked toward him.
"You did better than I expected."
He blinked then laughed. That might have been the closest thing to praise she’d ever given him during combat.
She continued slowly and calmly walking toward him. Atheline suddenly realized something, she still wasn’t tired at all. Meanwhile, he felt like he’d fought an army, the difference remained enormous.
She stopped several meters away. He smiled.
"You’re stronger, way stronger," he breathlessly said.
"Obviously."
He nodded then shrugged.
"Still worth trying."
She studied him quietly, then, for the first time during the fight, she smiled slightly. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
"Good."
He blinked then immediately pointed.
"You smiled," he said, lightening up the mood.
Lilith’s expression vanished.
"I didn’t."
"You absolutely did."
"No."
He laughed. She looked away, a sure sign of guilt. Atheline grinned then drew another arrow. Lilith slowly turned back. He raised the bow.
She sighed.
"You aren’t finished."
"No."
He smiled.
"I told you."
Converted Aether surged again. The wind intensified around him. Snow rose from the shattered mountains as a result.
She adjusted her grip on the dagger and for the first time since the battle began, she looked genuinely ready to fight.
Atheline slowly drew another arrow while Lilith watched quietly, neither spoke. The earlier playfulness was gone.
This had become something else, a test to see how far he would go and had come. She also wanted to know the same thing.
The difference was that only one of them already knew the answer. Aether flowed through the Atheline’s body, his elements raging in the paths.
Her eyes narrowed slightly. Wind had always been one of his most developed affinities. Unlike the other elements, wind demanded freedom. It had been a while since he’d trained with her and she was genuinely surprised by how refined his control had become.
He released the bowstring and the arrow vanished. She immediately shifted sideways. The arrow exploded behind her.
A tornado erupted from the mountain, a pillar of wind hundreds of meters tall shot into the sky. Before it could fade; a second arrow appeared, then a third and a fourth. His fingers blurred as dozens more of them were shot.
Some of the surviving mountains disappeared beneath storms.
Lilith stood at the center of it all. Then darkness exploded outward. The shadows beneath her feet aggressively expanded.
The darkness spread across the battlefield like an ocean. Entire storms disappeared inside it.
Atheline immediately got out of the frenzy. A black spear erupted from where he had stood. The mountain behind him collapsed.
He appeared high above the battlefield, his bow was already drawn again. Wind gathered around him, stronger and faster this time.
The element screamed through the sky. The clouds above the mountains began rotating.
She looked upward. He smiled down at her then released. Hundreds of arrows descended, each carried wind element accelerated by storms and moving faster than the last.
The sky became silver.
Lilith finally moved. Her body blurred. For the first time since the battle began, she wasn’t merely standing there while resisting his attacks.
Atheline’s eyes widened. She was just as fast but he could still see her. Darkness followed her movements, and a black streak crossed the battlefield. Mountains exploded wherever she stepped and arrows shattered, causing the storms to collapse.
Atheline lost sight of her completely at some point, then his insticts screamed again. His sword barely intercepted the dagger. The impact detonated the air. The mountain beneath them vanished.
Atheline flew backward while blood sprayed from his mouth. She remained motionless. It had taken one strike and several more bones were cracked.
Atheline laughed despite the pain. Lilith stared at him.
"You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?"
"A little."
"A little."
He grinned.
"Maybe a lot."
She shook her head. Lilith was now finding everything to be completely ridiculous.
Then his Aether surged again. She paused. Instead of attacking he lowered his bow and his sword disappeared into spatial storage.
Lilith raised an eyebrow.
’What on earth, are you doing?’
