Explosions rocked the chamber every ti their skills collided.
Elias was no slouch and proved to be a capable fighter. Now at full power, he pressed the attack, clearly aiming to kill Thalion. He unleashed multiple miasma-based skills simultaneously, all of them incredibly powerful. Before, he had primarily relied on blades and a shield, but now he conjured shockwaves, explosions, miasma beams, and more. His arsenal was wide, but against Thalion, it still wasn’t enough.
Thanks to his title, Thalion could discern which attack was most dangerous, even without direct sight. He was actively engaging the lich with his abilities, but he wasn’t the only predator in the chamber. A far more ferocious one lurked below. The Sanguis Impera, which had begun charging up its blood thorns to increase their accuracy. Its vines glowed with crimson energy, as if coated in blood like a second skin, likely a asure to increase their durability and strength.
Elias had figured out a way to damage the plants slightly by detonating released miasma clouds. The resulting explosions were quite potent and managed to tear apart several vines. Unfortunately for Elias, he didn’t have the luxury of flooding the chamber with miasma due to Thalion’s relentless pursuit. The Sanguis Impera also released a bloody mist that pushed the miasma clouds back, making it impossible for Elias to maintain both offense and defense simultaneously.
Thalion kept up the chase, deliberately keeping Elias distracted so the Sanguis Impera could continue building pressure. The real issue for Elias was his lack of equipnt. If he had possessed even a single item capable of blocking Thalion’s sword, the battle might have gone differently. But now, he had no choice but to dodge and hope to land a decisive hit.
Thalion either dodged or blocked his spells with the Blade of the Blooded Templar, which was perfectly suited for dealing with pure mana based attacks. It even absorbed so of the energy, restoring Thalion’s mana. Not that he needed it, but it was a nice bonus. Elias was clearly skilled in spellcasting, but Thalion doubted this was his typical fighting style. He suspected that Elias normally used a staff or weapon for mid-range combat. But against Thalion it wouldn't have changed much.
As the battle dragged on, Elias beca more desperate, pumping increasingly more power into his spells, hoping for a lucky hit to turn the tide. But against Thalion, that was wishful thinking. The fact that the lich could even channel so much power was impressive in itself, though ultimately ineffective. Thalion was too consistent, his mana pool nowhere near empty. His massive regeneration rate giving him a huge advantage. Even against stronger foes, he could always stall until they burned out.
In this case, however, he didn’t want to kill his opponent. He wanted to capture him. That would be difficult for most, but Thalion had the tools. The Sanguis Impera could drain an enemy’s resources, aning once caught, Elias would be helpless. Any mana or stamina he regenerated would be imdiately siphoned away. In theory, the Sanguis Impera could also heal the captive if its vines caused too much damage while growing into the body.
Elias was weakening by the second. He hurled blades and explosions in every direction, but nothing helped. Thalion was never in danger, and the vines regrew too fast. Elias even failed to blast open the blocked corridor entrance, as Thalion was always there to intercept him.
So far, Elias had managed to avoid serious hits, suffering only minor scratches, but the longer the battle continued, the harder it beca to dodge the lightning-fast blood thorns of the Sanguis Impera. After half an hour, one finally struck him, piercing his arm and embedding itself halfway through. The brutal spikes almost tore the limb from its socket. Elias tried to cut the blood thorn off with a skill, but it was no use. The vines were already growing inside him, feeding on his energy. Occasionally, the vines even burst through his skin as they thickened. Of course, Elias tried to resist, but he had no chance.
The Sanguis Impera alone might have been enough to overpower him, but with Thalion supporting it, there was simply no hope. Surprisingly, it took over thirty seconds before Elias could no longer move, his mana completly drained. He fell from the sky like a rock, only to be caught by the vines below. They ensnared him completely as the Sanguis Impera spun a cocoon of red vines around the lich.
“Yes! Good job, mate!” Thalion shouted with elation, clapping one of the vines at his side like a companion.
This had gone far smoother than he had expected. The fact that Elias dared to descend here without a spatial ring or weapons had been an incredible stroke of luck. The only question now was whether Thalion could capitalize on it. Extracting a bloodline from a lich might be even harder than the elf’s bloodline skill, but that didn’t matter. His excitent was unquenchable, they had won the war. It was finally over.
The undead and Ankhet were defeated. Only the surface vampires remained, but none of them posed a real threat. The only one who might match him was the female elf, but after defeating the vampiress, Ankhet, and now Elias, Thalion had no doubt he could take her on too. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on novᴇlfire
The biggest obstacle would be the escape token. There was no way she would risk entering the catacombs again. And once the elves learned of Ankhet’s death, they probably wouldn’t dare fight him at all. The final day of the tutorial might actually be… relaxing.
Not that Thalion would relax. Since the battle with Ankhet, he’d been driven to an almost insane degree. He was more determined than ever to reach godhood and beco as powerful as possible. He still rembered the small girl from Kael’s base. If he had been too weak, her future would have been cut short too. That mory gave him an extra push.
Now, with Elias secured, Thalion could fly up again and hunt down more vampires.
It was ti to show them what true horror looked like.
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