Lord of the realm

Chapter 234: Underestimating him costed her

He reformed behind her, his arm already swinging in a devastating hook aimed at her head.

Kailthrys didn’t turn. She didn’t need to. Wind caught Jaenor’s fist, compressed around it, and created a cushion that absorbed the impact.

But the sheer force still sent her spinning through the air, and she used that momentum to create distance.

"Creative," she acknowledged, her golden eyes showing approval.

"Using your chaotic nature to temporarily exist outside conventional targeting. Impressive adaptation."

"Thanks!" Jaenor called back.

"You’re pretty good too! Most people don’t think to use water as a surprise attack vehicle!"

They rushed at each other again, and this time their attacks came rapid-fire.

Kailthrys manifested lightning in her hands, not as spears but as whips, and she lashed out with them. Each strike created sonic booms; each crack of the whips split the air itself.

Jaenor’s body bounced, his enhanced body letting him contort around the attacks. He moved like a blur of motion, like he wasn’t present in his physical form.

And while dodging, he attacked. His swift movements reached past her defenses to strike from impossible angles. His fists came from above, from below, and from the sides, all simultaneously, because his limbs moved with such speed and precision that it seemed like he had multiple arms.

Kailthrys surrounded herself with a sphere of rotating wind, the currents moving so fast they became visible as blurred lines.

Jaenor’s punches struck the wind barrier and were deflected, sent spinning off course.

She expanded the wind sphere suddenly, turning defense into offense, and Jaenor was caught in the currents. They spun him, disoriented him, and tried to tear his limbs apart through sheer rotational force.

But he just laughed and spun faster, matching the rotation, becoming part of the wind sphere’s motion. And then he pushed outward, his body engulfed in a flame-like form, disrupting the careful balance of the wind currents from the inside.

The sphere shattered, and both fighters were thrown apart by the chaotic release of energy.

They recovered at the same instant, turning to face each other again.

Kailthrys raised her hands high, and the clouds above them darkened further. But these weren’t normal storm clouds. They glowed from within with golden light, pulsed with sovereign authority, and when she brought her hands down, they descended.

The clouds compressed as they fell, becoming denser and heavier until they were more solid than liquid. Tons of compressed atmosphere and water vapor crashed down on Jaenor like a divine hammer, the impact creating a shockwave that was visible from the ground.

Jaenor didn’t try to dodge or deflect.

He caught it.

His hands came up, and his body compressed, becoming denser to match the attack’s weight. His legs drove into the sky itself, finding purchase in air that shouldn’t support weight, and he held the compressed cloud-hammer above his head.

Then he threw it back.

The massive construct hurtled toward Kailthrys, spinning as it flew, and she responded by manifesting a spear of pure lightning to pierce through its center.

The collision created another flash of light and sound, another explosion that lit up the heavens.

And through the explosion, both fighters emerged, rushing at each other again.

They met in the center, and this time it was pure close combat.

Kailthrys manifested wind around her fists, each punch carrying cutting force that could slice through mountains. Jaenor’s arms hardened, turning purple and glossy, and he blocked each strike, the impacts creating thunderclaps.

She kicked at his midsection, her leg surrounded by compressed water that added hydraulic force to the strike.

He twisted, his body bending, and then he raised his leg to kick; the kick passed through empty space.

He countered with a headbutt, his skull glowing with golden-red chaos energy. She leaned back just far enough to avoid direct contact, but the energy discharge still caught her, sending her tumbling backward.

She arrested her momentum with wind, planted her feet on nothing, and launched forward again. This time she was surrounded by a full elemental storm, lightning, wind, and water all swirling around her form, creating a maelstrom of divine power.

Jaenor met her charge with his own burst of speed, his body trailing colors that shouldn’t exist, his form occasionally flickering as if he existed in multiple positions simultaneously.

They collided, and the impact created a sphere of pure force that expanded outward. The shockwave flattened clouds for hundreds of miles, sent birds tumbling from the sky, and made even the Sovereigns watching from below take protective stances.

When the force sphere dissipated, both fighters were locked together, hands gripping hands, faces inches apart, both pouring everything they had into trying to overpower the other.

The sky around them fractured from the pressure. Cracks appeared in the air itself, spreading out like a broken mirror.

Lightning crashed continuously, not because either fighter was summoning it, but because the ambient energy from their clash was creating natural electrical discharges.

Wind howled in every direction simultaneously, unable to decide which way to blow under the influence of two massively powerful beings.

Water vapor condensed and evaporated in rapid cycles, creating steam that glowed with golden and multi-colored light.

"You’re strong," Kailthrys admitted through gritted teeth, her golden eyes blazing.

"Stronger than you should be. Stronger than any mortal has ever been."

"You’re pretty tough yourself," Jaenor replied, his kaleidoscope eyes never leaving hers.

"For an old lady who’s supposed to be past her prime."

Despite the intensity of their struggle, both smiled slightly at the exchange.

Then they separated, pushing off from each other, creating distance again.

They floated in the sky, both breathing hard now, both showing signs of exertion despite their divine and transcendent natures.

Kailthrys floated in the sky, her eyes still fixed on him.

But for the first time in millennia, uncertainty crept into her ancient mind.

She’d felt it during their clash.

The way his power adapted, evolved, and transformed with each exchange. That wasn’t normal combat progression. That was something fundamental about his nature.

The Chaos Origin she understood.