Magical Soul Parade

Chapter 321: Intruiging Duel (II)

Nova stifled a surge of blood that wanted to escape her mouth as the heavy impact forced her to her knees. The strike had no trace of finesse or swordsmanship. Finn had dealt it like a heavy blow from a hammer and the sheer force of it pounded down on her with a weight that her mechanical enhancements could barely withstand.

She was flung backward several feet across the stone but she rolled into an upright position with a desperate speed. She didn’t even bother to look at her left arm which had gone slightly limp and was sparking with traces of disjointed circuit electricity from the blow. She knew that he wasn’t going to give her any reprieve so she began launching attacks before he could even take another step.

Behind Finn, on the other side of the arena, the cannons in the air had finished their cooling cycle. They were charged and ready to fire with a brilliance that was even greater than before. But Finn was in such close proximity to Nova that they remained still.

They were brimming with energy and trembling in the air but they were waiting for a command to fire that would not hit their master.

But Nova did not care about her own safety anymore. She reached out and gave the mental command for the cannons to fire everything they had. She attacked simultaneously by lunging forward with her remaining good arm intending to keep Finn pinned while the cannons did their work.

Finn saw the cannons glow and he knew what was coming. He dodged a series of punches from Nova and closed the gap for another heavy slash but he felt the heat of a blasted orb of lightning and raw mana energy heading for his back at blistering speeds.

He didn’t move away. Instead he spun mid motion and used the iron sword to cleave the greater energy blast literally in two. The explosion of the mana parting sent a shockwave that rattled the surroundings, but he remained standing.

Nova’s eyes widened instinctively at the sight of him cutting through even this level of energy blast, but she did not stop her advance. Right now, Finn had his back turned to her as he dealt with the projectile, and she knew this was her opening. She wasn’t about to let it slip.

Without hesitation, she stuck with as much power as she could muster. But Finn sensed her incoming blows and he adjusted his posture to tank whatever she was about to throw. He didn’t have time to dodge because he was still focused on the remaining cannons which seemed to be the more dangerous threat.

But to his surprise he didn’t feel a punch like he’d expected. Instead, right at the last moment, he felt Nova’s arms creep around his midsection like a cold metallic snake. She locked him in a vice grip and squeezed with every bit of strength she had.

Her intention was clear to him immediately. She was willing to risk taking damage from her own cannon blasts as long as she could ensure that he also got hit.

So you want to go down together, Finn thought while a grim smile touched his lips.

He wasn’t about to let that happen. Nova was a talented warrior but she was still underestimating the raw physical strength of the soul mass he was currently using. This was the Crimson Fist Baboon. Even without its Tyrant form it was a creature designed for wrestling and overpowering foes of much greater size.

With a guttural grunt of effort, Finn allowed her arms to wrap around him for a second to let her think she had him. Then he caught her utterly off guard with a sudden surge of physical power. He hefted her off her feet with a violent heave of his torso and swung her forward over his head before her brain could even process the change.

At that exact moment, another blast was incoming from the cannons at a blistering speed. Because of the flip, Nova was now the one in the front. She was the one who was going to bear the brunt of her own destructive energy.

For a single heartbeat the surroundings seemed to fall into a dead still silence. Those in the crowd who had the eyes and the experience to keep up with the rapid pace of the fight saw exactly how Finn had flipped the script.

They saw Nova falling through the air toward the incoming orb of lightning. She was at point blank range of a blast that was filled with such heavy energy waves that even the spectators behind the barrier felt a sense of dread.

The young man from earlier who looked to be her brother was already blitzing forward on his flying artifact. His eyes were wide with a frantic terror as he reached the edge of the dome. The older gentleman was right behind him and his expression was one of grim concern.

Dana and the other Master rank Arcanists had forgotten to breathe. Their hearts were in their throats and their mouths were hanging open in shock.

A single question was written on every face in the crowd.

Was a Noble Xiph of the Mechanus empire about to die right in front of them?

The seconds seemed to drag in suspense...

But then at the crucial moment, two things happened that defied all expectations.

First, Nova’s eyes went flat and glazed over. All emotion vanished from her face as if she had been replaced by a machine.

Without any build up or chant, a furious beam of pure energy emanated from the glowing white crystal in her chest. It surged forward with a blinding brilliance to meet the incoming orb of destructive lightning.

Second, the laws surrounding the platform ceased in an instant. The invisible barrier that had been protecting the spectators and holding the pact in place was snuffed out of existence. The incoming orb from the cannon didn’t even explode; it simply vanished into the air seemingly without cause or explanation. The roiling energy waves that had filled the arena disappeared entirely, and the billowing dust spread out of the now open platform in a violent burst toward the onlookers.

But that wasn’t the end of the catastrophe.

The furious beam of energy from Nova’s chest was still moving. Now that there was no barrier to stop its momentum and no orb to collide with, it surged forward into the crowd. It moved in the blink of an eye and it was far more powerful than any of the previous attacks.

Dozens of unlucky people didn’t even know what had happened before they were sizzled to a crisp. The beam was so hot that it turned their flying artifacts and soul masses into molten slag in an instant.

The light traveled through a score of people and carved a path of death through the air. It only began to lose its potency after passing through the first twenty individuals and it severely charred the next ten before the power finally fizzled out into a trail of smoke.

A heavy soul crushing silence reigned over the city for several seconds. Then the horror of the situation began to set in.