Draconic King of Shadows-Chapter 102: Fighting Fire with Fire (2)

Damion noticed it before anyone else. Noriko’s body was far sturdier than normal. Two attacks from Kenzo should have been enough to turn him into a bloody mist, yet Noriko was still floating without a scratch on his body. Only his torn clothing was proof that the attacks had landed.

Even Kaiden—who fought against Damion—took some damage, and that was after he had protected himself with his Lightning and electromagnetic field.

Noriko’s body was durable beyond reason. Damion couldn’t understand why this was, but his frown slowly loosened as the Blessing of Knowledge filled his mind with information.

’Body Tempering,’ Damion thought, his interest in the concept rising. ’Noriko’s body has been tempered by his flames, making it far stronger than any Human’s.’

This would have been a problem in and of itself, but Damion easily saw the solution buried in the problem.

He might be stronger than a normal Human, that didn’t mean he was as strong as Kenzo. His defenses were tough, but it could slowly be chipped at, little by little.

Kenzo reached the same conclusion as Damion after a short analysis, and his muscles tensed, a hot breath rushing out of his nostrils.

BANG!

Kenzo’s cut through the air, his speed even greater than before. He reached Noriko in the air instantly, and his tail whipped out, slamming into Noriko and knocking the wind out of him.

Noriko’s mind spun as a fire barrier formed too late. He had been too slow to cast the barrier and ended up tanking the attack directly.

Kenzo followed up with a claw swipe, bringing down his three sharp claws like scythes and successfully slashing at Noriko this time, tearing three white lines across his form.

Noriko’s flames burst forth and pushed against Kenzo, attacking his scales as he approached. However, Kenzo wasn’t letting up and pressed on, not willing to lose the upper hand.

He pushed through the flames, letting them lick at his scales as he arrived before Noriko again.

His limbs flashed, and a fire-filled attack smashed into Noriko’s hip, sending him spiralling awkwardly to the side.

Damion felt a shift in the atmosphere, and he looked back. No longer was he hearing the distant sounds of clashing, and seeing bright flashes of lights at intervals.

The silence of the jungle behind him meant only one thing.

"We need to leave," Damion muttered, his heart skipping a beat when he sensed the demonic energy in the atmosphere rising.

He had seen and felt demonic energy before. Plus, not too long ago, he had had an encounter with Captain Shodan’s demonic energy, so the moment he felt the demonic energy in the air thickening and multiplying—without it coming from Kenzo—he knew what had happened instantly.

’Alexia lost,’ he thought, communicating with Nyx.

Nyx rippled once, his body shifting and morphing into a sword that rested in Damion’s palm.

Matilda and Lyra were forced to protect themselves from the rain of fire, using their own means to dodge or block.

It wasn’t as serious as before due to Kenzo and Noriko switching to physical combat and using less of their flames—at least Kenzo was.

Noriko’s forte was his pyromancy. His physical strength was just a boon, though it was currently almost useless.

He was smacked around like a ragdoll, cutting through the air at blurring speeds only to be redirected by another slap from Kenzo.

Noriko’s breathing grew shallow. Each blow from Kenzo carved pain into his nerves, but more than that, it crushed him slowly, grinding at his HP little by little.

Kenzo was fast, faster than Noriko expected, but that was absurd, because it was apparent that Kenzo should be faster than him due to his form.

However, Noriko’s expectations weren’t without basis. There was a reason he wasn’t accepting of the hard fact.

Norkio gritted his teeth, ducking a follow-up tail strike, then twisting midair to release a burst of flame at Kenzo’s flank.

It landed with a shuddering impact, forcing Kenzo to shift slightly, but it did almost nothing as Kenzo’s scales absorbed most of the impact, giving him the opportunity to drive his claws forward like three curved spears.

Noriko crossed his arms and tried to shield his chest, coating them in layers of compressed flames, but it was like trying to block a cannonball with bare skin.

CRACK!

The impact sent him flying, a deep red bruise forming across his forearm and leaking blood. The blood, though, evaporated before even getting the chance to spill out, and the wound was cauterized just as fast by the scalding flames.

Noriko gasped for breath, barely managing to stabilize himself midair. His flames burned weaker, but the flames in his eyes blazed brightly; he was unwilling.

’I just have to use more!’ A defiant roar echoed through his mind.

Before anyone could react and stop him, a large block of a shimmering, ruby-like gem appeared above him, radiating a dangerous aura. A sense of foreboding overcame Kenzo, and a sense of allure and promise of more power attacked his psyche too.

The two emotions and thoughts clashed within him, their suddenness causing him to lag for a split second.

Unfortunately, Noriko didn’t need more than a second to accomplish his next task.

Energy, alongside raging orange flames, burst forth with renewed power, surging towards the large gem and wrapping around it greedily. They licked at its form ravenously, grinding it down into particles of glowing dust that rushed at Noriko.

However...

CHOMP!

Kenzo took precedence of power over fear and danger, and his body moved in accordance with his thoughts, reaching forward and stealing the stream of grinded Fire atributted Mana Rocks, before swallowing whole.

A pulse emitted from Kenzo’s body, and he stopped in his tracks.

The shock in Noriko’s eyes couldn’t be hidden, not even with the raging inferno around them.

His last resort—a large chunk of Fire atributted Mana Rock he was meant to absorb in case he came across an opponent too strong—was stolen... just like that?

Noriko’s eyes flashed with unbridled anger, but it immediately evaporated the moment he realized something.

His gaze, still on Kenzo, narrowed, and a sinister smile crept up his face.

Absorbing the Fire atributted Mana Rock wasn’t something done in an instant. It left the individual in a state of dormancy, as their body adapted and consolidated the raging Mana within them, and that... he was going to take advantage off.

Noriko blazed forward, leaving a trail of flames in his wake as a massive blade of fire compressed in his arms, drawing a line towards Kenzo’s neck.