Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix-Chapter 1543: Why don’t you just die?

As the battlefield crackled with the energy of their clash, Lonos grudgingly acknowledged that underestimating Rain’s capabilities any further would be a grave error, one that he could ill afford in the heat of their confrontation.

Lonos charged at Rain and then immediately smashed his face with a rotating elbow strike and, followed by body slams from all directions. When Rain suddenly turned and moved his arms to block the next attack and grabbed him, Lonos moved his right hand to pierce his neck like a spear... in that short window of time, Rain smiled, and then his body suddenly jumped backward when Lonos got close enough... making his chin being hit by a summersault.

Lonos opened his eyes widely thanks to the pain and then that gave Rain the chance to land already in his fighting stance. While moving his upper body to the side, Rain stepped in, and then he swung his body in the opposite direction like a pendulum before punching Lonos with all his might.

Instantly, Rain’s body blurred as he began to move from one side to the other and launched hook after hook on Lonos face... he didn’t even have time to let his body be pushed... it felt like time had stopped as he began to be punched left and right.

"Now this is what I am talking about..." Rain thought. "With this, then I can finally..."

Solving things with his fists was Rain’s specialty, so doing that made him feel truly excited... The liquid from Lonos’s body began to fall around, but soon, he recovered in time when Rain slowed for a moment, thanks to the exhaustion. He kicked Rain’s stomach after raising his legs and pushed himself backward and Rain in the opposite direction.

"Such a simple attack, and yet..."

At that rate, Lonos truly will have to show all of his might even though he has two other troublesome enemies to deal with... if Rain was at that level, the other two should be on the same or even higher, considering their lack of involvement in the battle until now.

"I suppose it can’t be helped..."

Lonos’s aura underwent another transformation, pulsating with a newfound intensity as he focused his energies on his hands. With an amazing display of temporal mastery, the raw energy coalesced and sculpted itself into the shape of a sword, its form a testament to the ethereal nature of its creation.

The temporal sword shimmered with an otherworldly brilliance, its blade seeming to blur and flicker as if it existed beyond the confines of conventional reality. Strands of temporal energy danced along its edge, casting an iridescent glow that illuminated the darkened expanse of their battleground. Each side of the sword seemed to ripple with the ebb and flow of time itself, lending it an air of primordial power that resonated with Lonos’s powerful presence.

As Lonos gripped the hilt of his temporal blade, its weight felt both substantial and insubstantial, as if it existed at the intersection of tangible and ephemeral. With a steely gaze fixed upon Rain, he wielded the sword with a sense of purpose born from eons of temporal insight, ready to unleash its devastating might upon his resolute adversary.

Doing nothing was convenient for Rain, but he couldn’t help but raise his guard... to make matters worse, the weird weapon disappeared without a trace... why would have Lonos created such a weapon only to make it disappear?

Rain soon learned the reason why with his own body... all of a sudden, the weapon appeared inside his body, making time stop completely only for him, though.

"With time stopped, he can’t gather temporal aura to attack. With that in mind, I can finally crush him."

Lonos attacked Rain from all sides with Instantaneous Strike, but weirdly enough, not wound appeared in his body. Little by little, the time sword began to decrease in size, and Lonos clicked his tongue since Rain’s body was absorbing it... but at least his plan was taking place. As soon as the weapon disappeared, Rain was able to move again, and while he had a good surprise, he soon had a terrible one...

The Temporal path was updated.

Lvl 50: Chronoportation - Transports objects or individuals through time, allowing for temporal relocation to different temporal moments or alternate realities. Higher levels increase the complexity of the object and the time distance. The object can also have other effects of time magic.

Rain’s body was bombarded by sudden attacks from all directions, and he was unable to tell what was going on... his bones began to crack, and his skull was fractured numerous times.

While Rain was being bombarded by the punches and his body was being destroyed, Lonos began to prepare his next attack. He didn’t want to keep showing his skills, but as long as he could use them freely, he should be able to crush Rain’s spirit.

After several minutes of the attack, it finally ended, and then Rain’s body had become a mess for probably the thousandth time in his life... also for the thousandth time, he began to heal automatically. His resilience was anything if not annoying, but as soon as he woke up and his body was half healed, Lonos put the next part of his plan. All of a sudden, Rain began to shake all over... his regeneration not only stopped, but the wounds were returning back to their previous state, and he was suffering all that pain once again.

The same thing happened time and time again, and Rain was unable to do a single thing, only to suffer. Still, before long, Lonos began to get tired of it.

"Why don’t you just die?"

Lonos’s usual demeanor faltered once again, a flicker of genuine exasperation crossing his features. In all his eons of existence, he had never encountered a foe as obstinate and vexing as Rain. Even his most challenging experiments paled in comparison to the relentless determination of the experienced warrior.