Triiffic-Soul: Can I Be In Control?-Chapter 159 – Anlesa

Chapter 159 – Anlesa

[So… I will be happy to hear suggestions about how we can defeat this guy.] (Eva)

[We need to test the waters for a while longer; his ability is certainly not something I have faced before.] (Syrus)

[I can provide no support on the nature of his abilities; there is nothing in memory of reading about such a unique ability.] (Luna)

Alraius made no movement towards them; he simply smiled and waited.

[Captain’s order. I am releasing my captain privileges…] Eva said with no hesitation, as she knew what was to come would be the hardest fight of this festival.

[Fair enough, combat will still be heavily reliant on those wires of yours. So sneak one around once you get the chance and pick up the sword.] (Syrus)

[You could’ve also not thrown the sword.] (Luna)

[It was a good opportunity. Minus what the outcome turned out to be.] (Syrus)

Luna took notice of where the sword ended up. [It’s going to take more than Lilly’s wire to grab that sword, Syrus.]

[Sorry that I have a good throwing arm.] (Syrus)

Anlesa quickly debated battle plans before charging forward.

“Let’s see what you are made of.” He gestured for them to come closer.

Within moments, Syrus was in front of the giant man, and a fire blast was launched out. His figure couldn’t even be seen as he flashed to be standing out of the line of fire.

Syrus squeezed out of the way of a counterpunch, and then Syrus swung down her shield, but he lightly parried it away, but not with enough force, as Syrus slammed it back down.

He blocked with his arm, and the shield collided with Alraius' skin, and they could feel it violently grind against it.

Syrus pulled the shield back, and the surface was partially damaged.

“Better question, what the fuck are you made of?”

[He can somehow dodge attacks via his attribute, and we somehow do attack him; his skin damages our weapons.] (Syrus)

[Better our weapons than skin.] (Luna)

[Still not good when our weapons are limited.] (Eva)

Alraius swung in for the follow-up, but Syrus slid around Alraius and jumped back. Now closer to their actual target, Eva’s wire shot out and grabbed the handle of the sword that was behind them.

“I don’t think that will help you much.”

Syrus replied, “Based on what you did to my shield, I don’t think punching will do me any favours either.”

A small tip of fire emerged from the edge of the blade, and Syrus prepared her next strike.

[I will keep an eye out on his movements.] (Luna)

A demon from far away launched a boulder at Alraius.

[Sure, I guess we'll keep our eye out on this attack then.] (Syrus)

Alraius simply raised his arm, and the rock shattered on it, and he grabbed the largest rock from the rubble and chucked it at Anlesa.

[How does he decide what to dodge and block?] (Luna)

[The annoying part is that I think he can easily block the attacks that he has chosen to dodge.] (Syrus)

[Meaning?] (Luna)

Syrus parried the rock. [I’m not actually sure.]

A third party interrupted their fight as stormy winds full of lightning energy came crashing towards both of them.

“Dealt with Krava already? Good job, but I don’t appreciate being interrupted.” Without even looking at the target, Alraius spoke to them.

Hohra, the bipedal mantis-esque demon, replied, “It’s only a human; it doesn’t matter.”

The storm had engulfed the whole area, trapping everyone inside, with occasional shocks of lightning being shot at everyone at random intervals.

The three individuals combated each other in the storm. Syrus utilised the mantis demon as a distraction to target Alraius from opposite angles.

Jumping with flames leaping from her sword, Syrus made light strikes to minimise damage to the blade.

Alraius countered some of the attacks, but he couldn’t block or parry everything from the too-fast attackers.

Hohra was still Syrus’ enemy as well, and she kept her eye during the storm, but she tended to fade within the storm itself, making it hard to see her. The lightning and wind also disguised her movement.

[Any idea yet?] (Syrus)

[It is basically teleporting, but it is not Space. I can be sure of that.] (Luna)

[Good to know our lockdown won’t do anything.] (Syrus)

[Maybe, there is a chance it could interfere with his ability.] (Luna)

[Is it worth trialling that method?] (Eva)

[Likely not; let’s continue with our current approach.] (Luna)

Alraius jumped from position to position in the small area in the centre of the arena without any physical movement. As he got used to the two attackers, his parries ended up sending Hohra and Syrus towards each other more often.

When they got close, Hohra made a basic strike towards Syrus, but she managed to dodge each time. Hohra hadn’t seen Syrus as a threat, so she attacked with basic strikes to get her out of the way.

Alraius stated, “You two would make a good team if you, well, teamed up.”

Hohra shouted, “I don’t need help to beat you.”

“You hear that?” Alraius asked, “You want to team up?”

Sryus laughed, “I’m good. I’m already a team player; I don’t need an extra right now.”

Suddenly, a spear of wind came spiralling towards Anlesa so fast they barely had time to dodge. Syrus pulled their body out of the way, but the spear of wind came into contact with their body. The spear of wind cut through the clothes on her shoulder but didn’t dig into her flesh thanks to armour gifted by Velelenra.

[It’s still intact, but you can tell it has taken some damage.] (Eva)

[Correct, so let’s not get hit in that spot again.] (Syrus)

Syrus was forced back, but they were still standing at the edge of the storm.

[Eva, follow my instructions.] (Syrus)

[Got it.] (Eva)

Hohra and Alraius were still locked in combat, and Anlesa didn’t immediately jump back into the fray of things.

With Syrus pushed away, Hohra's attack intensity increased. Not because she was gone, but because Hohra herself wasn’t making any meaningful progress; if anything, her attack effectiveness decreased after the human vanished.

“Maybe you should’ve kept the human around.” Taunted Alraius.

“Ha! I don’t need anyone’s support to defeat you.”

“You haven’t managed yet.”

Wind condensed around her claw, forming a deadly blade. Alraius physically moved to adjust his posture.

In a quick back-and-forth,

Then two wires appeared from behind Alraius. Unnoticed by Hohra, the metal wires appeared around Hohra's neck and lower body, then, with a massive tug, she was pulled towards Alraius.

Alraius simply suddenly appeared side-on to the body being flown towards him again, with zero sign that he had moved a muscle.

The wind around Hohra exploded when she crashed into the ground. Hohra took the most damage from it, and Alraius stood mostly unfazed by the explosion of sharp wind that happened right besides him.

[Haha, he is tough, alright.] (Syrus)

[I’m sure we can figure out some way to counter his abilities.] (Luna)

[We need to beat him…] (Eva)

All the exhaustion was shared between them, all the struggles had been known and accepted, and their emotions were burning bright.

It might be a tough fight, but they still wanted to win. Eva's desire was burning bright with each passing moment. Syrus was already excited, and Luna, who had been mostly disinterested, had gotten into the mood of it, having fun with her sisters, trying their best to win; it did bring joy to her as well.

The storm around them faded as Hohra's consciousness faded.

“Perhaps using Hohra as a bomb wasn’t the smartest move; you’ve lost the cover the storm provided and an ally who could’ve helped you fight me.”

The fire had completely faded from the sword.

“M-a-ybe.” Anlesa's voice shook, and her eyes were filled with determination.

[Let’s!]

Despite there being no cost to losing, there was still the drive–

Anlesa pounced towards Alraius, and with a wave of her hand, fire shot up from across the ground, starting from her hand. The fire spread across the ground in a wave over the whole area where Alraius was standing. Swimming through the fire, Syrus’s sword went down towards Alraius' chest.

In a quick moment, the fire beneath his feet vanished, and he was in a blocking position, his arm holding back the blade.

[Win!] (Luna, Eva, Syrus)

Cracks emerged on their sword, but before it broke, Alraius pushed harder, and Anlesa was sent flying back.

They scraped across the ground, but they rolled and realigned themselves, standing up again.

For a moment, it felt as if the light from the centre crystal faded for a moment.

“Hmm?” Alraius was concerned but excited. Something felt different.

The human didn’t respond immediately, but then he felt a change in the crystal.

He looked up and saw the central crystal glow for a moment before returning to normal and staying that way, but what happened next shocked him.

The crystals that were sticking out of the mountain began to pulse, and their glow began to brighten.

“Cough.” Anlesa coughed up a chunk of blood, and more continued to drip from her mouth.

Alraius asked, “Are you alright?”

Woosh!

Anlesa’s fist slammed into his body. She had closed the distance, but he still reacted in time. However, the force of the punch was much stronger than her earlier physical attacks.

“Never better.” She stared up at Alraius, her eyes pulsing a deep bloody red.

“I apologise; I’ve misjudged you. You aren’t a cocky newcomer; you are a monster that has come to party.” His smile only widened with each word he said. With a spin, they separated and were a few metres apart again.

His words attracted the attention of the nearby demons and some of the audience who couldn’t hear but could see his changing reaction.

Blood leaked out of the fist that Anlesa punched with, Alraius’ skin once again causing damage, but instead of falling onto the ground, the blood flowed up and around her arm.

Eva’s metal wires unclicked from the bracelet again, and they stretched out as blood began flowing down them. It stretched out, and at the end, two large sickles had formed.

Before the blood had even finished its job, she charged in again.

Alraius vanished as the blood sickle went by him, and his position shifted to immediately counter Anlesa's strike with the blade. His arm glowed bright and shattered the old mental blade, and Anlesa simply dropped it and continued to attack.

“I see… what’s happening… You are absorbing the energy from our redux crystals, and it mixes in perfectly with your abilities.” Alraius figured out what was happening. “The fact you are even able to do such a thing is delightfully insane, but you aren’t able to forcibly extract from the centrepiece, which is understandable.”

Their bodies clashed in violent glory. Blood formed and shattered around Anlesa’s body like armour as it blocked Alraius's attacks and then was used to smash into him right back.

“I’ve always prided myself on being the best when it came to having an advantage when it came to fighting in our arena, but I have now found you, who might as well claim that title from me!”

“Let’s see if I can!”