"WHAT? HOW IS HE THIS STRONG?" Althirion exclaimed as he watched the fight unfold. They had all taken a position on the skyship closest to the battle, standing roughly eighty meters behind and fifty meters above the ground. They had just witnessed Thalion's opening exchange: a massive shockwave followed by a torrent of fire. Althirion wasn't the only one shocked by the sheer power of those abilities.

"Has he gotten stronger again?" Kaldrek muttered after seeing the display. Unlike Althirion, he had a rough idea of Thalion's capabilities, but what he was seeing far exceeded his expectations.

"But he'll need a lot more than just powerful skills to defeat Elaria," Althirion commented after watching her perfectly evade both attacks. It almost looked effortless how her body bent around the blasts or carved through the shockwave.

"Thalion hasn't even used any blood yet, which is normally how he fights in his human form," Maike observed, fully focused on what was happening.

"Yes, I know about his blood abilities," Althirion replied. "He somehow got his hands on one of those cursed parasitic blood plants. But I don't think simple blood magic can win against Elaria. She's an expert at both close and ranged combat, and dodging incoming attacks is noth..." He cut himself short as he watched a crimson jungle begin to grow around Thalion.

Thalion surfed along bloody rivers arcing through the air, hurling blood spears at Elaria, who was suddenly facing real trouble. Massive blood thorns tore through the elves behind her, killing them without effort. Those still alive quickly decided it was unwise to remain so close to the fight and retreated.

The female elf, however, wasn't finished. She unleashed more and more of her power, wind gathering around her. Massive wind blades cleaved through the jungle, felling colossal trees, but the crimson domain seemed to have endless resources, it regenerated almost instantly.

Now they all understood what Althirion had meant when he said Elaria excelled at ranged combat. Against Thalion, though, she looked like a child who hadn't even learned to walk. The vines lashed out at her, blood thorns were unleashed whenever her focus shifted, and Thalion himself moved like a phantom, riding bloody rivers with mind-boggling speed. Around him, blood spears formed in clusters, brimming with power, and fired the moment an opening appeared.

From the jungle floor, flowers exhaled a bloody mist that crept outward, though Elaria swept it away with gusts of wind.

"Okay, now he's just showing off," Maike muttered, watching the terrifying display. Thalion had become a phantom within the mist. Only his crimson eyes glowed in the haze, or the sudden flash of blood spears streaking toward Elaria.

"Do you think this is the limit of his power?" Lee asked from the side, her gaze fixed on the battlefield. It wasn't often one had the chance to watch the strongest fight without restraint. Normally, they held back in hunts to keep their true strength hidden.

"No, I think he is just warming up. I mean, this is just his human form, without his armor," Kaldrek answered with confidence.

The elves on the opposing side were far less composed. Healers rushed among them, trying to save those pierced by the blood thorns, but the thorns resisted all healing, burrowing deeper and growing faster inside the victims' bodies. Their only option was to cut the thorns out, which led to screams as the twisted spikes fought to remain lodged within the flesh.

Then, the battlefield shifted. Elaria released even more of her power. Suddenly, a storm erupted, expanding outward with every second. The winds were so violent they tore the crimson jungle to shreds. The storm surged like an explosion, destroying everything it touched before settling into a violent breeze.

When it cleared, Thalion was still standing, broken shards of his mana shield falling to the ground before him. His entire domain had been annihilated with a single ability.

"I would have never guessed she was holding back that much power," Althirion admitted in shock. Then he added, "We need to get him out of there, or this will be over fast."

"Let's wait," Kaldrek replied, eyes locked on the fight. "He doesn't seem too bothered by the attack."

After the attack, the battle came to a brief standstill, with only the auras of the two combatants radiating like beacons. Thalion's crimson domain was no longer reforming; instead, it retracted, the broken vines turning to blood and flowing back to him. He absorbed it all effortlessly.

Then, in the blink of an eye, he attacked. Thalion crossed the fifty meters separating him from the female elf in mere moments. Blood armor formed around him, and a long thorn appeared in his hand. He wielded it like a spear, stabbing at Elaria. She was quick, as always, spinning out of the way without surprise and countering with a kick to his knee.

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Vines erupted from Thalion's free hand, shooting toward Elaria and forcing her to abandon the kick, rolling to the side to avoid death. The vines buried deep into the soil where she had just been. Thalion didn't seem deterred; he simply punched the ground. At first, it looked strange and ineffective, but then the earth began to rumble and split over forty meters. Elaria was completely caught off guard and fell hard.

"Ha, haven't seen that one before," Kaldrek commented in disbelief.

Thalion didn't give Elaria a moment to recover. A manablade appeared in his right hand, burning with energy. Its tip was twisted unnaturally, unlike other fighters he had seen wielding the same skill. Elaria dissolved into a burst of wind, reappearing forty meters away with her blade drawn. Thalion's manaslash cleaved through the ground where she had just been.

Elaria showed no fear and counterattacked with a rolling wave of wind, curved blades spiraling like a jetstream. Thalion transformed into red mist, shooting sixty meters into the air, where he formed a massive fireball in his hand. He hurled it at Elaria, who seemed momentarily confused by the relatively slow attack. She dove aside, dismissing her rapier, and summoned a bow and arrow made purely of wind.

The first arrow hissed close to Thalion's face. He didn't counter with another attack aimed at her. Instead, he fired a relatively tiny thorn into the massive fireball. Though Elaria was twenty meters away, the fiery detonation, amplified by the thorn, struck her fully despite her wind defenses. She was thrown more than five meters, barely managing to roll and stand. Her hair smoldered at the tips, and with a wave of her hand, she summoned wind to extinguish the flames.

Thalion didn't give her a moment to breathe. Thorns rained from the sky as he stood on his familiar mana barrier, now far stronger than anything they had seen before.

"Is he not running low on mana?" Althirion asked, still skeptical about Thalion's chances. Thalion was clearly expending far more resources than Elaria, who, besides the storm and a few attacks, had barely used any mana. Weapon-enhancing skills typically consumed less energy than other abilities.

"Knowing the man, it's never been a concern," Kaldrek waved off the question. Then, more seriously, he added, "I'm more worried about what skill his opponent is still hiding. That storm explosion was incredibly powerful."

"She hasn't used her wind-movement skill that propels her through the air, but that's the only other ability I know she hasn't shown yet. I don't think it will make a difference in this fight," Althirion explained.

"Yes, I agree, but she's far stronger than we initially thought. And what's with that wind constantly around her? It's almost like a living entity protecting her. Every time Thalion seems about to land a hit, the wind pushes her to safety," Kaldrek muttered, leaning on the railing.

"Right, I wondered about that too. She didn't have that skill before. I'm sure of it. She got a massive power upgrade after that system shop. I really want to know what she bought," Althirion murmured, sounding almost grumpy.

Kaldrek was about to respond when he saw the elf power up again. After cutting through vines, she managed to stab her rapier into Thalion's stomach. He countered by releasing one of his massive mana waves. Elaria jumped onto the shockwave, letting it carry her back. Kaldrek couldn't tell if Thalion was injured. He didn't act as though he had been stabbed. No sound of pain escaped him. His posture remained steady, his aura as powerful as ever.

"You're getting tired, human. But don't worry, I'll cut you down piece by piece," Elaria sneered.

"She's right. We need to interfere. She definitely has a poison on her blade, it's probably numbing Thalion's pain, and soon it will start eating him from the inside," Althirion urged Kaldrek and Maike. But before they could react, Thalion answered.

"Good. Good. Keep trying. You can win this," Thalion said. After the second word, he transformed into a figure of darkness. His final words were deep and ominous, as if spoken by the void itself. The area around him began to change. Light dimmed within forty meters, shadows lengthened and grew darker. Where Thalion had stood, only shifting darkness remained, making his movements nearly impossible to track. By the way his aura had changed, everyone knew things were about to become truly dangerous.

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