Chapter 315. QWER
The atmosphere atop the jagged cliffs crackled with static, the very air screaming as Ikaris surged forward. Utilizing his god-like velocity, he moved with a grace that transcended mere flight; to the naked eye, it was nothing short of teleportation. In a heartbeat, he had flickered into existence at Noah's flank, his eyes glowing with a terrifying brilliance before unleashing a searing beam of pure cosmic energy.
Yet, this sudden, blinding assault failed to find its mark. At the precise microsecond the gold-hued ray threatened to singe his back, Noah pivoted with the effortless fluidness of a master dancer. He raised a single hand, his palm catching the concentrated celestial fire as if it were nothing more than a stray breeze. The impact rippled through the air, but Noah remained unmoved, his expression one of bored detachment.
Ikaris, however, was not so easily deterred. His jaw tightened, the golden glow in his eyes intensifying as he doubled down on his assault. He became a blur of shimmering light, circling Noah in the high-altitude arena like a predatory hawk. He appeared and vanished in the span of a breath, his movements punctuated by the thunderous, whip-like cracks of continuous sonic booms. He was a phantom in the sky, constantly shifting his elevation and angle, desperately probing for a single lapse in Noah's iron-clad defense. Golden lances of cosmic power wove a shimmering, deadly web around his opponent, seeking to entomb him in light.
But to Ikaris's growing frustration, no matter how much he pushed the limits of his divine speed, Noah was always a step ahead. It was as if he were merely humoring the Eternal, lazily swatting away attacks with a casual hand. Even when Ikaris managed to strike from a supposed blind spot, a shimmering barrier of magical force would materialize out of thin air, absorbing the cosmic beam with a dull hum.
"Buzzing about the sky like a common fly," Noah remarked, his voice carrying clearly through the gale. He flicked a wrist, a translucent shield snapping into place to deflect a volley of rays.
Ikaris remained silent, though his frustration was palpable. His maneuvers grew more jagged, more desperate, and the beams of cosmic energy erupting from his eyes thickened until they were as wide as pillars, scorching the very clouds.
Seeing that Ikaris was beginning to fray at the edges, Noah allowed himself a languid yawn. He raised his hand with practiced ease, and from the tips of his fingers, a bolt of sapphire-blue magical energy erupted, lancing toward the empty sky.
To an observer, it looked as though Noah had struck at nothingness. Had the Great Sorcerer finally miscalculated?
The answer came with a sickening thud. As if drawn by a magnet, Ikaris's blurred form intersected the path of the blue bolt. He didn't just get hit; it looked as though he had lunged headfirst into the strike.
Ikaris was no paid actor, and Noah was no lucky guesser. Through the cold, calculating foresight inherited from Malzahar, Noah had perceived the flow of time. He used this precognition like a honed Observation Haki, seeing the 'ghost' of Ikaris's next position before the Eternal even reached it. The previous defensive display had been nothing more than a calibration—a test of his own predictive limits.
The test was over. Noah had no intention of letting the fly buzz any longer.
Ikaris recoiled, his flight path jerking to a halt as he clutched his midsection. The agony was visceral, a searing heat that felt as though a star had been birthed in his gut. When he looked down, his breath hitched. The magical bolt hadn't pierced him through, but it had left a jagged, blackened brand upon his skin. From the cracks in the charred flesh, liquid gold—the blood of the Eternals—began to weep.
Gritting his teeth against the white-hot pain, Ikaris forced his body to obey, gathering his cosmic essence for a desperate counter-strike. But as he looked up, his blood turned cold. Noah wasn't waiting on the ground; he was rising, ascending through the air with terrifying speed, flying directly toward him.
The shock paralyzed Ikaris for a fraction of a second. He had never imagined a mere human could conquer the skies without the crutch of technology, relying solely on the raw potency of his own physical form. Shaking off the stupor, he unleashed another desperate cosmic beam.
Noah moved with the agility of a swallow, twisting and rolling through the air to evade the golden fire with contemptuous ease. Ikaris whipped his head back and forth, trying to sweep the beams across his target, but the golden rays only succeeded in carving deep, blackened furrows into the snowy mountain slopes far below.
Before Ikaris could recalibrate, the distance between them vanished.
"Is that the extent of it? Tell me, how exactly do I lose to this?" The mockery reached Ikaris's ears just as a heavy fist buried itself in his stomach. The air left his lungs in a sharp gasp, and he was sent hurtling upward like a kite whose string had been snapped by a hurricane.
Noah didn't wait for gravity or inertia to take hold. He ignited his magic, chasing the ascending Eternal.
"Left Hook! [Q]"
The blow landed with the weight of a falling mountain. Noah's fist collided with Ikaris's right cheek, the sheer force of the impact actually accelerating the Eternal's forced ascent. Noah's silhouette shimmered as he unleashed a burst of mana to close the gap again, his right fist already cocked back.
"Right Hook! [Q]"
He overtook the spinning Ikaris, delivering a follow-up strike that sent a spray of golden blood into the frigid air. Ikaris was powerless; he could only endure the rhythmic brutality, his body bouncing through the sky like a plaything.
No... this cannot continue... Ikaris's vision began to grey at the edges, the world spinning in a chaotic blur of blue and white. With a final, agonizing effort, he tried to use the momentum of the last hit to bank into a dive, attempting to escape into the stratosphere.
But Noah was a relentless shadow. As Ikaris gathered his strength for a burst of speed, Noah unleashed a tidal wave of magic behind him, propelling himself forward with a series of thunderous cracks.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A sequence of deafening sonic shocks rippled through the atmosphere. Far below, Ajak watched with a pained wince, the sheer volume of the aerial combat echoing through the valleys.
In a flash of blue light, Noah bypassed Ikaris, stopping dead in his tracks directly in the Eternal's path. He extended a single hand. Such a violent transition from supersonic flight to a dead halt would have torn a fighter jet into scrap metal, but Noah's body remained a temple of absolute stillness. Only the massive cone of displaced air behind him told the story, creating a localized hurricane that tore the surrounding clouds into wisps.
Ikaris, unable to compensate for his own speed, slammed face-first into Noah's open palm.
"Facebreaker! [E]"
Gripping the strongest warrior of the Eternals by the face, Noah clenched his other hand. Though it held no weapon, his raw power created a vacuum, pulling the very air into his fist. He slammed his palms together over Ikaris's head, and a concussive shockwave rattled the Eternal's very soul.
Consciousness flickered. The pain was no longer a sensation; it was an environment, drowning out all thought.
"Time for the grand finale!" Noah released his grip. Ikaris, having lost his grip on the cosmic energies that granted him flight, began to tumble toward the earth. But before he could fall far, Noah's hand shot out, seizing him firmly by the collar.
With the Eternal in tow, Noah dived. The combined pull of Earth's gravity and the terrifying thrust of Noah's magic turned them into a living meteor. As they neared the ground, Noah spun, utilizing every ounce of centripetal force to swing Ikaris downward with apocalyptic strength.
"The Show Stopper!! [R]"
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