Fuck! He's strong!
Lilith was taken aback by the punch that Valeric had thrown at her.
Her arms were shaking, and her bones were sending jolts of pain through her core. A small burning mark was on her forearms, emitting smoke.
She got a bit full of herself after becoming a Calamity, but that punch had knocked some of her arrogance out of her.
True, she felt incredibly powerful, and she hadn't found out what new things she could do as a Calamity yet.
She was even more powerful than her earlier peak, when she was a Late Stage Rank 1 Heavenly Ascender.
But there was a slight problem now...
She looked at Valeric, her vision not obstructed at all by the lack of light or the snowy wind.
He approached her with steady steps, his face now emotionless and cold.
"You're merely a newborn Calamity, what spells do you have? Exactly, none."
His fists were now engulfed in the same crimson flames, his golden eyes reflecting their ferocity.
"You're probably just a Category 1 Calamity. And without spells, you're comparable to an extremely powerful Rank 1..."
Lilith's smirk faded, and a serious expression fell on her. She readied herself more, one fist aiming at him and the other one close to her chin. She parted her legs and put her weight on one of them. Her eyes narrowed.
"But you're dreaming if you think that's enough!"
He charged at her once more, his fist aiming for her head. He was much faster than she.
She reacted quickly, tilting her head just enough to feel the burning heat and to deflect the flaming fist to the other side gently. Throwing his momentum off and gaining precious moments to retaliate.
She felt the fire burn her skin, but she ignored the pain and stabbed at his ribs with her sharp nails. They didn't have the layer of ice that always accompanied them, instead, they radiated an ominous navy blue aura.
Valeric simply stepped back elegantly, his minimal movement threw off her attack and left her open.
A small explosion of fire came from under his heel, and he suddenly kicked at her chest.
As if expecting his attack, Lilith had already begun crouching down to dodge, making his leg miss her just by a hair's breadth.
She retreated, assuming a defensive stance.
Boom!
Valeric didn't let her get any moment of rest, he began making small explosions under his feet, accelerating his agility.
He threw a series of punches and kicks at her, each one faster than the last.
She dodged left and right, twisting her body just enough to make his attacks miss. What she couldn't dodge, she deflected masterfully while sustaining burns to her skin.
She used the terrain to her advantage, weaving her way through the forest and blocking his advances with the trees and rocks here and there. But he was barely obstructed as he simply blasted them easily.
Any other person would've already been overwhelmed by his sheer power, but despite being slower than him, Lilith was still able to react to his attacks.
And why was that?
She was a Nightmare Elf, and Lilith had an uncanny insight into the next actions of her enemies.
It wasn't because she could see the future, but the reason was that she was extremely sensitive to the movement of the heavenly essence nearby.
And after becoming a Calamity, that sense was even more strengthened. She could predict the general flow of his attacks based on the trajectory of the heavenly essence.
But even then, Lilith was still feeling frustrated...
Valeric had blown away another tree, and he relentlessly chased after her.
She couldn't help but cuss. This fucker... He's not using any spells, is he making fun of me?
Valeric was simply channelling his heavenly essence without using his mastery over his Pathway.
He only used his body and the natural power that came from being a pureblood dragon-kin. Depriving himself of his actual abilities as a Rank 2.
It was almost as if he wanted to prove that he could win without being above her in terms of state of existence...
Which is something that Lilith was going to prove him wrong.
Instead of retreating further, she closed in on him this time.
Although somewhat not expecting her approach, he reacted accordingly and punched her in the gut.
Bam!
What he didn't expect, however, was that Lilith simply took the punch.
She groaned, and her entire being hurt. It felt like she was hit by a mountain. The fire burned a part of her tunic and devoured her skin.
But even then, a small grin tugged at her lips as she doubled down and gripped his fist with one hand, sustaining more burns in exchange for keeping him in place.
Her other hand, however, reached his face.
Valeric felt his entire existence scream at him as he felt a sense of impending doom when her palm almost touched him.
Voom!
Decisively, his figure exploded into a ball of flames as Lilith's hand simply passed through it, grasping at the crimson wisps that had marked his departure.
He had finally used a spell.
Shit! I missed...
Valeric appeared hundreds of steps away, a serious expression on his face.
If he didn't, she would've touched his soul directly, thanks to her unique constitution.
Lilith scoffed at him.
"What's the matter, my lord? I thought that we weren't going to use spells."
He remained silent for a few moments, then sighed and shook his head.
"I apologize, Lady Etherea. I've been too cocky..."
She frowned, why is the bastard apologizing to her?
His golden pupils pierced her.
"I won't hold back anymore, and that would be your end."
Boom!
A pillar of crimson fire exploded from him, rising just as high as the tall trees. The snow melted, and then it evaporated almost instantly. The darkness was chased away by a blinding light.
An area of several dozen steps around him was cleared, and the earth beneath was revealed.
The heat it radiated from a distance made Lilith draw a cold breath, and her chest tightened.
The pillar retracted to his figure, engulfing him like a shroud of destruction. Instead of appearing less dangerous, it was instead much more condensed and powerful.
He lifted his hand, and a torrent of red sparks exploded from it.
The sparks soon took form and materialized a rapier, its blade white as snow and its hilt black as obsidian.
"[Javelins of Destruction!]"
Valeric evoked a spell, and a dozen or so javelins made out of fire materialized around him in the air and pointed their sharp tips at her.
He also pointed his rapier at her. His golden hair was flowing widely from the dancing fire.
"I shall cleanse the world from the abomination that you are, Lady Etherea."
With his charming looks, noble demeanor, and luxurious clothes, as well as the crimson light that surrounded him, he appeared like a hero on a quest to vanquish evil.
Like the type that would make women smitten and drawn to him, and would make men respect him and admire him.
And Lilith?
She was on the other dark side, only visible by the light that he emitted.
What was revealed of her figure was a terrifying demoness.
She wore a tattered tunic with several holes in it. It was drenched in blood, her own and that of others.
Her lips tasted the flesh of multiple people, their fresh blood still dripping to this moment.
Her hands were burned, and her sharp long nails didn't help make them less intimidating.
And her face, instead of tantalizing others with its charm, would make them tremble in fear thanks to her emotionless expression and unnerving eyes that held only malice.
... But only the winer would decide who was the hero and the villain.
Lilith narrowed her eyes, unease creeping into her. If only I had more spells...
She was aware of her weakness, and Valeric exposed it even further.
Although Rank 2 has superior souls both in quantity and quality than Rank 1, it wasn't their true advantage.
What really set them apart was that Rank 2 can control heavenly essence outside of their bodies while Rank 1 can't.
Sure, Rank 1 could use their heavenly essence to technically use a spell outside of their being, but it would be extremely limited and lacking mastery.
They would have to create the spell inside then eject it outside.
The glaring flaw in it was that they obviously couldn't control it after creating it, and that the spell would lack complexity.
While Rank 2? They don't have that problem.
It would be like someone throwing a bucket of water on another, while they can simply control water freely without any need for physical contact.
And Lilith, not only is she not able to control heavenly essence outside of her, but she doesn't even have created or learned spells fitting of a Calamity to begin with.
Nevertheless, she still had her hidden cards...
She looked at Valeric and his intimidating weapons, but she didn't back down and instead grinned coldly, revealing her bloody fangs.
"Is that so, you fucker? I'd like to see you try you piece of shi–"
Shew! Shew! Shew!
She regretted her words instantly.
Multiple javelins shot at her with startling speed.
Shit! Fuck it, [Output Overload]!