Deliora slowly rose to its feet, muscles trembling like a mountain ready to collapse. It opened its jagged maw and unleashed a roar that shook the valley.
"ROOOAAAR!!!"
The deafening sound wave tore through the air, carrying a violent shockwave of wind. Dust and rock ripped free from the earth, but Noah's aura of golden magic surged outward like a shield, dispersing the roar as if it were nothing.
He smirked.
"I think you skipped brushing your teeth. Your breath stinks."
The demon's glowing eyes narrowed. Clearly, it understood his words. Its fury boiled over as it clenched its massive fists and charged.
Noah halted his steps, and with a sudden motion, cut off the golden torrent of magic that had been bursting from his body. The floating stones crashed back to the ground.
He raised his hands, thumbs and index fingers forming a circle, the rest of his fingers spread wide. A golden magic circle bloomed before each hand.
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
From the twin circles, countless radiant bullets of light erupted like a storm of arrows, tearing through the air in rapid succession. Each shot screamed as it split the atmosphere, bursting against Deliora's massive frame.
The demon roared as the light bullets hammered against its raised arm. Explosions rang out one after another, forcing the giant beast backward step by step. Every strike left burning marks across its skin, golden sparks embedding into its body.
Under the relentless assault, the glowing marks began to spread, merging together until most of Deliora's front was covered in shimmering seals of light.
Noah lowered his arms, golden eyes narrowing. With a flick of his hand, he raised his sword-finger.
"Mark Explosion!"
A tiny circle spun into existence at the tip of his finger at the same time, a massive golden sigil ignited in front of Deliora.
The glowing seals burned bright. Then
"BOOOOM!!!"
A chain of explosions tore through Deliora's flesh. The demon howled as its colossal body was blasted off the ground, flung through the valley before crashing down in a thunderous quake. The force of the detonation mushroomed into the sky, sending Noah skidding back several steps against the gale.
For a moment, smoke and dust drowned everything. Only Deliora's agonized roars echoed from within.
Noah didn't hesitate. He leveled his hand, thumb raised, index finger extended like the barrel of a gun. His fingertip gleamed with lethal light.
"Pierce."
Golden beams lanced through the smoke, detonating in rapid succession. Each impact boomed, scattering the choking haze and revealing Deliora sprawled across the ground, its body charred and torn, riddled with wounds.
But then Noah's expression hardened. Before his eyes, the demon's ruined flesh writhed. The bleeding slowed. The gashes began knitting together, steam rising as its body regenerated at terrifying speed.
"So that's why they call you the Undying Demon. No matter the wound… you just keep healing."
He clenched his fists. "Then let's see how you handle this up close."
Deliora, half-healed, heaved itself upright, snarling. But before it could fully rise, Noah flickered from sight.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared right in front of the demon's face.
"Speed is power. Tell me have you ever been kicked by the speed of light?"
His right leg glowed, wrapped in pure golden radiance. Magic erupted behind his heel like an engine, propelling the strike forward with blinding speed.
"Light Fang Kick!"
The blow landed square across Deliora's jaw. The impact was instant and brutal its head snapped back violently as its titanic body followed, launched across the battlefield.
CRASH! The demon smashed into the ground, carving a crater. It bounced, skidding, then slammed again, gouging another hole. Again and again, Noah's merciless kick sent it tumbling, carving destruction into the valley floor.
At last, the monster crashed hard and stayed down, sprawled across the shattered landscape.
Noah lowered his leg, golden aura blazing around him, eyes fixed on the writhing demon.
"This is just the beginning."
Noah, who had sent Deliora flying, landed steadily on the ground. The demon wailed, pressing its massive hands against the earth as it forced itself back up. Blood streamed across its face, but even that had already begun to clot.
With a furious roar, Deliora charged forward in long, thunderous strides. It raised its colossal right fist, swinging it down at Noah like a collapsing mountain.
Noah bent his knees, bracing himself. Golden magic flared around his clenched right hand as he drove it upward.
The two fists collided mid-air. The shock was like a thunderclap. Pressure exploded outward, compressing the air into a violent shockwave that ripped across the battlefield. The earth itself screamed, its surface scraped raw as if torn away by invisible blades.
Noah's body sank, his legs plunging deep into the fractured ground. The earth beneath him crumbled under the strain, forcing him to flood his feet with golden magic to reinforce it. The glow spread out in a web, stabilizing the ground, even as cracks continued to race outward like lightning.
For several seconds the two were locked in place, neither giving an inch. Then Deliora roared, retracting its right fist and twisting its enormous frame to unleash its left.
Noah mirrored it.
Their fists slammed together again. Another deafening roar split the air. Wind howled outward in waves, blasting dust and rubble into the sky.
Again they struck. Right fist. Left fist. Again and again. The rhythm grew relentless, the battlefield echoing with an unending chorus of collisions.
"Ora Ora Ora Ora!" Noah shouted, exhilarated.
His blood was boiling with excitement. Since the day he had taken up magic, since his body had been honed and reinforced beyond the limits of normal men, he had never experienced a battle like this raw, primal, fist to fist. For the first time, he felt the thrill of combat not as a mage, but as a warrior.
Shockwaves blasted outward with every impact, scattering stones like leaves in a storm. Despite Noah reinforcing the earth again and again, the relentless force tore away layers of the ground, leaving the battlefield gouged and shattered.
From their vantage point, Ulu and the others stood frozen, unable to look away.
The gales ripped Gray and Leo's hair back until it looked like slicked styles, but the two boys didn't even notice.
Urrutia clung tightly to her mother's waist, peeking past her with wide eyes. One hand clutched at her hair, but she could not stop staring at the terrifying clash in the distance.
Ulu herself held her hair down with one hand, her gaze fixed firmly on the duel.
From the storm of light bullets earlier, to the colossal explosions of the mark blasts, to the way Noah had casually kicked Deliora and now, this brutal exchange of fists every moment of Noah's battle had left them shaken.
Gray opened his mouth, only to choke as dust rushed into his throat. He doubled over, coughing violently.
Ulu quickly raised her hands and shaped an ice wall in front of them. It wasn't high, but it blocked most of the violent wind while leaving a gap for them to watch through.
Gray coughed a few more times before managing to speak. His voice trembled as he admitted:
"Deliora is terrifying… but Noah feels even scarier.
He's about my age, right? How can someone be this strong?"
When Deliora had first appeared, Gray's blood had boiled with hatred. He'd wanted to charge forward, to face the demon that had taken everything from him. But Ulu had held him back.
Now, watching Noah clash against Deliora in a battle that shook the world itself, Gray's anger had been replaced with awe and fear. He realized how powerless he truly was in comparison.
Beside him, Leo's wide eyes reflected the explosions in the distance. Each thunderous blast seemed to strike his heart, leaving him speechless.
...
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