Parallel Vol. 5

Chapter 17: The Garden

[9:20] First Plane, Heaven Floor.

"Ugh! This bastard!" GrizzlyDiamond roared in rage as he charged at the cold-eyed vampire, Syèl. The warrior cut a particularly sorry figure. His armor was cracked in several places, and half his face sizzled, badly burned from scorching flames. On the contrary, Syèl's appearance was impeccable, without a trace of dust.

Syèl snorted as he looked at the charging warrior. "Stupid tricks." Shockingly, he ignored GrizzlyDiamond and flicked his finger to his right. A five meter stone snake burst out of the ground and shot into the sky.

At first, it appeared Syèl had gone crazy, but then, the charging 'GrizzlyDiamond' suddenly faded to mist as a loud, pained groan erupted to Syèl's right. The vampire calmly gazed at the warrior trapped in the stone snake's mouth, and then turned to his left. "Don't bother. Cheap illusions won't work on me."

"Tch." RustyReaper gritted her teeth as she 'shimmered' into existence. She was not as good at illusion magic as Honne Onna, but she did not think Syèl would make her look so useless effortlessly.

Syèl smirked when he saw her frustration. The duo's pain had significantly improved his mood. "What? Is that it? Why don't you try some more magic?"

"Fucker! Don't you ignore me!" GrizzlyDiamond angrily smashed the stone snake. The snake exploded to dust, freeing GrizzlyDiamond. "Terror Slash!" The warrior swung his sword, unleashing violent red ki-blade at Syèl.

Syèl smirked at the incoming ki-blast. GrizzlyDiamond already used his ki to 'lock' Syèl in place, preventing him from dodging this move.

'Locking' targets was a common passive skill given to masters in any combat class. Locking involved temporarily pressuring a foe with overwhelming mana or ki, preventing them from moving for a few seconds. This allowed one to prevent a situation where the enemy easily sidestepped their finisher.

This move was not infallible though. First, enemies with similar ki levels could only be locked for about a second before they broke out with their ki. It was even more difficult to lock down enemies with vastly superior ki. Also, locking was far more successful if the target was distracted, weak, or tired. That was why warriors commonly traded blows for a long time before unleashing a finisher at the end.

Syèl shockingly did not attempt to dodge, or break out of GrizzlyDiamond's attack. Instead, he asked with a sinister smile "Do you want to die so badly?" Syèl waved his finger, and a three-meters mandala appeared in front of him. A heavy stream of water poured out, and crashed into the ki blast, causing an explosion that sent droplets flying everywhere.

"Holy Yggdrasil, Bless these children that they may grow, [Full Bloom]!"

Syèl's brows rose as thousands of flowers suddenly bloomed from the ground. He turned to RustyReaper, who had a vicious expression as she crossed her arms.

RustyReaper's eyes glowed green as she rapidly chanted her spell. "Flowers, heed my call and rip apart my enemies! [Flower Storm!]" Following her chant, leaves from the newly grown plants split off and formed a sharp storm and surrounded the vampire.

Each leaf had been strengthened by mana to the point they were sharp enough to pierce steel. RustyReaper was certain that this much would rip Syèl to pieces. She clenched her fist, causing every leaf to shoot down at the trapped vampire.

"Heh. Nice try." Syèl chuckled just before the leaves engulfed him. Boom!

"No. Impossible!" RustyReaper stumbled back in shock as a small explosion burned her leaves to ash. "How!?" The flower mage groaned in disbelief as she stared at the vampire shrouded within an infernal tornado. "You didn't even chant!"