"What kind of freak is he? Even against Big Sister's Holy Maiden Spear Art, he isn't at a disadvantage," Galen muttered to himself in surprise as he watched the battle.
The young woman in black armor, who had been throwing blades of dark energy at Draven, paused for a moment. "I am more annoyed with that lion-like thing behind him. It has been protecting him from every spell I cast. It is as though that thing has a life of its own."
Bang! Bang!
Draven continuously retreated under the fierce onslaught of Aira's spear, which gave him no time to think. Just to block each strike, Draven had to use all the strength in his body, and even then, he felt a soreness in his muscles from the overexertion.
To make it worse, his seventh sense throbbed with constant warnings as spells the True Mountain King had failed to block came crashing towards him. This forced him to jump here and there to dodge.
Even though spells cast by others who were in the 6th stage of the Sentient Realm were mostly neutralized by the chaos lightning around him, the spells from Kane still managed to hit him a few times, turning his new white hoodie into rags.
"Take this!" Just as Draven was being pushed back into a corner, Galen appeared at his side out of nowhere, closing in with his short daggers flashing like dark butterflies.
Draven was truly pissed at this annoying brat who kept using defensive formation plates like they were tissue paper. No matter how many times he was hit, this guy would stand up and mock him as if being wealthy was his inherent skill.
Just as Aira retracted her spear after a stab, Draven suddenly threw his own spear toward Kane, who was still tossing fireballs at him.
The throw forced Kane to once again abandon his spell and cast an ice wall to block the attack.
Aira did not waste this chance either, as she stabbed her spear at Draven like a golden flash. But this time, Draven caught the spear with his left hand, momentarily making Aira lose her balance. The next second, a huge war hammer made of asura hammer intent appeared in his right hand, which he swung at Aira, forcing her to let go of her spear in a panic and jump backward.
Seeing his target miss, Draven did not show much change in his expression, as he had expected this outcome due to his seventh sense. Seamlessly, he changed the trajectory of the hammer and struck it toward Galen's head.
But once again, a thin barrier made of dark element appeared around Galen's body, negating the attack even though he was sent flying backward.
Without pausing, Draven threw his hammer toward the red-armored young man who was running toward him. This was not the one whose jaw Draven had dislocated, but the one he had kicked away at the start.
As for the one with the dislocated jaw, he was lying weakly on the floor in a sorry state and was in no condition to fight.
The young man's face changed when he saw the hammer coming toward him like a meteor. He hurriedly crossed his arms before his chest and activated a chaos defense spell. A barrier made of red lightning appeared before him and barely managed to slow the momentum of the hammer, giving him just enough time to jump to the side and dodge it.
Draven did not stop even after seeing this. He spun Aira's spear in his hand in a beautiful arc and sent it flying toward Kane once more, making sure he had no time to cast another fireball. Then he ran toward Galen at a speed even greater than Aira, who was at the 9th stage of the Ascendant Realm.
Galen, who had just stood up from the ground with a spinning head after receiving a hammer blow, was stunned when he saw Draven appear in front of him.
He hurriedly used an escape spell, his body dissolving into black smoke as he vanished from Draven's sight. But Draven had already used the special eye technique of his Paper Man Puppetry skill to observe the unique structure of Galen's soul.
Immediately after, he waved his hand, and a paper man in the shape of a human appeared in his palm. Just as Galen reappeared before him with his daggers ready to attack again, Draven swiftly grabbed his hand, twisted it, and gave him a few sharp slaps across the face.
Of course, none of the strikes actually hit him, as defense formation plates kept activating with each slap, making Draven feel like he was hitting a metal dummy. But Draven was not concerned about that. The reason he kept slapping him was that he had stuck the paper man on his cheek, and it needed time to breach the vital chi barrier surrounding Galen's body and enter inside him.
Although slapping him continuously was a somewhat brutal technique to make the paper man enter, Draven did not care as long as it worked.
After the paper man fully entered Galen's body, Draven released him and said, "I'll leave the girl in the black armor to you. Make sure she doesn't interfere with me again with her annoying spells."
Galen scoffed. Just as he was about to mock Draven, surprisingly, his body moved against his will and ran toward the young woman in black armor with his daggers ready to attack.
Everyone, including Kane and Aira, was stunned by this sudden shift in Galen's behavior.
"Idiot! Why are you following his words?" Aira shouted in anger, but Galen ignored her and charged toward the young woman in black armor without even a glance at anyone else.
The young woman was also momentarily stunned. She hurriedly pulled out a spear from her storage ring, and the two of them engaged in a deadlock battle, with neither gaining an upper hand, as both used spells of a similar level and were familiar with each other's battle style.
With the attacks on him reduced, Draven got a moment to breathe. He activated the asura battle body forging art and his vital chi surged, flowing out of his body and transforming into six Asura Avatars in front of him.
Four of them, holding long spears, ran toward Aira. The remaining two, armed with swords, charged at the young man in red armor. They engaged their targets in a well-coordinated attack sequence that gave them no moment to rest.
Aira still managed to hold her ground against the four Asura Avatars, but the red-armored young man could only endure as he was no match for the attack from the two sword wielding avatars. His defensive formation plates flashed again and again, barely holding against the two avatars' relentless assault.
"Now that everyone else is settled, it's between us," Draven stared at Kane as he said this in a chilling tone.
Although his body was riddled with burn marks and wounds that still bled nonstop, Draven did not show any sign of pain in his eyes as he walked toward Kane step by step.
Kane did not use his fire spells this time. He also walked toward Draven with a light smile on his face. "I have heard many stories about you. I thought they were exaggerating a bit too much, but now that I have met you in person, I think they still underestimated you."
"Let Jessy go. I will give you whatever you want. Otherwise, even if I fail to take you down today, I will at least make your companions die here with me," Draven said as he stood one meter away from Kane.
Kane smiled. "All of them are primarily spell cultivators; body refining is only secondary to them. But I am different. For me, spell cultivation is secondary and body cultivation comes first. Your Asura Avatars and the little trick you used on Galen are both linked to your vital chi, right? So if I take you down fast enough, both will disappear as well, correct?"
Draven's expression changed as he suddenly retreated. The next second, Kane's body moved with terrifying speed. Punch after punch came at Draven with a speed far above his reaction time. Even though he saw the trajectory of the attacks, he was either too slow to react or, even when he tried to block or deflect them, he was unsuccessful as his body was sent flying backward.
Kane followed him like a shadow, continuously attacking with his fists and kicks. The two of them exchanged blows continuously, with Draven taking most of the attacks directly on his body, while only one or two of his own blows barely managed to land on Kane.
In no time, Draven fell to the ground with blood flowing from his mouth. A few of his ribs were broken, making it difficult for him even to breathe.
Kane placed his foot on Draven's chest and said calmly, "Give up. Although you are talented, it is not enough to bridge the gap between a 10th-stage Mortal Realm cultivator and a 10th-stage Ascendant Realm cultivator."
Draven tried to move his hands, but he could not even move a muscle due to the numbing pain all over his body.
Gritting his teeth, he closed his eyes and entered the Dream God Ring. "Push Astral Nexus Bloodline and Shadow World Behemoth Bloodline to perfection."
The next second, Draven's heartbeat accelerated tenfold, and veins bulged all over his body, threatening to burst open at any moment. A terrifying pain assaulted his nerves, far worse than the time he had pushed the Chaos Divine Ape bloodline to perfection.
Kane's expression changed, and he somersaulted backward, moving away from Draven.
The surrounding space and dark elemental chi suddenly vibrated as Draven's aura climbed to a new height, reaching a level comparable to an 8th stage Ascendant Realm cultivator.
With shaky hands, Draven finally managed to somehow stand up from the ground as he felt strength reappear in his body once more.
There were also some minor changes to Draven's body. His hair and brows had turned a whitish silver color. But the most noticeable change was his shadow. It was no longer a faint copy on the ground; somehow it felt darker than any usual shadow, though this change was not easily noticed.