Rivers of the Night - Chapter 352

Chapter 352: Monster
Chi.

Theron felt his waist almost cut in two, but one wouldn’t have guessed this by the gaze in his eyes. He cast [Shedding Water Skin] for the first time since the battle started.

He hadn’t bothered to waste his Mana on it before, feeling that it would have been a useless endeavor. Elder Black was too powerful. No defenses he could put up could ever stop her.

But the moment he suffered a terrible wound, he didn’t hesitate. As for why, it was for no other reason than to stem his bleeding.

His Water Mana and his blood seemed to mix into one, his [Shedding Water Skin] Mana protective layer coloring violet as it circulated, funneling Water Mana back into his body. From an outsider’s perspective, it was as though there was little difference to Theron between his blood and Water itself.

And that was because there might as well not have been.

His hair danced in the air, and instead of taking a step back and away from Elder Black’s sudden attack, he actually stepped forward.

[Pressure Burst].

His clone shattered to pieces behind Elder Black, sending her propelling forward toward Theron, even though her body tanked the blow quite easily.

Unfortunately for her, her leg was starting to affect her balance. She couldn’t resist against the push as easily as she wanted to.

She could feel herself being whittled away inch by inch due to Theron’s schemes, but she could also see just how easily she could injure him. Maybe if this child was already a Gold Mancer, she wouldn’t stand a chance.

But he wasn’t. He was fragile, he could bleed, he had his limits. He had to be perfect to take her down, but she only had to get him one time.

One good time.

And this battle would be over.

These were her thoughts as she flew toward Theron, already swinging out her shield in a mighty, descending torrent. At the final instant, just as they were about to collide, she poured Water Mana into it.

The shield went from just six inches around to taller than a tower shield, not to mention being as wide as it was tall.

It was beautiful—a radiant blue, circular shield with a silver cap in the middle and a translucent border of Water Mana all around it.

And its edges were as lethal as they were impenetrable.

The moment Elder Black summoned her Echo, she could have done this. But she chose not to.

If Theron could scheme, then why couldn’t she?

But there were those eyes again. Those placid, unmoved, unfathomable depths of blue that seemed to put even the ocean itself to shame.

It was like nothing could faze him, nothing could shock him, nothing could make him feel as though he hadn’t expected it—as though he hadn’t seen through it long ago already.

The shield descended, splitting Theron in two completely.

[Pressure Burst].

What Elder Black thought was Theron’s real body exploded right in front of her.

‘But the blood—?!’

Elder Black was taken aback, not understanding what she was seeing. What she didn’t know was that Theron had only cast [Shedding Water Skin] to stop his Water Clone from leaking out all the water that formed it. As for the blood…

Well, it was about time Elder Black figured out that to him, his blood and his Water Mana really were one and the same.

He could control both of them with just as much ease.

When Theron used his Vibrational Laws to shake, he was actually just tuning his Clones so that they appeared the exact same as his real body.

At the same time, he was shaking the blood in his own body so that Elder Black wouldn’t be able to pick out the difference easily.

As for his real body?

It had hidden in the enormous hole Elder Black had just dug out of the ground with the spike of water that was supposed to impale him, and right about now, it was probably beneath her feet.

The blast that came from the clone was mostly blocked by the shield, but the power of it caused Elder Black to stumble, just enough for her knee, once again, to become her limiting factor.

She shook and paused for just a moment, realizing what was happening, but being too slow to counter it.

[Tidal Wave].

BOOM!

The ground exploded, miniature tsunami-like waves rising up and swallowing Elder Black whole. She found herself surrounded by water, a place she should have been the most comfortable, but she couldn’t stop the panic from rising up in her chest. It was like she knew that something bad was coming—something terrible—but she could do nothing about it.

[Tidal Wave] was a control spell; it hardly had any offensive power at all. It shouldn’t have been dangerous…

But then came the Vibrational Laws.

BANG!

And then came the Density Laws.

BANG!

The entire wave moved with a density that countered the coating of Mana on Elder Black’s body. Every blow Theron had made, every strike, was in order to understand the sort of cadence Elder Black’s Mana moved with.

And the moment he did understand, he reversed it all in a single instant, honing in on it, resonating with it, and then shattering it in one sweeping blow.

The only way to do that against such an opponent was with sheer quantity, since Theron’s quality would always be inferior. And this was the only way to catch her off guard with enough stored Water Mana to make a difference.

It had taken Theron a full 30 seconds to cast this spell only for a brief window of barely a handful of split seconds.

Elder Black broke free, roaring as she clawed her way out.

She stumbled onto the ground, her knee buckling beneath her again.

Up ahead, barely three meters in front of her, she saw a crimson wolf—one with a majestic mane and a stance that had it towering over her at more than two meters tall.

It was a simple creature, a weak one that couldn’t even reach its shocking top speed for more than a few minutes.

Not a threat.

Elder Black instantly turned back to face where Theron must have been, realizing too late that the Alpha had suddenly slashed down.

Her eyes widened, the ligaments in her knee that were already barely holding on being severed in two.

In truth, she had made the right decision. The Alpha wasn’t much of a threat to her. Of course, that was under usual circumstances.

But now, her Mana was disrupted, her body was falling to the side, and Theron’s blade was coming right for her—his body having appeared right on time.

In those last moments, she only barely seemed to register the fact that… she was the one who taught Theron how to disrupt someone’s core.

And then he took that and applied it in the middle of battle—all while plotting circles around her.

He had the face of a gentle little boy, someone she would be happy to call grandson. Her Little Theron.

But behind those eyes…

Chi.

Theron’s sword suddenly gained a substantial amount of weight, its body blooming with gorgeous colors as he ripped through Elder Black’s heart.

… was a monster.

Elder Black’s body shuddered, blood leaking down her lips.