Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1790 - 1789 - Clash of Claws

Lind had been right about his defense, offense, and general greater power against Luxor. He was, however, long out of practice against foes who were not Fiends trying to kill him.

He had kept up his training and even improved as he incorporated various tactics with his new layer. The results had been devastating to his sparring partners but he was now being shown that real combat left holes in his techniques.

Luxor struck directly at his arms and caused sparks to fly to intentionally blind him. It did not affect his aura, yet the sparks suddenly sped up!

It caught him off guard and a fist slammed into his ribs at much greater power than before!

She was using time to speed herself up!

It was entirely different from his own layer. The facets had to be related to battle or some kind of application in an attempt to defy her hibernation.

His was more about the direct manipulation and merger of the flow of time. He could segment off pieces of time to be used but Luxor was able to use it on herself!

Lind could not keep track of her movements for a moment and he was hit on his back, left shoulder, and right leg all at once!

The damage was minimal but he could not stop her! He was stronger and faster in theory but her rich experience was showing his lack of real fights.

He had not been arrogant or assumed she could not get at him, yet he was still being beaten repeatedly!

The soil was kicked up not only by their feet smashing into the ground but also by the force of the impacts.

Lind was slowly figuring out her patterns when suddenly she would mix it up!

He was starkly reminded of how Shoti fought at that moment and a smile crept onto his face.

He started to put more effort into trying to parse her manipulation of time. It was the only way he could possibly stop her!

Claw met claw in brutal clash after clash. He sliced open her flesh with ease but he watched as she healed instantly. It was not normal regeneration. It was another application of her Time Layer!

Lind barely registered that fact before the world was swallowed in darkness! Her hair had hair/fur had engulfed him without any interval between start and completion.

It was only at that moment that Lind realized she was using him like a whet stone while fighting seriously! She had a terrifying level of comprehension and he felt disappointment well up in him.

Why would the hibernation cycle lead to a forced fading? It made no sense to him.

A natural cycle should not force the issue. Something was missing.

"LUX, NO!" Viera had returned but the pressure of the battle kept her small figure away. Ryl was next to her but they were not excited.

They normally thought of hunting and fighting as play. Yet, Lind was able to notice Ryl understood the current fight was different. It showed a distinction but his jaw was slammed by a fist to snap him out of his thoughts.

[Don’t be so distracted!] Luxor’s shift from human to full beast form was impossible to predict. Lind tumbled in the air as he flipped back to his feet. No blood flowed but he had been truly caught off guard.

The looming form of the bear now towered over him. He smiled and his golden claws extended as well as growing in size.

He leapt in a blur but Luxor seemed to vanish before a hind leg slammed into his chest and sent him flying! Blood finally spurted from his mouth as he quickly floated to a stop.

That kick had hurt! It was not just a question of the manipulation of time, but clearly some kind of bestial Art or skill.

Bears had extremely powerful limbs and even on old earth, a metal shield had been no certainty of safety!

His scales dispersed force very efficiently as well as being able to tank powerful attacks directly. He had taken at least a dozen direct hits from both Sun and Shoti at the same time without even breaking a sweat.

Yet, a single full force kick from Luxor had damaged him! Vibration combined with the Time layer!

While Oscillation layer or other similar Mystery could be perceived, Lind highly doubted Luxor would grasp such a thing. It was more likely tied to her race or her own personal power.

He was not given more time to think as the sun was suddenly blocked from above. Lind slammed a fist down and away from him as the air pressure launched him across the sky. The massive form of Luxor slammed into the surface kicking up ice and soil at once.

The pair watching had to back off as the intensity of the fight was increasing!

It was just a physical brawl but the power of Master Tiers at any level was devastating to their surroundings. The lower realm beasts were in danger!

Lind quickly swept out his right hand and the entire valley was locked behind a wall of time. Luxor froze as she recognized what he had done. They had been so quick to fight, neither had even considered the escalation a purely physical fight would become.

She roared in happiness as the barrier would preserve the innocents in the valley.

She caused the ground to shatter under her legs but she vanished once more. Lind was shocked! There was almost no pause between the preparation and acceleration!

Luxor was getting better! Lind, however, was not going to just keep being a punching bag.

He stopped trying to treat the fight as a simple brawl. His harmony surged and his leg kicked out with his tail in conjunction. There was nothing there, until a dark blip briefly appeared.

Luxor appeared and was missing a limb from the tail strike while his foot sent her sprawling back down to the surface. His tail was fine but his foot had fractured!

It seemed she had been able to increase her defense at the last moment. Otherwise, he would have ripped out her guts then and there!

Lind was shocked as he had gone for the kill! He had reacted to the attack with his full strength!

Luxor was laughing as her leg regenerated quickly. It was clear she was happy. Lind suddenly narrowed his emerald eyes.

He saw something as she regenerated and a slow smile spread on his face. He understood!

Luxor leapt up and tried to do something when her muzzle twisted at 45 degrees in confusion. Lind slowly floated down as he allowed his own body to repair itself.

The woman tried to do a few more maneuvers but her physical body was all that answered. Her Time Layer was not working?

She transformed to her human form and looked up at him. The questions were clear but Lind simply walked forward and waved his hand around him.

Luxor suddenly realized that the barrier had enveloped them!

"Your layer acts on yourself and things you can see. Yet, it still requires grasping the flow of time as you know it. If I change the past to the future, the flow changes constantly. I turned us into our own continuum." It was a simple thing but Lind had finally understood what Luxor was doing.

She grasped the flow of time and altered it only for her or her immediate vision. The reason he was getting damaged was the shearing effect of 2 different flows of time.

Even his body, reinforced as it was, could not withstand that, so he took over the flow of the entire area as he inverted what was and what could be. The past, present, and future were a part of his facets.

Manipulating the normal flow of time in a given area was his specialty now, but it was damned taxing!

Even just standing there, he could feel that Luxor was trying to exert her power. There was another problem, it took all he had to keep it up. All he had left was his body!

Luxor smiled as if she knew his thoughts and her hair still answered her call. Her claws reflected the sun as Lind had to answer with brute force.

A dragon should overpower a bear normally, but a Nightmare Shadow Bear was given that appellation for more than their mental affects!

The muscles bulged on her arms and legs as Lind found himself negated!

The smile on her face was pure joy. It was clear she had not been able to cut loose as a Master Tier. Lind actually also felt something and wanted to reject it, but his dragon blood was thundering in his veins.

"ROOOOAAAARRRRRRRR!" The pair of them roared at the sky and it shook the soil beneath them.

Lind no longer held onto his human perspective. His face gained ridges and his scales thickened.

Luxor’s face elongated as her teeth grew longer.

The partial transformation showed they were giving into their bestial natures as it freed up their minds to regulate their powers.

The end was in sight.