469 The Harken
Sirius smiled, “Interesting. You’re a tough one to break, aintcha?”
The elf wielded his unique crossbow, running his other hand along its obsidian-and-bronze material, causing the dormant orbs within it to suddenly light up with a crimson glow. The weapon began to morph; the spine of the bow lengthened, restructuring itself before a blood-red aura manifested a set of bolts along the newly-shaped crossbow.
‘He changed the shape of his weapon? He was holding out on me, huh. What sort of magic is that, anyway?’ Sirius thought.
An answer came in its own form as Sirius found himself instinctively moving as lightning just as the odd crossbow “clicked”, immediately causing the air to rumble in that split-second. The electric instincts of the man allowed him to view everything as if slowed once he focused, witnessing the crimson-infused projectiles as they tracked his own position.
Through his enhanced perception, he moved out of the projected path of the bolts, leaving a trail of electricity in his path.
FWOOM
Each of the six bolts that were shot moved with ludicrous speed and power, completely blowing through the trunk of trees multiple times over.
‘Those pack a punch now! Interesting!’ Sirius excitedly thought.
In response, he held his arm forward, using his other arm to keep it steady as if it were a cannon while electricity gathered at the tip of his fingers. The enormous coalescence of energy sparked into an electric orb, sizzling with unstable power before–
“Power—!” Sirius shouted without any reservation.
Swiping his hand, a curving blast of lightning cut through the trees, cleaving through a section of the forest and nearly bisecting the elf, had the lanky figure not leaned out of the way with surprising flexibility.
What he witnessed went beyond any conventional nimbleness as the ponytail-wearing, silent elf flipped around, momentarily on all fours before springing forward, pointing his crossbow towards Sirius again with all six bolts being conjured automatically.
Sirius smiled, witnessing the swift speed at which the tall figure launched towards him. Before the trigger of the weapon could be fired, however, the black-eyed hunter suddenly had their hand slammed against the ground.
Planting his boot down against the elf’s hand, Sirius kept the crossbow crushed down to the soil as well, standing over the elf with a confident smile.
“I can respect a ranged fighter who also isn’t afraid to get up close and personal–thing is, you’ll lose ten-out-of-ten times against me doing that. Well, or by doing anything else,” Sirius mocked.
As he looked down at the elf, whose weapon was restrained, he watched as the figure pointed his free hand upward, causing a sudden change in heat.
‘Magic?’ Sirius realized.
Without warning, an explosion roared through the forest, blowing through the leaves with ash and fire. Sirius was able to escape its range, landing back down and away from the point of impact.
“Crazy bastard,” Sirius muttered.
ƥαṇdαηθνε|
Any normal person would’ve assuredly been down for the count, or even dead, with the tall elf’s entire left side being burnt away of its skin, and multiple spots blackened, completely rid of any chance of recovery.
‘What’s with this guy? He’s like the freakin’ Terminator,’ Sirius thought.
Witnessing such a perplexing person, even the confident reincarnator began to feel unnerved, keeping electricity coiled at his fingertips as he watched the burnt figure approach him. It didn’t make any sense to him why the elf was so hellbent on attacking him; he had done nothing that he was aware of to stoke such aggression, nor was hunting him as “meat” worth death.
In Sirius’ mind, the true reason was simple:
‘This guy…He’s like a beast. All that’s on his mind is killing me–a one-track mind built for hunting people,’ he thought.
“You’re going to die at this rate, ya know? Not that I care, but–self preservation isn’t your style, is it?” Sirius asked, not expecting a response.
Of course, the elven hunter remained wordless, only raising his left arm as he chose not to raise the crossbow he held in his right. In a disgusting fashion, the muscles revealed by the burnt-away skin on the figure’s arm bulked up, increasing multiple times in size as the elf raised his fist, clenching it.
‘What the hell is he doing?’ Sirius thought, staying alert.
Coming from the hunter who relied on a ranged weapon, the act of slamming his bulked-up arm was an unexpected one as it slammed down against the soil, causing it to be torn apart by the rippling force.
The sheer quantity of power caused the nearest trees to be uprooted as waves of soil were thrown in every direction, causing Sirius to briefly stumble.
“Woah!” Sirius playfully let out, finding his footing.
It was impossible to see anything through the smokescreen of dirt kicked up by the impact, raining down like corrupted snowfall.
Clasping his hands together briefly, Sirius parted them swiftly, causing a shock wave infused with his trademark electricity to scatter the veil of sediment, sending a rippling tremor of his own through the land.
“No hiding,” Sirius smiled.
Though the wounded elf was gone from where he had last seen him, confidence still intertwined itself with the man’s words. Coming from his left, wolves made out of raging, bright-orange flames rushed from beyond the treeline.
‘A beast spell? Rare,’ he thought.
With a snap of his fingers, Sirius cast the elemental beasts away, facing them as they disintegrated; from behind him, the burnt hunter leapt out from the bushes with his crossbolt locked-and-loaded.
It was quick enough to make the hairs stand up on the reincarnator’s arms as he felt the tip of the crossbow perhaps only inches from his head, felt only by the faintest wind that brushed against his hair.
However–Sirius’ pupils illuminated as his expression went blank, almost as if no thoughts transmitted through the networks of his brain. Instead, his body moved on its own, spinning and ducking simultaneously just as the crossbow clicked.
[“Stormheart: Synapse Overdrive”]