A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Chapter 532 - Erik vs Ankhur 2.0

Ankhur's grin widened as Erik's hammer descended, the thundersnow blast crackling with raw elemental power. At the last possible moment, sand-coloured runes flashed, and Ankhur twisted his body. Sand erupting from the ground beneath him, forming a swirling vortex that propelled him sideways.

The hammer missed its mark, slamming into the ground with an explosive crash, sending shards of ice and arcs of electricity spiralling outward.

At the same time, Ankhur quickly found his balance, and stomped the ground. Suddenly, the sand beneath Erik's feet shifted violently, turning into quicksand-like sludge. Erik's boots began to sink, and his balance wavered.

But Erik was no novice, and he had a great many different abilities. Dark blue runes flashed on his fur. With a sharp pulse of spatial energy, he teleported just a few feet away, avoiding being fully trapped.

Since receiving his spatial affinity, he'd been training in it whenever he needed a break from thundersnow. Although he'd yet to breakthrough to the second rank for spatial affinity, his efforts, and his breakthrough to thundersnow third rank, did now allow him to displace himself a little further than before.

Although it still cost an exuberant amount of energy…

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Ankhur growled in mild irritation. "That's a very broken ability," he growled while his magical construct arm twitching slightly as sand began to swirl around it. He raised his khopheses and dashed forward once again, sand trailing behind him like ghostly ribbons.

Erik responded swiftly, a smug grin on his lips. "An Emperor needs a few broken abilities, don't you think?"

His hammer crackled with arcs of lightning and frost, while his thundersnow armour radiated icy white electricity, enhancing his speed and resilience. He lunged forward with a horizontal hammer swing aimed at Ankhur's midsection.

Ankhur growled, parrying with both khopheses. Sparks flew as steel met enchanted metal. With a flick of his wrists, Ankhur's pushed against the hammer, but with one-and-a-half arm, he couldn't match Erik's strength. Erik capitalized on this, pivoting and striking downward.

Instantly, Ankhur's fur flashed again, and a dome of hardened sand erupted around Ankhur, absorbing the force of the strike. The dome cracked under the impact, but it bought Ankhur enough time to reposition himself.

Erik took a deep breath, his breath visible in the icy mist surrounding him. His lips split and curled upward as icy blue runes appeared on his fur.

His ability frost aura radiated outward from where he stood, creeping across the battlefield and crystallizing the swirling grains of sand at his feet, slowing Ankhur's movements. The sandstorm faltered slightly as ice crept up swirling grains, turning them into brittle shards.

Ankhur snarled, his real arm flexing as he willed the sandstorm to intensify. The air thickened with blinding grains of sand, obscuring Erik's vision. Ankhur's silhouette disappeared into the swirling golden haze.

Erik narrowed his eyes, advancing cautiously, his hammer gripped tightly. His enchanted armour shimmered with energy, granting him enhanced speed and defence as arcs of frost and lightning danced across its surface.

From within the storm, Ankhur struck. His khopheses flashed out from the sand like twin vipers, one aimed at Erik's head and the other at his ribs.

Erik narrowed his eyes but couldn't make out which was the construct arm.

Instead, he went for the safe choiice, and easily managed to parry the head strike with the shaft of his hammer. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a faint. It was easy... because he parried the construct arm.

The second attack smashed against the midsection of his armour. The full power of an experienced, third rank Runebound smashed into his side. Fortunately, the khopesh weren't sharp or powerful enough to cut through his armour, but he still felt the blow in his bones.

Metal screeched against metal and energy crackled as his armour absorbed the blow. Erik snarled in pain.

Planting the base of his hammer into the ground to stabilize himself, Erik snapped open his fang-filled jaws. A glowing, icy blue circle formed in front of his maw, as icy energy coalesced.

Before Ankhur could react, a barrage of razor-sharp ice shards erupted outward, slicing through the sandstorm and forcing him to leap backward. His construct arm shielded his face, sand trailing from it in clumps where ice had bitten deep.

Both combatants paused, panting as they stared each other down. Erik's armour crackled with frost and electricity, while Ankhur's sandstorm settled into a slower, deliberate swirl around him.

"You're skilled," Ankhur said, his grin returning. "But I wonder if you're going to impress anyone if you win purely because of that armour of yours."

Erik smirked, his hammer crackling with residual energy. "Nice try, but I made this armour myself. I am not just a fighter, I am a runesmith, and I'll damn well fight like one!"

The first part he said loudly, making sure the enraptured crowd could hear him, but then he continued softly, only for Ankhur's ears, with a hint of playful ridicule. "Besides, I made this armour as a second ranker, and if you can't even break through the armour of a second ranker, then perhaps you should just give up right now?"

Of course, that wasn't entirely fair. The armour he managed to create was definitely of third rank power, and that wasn't even mentioning Eira and the armour's core.

Still, Erik felt justified in using his armour. He'd told Eira to disable any sigils connected to her core, and not to interfere unless his life was in danger, so the only things aiding him in battle were the armour and runes he'd forged himself, with a little help from Astrid's sun affinity.

"Ha!" Ankhur barked a laugh, even as a hint of fury shone in his eyes. "You'll regret those words when your armour lies around you in tatters!"

Suddenly, tiny grains of sand started coalescing around the edges of his khopeshes, and they became that much sharper. Erik instantly noticed what was happening and grinned in excitement. "Now we're talking!"

Stomping the ground, Erik charged at his opponent, a wild look in his eyes, and Ankhur immediately retaliated.

Ice, lightning, and sand engaged in a dance of magic and death that was more or less evenly matched. The crowd was in a constant uproar of excitement, thoroughly impressed with both warriors. Yet, those who knew noticed Erik never used the third rank abilities he must have gotten when he broke through…