Tales of the Endless Empire

Chapter 380: What a Pleasant Encounter

It was difficult to watch Eric fight at full power. The light radiating from his body was so intense that Thalion’s eyes began to ache just from looking at him. He also had to keep his distance. The two combatants were moving incredibly fast, even underwater.The green-skinned man’s fighting style was strange. At the moment, he was on the defensive, clearly unwilling to get struck by the glowing broadsword. Still, from time to time, he lunged forward, clawing at Eric with sharp, sudden bursts. Thalion would have liked to see what happened when one of those attacks landed, but Eric always dodged in time. It almost seemed as if he believed his opponent was the stronger of the two. The longer Thalion watched, the more he shared that impression.

He doubted that Eric had ambushed the green fighter. Judging by their auras, it had been the other way around — the green one had attacked first. Oddly, he barely used any skills. Aside from a movement ability that allowed him to dart through the water in an instant, he relied purely on physical power. Eric, on the other hand, unleashed arcs of pure light from his blade, condensed beams of radiant energy, and summoned luminous orbs that exploded to drive his enemy back.

Yet as the battle dragged on, it became clear that Eric was slowly being pushed to his limits. The signs were subtle — tiny hesitations, weaker strikes — things Thalion could only notice thanks to his title. He doubted Eric’s opponent had caught on yet.

Thalion had already decided he would help Eric, but he wanted to first observe the green warrior’s abilities. Jumping in too early could get him killed. The power those two were releasing even surpassed Pyrael’s Chosen when he had burned Thalion to a crisp. The only reason the devastation in this fight wasn’t greater was that the fight took place underwater — even so, a single hit could end Thalion instantly. His body wasn’t strong enough to endure such force, and his armor, destroyed by Kaelir’s flames, offered little protection.

While the two Chosen clashed, Thalion examined the floating corpses around them, hoping to find a clue about the green fighter’s abilities. Some had no heads; others were missing large chunks of flesh. If he’d still had hair in this form, he would have ruffled it in frustration. At least it didn’t seem like the man was poisonous. Beyond that, he couldn’t learn much. On the bright side, none of Eric’s fallen followers appeared to be his friends. He’d ask Eric later what had happened to them. If Thalion had to guess, they had probably joined this treasure hunt on their own.

The battle was reaching its climax. Both auras flared once more, shaking the water around them. The green-skinned man now had mana claws extending from his hands, glowing in the same dark hue as his skin. He still avoided blocking Eric’s sword directly but moved with renewed ferocity, darting around him in sudden bursts. Eric, however, remained composed and precise with every swing. The problem was that his opponent didn’t seem to tire at all — as if his energy reserves were endless.

At this point, Thalion couldn’t hope to intervene directly. When one of Eric’s light beams hit the man’s body and simply bounced off, Thalion’s suspicion hardened into certainty: a direct attack would be useless. If he wanted to help, it had to be a surprise strike — one fully charged and perfectly timed.

He sank deeper, keeping his distance so as not to draw attention. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the green warrior sensed him. From time to time, the man brushed his nose and glanced around.

Thalion wondered, positioning himself beneath the two fighters.

If he fired an Aqua Lance from below, there was a chance it might hit Eric if the other dodged — but that risk had to be taken. From his position, he watched as Eric slowly began to lose ground. Thalion waited patiently for the right moment. If he could wound the green fighter, they might force the activation of his escape token.

Good thing the Aqua Lance was already charged. Suddenly, the green-skinned man surged forward, bypassed Eric’s guard, and seized him by the throat. For a moment, it looked as if Eric had gone limp, dangling like a puppet with its strings cut.

“What a meal!” the green one said, opening his mouth as a dark mist poured out. Thalion had no idea what that vapor was, but Eric clearly didn’t like it — even through his helmet, the reaction was visible. Whatever the substance did, it also silenced him, though Thalion could the agony through his title.

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Without hesitation, Thalion unleashed his Aqua Lance, fully charged and aimed at the attacker’s leg. The green fighter sensed it but didn’t move in time; the blast tore through his right foot, sending him hurtling upward. The mist instantly recoiled into his mouth, vanishing in a heartbeat.

Thalion kept the spell going, pouring in more mana to give Eric a chance to recover from whatever curse or toxin had been used on him. It was also the perfect moment to use Identify, because he needed to know exactly what kind of monster he was dealing with.

Vorokai — Level 109

Thalion checked his leaderboard as well, and sure enough, the green-skinned fighter turned out to be the prince — the one ranked second overall. This could easily be the final battle between the second and fourth places on the leaderboard.

He finally caught sight of the prince as his Aqua Lance blasted him upward. The attack had completely severed his foot, yet after the dark green mist was drawn back into his body, the wound suddenly stopped bleeding — as if the damage had never happened. Still, one leg gone and a deep gash running up his side wasn’t a bad result for a sneak attack. Any other fighter would have died on the spot. But someone capable of fighting a Chosen like Eric head-on was far from ordinary.

Speaking of Eric — the Chosen looked terrible. Part of his helmet was gone, and one side of his face appeared melted, as though it had been dipped in acid. Whatever that mist was, it was unimaginably dangerous. Thalion reminded himself that he couldn’t let the prince touch him under any circumstances; otherwise, he might end up as helpless as Eric had been moments ago.

Then Eric erupted with renewed fury, his aura blazing with light. Having narrowly escaped death, he radiated pure rage. He gave Thalion a brief glance before beating his wings and shooting toward the prince, who was hastily drinking a healing potion.

Thalion followed, speeding through the water and charging a second Aqua Lance. He kept about fifty meters behind Eric, ready to fire the moment an opening appeared. The skill needed time to charge anyway.

With only one leg, the prince struggled to evade Eric’s strikes and barely managed to block with an arm that glowed with dark energy. The impact cracked through the water, even if Eric’s sword hadn’t cut cleanly, the blow had clearly damaged the limb. Now that Eric held the advantage, his aura flared even higher. That kind of power couldn’t be healthy, but he didn’t seem to care.

Thalion would have taken a slower, more cautious approach, wearing the enemy down and forcing him to exhaust his resources. But with the prince’s touch being so deadly, Eric probably had no choice but to end it quickly.

Thalion wondered what kind of ability the prince’s corruption was. He also doubted Eric even realized who was helping him and at this point, Eric didn’t seem to care. Thalion would’ve appreciated a bit of coordination, but fine — as long as the prince died, it was worth it.

The two fighters were so close now that Thalion couldn’t fire without risking hitting Eric as well. Yet he didn’t dare get closer himself. Without a proper movement skill, he couldn’t evade a counterattack if the prince suddenly lunged at him. He doubted that Tsunami Breaker or Water Shield would be enough to hold the Prince back.

The prince darted through the water like a missile, using some kind of telekinetic dash to reposition. Occasionally he tried that leaping move again, though with only one leg it was far slower. He seemed aware of his disadvantage and kept trying to reach Thalion instead, but Thalion wasn’t just some sluggish sea beast. He always stayed out of range.

The prince’s frustration was obvious, which Thalion found oddly amusing. Having a raging Chosen breathing down your neck at full power and still being annoyed by someone out of reach — that took a special kind of arrogance. Either the man was overestimating himself, or things could still turn ugly fast.

How much longer could Eric keep going like this? Burning through mana at that rate wasn’t sustainable, and wounds were starting to appear across the prince’s body. What puzzled Thalion was how little damage those monstrous sword strikes were actually doing. Unless Eric landed a direct hit, the prince only suffered shallow wounds. Even so, the injuries were piling up.

Now Thalion began firing his Aqua Lances each time the prince dodged one of Eric’s attacks. The blasts didn’t wound him much, but they kept him from counterattacking and repeatedly threw him back. Still, Thalion grew frustrated as none of his spells seemed to cause lasting harm. He didn’t let it show, keeping his expression calm.

The prince’s mangled leg was slowly regenerating, though still far from functional. The healing potion must have been incredibly potent, probably crafted by one of his kingdom’s top alchemists, Thalion guessed.

Then everything changed. The prince unleashed a dark green explosion that sent Eric flying and shattered an escape token in his hand. Unfortunately for him, it seemed to be a faulty one — he wasn’t teleported away immediately. Likely stolen from one of his victims.

The prince glared at them with pure hatred. Eric didn’t even bother to attack anymore; he clearly knew he couldn’t finish the job before the teleport triggered.

“Don’t think you’re safe,” the prince hissed. “I know your scent, and I’ll be wai—”

He didn’t get to finish. An Aqua Lance hit him square in the face. It didn’t cause real damage, but it did shut him up because Thalion truly had enough of the Prince. A moment later, the escape token activated, and the prince vanished before he could get out another word.