Elemental Cats

Toz's fist unleashed a torrent of flames toward Anaster. Both from the Fireball and the fire that Toz added to his fist.

Anaster hurriedly bent back so that his torso was parallel with the ground before twisting it and stepping to the side to dodge Toz's follow-up.

Due to Anaster's quick reactions, Toz missed his wave of flames, and it just struck the ground and rushed forward without even touching Anaster. However, it had given Toz another opportunity to attack since Anaster was in the middle of restoring his balance after twisting his body like a snake.

Toz unleashed another Fireball. He concentrated on the properties of speed and volatility as he sent the Fireball toward where Anaaster stood. Even if it didn't hit him, the shockwave would reach him. The shockwave alone wouldn't be able to do much to Anaster's sturdy body, but it would let Toz continue pressing the attack.

So when Anaster dodged the Fireball and got affected by the explosion's shockwave, which was a lot stronger than the other Fireballs' shockwaves, Toz closed the gap between them. Considering how much better Anaster was at close-quarters combat, Toz was setting himself up for a loss by closing the distance.

But that would only happen if Anaster was allowed free access to Toz's body. Anaster's punches and kicks would only be effective if they hit Toz's body without anything blocking them.

That was why Toz coated his body in fire before he bridged the gap between them. With the flames interfering with Anaster's view of his body, it would be harder for Anaster to land impeccable strikes on Toz.

Besides, the flames would burn Anaster if he touched them for too long, and the heat they emitted would make it difficult for Anaster in the long run. Of course, Toz was tired already and wasn't sure that he would be able to last long enough to defeat Anaster.

But since his mana pool had been refilled during his breakthrough to the seventh level, Toz decided to make use of the advantage he had in that department and continuously attacked Anaster with flames. The bodysuit of flames was only the first part.

"I hope you're not burning those pants. I might have given them to you, but it would be rude if you got rid of them as soon as you get them, man."

Before Toz could fully close the distance between himself and Anaster, Anaster spoke up.

"Don't worry. The pants are completely fine. And I hope you're not trying to stall because you don't want to fight me."

Toz smirked as he briefly revealed the untouched pants before covering them in flames again as he continued toward Anaster.

Anaster only chuckled before he also started toward Toz.

With another surge of mana, Toz increased the power of his flames and turned himself into a walking bonfire. Since Toz was pretty sure that his mana reserve was the only advantage he had over Anaster, especially since he was still continuing to block his sword retrieval after all this time, Toz decided to try and overwhelm Anaster with a cascade of flames.

Toz created two jetstreams of fire that spewed out of his hands and toward Anaster.

Anaster quickly dodged them while taking cautious steps around Toz. Since Toz was covered in a thick layer of flames, Anaster wasn't sure that he wanted to approach him so rashly, and he decided to see if this was a last-ditch effort of Toz's to try and end the battle quickly. Or if Toz had something in mind when he started emptying out his mana pool like it was a sinking boat.

However, after Anaster dodged the two streams of concentrated fire, he had to quickly move away again since the two streams of fire turned around and followed his movements.

Anaster confirmed that not approaching Toz right now had been the right moment since if Toz had used the snakes of fire to pincer him, Anaster would almost have been forced to take at least one blow.

However, without Toz himself chasing after Anaster alongside the snakes, they weren't any more than hindrances that forced Anaster to stay on his toes. But as time passed, Toz made more and more snakes of fire that dove after Anaster and forced him to do acrobatic stunts that seemed to defy logic.

Anaster threaded his body through melon-sized gaps between the net of snakes and somehow managed to reposition himself without losing balance before continuing to jump around and escape Toz's grasp.

Toz was burning through his mana, but since he wasn't even landing any blows on Anaster, it was practically for nothing. Sure, getting him to move like that was probably more exhausting than simply engaging in a dogfight with him. But the drops of sweat on his forehead were from the heat, not the exertion.

Toz realized that he had underestimated Anaster. He probably wouldn't be able to defeat the demon who had such a strong body without taking drastic measures. Toz had been worried that he wouldn't get any answers if he killed Anaster by accident. But based on how Anaster moved, his reflexes, and the general physical prowess of his body, Toz decided to stop playing it safe.

Besides, the burn scars had probably come from when he managed to awaken the true nature of fire. Without doing that again, Toz didn't have to worry about killing Anaster.

"You should be able to survive this, right?!"

Anaster looked like he was concentrating entirely on evading Toz's snakes of fire. But it was obviously just a ploy to make Toz underestimate him even more as he quite leisurely responded.

"Survive what? Are you bringing out a crocodile this time? If I may recommend-"

Anaster swallowed the rest of his words as he sensed the blossoming power coming from Toz. It seemed like Toz had turned himself into a volcano about to erupt. Anaster briefly wondered how much mana Toz had if he could do something like that after torching the Fortress of Death. However, before he could wonder if it was related to the cocoon of fire, Anaster, and Toz both sensed something.

They looked in the same direction. Up.

It seemed like Toz's fire magic had provoked the fire mana storm and made it lock onto him again.

"Fucking shit."

"Haha! That's incredible!"