Lightning Is the Only Way

SSSSSHHHH!

Red continued using his fire to chase Gravis, creating an incredible amount of steam in the process. Gravis moved at a depth of around ten meters against the river's flow. Luckily, he didn't need to swim due to his Elemental Synchronicity. He turned towards Red while still moving along the river. Gravis' eyes narrowed as he concentrated his lightning to shoot at the Riverbed surrounding Red.

Red also narrowed his eyes. He didn't know what Gravis was planning, yet he quickly found out as he felt his speed slowing. "Tch," spat Red underwater. Gravis was using the lightning to excite the flow of water so that more water would flow into his flames. Normal water might not impact their attacks much, but it still used up his flames' power. Since he always used the same amount of Energy, the additional water slowed him down.

Yet, Gravis also moved slower due to his constant use of Energy. Red gnashed his teeth in hatred, and his expression formed into a grimace. Gravis would run out of Energy at some point, and even if he didn't, as soon as Red's reserves hit 20%, he would just flee. If he were to use all his Energy, Red might die to Gravis if he still had Energy. With 20%, Red would still be able to put up a fight!

Of course, Gravis was only masking his Elemental Synchronicity with that lightning. This small amount of lightning wouldn't excite the flow of the river that much. Yet, if Gravis just used his Elemental Synchronicity without masking it with his lightning, Red might grow wary. There was also no possibility to use his Elemental Synchronicity underwater to damage Red. His body was too powerful for that.

If Gravis went closer to Red, Gravis would probably die. Red had already shown that he had realized how Gravis had dodged his earlier attacks. By deliberately attacking differently, Red made it impossible for Gravis to anticipate his attacks. Red might seem to be in a disadvantageous position, but that was not true. One physical attack from him would spell Gravis' doom.

They moved for many kilometers under the river, and Red's Energy reserves grew dangerously low. As soon as his reserves closed in on the 20% mark, he decided to abort his chase and jumped out of the river. Gravis saw this, and his eyes narrowed. Gravis immediately stopped and also jumped out of the river.

Gravis saw Red moving along the river's coast, back into the direction of the Fire Guild. He was running through thick steam, which had been produced from his flames when Red had chased Gravis inside the river. Gravis readied himself and exploded forward with the same speed as Red.

Red turned to Gravis, and his eyes also narrowed. 'Sure enough, he was trying to exhaust me. Good that I still kept enough Energy to return to the Fire Guild. As soon as I reach the Fire Guild, he won't be able to kill me anymore. The fight is over,' Red thought with a sigh. Retreat was part of the arsenal of strategies that a cultivator could use.

They ran for a while, and the steam grew denser. Red had already lost vision of Gravis inside the steam, but he could still feel the movement of Energy in the atmosphere. Judging by the Energy's movement, Gravis was slowly gaining ground on Red, yet this damn steam made it hard to see anything.

'Wait, steam? But the steam at this place should have already risen into the sky. How is there still so much steam?' Red thought, and a feeling of fear slowly started appearing. Something was not right!

Red took a turn and ran away from the river. After around a hundred meters, he finally managed to escape from the steam. Red turned around to look back, and his eyes widened as his mouth involuntarily fell open in shock. What did he see?

A humongous, dense black cloud was violently chasing him. The cloud was at around the distance where Gravis should be. What was going on? Where did this cloud come from?

Gravis had planned this since jumping into the river. Red's fire would produce steam, and steam was water. With his Elemental Synchronicity, he could control water, and therefore also steam. Like this, Gravis could collect more and more steam as they continued running along the river and compress it.

When water evaporated, it would become steam, and if a lot of steam gathered together, it would make a cloud. With the right movement and manipulation, the cloud would then produce natural lightning. It was one of the laws of the world, and it dictated how lightning worked.

Gravis noticed that Red had escaped the steam and no longer held his speed back. He and the cloud exploded in speed, and they closed in on Red. Red's eyes widened. The fight was not over!

When there were only two meters between Red and the cloud, he turned around and burst into the cloud. He quickly felt where Gravis was and slashed down. Gravis had expected such an attack and had already prepared himself to dodge.

WHOOM!

Yet, out of nowhere, a powerful pressure hit Gravis. Red had condensed his Will-Aura in the fight! One didn't need to win the tempering to increase their will. They only had to survive. When Red had relaxed while running back to the Fire Guild, his Will-Aura had condensed, and he successfully surprised Gravis. Due to the surprise, Gravis took longer to activate his Will-Aura. The attack had nearly arrived when Gravis finally activated it. The only thing he could do was slightly move out of the way.

SHING!

Gravis' right arm was severed at the shoulder and flew away. Like this, Gravis had lost both his arms since the left half of his torso was still obliterated, including his arm. Red quickly readied his saber to end the fight.

BANG BANG BANG!

Thick strands of lightning hit the space in front of Gravis, forcing Red to fall back and block with his Energy. Natural Lightning had a density similar to the peak of Energy Gathering, which would generally make it still weak enough to resist for someone with such a strong body as Red. Yet, this lightning felt utterly different to Red. For some reason, it was powerful enough to injure him. Red could only defend himself with his Energy.

More lightning gathered around Red, and he had to continue using up his Energy. The lightning continued going after him for several seconds, and his right arm had blackened. Red had run out of Energy shortly before the end and had to block with his remaining arm.

THUNK!

Red didn't have any more Energy to keep his balance with his severed left leg. The flames on his left leg vanished, and he fell over, breathing deeply. He was too exhausted to keep balance with just one leg. He had no more Energy to support himself, and his arms couldn't grip a weapon anymore.

Red gnashed his teeth and crawled towards Gravis. He still felt the Energy vibrations, so he knew where Gravis was located. Gravis body was just as injured as his own! He could still kill Gravis with the stump of his left arm! Gravis had no way to injure him with only his elemental attacks.

The cloud around them cleared, and Red could finally see Gravis again, but his expression quickly changed into shock and terror.

Why had the natural lightning been so much stronger when it hit Red? That was because Gravis manipulated the Life Energy inside the lightning to split off. Red had been hit by pure Destruction Lightning with the Energy density of Natural Lightning. So, where did the Life Energy go?

Gravis stood in pristine condition in front of the lying Red. His whole body had regenerated due to all the Life Energy inside the lightning. On top of that, Gravis had also refilled his Energy storage again. Gravis had a perfectly healthy body and was filled with Energy. Red only smiled bitterly.

SHING BOOM!

Gravis beheaded Red, and his head exploded into the distance.

The fight had ended.