Chapter 1036

CLANG!

The ground was immediately uprooted as Grey’s hand snapped into place, his lightning sword raised forward to block the deadly strike from Gustav.

The soil bent beneath both their feet as the man kept grinning down at Grey.

They were at a complete standstill, as the Supreme Magus had been quick to swirl his Ki all around his body to strengthen his limbs.

Hence, he wasn’t pushed back one bit as he glared directly into the eyes of the man.

"You think I’m easy prey?" Grey asked with a frown as the two combatants remained frozen in place.

Gustav teleported out of the spot in case of any follow-up attack—which, shockingly, never came.

Appearing in another direction, Gustav looked over at his son, who surprisingly didn’t move to make any counterattack whatsoever as he kept looking down at the shattered terrain.

He observed the area for several seconds, as if taking in the sight.

Perplexed by this behavior, Gustav lifted his metal sword and pointed it forward.

’Tch. Useless.’

With a blink, he vanished from view and reappeared directly behind the warrior-mage with a sharp slash that was aimed at tearing through his side.

But with a fluid spin, Grey was able to deflect the strike with pinpoint accuracy, shocking Gustav for a moment.

In their previous encounters, Grey had been unable to sense his teleportation movements, so how exactly did he manage it now?

Flames roared around Grey’s hands as he thrust them toward his father.

But with a quick blink, the man vanished, causing the funnel of flames to crash into the ground and scorch it badly.

Appearing behind Grey once more, another deadly swipe was made at his exposed back.

Yet, Grey twirled around instantly and deflected the attack.

From there onward, the battle became a pure blur of movement between the two.

Gustav kept teleporting in and out with fluid, sharp strikes that would have been more than enough to take down most enemies.

Yet, Grey kept meeting each and every one of them calmly.

His blocks were sharp, immovable, and powerful as he refused to be taken down so easily.

His eyes were focused intently, tracking the trajectory of each assault.

Ki augmented his legs, allowing him to spin around as fast as he could to sustain the block.

The only thing that could be seen by an observer was a blur of flashes and heavy strikes between the two elemental swords.

The ground beneath them kept shuddering and groaning from the repeated clashes.

Grey didn’t relent, but he also didn’t rush for an reckless counterattack while Gustav kept vanishing and repositioning himself strategically for a swift kill.

Grey’s eyes kept wandering around the entire perimeter until, with one fierce twirl, he hauled his lightning sword forward.

From the elemental blade exploded a sundering surge of energy, violent and unrelenting, filling every path the man could possibly appear from.

It was as if the very air was swallowed by the strike, leaving no room for escape whatsoever.

Gustav appeared right into the path of the attack, his eyes widening slightly at the sight of the lightning about to envelop him.

Grey wasted no time in blurring forward, finally making an offensive move after remaining largely stationary since the clash started.

Gustav smirked, then vanished almost immediately as the wave of energy crashed into the earth, ripping it open violently as if a beast had bitten a chunk out of it.

A massive burst of debris billowed into the air, carrying drops of molten lava with them.

Grey scowled.

’I thought there was a cooldown before his next teleportation. Was I wrong?’

His gaze sharpened as he immediately halted his charge and then vaulted to the side just in time, as a bolt of lightning smashed into the spot where he had stood.

The ground caved in almost immediately from the impact.

Whirling around, his hand snapped into place.

CLANG! Crash!

His lightning sword met another lightning sword in a rain of sparks that were flung in all directions, the terrain buckling beneath the weight of the clash.

Grey clenched his jaws and immediately swung his leg forward with all his might.

It flew forth with fluid grace.

CLANG!

His leg connected, but not with flesh...

He looked down to see a dark sheen covering Gustav’s side.

It was metal!

He had used his element to surround his body.

Though, the coating seemed to groan under Grey’s ki-infused kick.

Parrying the block to the side, Gustav pounced forward with a devastating punch heading straight for Grey’s face.

Cracking his neck upward, Grey immediately lifted his forearms in front of his face as Ki swirled around his limbs, reinforcing them massively.

BAM! BOOOM!

The earth exploded outwardly as the punch landed with crushing force.

Yet, Grey didn’t move an inch as his toes sliced through the ground, keeping him completely rooted in place.

"Thalos once said;" Grey groaned as he peeked in between his guards.

"... Be as solid and immovable as a mountain for defense,"

Swinging his hands away, he could see Gustav’s muscles twitching.

’He’s about to teleport.’

Before Gustav could, Grey vanished from view in a blink and then proceeded to reappear directly behind the man in a flash with his leg shot out in a powerful, ki-infused kick.

"And as fluid and unpredictable as water for attack!"

BAM! BANG! 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

The kick connected with crushing, devastating weight, sending Gustav sliding sideways for a moment.

His heels dug deep trenches and grooves in the ground with each slide he made.

Grey vanished again and reappeared directly in front of the man within a beat, his lightning sword lashing through the air toward the man’s neck.

RUMBLE! CRACK!

Grey’s head snapped upward to see five hundred lightning pillars peeking out of the sky.

With a deafening crash, they hurled downward with full force.

’Fuck...’

Lightning and wind enveloped the Supreme Magus as he vaulted backward in an intense attempt to avoid the pillars.

The attacks were headed downward and were about to crash into the spot he stood in a moment ago, when they suddenly froze and spun around, rocketing directly toward the new position of the Supreme Magus.

’Wha—?’

"I’m an Original, fool. I was the first lightning mage in history. What do you think?"