Legacy Of Fire: Chronicles Of The F-ranked Anomaly-Chapter 52: Trials Of Fire Part 4- Claws Vs Steel

{Notice! Mutation Complete- Foreign Mana Detected!}

"Lena..."

Darius held his head, trying his very best to cling to humanity and not lose himself to the powers of the mutation takeover.

Pryion stood there looking at the warrior, his reaction was that of pure disgust.

"There is no sign of man left in you, is there?" He raised his hand to deal one last blow to Darius. "I will rid this world of you!"

Gbam!

The knight’s sword struck the earth, but to his surprise, the blade struck nothing. Pryion looked around, but then he heard a growl from above.

He looked up to see Darius clinging there, his eyes bright red. The feral warrior lunged himself towards the knight, and Pryion readied the sword, trying to kill Darius.

{Wrym’s Roar Activated!}

Darius released a powerful roar. Due to the mutation, it was five times as powerful as his base roar. It pushed down the knight to his knees.

"Did this mortal push me down?" Pryion lifted himself and took a step back.

"Fire Dance!" The knight yelled as he slashed his sword towards Darius. Immediately, a strong wave of flames followed, and it connected to Darius.

The wave pushed the feral warrior back, crashing him into the walls.

"Le...na," Darius growled as he stepped out of the wall, his claws ready to strike Pryion, the once-determined eyes of the warrior slowly fading away and being replaced by a monstrous, cold, feral gaze.

"I see you are fighting it, but the salamandrian blood is in your body now, and you will fall soon enough!" The knight charged at the feral warrior, raising his blade once more.

Darius, keeping his cold gaze on the knight, charged for him too. His speed was faster than what Pryion expected. The knight lost sight of Darius. he paused, looking around to see if he would see him trying to do anything.

Clack!

Pryion felt something claw the back of his armor. He looked at it to see massive claw marks, and he knew what was happening.

He turned to face Darius, but with the speed and ferocity combined, there was nothing to predict.

Piece by piece, Darius took a piece of Pryion’s armor, leaving the knight enraged.

"Enough of this!" Pryion struck his blade to the ground, melting the ground beneath them. "Pool of Arion!"

A pool of lava formed scattering around the temple floor. Pryion wanted to use it to slow Darius down, but he discovered something.

The ground wasn’t what Darius was using, he looked up to see the warrior on the walls.

"Tsk! I see this is the true nature of man!" Pryion hurled fireballs at Darius, but the warrior dodged all of them. "When backed into a corner, you begin to think like rats! Afraid to do anything, but you cling to anything to be sure you will survive!"

Darius launched for the knight, and his claws connected with his armor again. He tore the front of the armor, pushing Pryion back.

The knight swung his blade, but Darius jumped and landed on the sword. Looking at the knight, he released another powerful attack.

{Dragonic Blast Activated!}

The attack managed to push Pryion down, separating him from Isakador. Darius reached for the blade. The moment his fingers brushed the hilt — agony. His skin ignited as if he’d touched the sun’s surface.

Darius let out a screeching roar filled with pain, he fell to the ground as the very force from the sword pushed him back.

"Foolish mortal! Only those blessed by Aeres can wield a blade forged in his likeness!" Pryion rushed for Darius, and his boot connected with the feral warrior’s chest, sending him away.

Darius crashed into the altar, breaking everything with his body.

"Just like the Salamandrains, I see you can’t feel pain." Pryion picked up Isakador, keeping his eyes on the warrior. "Stay down so I can end your suffering."

On the altar, Darius curled around, trying to shake something off.

He could hear voices in his head bring him back to humanity, but the feral part was pushing him away.

"If I come back, I will make sure we will go get ice cream."

The warrior pulled out strands of his hair as he let out a blood-curdling shriek.

"Le....na!" He called out as he struggled to get up, falling down each time.

Pryion charged for Darius in that state, he rasied his blade about to kill the warrior.

"Die vile Mortal!" He sent the blade down, trying to strike Darius down once and for all.

"Get away from me!" Darius stood up, letting out a powerful cry that pushed Pryion back; the shockwave from the cry shook the temple.

The knight was astonished; he didn’t expected the warrior to break free from the feral prison.

"You broke free from it? I thought the poison would consume you." He mocked, looking at the warrior. He walked close to him, dragging his blade as he walked closer. "I know you think that you are going to get somewhere with all this, but it will only lead to your downfall."

"Now it’s time for you to die, Aeres’s Spear!" Pryion yelled as he sent a thrust of flames for Darius.

The warrior looked up; the ferocity in his eyes had begun clearing up.

"I...said...leave me alone!" Darius let out another cry; this time, it was louder and had more power. It managed to push the flames back to Pryion.

The hit from the flames shakes Pryion down to his knees.

"This is the second time you have pushed me to my knees, mortal! I must say you have proven to be quite the opponent!" Pryion stood up, his gaze on Darius.

"Very well, I will face you in a form I never thought I would need against someone like you!" The knight took the blade and plunged it into his chest.

"Grant me passage, oh great Aeres, so I shall use thy power to take down those who insult your name!" Immediately, Pryion was covered in a ball of molten lava.

Darius, who was still struggling to stand, began breathing normally as his eyes cleared up. He fell to the floor and began throwing up black blood. His claws slowly sheathed, but not all the claws completely went away. The black bulging veins on his body are slowly fading away.

’Darius!’ Azree finally yelled.

"Az...ree?"

’You reckless bastard! Why on earth would you think eating that would help you?’

The warrior, still coughing up black ooze, sat up and looked at the ball of lava in front of him.

"Well, I managed to push him back."

’You fool! Your heart would have exploded if you didn’t snap back.’

Darius chuckled as he stood up. "So that is why you showed her to me? You showed me my sister Lena."

Azree was a bit quiet. ’It was the only thing I knew that would be strong enough to pull you back before you would die from that form.’

The warrior smiled; he looked up to the ceiling. "Thank you, Azree. You brought me back. It felt like I was drowning in a bottomless lake."

’Save your appreciation; the fight isn’t over yet! Thanks to that form, most of your fatal wounds were healed, but it took quite a toll on your mana. So as soon as the knight breaks free from that, take him down with all you’ve got.’

Darius looked up, his eyes on Pryion. He smiled as he took his stance.

"Alright, let’s take down the ugly fire man!"