Barakiel's knees gave out slightly from general exhaustion. A multitude of factors overlapped and took their toll on his entire well-being. If it hadn't been for years of experience, the fallen man would probably be unconscious by now.
Emeric held his father-in-law back slightly:
«Stand aside...
«But...
Barakiel was met with a look full of determination.
«I can handle it.
Barakiel nodded gravely and walked to the other end of the hall. He realized that he would probably not be able to offer anything in his condition, even with all his zeal.
And Emeric shifted his gaze to Vasco Strada walking toward him. Covered in dust from the collision with the thick walls, but practically intact. Bloodstains and bruises would have made the old man look even more battered by life, but it was the opposite. The old exorcist began to inspire even more respect in this slightly bruised state. It was as if his numerous injuries had long since become part of his true self, and his idle retirement had only made things worse.
Burning eyes and harnesses of muscle gained even more tone than before. Vasco stopped ten meters away, setting the distance. He clucked admiringly, keeping his hand on his chest.
«Not bad, young man! - Vasco even smiled slightly. It was obvious that the missed blow caused only positive feelings in the exorcist. - Familiar snakes, by the way! Did our "leader" decide to pay attention to the young talent? I approve!
Emeric hummed at the old man's enthusiasm.
«This "young talent" is burning with the desire to kick your ass and avenge your severed hand.....
«Oh-ho-ho... - Vasco postured up, ready for the tug. - Can you pull it?
«Let's see!....
In an instant, as if they had conspired, Emeric and Vasco rushed at each other in a deafening lunge. The twin shockwave and the chunks of rubble that broke off from the craters from the previous location gave the impression of two rockets pointing at each other.
Vasco raised his Durandal, intending to use it to its full potential to end this battle with a clean cut. Emeric's last hit had famously encouraged the hundred year old man, so he wasn't going to hold back any longer. The long years of inactivity had once turned into pure lust for battle. The consequences didn't matter, only the clash that would once again prove his place in the food chain.
At the same time, Emeric was taking on a tantrum of excitement and triumph. At last Wisdom had returned to the indicators of his battle with the Emperor! He had seen it all!....
... Vasco Strada, the strongest member of humanity. Physical readings unknown. Spiritual performance unknown. Durandal generates thousands plus percent efficiency. Non-embedded functions have been detected, brought on by Vasco Strada's will. The exorcist's attitude is "murderous"....!
What seems to have changed?! You couldn't read Vasco, and you still can't nowadays! It's clear why, even Wisdom wasn't sure of the capabilities of this abnormal representative of humanity! Granted, the Office wasn't even sure of his "abnormality"! She had, of course, said that Vasco could theoretically stand up to her for a while, but... A couple seconds counts too. No need to think it's negligible here, Emeric in a similar confrontation with the Dragon God wouldn't have those couple seconds! For Ophis, there's likely no difference between him and an ordinary ant!...!
But, the difference in the workings of Wisdom lay within! Now he could clearly perceive every detail of the world around him, knew every millimeter of his muscles and magical aura. Emeric realized that the absence of the usual hum of self-control was roiling his worldview and general well-being. Just a little more and he would have simply started to go insane.... But! Now Emeric Gremory is back! And he intends to win!
... Infinity Serpents, created by the will of the Dragon God of Infinity. The basic meaning is "unknown".....
Yes, he already knows that. Emeric apparently could not simply comprehend all the processes for "severing" his connection to his past incarnation. There was too much he didn't understand.
... The conductivity of any form of energy is "infinity" ....
A great feature of his new piano! Now, purely theoretically, Emeric could use all of his internal reserve in one go, instantly. Before, such a thing was not allowed by the "limitations" of the magical aura built into any living being. Well, as it turned out, except for the Dragon God of Infinity.
But this feature will not play a big role in the current confrontation. First of all, Emeric was betting that even all his magical powers would not be enough to finish Vasco Strada with one move. Imagine him spending all his strength on one move, and then Vasco mundanely blows his head off. Secondly, such a fight did not suit Emeric himself. After the first defeat, he is determined to fight a full-fledged tug-of-war! In this confrontation, he needs one particular function of his snake arm.
... Durability is "infinity" ...
Exactly! Up to this point, Vasco had had too much of an attacking advantage. I mean, with his Durandal, Vasco could cut things that shouldn't even be cut! No matter what defenses you put up, the old exorcist would just spit on it from on high. But now he's got something to counter it.
Emeric's right arm sprawled into a multitude of snakes, which took the form of some sort of shield, which he didn't fail to use, displaying directly in front of him.
The sharp blade of the Durandal, which Vasco held with both hands, went straight for the shield.
BOOM!
The kinetic blast caused even more mayhem, but...
Emeric steadied himself until Vasco's eyebrows rose in great surprise. This was something he hadn't seen in years.
«WHAT DO YOU THINK, OLD MAN?! - Emeric shouted in his face with excitement.
Slightly pulling the "shield" aside, Emeric swung his other arm with all his might. A myriad of spells such as acceleration, enhancement, and strength, just to keep from breaking his arm, formed in the form of numerous magical circles around his wrist. He hadn't forgotten his signature power of destruction, of course.
BOOM!
Another audible explosion announced the collision of Emeric's fist and Vasco's face. As if in slow motion, he saw the fist smack into his cheek, causing the old exorcist's head to topple back. Droplets of blood and sweat immediately rolled off following the head. And so did Vasco, who was hit in the face with a blow that could cause a small earthquake.
«Ha... Ha... Ha... - Emeric was breathing heavily, but gazed in pleasant surprise at the cloud of dust that had formed after Vasco's deafening fly into the wall. He himself had not expected the counterattack to be so successful, allowing him to prescribe such a clean and powerful strike to the exorcist.
«Oh-re-no... - Barakiel dropped his jaw to the floor when he saw the result of the brief confrontation. It was in Emeric's mind that everything took a long time to think about, to an outside viewer it all happened like a flash of light. A couple of deafening explosions and Emeric glared at the departing Vasco Strada. - Boy, you-- You beat Vasco Strada!
It was no wonder the fallen man thought of his unconditional victory. If a blow of that magnitude were to fly straight at him, he wouldn't fly away, he'd just be torn apart by a lot of little Barakiel. Well if that was in the cartoon, in reality it would be a lot of bloody scraps, although that's also exaggerated, but not by much. It's all about the power levels of specific strikes. For example, he can destroy a mountain with one hit, but that hit probably won't be able to kill another person who can do the same. If you want to take out a strong user with your punch, you have to go for "density" rather than "scale". That is, to be effective, the main damage must be "into the enemy". This is why the battles of the mighty do not in most cases reach the incredible scale that is implied. Only the residual consequences affect the environment, the rest falls on the addressee. Although, in some cases only "residual effects" can change the landscape of maps, so not everything is absolute, depends on the level of forces and approximate assortment of techniques.
Well, Emeric's blow was just unbelievably strong. Had it not been for the thick walls of the Temple, which still carried some of the power, Vasco Strada would have been buried several kilometers underground.
But...
«No... - Emeric began kneading his hand that had been struck. - It's far from over...
And indeed, as soon as he said that, the dust cloud was dispersed with a single swing of the holy sword. And Vasco Strada grinned and kneaded his jaw.
«I'd rather not hit, Emeric Gremory," Vasco used his full name this time, thus showing respect. - I've never been hit so... I've never been hit so hard! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!..... Ouch!....
Vasco stopped his laughter and put his fingers in his mouth to pull out the chipped tooth with painful-looking motions. Another pass and the jaw fell into place with a crunching sound and the tooth fell to the floor. His shoulders melted, and there before him stood the same whole Vasco Strada, only with a small bruise on his face.
«Tough nut," Emeric decided with a slightly nervous smile, summoning his snake shield again, except there was one catch. - What?
Several snake heads fell to the ground. It was now clear that Emeric had also come out of this exchange with much less but losses! And snakes should be infinitely durable! What a crazy old man!.....
«So," Vasco pointed Durandal right at him. - Round three?
Emeric didn't answer, but sent streams of snakes in his direction, which carried small balls of destruction power in their mouths. This time Vasco did not take the blow on his chest, roughly realizing that even he would not be able to calmly survive such a collision, so he began to dodge. The huge, clumsy even in some ways dimensions looked wild against Vasco's almost flying movements. He elegantly dodged a dozen snakes at a time, letting them pass near his body in a matter of millimeters, but it was not luck, but cold calculation.
«HA!!! - Vasco made a circular cut around himself with his sword, which caused a chain reaction of explosions as the snakes lost contact with Emeric.
The heads of many snakes, which should supposedly be indestructible, fell between them.
«This is bullshit. - That's what Emerick had to say about the whole thing. The arm was regenerating, but at a snail's pace. The only reason it had such a function at all was because of Office's reassurance that she suspected such an outcome in a battle with this law-breaking old man.
«Vera, Emeric... - Vasco grasped Durandal with both hands with a smile full of enthusiasm. - Just Vera...
***
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