CHAPTER 70 THE FULL POWER OF A TRANSCENDANT
Humphrey's instincts screamed, but it was too late.
BAM!!...
A Quill slammed into his stomach.
The force folded his body around the weapon.
Blood erupted from his mouth.
The impact launched him downward.
He crashed through a mountain, slamming with full force.
The earth split apart for miles.
Before Humphrey could recover,
Raymond appeared above him.
The second Quill descended.
BOOOOOOM!
Humphrey barely raised his Griffin Wings in time.
The defensive spirit weapon screamed under the pressure as cracks spread across the metallic feathers.
One wing fractured.
Several blade-like feathers shattered .
Humphrey roared in frustration and counterattacked.
His fist connected with Raymond's jaw.
A solid hit the strongest strike he had landed all battle.
Raymond's head turned slightly.
Only slightly.
Then Raymond looked back at him.
Calmly.
The realization struck Humphrey harder than any blow.
Raymond had been holding back.
Not completely, but enough.
Enough that the gap between them was still immense.
"How..."
Humphrey stuttered.
"H..how are you so strong. I'm a two star Transcendant, and you're only one star.
I'm supposed to be stronger"
Raymond grabbed Humphrey by the throat.
The surrounding air exploded.
Humphrey struggled.
The Griffin Wings lashed out, yet Raymond held him effortlessly, like an adult restraining a furious child.
The Quill began radiating terrifying energy.
The Porcupine spirit Beast behind Raymond glowed brighter.
Thousands of quills emerged from its back.
Every single one aimed at Humphrey.
His Griffin Wings trembled.
Not from fear, from damage.
The once-pristine metallic feathers were cracked and broken.
Humphrey's breathing became ragged.
His body was battered.
His spirit energy nearly depleted.
Yet the fire in his eyes refused to die.
Raymond noticed it.
Because even after all this, even while being utterly dominated, Humphrey still looked ready to fight.
Still refused to surrender.
"If you won't show everything you got, I guess I'll have to push you to the max"
Sir Raymond said, darkly.
The battlefield fell silent.
The two warriors stared at one another.
One standing at the peak of power.
The other battered, wounded, and pushed to his limits.
And yet somehow...
The battle was not over.
Raymond's grip tightened around Humphrey's throat.
The Porcupine glowed behind him, thousands of dangerous quills ready to strike.
The battle should have been over.
Humphrey's body was broken.
His spirit energy was nearly exhausted.
His Griffin Wings were cracked and damaged.
By all logic...He should have fallen.
Yet he didn't.
"I... will.... KILL YOU!!..."
Then, Raymond felt it first.
A strange pulse.
Then another and another
Like the heartbeat of an ancient beast awakening from a deep slumber.
THUMP....
THUMP...
THUMP.....
The battlefield trembled.
Raymond slowly let out a smirk.
"Finally.."
Humphrey's body suddenly stopped struggling.
His head hung low.
His eyes hidden beneath blood-soaked hair.
Then...
A smile appeared.
Not a human smile.
Something far more primal.
Something savage.
A violent blue light exploded from his body.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
Raymond was forced backward.
He skidded across the ruined earth, his boots creating a long drift.
The blue light intensified.
The sky darkened and the clouds began spiraling around a single point.
Humphrey floated upward.
His body convulsed as his bones cracked, reshaping. Muscles expanded.
His shattered frame began rebuilding itself....Larger.....Stronger...
More monstrous...
The Griffin Wings erupted with renewed brilliance. The damaged feathers regenerated instantly, then they grew.
And grew..... And grew.
Each wing expanded to colossal proportions forming a hurricane with every movement.
Humphrey threw his head back and let out a deafening roar like scream.
RAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGHHHHH!!
The roar shook the heavens.
His body rapidly transformed. Muscles bulged beneath his skin. His height increased dramatically and arms thickened with immense strength.
Silver-blue feathers erupted across parts of his body. His fingers became massive talons.
His legs transformed into powerful griffin-like limbs capable of tearing through mountains.
His face elongated and a sharp golden beak formed. Predatory eyes glowed with divine blue light.
The transformation continued.
Half man...Half griffin.
A transcendent hybrid.
This was it.. this was what it means to be Transcendant
The very embodiment and fusion of the Spirit Beast.. Becoming one.
The heavens themselves seemed to recoil.
Lightning struck endlessly around his towering figure.
The pressure descending from his body crushed the remains of distant mountains.
Even Raymond's yellow aura flickered.
But still, he laughed. A very wild laughter.
"Took you long enough!!! You really are amazing Humphrey!!!"
Humphrey let out a chilling growl, then, he slowly opened his new eyes.
The eyes of a predator....
The eyes of a king of the skies....
The eyes of a being that had stepped beyond its previous limits....
The eyes of a Transcendent.
The air exploded.
A shockwave flattened everything for miles.
Raymond stared.
Not with fear.
But with an excitement that knew no bounds.
At last.
The battle had become entertaining again, so much more.
Humphrey spread his colossal wings.
The sky vanished beneath their shadow.
Every feather radiated enough energy to rival powerful foes.
His talons gouged deep scars into the earth merely by touching it. His beak opened slightly.
"You..."
The voice echoed like thunder.
"... I'll KILL YOU!!.."
"Then kill me already!!"
Blue lightning erupted across the battlefield.
The oceans hundreds of miles away churned violently.
The clouds swirled around Humphrey like servants gathering around their king.
Raymond slowly lifted both Quills.
His yellow aura surged, but not only that, his arms bulged, expanding with more muscle mass as multiple sharp quills grew, starting from his fingers, all the way to his elbows.
It was a partial transformation. Sir Raymond had decided to draw out more power for this particular battle.
The Porcupine roared behind him as thousands upon thousands of deadly quills rose into the air.
The battlefield was once again divided.
Blue and yellow waves.
Humphrey's new form had increased his power enormously.
The difference was undeniable.
But as Raymond looked upon the towering hybrid warrior before him...
The grin refused to disappear from his face.
Because despite Humphrey's transcendence...
Despite the monstrous power now flowing through him...
Raymond could still feel it.
He knew it..
The gap remained in power remained
And Raymond had yet to reveal the true depth of his own power.
The battlefield no longer resembled a battlefield.
It looked like the aftermath of an apocalypse.
The earth was shattered beyond recognition.
Entire mountain ranges and forest had vanished.
The sky was scarred with cracks of lingering spirit energy.
And at the center of it all stood two titans.
Humphrey's Transcendent Form radiated unimaginable power.
Every beat of his wings generated hurricanes.
Every step shook the earth.
The transformation had elevated him beyond anything he had previously imagined.
Yet Raymond still stood before him,
unbroken and unconquered.
Humphrey roared.
The sound shook the heavens.
Then he charged.
BOOOOOOOM!
The earth exploded beneath his feet.
His speed surpassed anything he had displayed before.
A massive talon descended toward Raymond.
Raymond blocked.
The impact shattered the surrounding landscape.
Humphrey attacked again.
And again...
And again...
A relentless barrage...
Every strike capable of annihilating armies.
For the first time in the battle, Raymond was pushed onto the defensive.
The Quills flashed repeatedly.
Yellow and blue shockwaves tore through the sky.
The battle raged for hours.
Neither warrior retreated.
Neither warrior yielded.
But slowly...
The balance began to shift.
Not toward Humphrey, but Raymond
Humphrey may be a two star Transcendant with years and years of battle experience, but Raymond was way more older than he looks.
Raymond had built his power over decades of conquest and warfare.
His movements became sharper.
More efficient...More precise.
He began reading Humphrey's attacks.
Predicting them, countering them.
Humphrey noticed.
And panic crept into his heart.
The impossible was happening.
Even now... Even after transforming...
Raymond was adapting.
CLANG!
A Quill pierced one wing.
Humphrey roared.
CRASH!
Another strike shattered several feathers.
BOOM!
A kick from Raymond sent the gigantic hybrid crashing through the remains of a mountain range.
Humphrey rose immediately. Blood pouring from countless wounds.
His breathing heavy. His body exhausted.
Yet he still charged. Still fought. Still refused to surrender.
Because surrender would mean his family, his clan, all died in vain.
Because surrender would mean Raymond won.
Again, Humphrey unleashed everything.
Every remaining drop of spirit energy.
The sky turned blue.
Lightning descended endlessly.
His roar shook the world.
Humphrey gathered every ounce of power into a single attack.
One final strike. One final chance.
One final expression of his hatred.
"RAAAAYYYYYMMOOONNNDDD!!"
He descended...
The heavens cracked.
The oceans raged.
The world trembled.
Raymond stood motionless. Watching, waiting...
Then...
He released more power.
Humphrey had suffered enough. It was time to finally put him down.
The yellow aura around him exploded.
Upward.
A pillar of yellow light pierced the skies.
The clouds vanished. The darkness disappeared.
The battlefield was illuminated as though a second sun had been formed.
The Porcupine behind him vibrated.
Its size multiplied. Its countless quills blazed like stars.
Raymond raised his spirit weapon.
The weapons glowed with intense brilliance.
The air itself split apart around them.
And then he moved.
One step. One strike.
Nothing flashy....
Just absolute power....
His spirit weapon crossed.
A golden slash erupted forward.
The attack split Humphrey's ultimate technique in half.
The blue storm collapsed.
The lightning vanished.
And before Humphrey could react..
The golden slash struck him directly...
And everything went silent.
The world became still.
Humphrey froze.
His eyes widened.
The Transcendent Form began to crack.
Blue light leaked from the fractures.
Blood poured out.
Humphrey looked down. The power sustaining his transformation was gone.
He was...Defeated.
At last, his colossal body shrank. The feathers disappeared. The talons receded. The beak dissolved.
Until only Humphrey remained.
A battered warrior standing amidst the ruins.
Raymond lowered his weapons.
Neither man spoke.
The wind swept across the broken battlefield.
Humphrey stared at the sky.
Memories filled his mind.
His family.
His clan gathering around a feast.
The home he had lost. The people he had failed to avenge.
A bitter smile appeared on his face.
"I wasn't strong enough..."
Raymond remained silent.
For all his cruelty.
Even he could not mock a warrior who had fought until the very end.
Humphrey's knees gave way.
He collapsed onto the shattered earth.
The blue light faded from his eyes.
The battlefield fell silent.
The storm dispersed and the winds calmed.
And for the first time since the duel began...
There was peace.
Raymond stood alone.
Victorious.
His body was covered in wounds, but a particular would stretch from his wrist to his arms.
Yet, he wore it with pride.
His spirit energy heavily depleted.
Yet he remained standing.
The sole survivor of a battle that had shaken the world.
Humphrey had surpassed his limits.
But in the end...
Raymond was simply stronger.
"I'll have to admit, that was a battle worth remembering in years to come.
You fought with, Humphrey of Rival Clan."
Raymond acknowledged.
And from afar, the dark sky split. A new day had emerged, it was dawn.
"Ohh, I going to be late for my class"
TBC