Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

Chapter 257: CCLVII. Damage Mitigation

During the moments of pause before the match, Reidar looked at Sivert, noting that his mocking smile had not disappeared from his face and fearing that he might hide something. 

"Let the fight begin!" yelled Sander, returning to the stairs next to Kjell and allowing the crowd to unleash freely from the stands.

As soon as he kicked off, Ellen placed the tip of the spear in the terrain in front of her and smeared it on the ground forming a semi-circle and raising a considerable amount of dust, which forced Dag to retreat, to see her opponent's movements.

Predictably, Ellen sprang out of the dust cloud at great speed, waving the spear toward Dag, who parried the blow by crossing the two axes in front of his face and pushing them backwards.

"Dag is using the same technique he used against Taya. Waiting motionless for the enemy's attacks, and then counterattack when fatigue takes over" Gridd said to Karl, who was watching in silence.

Ellen tried a side shot, followed by a lunge and then a kick, but none of her blows got a hit, and when Dag dodged the kick, he tried to hit the Shieldmaiden's calf with a low kick, trying to knock her to the ground.

But when Dag's foot touched Ellen's leg, he noticed that her lower limbs were as sturdy as two huge wooden beams and didn't move even an inch. 

Benefiting from the seconds of advantage, Ellen spun on herself and hit Dag with the back of her fist right on his face, causing him to spit blood on the ground.

The crowd screamed even louder as Dag wiped his mouth, thinking that although his powers had grown incredibly, his fighting style still needed to improve.

Caught nervously that he had been hit, Dag tried to hit his opponent with one axe, but she raised her arm and bent it, parrying the blow, as if she was using a shield, and surprising Dag, who was expecting a dodge.

The flattened blade of the wooden axe stopped against Ellen's muscular arm, on whose skin appeared small waves, which followed the energy released by the blow, that spread along the arm, the shoulders, and chest, reaching the other arm, holding the spear. 

Ellen quickly waved her weapon and hit Dag, who once again parried the spear blow, but it was so strong that it lifted him from the ground and sent him flying backwards for several meters.

"What?!" yelled Gridd, who could not believe that his brother was about to lose the fight.

With his eyes wide open and in a panic, seeing the ground getting closer and closer, Dag was forced to use his powers to escape defeat. 

A beam of dark liquid quickly came out of his chest and hit the ground, stopping him in mid-air and causing him to fall back to his feet, then re-entering his body.

Silence fell in the arena and everyone looked at Dag, not understanding what he had just done.

After a few moments, people began to scream again, stunned by those unknown powers

"What the fuck was that?! What are you, Dag?!" asked Ellen, who stepped back, frightened.

"If you had been on Vaeren Island with us, you probably wouldn't have challenged me... didn't you wonder why your colleague, Master Kjell, despite his famous fighting abilities, preferred to leave the Warchief title to me?" replied Dag, confident, trying to intimidate his opponent, who stood still for a few moments, failing to figure out what was the best tactic to use against him.

"Don't say nonsense... are you implying that Kjell was afraid of you? You're pathetic!" replied Ellen, charging back at him and trying to hit him with a powerful spear swing, which Dag deflected with the back of one of his axes. 

With a quick gesture, turning on himself, he positioned behind her and hit her with both axes on the back.

But she remained motionless: once again, after the impact, her body absorbed the energy in the form of small waves that spread down her back.

Before she could counterattack, Dag moved a few feet away, while the crowd screamed both her name and that of the Master Of Healing.

"You're very strong, I've never seen anyone use that skill" Dag exclaimed, smiling at Ellen, who kept looking at him with an angry expression.

"It's my unique skill... your attacks, however strong they are, will never penetrate my defenses!" she chuckled, raising her spear to the audience to gain their encouragement.

Dag recalled the words of Freydis, who when she described Ellen's fighting style, told him about that ability, the only flaw of which was to use a lot of energy.

"Yes, maybe it's true... but how long can you hold on?" asked Dag, bringing out his two arms of dark fluid, which skewered on the ground and gave him a push, causing him to dash at her as if they were two thrusters.

"Uhm?!" 

Ellen parried the unexpected blow with the spear, but it was so powerful, given the speed of Dag's shot, that the weapon bounced against her chest, which swayed, absorbing the kinetic energy. 

Continuing to use his two dark arms stuck on the ground, Dag moved around her at great speed, abruptly changing direction and hitting her from each side numerous times, while she did not have time to turn to him and predict the blows.

He knew that, probably, grabbing one of her ankles with his dark arm and pulling towards him, Ellen would fall to the ground and the fight would end, but he liked the crowd to shout his name and wanted to please them by offering them an unprecedented show.

In the meanwhile, near the altar, the old Sivert approached Sander and Kjell, whispering something in their ear. 

Gridd tried to eavesdrop: "You can't trust him, Masters... those powers... they are even feared by the Gods! The source of energy they draw from is older than anything on this planet... more powerful than any being, capable of manipulating an unknown matter, with incredible destructive power... I don't know how yet, but you have to kill the boy!"

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