Boom.
Tharvonis concentrated all of his physical strength into his legs before propelling himself backward with his full might, and the earth instantly sank under the terrifying power contained within his small legs, a crater spanning hundreds of meters forming from this casual exertion of strength.
The moment the Varnari warrior left the ground he immediately flew backward as he attempted to put as much distance as possible between himself and Mikael, trying to gain the time he needed to heal and return to his 'peak condition'.
He wouldn't truly return to his peak, because he understood that to heal from Mikael's Sword Intent–infused injuries he would need an enormous amount of Qi, yet even with such heavy depletion his battle power would still rise sharply, bringing him close to his Peak.
And this was certainly far, far stronger compared to his current state where he was nothing more than a golden skeleton and, consequently, was far weaker than he had been before surviving Mikael's continent-sinking sword strike, back when he still possessed his full physical body.
'Not on my watch!' inwardly murmured Mikael the next moment, nearly instantly understanding what Tharvonis's goal was, which caused him to erupt with a full-power Purple Lighting Mode – Couldbreaking Stride, allowing him to cut through the sky as he rapidly closed the distance separating him from the Varnari.
Clash! Clank, shaak, boom.
With Mikael's currently far superior speed, the distance Tharvonis had previously gained didn't mean much, and quickly enough he reached him before both warriors once more engaged in close combat.
Boom, clash, boom.
As they fought, what was notable was that they were constantly moving while exchanging blows; it wasn't something they focused on, yet it was inevitable that each strike and counterstrike shifted their position through the Realm of Broken Skies, and currently… currently both of them were heading in the same direction from which Lian'er had originally arrived…
Clank!
'This… guy is acting like a fucking turtle!' inwardly cursed Mikael a dozen seconds after catching up with the fleeing Tharvonis, his irritation fueled by the Varnari's current 'fighting' style.
The Varnari genius had entirely forfeited offense, adopting a 100% defensive style; he didn't even try to attack Mikael, no matter how good the opportunity nor how wide the flaws Mikael showed, as Tharvonis simply didn't care and focused fully on defending and healing from his previous injuries, and the worst—
The worst part was that it was working!
After all, while Mikael was currently stronger thanks to Tharvonis's injuries, the difference wasn't overwhelming, especially considering that Tharvonis had originally been stronger, so with the Varnari giving his all to defending himself while entirely forfeiting offense, Mikael was hard-pressed to inflict any real damage.
Because of that, Tharvonis was healing faster than Mikael was damaging him, allowing him to gradually reverse the earlier trend!
Of course, Mikael, as an experienced fighter, knew better than to let the enemy plan succeed, and consequently he intensified his offense onto the Varnari, using all of his Cultivation Techniques and abilities to the maximum of his capabilities, dramatically amplifying the pressure onto Tharvonis!
The proof that he was serious about his offense was that he was even using Ferocity Art Mark III, the Stage 1 working passively in the background because of the wounds and injuries he was suffering from, these coming in the form of his missing left arm and… the 'nice little spear' in his stomach!
Ferocity Art Mark III – Stage 2
Claaang, vwooom, vrrrraaaaa.
And the Stage 2 came in the form of rare bursts of his burning red vitality that he used to amplify himself at critical moments, trying to take Tharvonis by surprise and regain the upper hand in the damage-versus-healing ratio but, unfortunately—
It wasn't enough!
Purple Lighting Mode – Moonpiercer Sword Art – First Movement: Lunar Shadow Slash
Purple Lighting Mode – Moonpiercer Sword Art – Fourth Movement: Nightfall Piercer
Flashes of purple mixed with silver Qi clashing against Tharvonis's defenses illuminated the sky, but even as Mikael amplified the pressure onto the Varnari warrior, each time it looked like he would finally succeed in delivering a strike that truly mattered, Tharvonis would either evade or counter in a way that kept him one step ahead, healing faster than Mikael could damage him.
After a while of this high-intensity battle, Mikael came to a painful realization, 'Sigh, I should stop using the Stage 2, it's clear by now that I won't succeed in killing him this way, it's better to do as originally planned and turn this into a war of attrition!'
The moment Mikael had this realization, the way both warriors clashed high in the sky 'suffered' a great change, as the human warrior stopped being as 'aggressive' and instead began to be more careful in preserving his 'resources' and not tiring himself.
Obviously, this didn't mean he stopped attacking Tharvonis, as doing so when he currently had the advantage would have been extremely stupid—he was simply more careful and stopped using Ferocity Art Mark III – Stage 2!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sky trembled with each impact as both combatants continued their furious exchange, Purple Lighting mixed with Silver Lunar Qi tearing through the heavens as it crashed against waves of golden-brown Qi erupting from Tharvonis's skeletal frame.
Krrrshhh! Claaang!
Sparks of Qi and drops of blood and fragments of flesh scattered like bloody stars as sword and daggers collided again and again, Tharvonis's body slowly but surely healing and regenerating as organs and muscles began to cover his golden skeleton.
Sangrelia carved dazzling arcs across the air, every strike layered with Sword Intent sharp enough to carve millennial mountains in two, yet Tharvonis met them all with his Varnari Martial Arts—Titanbone Combat Form—alongside his potent regeneration and his terrifyingly strong physical body.
Ksshhraak, Shliiik, Slasssh.
Fragments of broken bones, pieces of organs, and flesh flew around as Sangrelia cut into Tharvonis while both warriors clashed, their confrontation unleashing terrifyingly potent waves of energy and shockwaves that spread outward and affected their surroundings for numerous miles.
The power released by their clashes was so dreadful that the only reason they weren't causing a massacre was because there was nothing to massacre—thanks to the Realm of Broken Skies being as desolate as it was…
And it was in this way, amidst horrifying shockwaves and immense distances crossed, that minutes slowly but surely passed, with Tharvonis's condition growing better and better—Mikael's attacks slowed his healing but ultimately couldn't stop the inevitable, and finally his organs fully regenerated, leaving him in a gory mix of golden skeleton and bloody organs.
The instant his organs fully regenerated, Tharvonis's battle prowess saw a clearly noticeable increase, making Mikael damaging him when he was entirely defending even more difficult!
But starting from there, things only got worse, as afterward—after the organs—it was the turn of muscles and tendons, which gave Tharvonis an even larger boost compared to earlier, bringing him to a point where, for Mikael, damaging him was nearly impossible as long as the Varnari stayed fully focused on defending himself.
And afterward… afterward it was then the turn of the skin and the rest.
Within less than 10 minutes since Tharvonis began this 'defensive strategy,' where he gave his all to defend himself so that he could heal, he passed from the state of an extremely damaged golden skeleton to a now 'fully healed' Tharvonis!
He was nearly indistinguishable compared to before surviving Mikael's all-out attack—hell, he even had his clothes back!
He had done so by taking advantage of a small window of free time he had fought for, after having landed an attack on Mikael which pushed him back long enough for Tharvonis to teleport clothes from his storage ring onto himself.
The once more handsome Tharvonis, taking advantage of this small period of respite, gave a small apologetic glance at Mikael, "Sorry for the… unpleasant display and fighting experience but—" sincerely apologized Tharvonis before a wild and fierce glint appeared in his eyes as he continued, "I promise you, Sar'khaen, that starting from now things will get far more… interesting!"
BOOM!
Leaving a sonic boom in his wake, Tharvonis—for the first time in nearly 10 minutes—stopped defending and threw himself at Mikael as he finally began to attack once more!
Swiiish, slash.
He stopped using the daggers from earlier and switched to a massive halberd, each of its movements stirring the wind for hundreds of meters and carrying enough power to shatter mountains.
Claagg, clash, boom!
Mikael's answer to these powerful halberd strikes came in the form of sword moves, using Sangrelia's terrifyingly sharp and powerful blade to deliver strikes and slashes of equal might.
Both weapons and their masters continuously clashed high in the sky, and as they fought they kept inadvertently moving in the same direction as earlier, carried along by the sheer momentum of their confrontation.
This battle dragged on for tens of minutes as the two warriors tore across vast distances, their clashes shaking heaven and earth!
The conflict continued with Mikael accumulating injuries that healed at an almost laughingly slow pace compared to Tharvonis, who—even after tens of minutes of intense battle—remained in a 'pristine' state, though it was certain that his Qi reserves were far from the state his appearance would lead one to believe…
This situation continued on with both warriors moving through the desolate landscape of the Realm of Broken Skies, a place that hadn't changed an iota since they first entered the Secret Realm, remaining as barren and lifeless as ever, or…
At least that was the case until now!
BOOM!
After yet another clash that hurled them through the sky once again, both warriors suddenly caught sight of something that stood out in the desolate landscape.
Right in their path, there it was—an enormous structure, hundreds of meters high and wide, shaped like a hollow ring whose upper half pierced the sky itself. Its surface was made of an unfamiliar dark-grey metal, weathered and cracked, with long inert runic lines stretching across it like the dried veins of a once-living creature.
Chunks of the outer frame were missing, eaten away by time or violence, leaving jagged gaps that revealed the hollow interior of the construct. Faint traces of ancient spatial power clung to the ring, thin and brittle, like dying embers refusing to vanish completely, and even in its ruined state a strange oppressive aura leaked from it, suggesting that at its peak this structure had torn open pathways through 'worlds'.
Now it stood silent—abandoned, broken, and forgotten, nothing more than a relic of an older era.
Clang, clash, swisssh.
Of course… neither Mikael nor Tharvonis cared beyond a casual glance, and both rapidly continued their unimaginably violent, skillful, and powerful clash high in the sky as they continued to coincidentally inch closer to the structure while fighting…
Booom, Booom, BOOM!
Within a couple of seconds Tharvonis and Mikael were now above the hollow ring structure as they battled, the sky trembling under the shockwaves born from the clash of these two powerhouses, and it wasn't only the sky that reacted; even the ancient structure below felt the impact.
As the residual power and drifting Qi reached the ancient monument, a part of it that had been inactive for untold ages stirred to life, completely unknown to the two warriors locked in combat.
Inside the structure, in a special 'room,' a section of the wall awakened as multiple complicated symbols and runes from a forgotten language suddenly materialized across its surface, shifting rapidly, and what these symbols would mean in a human language was something akin to—
[Dimensional Sequence: ONLINE]
[Charge Cycle Resumed]
Progress: 99.960% → 99.961% → 99.962% → …
As the shockwaves and Qi from the two warriors' clash reached the structure, it absorbed both and began to charge itself, the progress rapidly inching higher and higher with every passing moment as more energies were consumed.