Chapter 72: Broken Healing vs Grand Freeze (4)

Ebony saw the system in front of her and, trying to focus despite the intense pain, managed to read the message.

“Woman, how did you do that?! How… how dare you treat my power like some damn curse?!” Marcus roared in his bipedal wolf form.

“(This is dangerous, this girl uses her magic in a strange way, I’ve never met a healer like this… No wonder Visitors from another world are so dangerous for the Demon King)”, the wolf thought as he paced around the girl, uneasy.

The blonde, on the other hand, was more focused on her system than on any of her enemy’s complaints.

“(10 free points… Mmm… I could raise my endurance and vitality to hold out until those idiots finish off the goblins and then, together, we take this idiot down… Or… I raise my strength and use this new spell…)”

“(System, the new spell, show me its details)”

[- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -]

Gladly, player.

{{Life Magic X Warrior’s Art: Purifying Fire Fists}}

It is an Activation-type spell. These spells activate once and remain active, consuming your magical energy for every second they stay active.

Its main feature is the ability to generate purifying fire over your fists. This fire can purify any evil within your opponent’s body.

It is capable of purifying curses, poisonous energy, and status effects. To activate the technique, the command “Purify” is required.

[- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -]

“(Mmmm… I see)”, the blonde thought while the three-meter wolf kept ranting and arguing. He seemed to be provoking her, but it was useless since she wasn’t listening to a single word. She was only focused on her body in case he rushed her.

“(Alright, I’ve decided… System, put 5 points into Strength and 5 into Magic)”, Ebony thought, then looked at Marcus with a mocking smile and said, “Why are you hesitating so much, little wolf, scared?”

A small nervous twitch crossed the wolf’s eye and, furious, he lunged at the girl, ready to kill her despite his missing right hand.

[- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -]

Points have been assigned, congratulations, you have reached a new rank in Strength!

Stats:

– – Strength: (9 >> 14) {D >> C}

– – Magic: (4 >> 9) {E}

[- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -]

Ebony, now with that improvement, could see the wolf’s attack more clearly and, moving quickly, dodged his claws.

“Purify!” the blonde shouted.

{{Life Magic X Warrior’s Art:}}

{{Purifying F▮re Fist▞}}

At that moment, dark green fire appeared around both her fists, and she landed a direct punch to her enemy’s abdomen.

This time the strength was greater, as was the burning sensation left by the fire as it purified Marcus’s transformation.

He staggered back quickly, spitting blood from his wolf snout. “Damn bitch…” Despite his strength and speed, things had changed now.

“Come on, puppy, run back to your master! Or face me and meet your death!” Ebony shouted before charging again.

Blow after blow, with that purifying fire on her hands, even if the wolf defended himself, the flames still burned away at his transformation.

“(This woman is dangerous… To hell with the Demon King, I have to kill her or she’ll become a threat to my lord!)”

Marcus, without hesitating any longer, began his counterattack. Using his claws and fangs, he searched for any opening to tear into the girl’s flesh.

“Visitors like you disgust me! Now I see why the Demon King wants all of you dead! You only break the laws of nature, you’re an abomination!”

With a heavy blow, this time without using his claws, simply with a proper fighting stance, Marcus managed to send Ebony flying and push her away from him.

“Heh…” Ebony spat blood as she got back up from the ground. She couldn’t use her healing magic while her purification magic was active. “Abomination… What a lame insult… My mom used to say worse things, try harder, bitch!”

Running with a provocative smile, Ebony started laughing as she charged at the giant wolf again.

This time, more focused, he took a fighting stance, receiving each of the blonde girl’s attacks and deflecting their trajectory with his only intact arm.

But even with that defense, the greenish fire, with just a touch to his skin, kept wearing down his transformation. He only had ten minutes in that beast form to begin with, and that time was shrinking every second.

“(Shit, this bastard is way too tough! If my technique can burn through his transformation, why is it taking so long for him to turn back into a human…? My magic won’t last that long!)”, the blonde thought as she felt her magical reserves draining rapidly.

With a precise kick, Marcus repelled the blonde again, sending her rolling across the ground before she instantly got back up.

Both tried to keep up the pace, but even if exhaustion wouldn’t be what ended them, the acid rain that never stopped falling would.

Ebony’s clothes slowly tore apart and her skin showed signs of acid burns. This time, the damage was accumulating dangerously since she couldn’t heal.

“Can’t heal anymore? I see… Then you can die,” Marcus said as he noticed Ebony’s skin no longer regenerating like before. That was his chance.

“Hmm… You’re not doing much better with all those bald spots on your lapdog fur,” the blonde said, noticing the patches of missing fur on Marcus’s body where her fists had landed. His transformation wouldn’t last much longer.

“(I can’t waste time, it’s all or nothing!)” they both thought at the same time as their eyes met, filled with determination, and they decided to risk everything.

The wolf charged with all his rage, just like the blonde. When they were face to face, Marcus aimed at the girl’s heart with his claws pressed together like a spear filled with magic.

But Ebony had her own plan. With a sharp slide, she dodged the attack and slipped between the giant wolf’s legs, ending up behind him.

For the girl, the difference in close-combat technique was obvious. There was no way to win head-on.

Without hesitation, she lunged for his neck. She couldn’t wrap her arms fully around it since it was too thick, like the Frost Ape’s, but she wasn’t trying to strangle him.

“Now let’s see how much you can take, idiot! Purify!”

At that moment, the fire on her hands began spreading across Marcus’s body. The burning sensation made him scream, but even engulfed in flames, he managed to grab the girl’s arm and, with a violent pull, slammed her into the ground with all his strength.

Ebony spat blood on impact, and her fists stopped glowing with purifying fire. She had reached her limit.

Meanwhile, Marcus writhed on the ground as the fire went out and his skin returned to that of an aged human, no longer muscular, no longer strong from exhaustion, no longer filled with magic.

“Damn… You’re a damn…” Marcus muttered as he tried to move, until he saw a broken sword on the ground. He grabbed it with his thin, bony left hand.

He wouldn’t surrender until the girl was dead, but she was no different.

“Old man… Thanks for helping me grow… But it’s time for you to go to sleep and stop busting my balls!” Ebony shouted as she dragged herself across the ground to grab a rusty metal shield.

Both stood up, both too stubborn to die and too stubborn to let the other win.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep