Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] Chapter 204: Book 3: Chapter 55: Royal Defeat

Read chapter 204 of Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] by TTReynolds on NovelPedia.

Book 3: Chapter 55: Royal Defeat Chapter 55: Royal Defeat The chamber shuddered with every exchange, the walls trembling as if the mountain itself feared the clash of the two entities contained within it. Alex pressed forward, [Flare] igniting along his fists like burning meteors. He slammed one strike into the Queen’s thigh, detonating a burst of compressed aether like a grenade going off point-blank. The explosion lit the cavern in harsh white-blue light, but when the smoke cleared, her carapace was scorched, nothing more. Her counter came quickly. A backhanded swipe of her claw caught his chest, sending Alex spinning through the air. He hit the stone hard enough to crack it, air ripping from his lungs. He forced himself back up, lips curling in a bloody grin. Again. A gesture of his hand and [Wind Lance]s screamed through the air, energy compressed into surgical-thin needles. They darted from three directions, spiraling at her like a murder of spectral birds. The Queen spun, hard chitin flashing and deflecting two of the missiles, only for the third to graze her cheek. A thin line of blood ran down her jaw. For the first time, she snarled angrily. Alex didn’t give her time to do any more than that. He shifted, his feet sliding into the brutal angles of the Demon Asura’s second stance. His aura suddenly grew harsher, azure horns growing darker above his brow as he drove ahead. His fists blurred in rapid jabs, then switched seamlessly into bone-shattering hooks, then melted back into evasive pivots. His movements teetered between light and heavy, fast and crushing, a storm without rhythm. Every strike he landed hissed with the acrid energy of [Burning Strike] and painted her in his [Wyrm-Heart] blood, creating caustic bubbles that crawled across the Queen’s carapace. Every clash siphoned just a fraction of her vast vitality into him, [Wrath Siphon] drinking greedily and fueling his fury. But she was faster. Always faster. A taloned leg whipped up into his guard, sending cracks spidering through his bones. He stumbled. Her mandibles snapped shut inches from his throat, only his desperate roll saved him. A hammer-blow kick caught him as he rose, driving him into the cavern wall like a nail. Stone split around his body with dust choking the air. She stood in the dusty haze in front of him, smiling with venomous delight. “You fight as if pain is your lover, little toy. Good. It means you’ll last longer before I break you.” Blood streamed down Alex’s face, his body was already screaming, begging for him to stop the madness. But the fire in his chest only grew hotter. He spat red into the dirt, lifted his fists again, and charged. The blue-black aura around him writhed, threads of it twisting like smoke into the harsh silhouette of wings behind him. His veins glowed faintly, pumping with molten fury as his skill sprung to life. [Asura Bloodwrath] activated once more. A surge of strength tore through his muscles, raw power stitching over shattered bones and forcing his body to greater heights. He staggered one step, then blurred forward with movements that were heavier, hungrier. His fists crashed against the Queen’s body with enough force to rattle her armored frame, shockwaves bursting out with every strike. The Queen tilted her head, mandibles twitching. Is she still merely amused? He thought. “You think to grow stronger from the edge of death? Foolish little morsel…” She parried his next blow with a sweep of her claw, splattering droplets of crimson across her body. The blood hissed on contact. Steam curled from her carapace where it landed, the toxic trace of his Wyrm-heart constitution—now boosted with his [Bloodwrath] skill—finally burning through the hardened shell. Her expression grew more taught at the reaction. The amusement in her expression slipped just a fraction. He grinned, eyes wild. “Yeah… hurts, doesn’t it?” The Queen answered his question with violence. Her claw blurred, smashing him across the chamber. He tumble