Aaron had broken two ribs before he could even blink, the monster resembling a man slamming his fists into his chest.
Upon seeing the blond boy enter the cavern, the seal had noticed a presence so powerful that it prepared to expend all its power to destroy its attacker.
Yet, when it realized that such a threat was simply the combination of two auras, that of a sword and that of an egg, it relaxed, instead forcing its puppet into combat.
Augustus Twynam, the Mad Arsonist, would've seen the boy as puny; therefore, his false form imbued with a copy of his soul did the same.
Disregarding his sword, the illusory man hounded the boy while Cauron Thorn attempted to slit its throat with bolts of sharp mana.
He did not care, though, as his hands dove through the seal's protection and into the lava, collecting a clump of it that he rapidly spewed outward.
Each burst of molten rock collided with the Sea King's spells, shattering them mid-air as he continued to assault the boy.
Targeting the biggest threat in the room was a given, the one bearing a similar presence to that of a certain man, making the core prioritize the child.
This left the three standing members of the Seven Head Order to tend to Esme Blair, who was bleeding out on the other end of the room.
They could not interfere with the fight, for if they did, they would become a target of one of the Sea Kings alongside a false being close to them in strength.
Each strike that the illusion landed on Aaron made the boy's heart spasm, his pain receptors firing at their maximum capacity to warn him of the next blow that he was helpless to defend against.
Regardless of such a thing, he was still conscious and able to fight; he activated his Mana Vision with a quick tap, the marvelous strings of mana tugging at the figure's corpse coming into view.
As a glorified puppet, he could detect a slight variation in its movements before they happened, the nanosecond delay allowing him to dodge a singular punch.
Slamming his right palm into the incoming strike, he maneuvered his left arm around his waist and summoned the sword that had been knocked out of his hands back to his grip.
Shaping it in the form of a shortsword and slashing around his body in an upward arc, he felt the edge connect with the figure, the illusory flesh it wore, tearing like anything else would.
RIIIIIIP!
For a moment, there was a flicker of red that erupted out of Augustus Twynam's form, his body stumbling backwards.
But as Aaron prepared to strike at its neck to sever it from its body, he was overwhelmed without delay.
Faster than he could blink, the man grabbed the boy's left wrist, ripping it off as if it were loose cloth to be thrown away.
As it soared through the air, Ocean's Bane clattered out, falling straight into the magma, where it sank quickly.
Penelope's voice went silent, the boy frozen in shock as he stared at his missing left hand that was bursting with blood.
"MOVE!"
Cauron's hammer fired a bolt of water at the motionless boy, his body flying across the room and slamming into the wall as the illusion punched outward with enough force to thrust through his chest.
The turquoise-eyed boy crumbled to the floor in a lump after falling from the wall, his consciousness waning as he heard the clash of a King.
The Immortals orange hair waved wildly as he attempted a backfist, the false figure's hand parrying it and thrusting a knee into his ribs while knocking his hammer away.
Leaping backwards before it could impact him, Cauron watched as the illusion vanished, and then reappeared while sprinting straight forward, its left arm winding back to strike.
Digging his feet into the ashy soil, Cauron swung a hook at where he predicted the man to be, but his fist collided with nothing.
Before he could stop himself, Augustus appeared within the arc of his punch, his fist striking three shallow blows into the Sea King's chest.
Grinding his teeth together, the orange-eyed man shouted at the top of his lungs, the sheer force of his command echoing through the cavern.
『Evolution』
His glasses pulsated with Divine Interference, the entire chamber shaking as his opponent stared up at the intense ball of crackling orange lightning above his head.
BOOM!
It discharged downward, colliding with the puppet's form, sending it spiraling backwards in a flurry of muscle spasms.
Its illusory form became physical, skin fell off, only to regrow with scales a moment later, its eyes rolling back in its head with rot growing on the sockets.
Particles resembling blood exploded from Twynam's orifices, his entire body not simply changing, but evolving.
Not wasting a second, Cauron rushed forward, kicking the ball of his foot into the illusion's chest, sending it spiraling backwards.
CRACK! BOOM! KRKK!
Each rock he hit shattered into pieces, the droplets of stone falling into the magma where they became lily pads of short-lived land.
Ending its barrage backwards, Augustus dug his feet into one of the floating boulders, his eyes focused on the threat in front of him.
The Sea King felt it too, a slight shift in how the seal was reacting at that moment, a bolt of realization shooting through his body.
『Genesis』
Shouting out the words, he watched as the monstrous human leaped across the stones as if they were weightless, the sheer speed exhibited making his illusory form split into copies of itself.
They spun around the orange-haired man faster than he could comprehend, a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead.
Within his palm, a bolt of crimson lightning crackled, ready to be unleashed on the real copy of the man.
Narrowing his eyes, he thrusted his hand outward, firing the earlier spell he had readied at as many clones as he could.
Arching lightning spiraled out in a spiderweb of electrical death, the varied and numerous forms of Twynam immediately evaporating into nothingness.
Noticing none of them reacting differently, he braced himself for a counterattack by the real body; however, such a strike never came.
Scanning the entire chamber within only a second, he felt nothing, not a single fragment of the man's presence.
He's gone…
Taking short, repetitive breaths, he did not lower his guard for even a moment, his century of battle experience warning him of a trick.
Grimstall's aura is gone, with him likely dead or passed out. The members of the Seven Head Order are watching my every move while they tend to that girl who was trying to break the seal.
Resummoning his hammer to his hand, he conjured a new barrier around himself with a mana density that would take at least two seconds to break.
Could it be waiting for me to drop my guard? Has it planned to use the magma buried in this chamber to start a reaction to reignite the decayed volcano? Could it…
Cauron Thorn continued to contemplate every single possibility with the utmost extent of his brainpower, the Divine Interference from his glasses seeping into his mind, allowing him to run simulations of each scenario.
Slowly, a scowl dawned across his face, his hammer increasing in size and then being dug deep into the ashy soil.
After that, a spell erupted faster than one's eye could see.
『Eden』
There was a flash of light at the tip of his tool, a strong gust of wind echoing like the whispers of the dead through the lava tubes.
Fwooooooosh…
Bright, lush green grass erupted from beneath his feet, eating away at the destroyed soil and refurbishing it with health, beautiful terrain.
It did not stop there, however, the bright lava dimming as a layer of water fell atop its surface, only prevented from making contact due to the seal's barrier around it.
Closing his eyes, the orange-haired man broke the hastily crafted shield around himself and began muttering in an unknown language under his breath.
A minute passed, then two, and finally, after ten whole minutes of silent muttering alongside no attacks, he threw his metallic hammer straight at the seal in the center of the room, the wind bending around the oddly shaped object.
Sparks burst from its surface, runes lighting up like miniature explosions with bursts of colorful lightning wrapping around its grip.
Only when it was about to strike straight through the impenetrable seal did it cease all motion, its frame now impaling the figure of Augustus Twynam.
Predictable as always.
His plan had worked; the illusory creature was now once again visible without even having to lower his guard and fall into its trap.
Predicting that it would be forced to act upon the direct threat to the seal, he prepared to attack the magical chains head-on; however, if he were to destroy it, then he would fall straight into the Seven Head Order's hands.
Therefore, for ten minutes straight, he applied simple force reduction charms upon his hammer, where, even if he placed all his might into one attack, it would feel as if a child had poked you.
Of course, with the right illusory magic and flashy showmanship wrapped around it, he could fool a false recreation of the once brilliant man.
It's only replicated the skills, not the exact mind of Twynam. That means that it will lack the functioning processes to fight in a thought-based battle.
A smile crept up to the corners of his lips; the sight of a pitch-black marking bleeding onto the illusion's form invigorated the King.
So you've finally decided to activate it.
He paused, taking a heavy breath and readying himself for what was to come.
The Emblem of Nyx would be quite a hassle to face head-on…
Even with the thought coursing through his mind, he didn't flinch, his smile never wavering for even a moment.
That is, if you were unaware of what to avoid.