After charging for a second, Kairos released the pulse spell.
A soft swish rang out before a loud thump.
Darren didn’t seem prepared for it, getting struck in the chest and launched backwards. However, the winds around him rapidly slowed his momentum.
Kairos’ spear whipped backward, intercepting Ines’ electrified claws. Yellow arcs of lightning erratically jumped out,
Kairos let himself be pushed forth, opting not to have a confrontation.
Though, Darren wasn’t just going to let him go. The winds picked up the various red nails lying on the ground, allowing Darren to easily pick them back up, now with several nails in between his fingers.
He threw a nail toward Kairos’ upper arm. This almost prompted Kairos to throw his body to the side, but he saw in his future vision that it had slightly shifted trajectory and went for his head.
And thus, Kairos tilted his head to the side, letting the nail fly past.
Darren seemed rather surprised but continued to throw the nails while the wind began bringing back the ones that were thrown away. It seemed that he wasn’t able to stir winds great enough to move the nails fast enough to be lethal on their own, thus had to supplement it by throwing.
However, he was still able to use the spell well because it allowed him to retrieve the nails and also change their trajectory.
Kairos felt several nails pierce his body, but thankfully that was only in his future vision. He was able to dodge the nails rather easily, approaching Darren quickly.
Kairos thrust his spear the moment he got within range, prompting Darren to gather his nails together to block.
A crisp clang rang out.
Despite Kairos trying to shift the trajectory, Darren was able to easily block the spear, letting it get caught in between the nails in his hands. The worst thing that happened to him was sliding back a bit.
A wild scream came from behind as Ines lunged forth.
Kairos grit his teeth and did the trick where he looks behind him, but only in his future vision.
Using that information he stepped to the side, letting Ines’ claw pass by his side. As it passed by, Kairos wrestled onto the arm, immediately feeling the voltage pass through his body and run rampant, making his muscles seize up.
Straining his body as much as possible, Kairos forced it to move, carrying Ines’ claw forth further, towards Darren.
Kairos figured that since she seemed to lose most of her rationality, she wasn’t going to hold back with her attacks at all, also meaning it would be hard for her to retract them. As such, it would be rather easy to push her attack further to attack her ally.
Darren furrowed his eyebrows before bringing the nails in front of him.
A sharp clash resounded, followed by uncomfortably loud metallic grinding sounds.
Darren was able to interlock Ines’ fingers with his nails, blocking them. However, he began finding difficulty moving his own body as the electrical current passed through to his own body.
Kairos grit his teeth, trying to force himself to move, but underestimated the effects of the lightning around Ines’ body. It had reduced his speed by at least half, though at least Darren wasn’t faring too well either.
Unfortunately, Ines was doing just fine.
Against Kairos’ expectations, she didn’t just recklessly try and attack him once more. Instead, she pressed her weight against him, forcefully shoving him towards the spiral staircase.
Kairos’ eyes widened as he realized her intention. She wanted to throw him off the staircase.
He immediately let go of Ines and got away from her, but the effects of the lightning were still rampaging through his body. Though the only way he could truly separate was by jumping onto the spiral staircase, thus he did exactly that.
Ines gave chase immediately, while Darren backed off a little. Pulling back his hand to get ready to throw the nails once more.
Upon landing, Kairos immediately twisted around while holding his spear horizontally. Ines came down with an overhead strike as she jumped down as well.
A crash resounded.
Kairos could feel his own eyes getting bloodshot, but it was nothing compared to how many red veins snaked in Ines’ eyes. In fact, her entire body had large bulging blue veins that squirmed like live worms.
Despite having his strength maxed out. Kairos could immediately tell he was losing the clash, and thus backed off. Though, as he retreated, he felt pain coursing through his leg in his future vision. Kairos shifted his foot at a strange angle, and a nail slammed onto the staircase where his foot was going.
Ines used that time to lunge toward Kairos with both her arms spread out, almost like she was trying to give a hug. There was even a smile on her face, though it looked more sadistic than loving.
Seeing this, Kairos decisively jumped off himself. He bit down on the bag he was holding using his teeth, freeing up a hand to hold onto the side of the staircase.
Ines couldn’t stop her own momentum, but didn’t try to. She instead jumped, landing down on the opposite side and further down the spiral staircase.
Before Kairos could even begin pulling himself back up, he felt a sharp pain shoot through his hand in his future vision.
Without hesitation, Kairos swung himself forth a little before letting go of the ledge. Right as he did, a nail slammed onto the staircase where his hand was.
For a moment, Kairos was suspended mid-air without a single thing to hold him up. It wasn’t a sensation he was used to. While the effects of Ines’ lighting had worn off by now, the anxiety nearly made his body seize up regardless.
However, Kairos had already thought of a plan and thus was able to easily reign his panic in. He began charging the pulse spell, letting it build up.
He shifted the grip on his spear before raising it up, almost like how someone would raise a flag up. Though, he also tilted it back, letting it catch onto the stairs above him. With a grunt, he forcefully hoisted himself up.
Several nails shot towards his spear, trying to offset it, but they all ended up missing by a small margin. Darren frowned over missing, but that was fair enough given how thin the spear was.
While that was happening, Ines wasted no time in rushing up the steps.
Kairos ignored her, instead opting to focus on the person harassing him from afar. He then jumped up, to which Darren threw a nail.
Unfortunately for him, Kairos was able to catch the nail, holding onto it between his two fingers. Without delay, he threw it back. Darren was easily able to dodge it, using both the wind to divert the trajectory and stepping to the side.
However, that was exactly what Kairos wanted him to do.
He was able to land right next to Darren. Faint blue mana had already gathered around his palm and by now his hand was even giving off a faint glow.
When Kairos pressed his hand against Darren’s chest, he frowned, realizing what was about to happen.
His figure suddenly blurred, before appearing a few meters back.
However, Kairos had not released the pulse spell.
After all, he could see that Darren would disappear at that point.
Kairos did not hold back in rushing forth, while Ines jumped up and was following closely behind.
Darren clicked his tongue, throwing several nails forth, but Kairos was able to sidestep them rather easily. In the end, one of them ended up piercing Ines’s arm instead, though it didn’t even slightly faze her.
Kairos was able to catch up rather easily despite Darren backing up, as it was naturally slower to run backwards.
Without delay, he once again brought his hand right next to Darren’s chest.
A severely panicked expression appeared on his face immediately. However, he was unable to suddenly shift his position again so soon.
Though Kairos didn’t know beforehand, he could see it all happen in his future vision. The glow coming from his hand suddenly became a little brighter.
An ear-splitting explosion reverberated.
Kairos had released the pulse spell after charging it for several seconds, causing the air to shake. Hairline cracks formed on the ground underneath him, but disappeared as fast as they formed. As for Darren, he was blasted backwards like a bullet, leaving a thick trail of blood as he flew through the air.
He just so happened to shoot back into the bloody pathway, quickly disappearing in the distance. Though from what Kairos saw, his condition was extremely bad.
Darren’s chest looked oddly deflated from his shirt, evidence that the man’s rib cage had shattered. The rest of his body didn’t seem too good either, as his skin had ruptured, causing his blood to splatter everywhere.
His muscles should’ve been damaged too.
Nonetheless, while Darren wasn’t going to be a problem for now, there was still Ines rushing towards him.
She lunged forth, trying to bite down on his neck with her elongated teeth.
However, Kairos abruptly twirled around and threw his head back, just barely avoiding it. The bag that he was still holding with his teeth was almost implicated as well. He pulled his foot back before slamming it into Ines’ stomach, forcefully pushing her back.
Unfortunately, despite putting all his strength into it, he was only able to shove her backwards by the length of his leg. On top of that, the lightning all over Ines’ body discharged onto him as well, causing his body to seize up and slowing his actions considerably.
Ines took advantage of that, grabbing onto his leg with both claws before pulling.
Kairos decided not to resist, instead, he used his other foot to push forwards, bringing himself closer, letting him feel an uncomfortable warmth emanating from her, similar to the overheated body of monsters.
Ines did not seem to mind suddenly being so close. In fact, her mouth opened wide to reveal her long and sharp teeth, and lunged forth to bite down on him.
Kairos pulled his head back as beads of sweat formed on his forehead. However, he wasn’t doing so to dodge out of the way.
While Ines lunged forth, he did the same, holding nothing back.
A crisp bang filled the air.
Kairos had slammed his forehead against Ines’. He could feel blood dripping down from his forehead, while Ines’ only had a bruise. However, she also did not expect the hit, and her head ended up snapping back.
She even ended up letting go of his leg and stumbling a few steps toward the ledge.
Kairos was still having difficulty moving, but forced himself to move forth, keeping up. He once again pulled his foot back, raising it up for a kick.
Ines had just regained her footing, when her heel went over the edge. This caused her to completely lose her balance, about to fall off herself.
But Kairos, as the gentleman he was, spared no hesitation in helping her fall down.
His foot suddenly shot out, landing on Ines’ stomach hard.
For whatever reason, Kairos had a strange inclination to declare that this was Sparta, despite being a dungeon.
Ines was launched like a cannonball. As she was falling, her back slammed against the staircase before sliding off, leaving her to free fall.
Ines grit her teeth in frustration, but there wasn’t any fear.
Mana began gathering around her mouth. After a few seconds, she abruptly oriented her body straight with her face looking away from the staircase.
Then, a violent gust of wind shot out of her lips, causing her to recoil back towards the staircase.
She once again slammed onto the stairs, while the natural incline nearly caused her to slip off again, but she grabbed onto the edge before that happened.
Ines was still very much alive and kicking.