Chapter 1096: Thunderdragon Surge

The moment John sped towards Araxus, the latter moved backwards through the sky, keeping his distance from John. His actions drew skeptical looks from John and the spectators, wondering if he was going to go on the defensive.

"Retreating after talking so confidently?" John asked with a smirk.

"On the contrary," Araxus replied. "I know I said I would go all out from the start, but the truth is I didn't do what I said I would."

"Oh? You mean to say you've been holding back in this fight?" John asked curiously. If that was the case, then Araxus truly was a pinnacle genius. He had already injured John in that last exchange, and while it didn't result in serious injury, being able to injure John while fighting in the same realm was already an accomplishment that most geniuses were not capable of.

Araxus nodded to John's question. "Since you decided to not use that dragon form of yours, I was worried that my attacks would harm you too much, and thus I held back until I could confirm otherwise." .

He paused for a moment as his eyes scanned John's body up and down, seeing all the previous signs of damage already healed over. He scoffed lightly and shook his head, seemingly at himself.

"It seems my worries were completely unwarranted," he continued. "Since you are able to withstand my attacks with relative ease, I will do what I said I would earlier, and no longer hold back. Prepare yourself."

"How kind of you to not only hold back for my sake, but also warn me once more that your attacks are going to be stronger going forward," John replied.

"Heh," Araxus sneered, ignoring John's obviously taunting words. "I'd rather lose fighting fairly than win fighting with tricks."

"That's quite a naive way of thinking," John replied. "In a battle of life and death, the winner lives and the loser dies. Tricks and fair fighting don't matter in true battles."

"Hah, if I die in battle, then that only means I was not strong enough," Araxus replied with unwavering resolve, then grinned. "Now prepare yourself, for I'm about to show you what Awakened Essence Runes are capable of!"

Boom!

Araxus' aura exploded outwards, far greater than anything he had revealed thus far. His aura naturally created bolts of lightning that scattered out in all directions, slamming into the ground with considerable power. The arena began to rumble ceaselessly as the lightning bolts continued to shatter everything they touched.

A moment later, Araxus' body began to glow. The glow was subtle at first, but in mere seconds, he glowed brightly as blueish lightning runes appeared on his skin. The lightning runes thrummed, as if lightning was flickering within them, making him look quite exotic.

John narrowed his gaze as he stared at his opponent. After activating his Lightning Essence Runes, the level of danger he felt coming from Araxus greatly increased.

The lightning wings sprouting from his back grew larger and more visible, almost as if they were becoming true wings made from lightning. At the same time, the power coming from his lance intensified, becoming completely coated with a powerful layer of lightning.

"Thunderdragon Surge!"

Araxus thrust his lance forward without warning, the tip pointing directly towards John in the distance. Unlike the previous time he had used his Thunderdragon Surge, Araxus was several miles away from John, making the latter question the efficacy of using such an attack at this distance.

John's doubt was instantly washed away as a monstrous beam of lightning shot out from the lance. The tip of the lightning beam was just as sharp as the lance itself. It was so sharp, fast, and powerful, that John could see space itself tear ever so slightly wherever the beam passed by.

The speed of the lightning beam was even more shocking, as it reached John almost instantly. Recovering his wits in time, John dashed to the side, narrowly avoiding the beam of lightning. Flickers of the beam slammed onto him as it passed by, but the majority of the beam's power continued onwards before eventually slamming into the ground several dozen miles away.

Boom!

The ground behind John erupted into an explosion of lightning, throwing boulders and earth out in all directions. The debris quickly reached John's position, with large boulders slamming into him, then breaking apart as they broke against the durability of his body. A moment after the beam passed by, the ground around Araxus shattered as he activated his Rush of the Lightning Dragon once more. His body seemed to become lightning itself as he surged forward with awe-inspiring speed, far faster than he had been the previous time he used this movement art.

In almost no time at all, he appeared before John, his momentum overwhelming. The speed shocked John, as although his overall movement speed was faster when using his Lightning Shatters the Void, his true physical movement speed was not any faster, and perhaps it was even a bit slower than Araxus currently.

Appearing before John like a god of lightning, Araxus thrust his lance forward once more, its power eclipsing the first Thunderdragon Surge he had unleashed. John felt true danger coming from the lance this time, enough to injure him if he took it head on like before. The danger came not only from the increased power coming from the thrust, but also the nature of the lightning.

The lightning Araxus had used before was frost lightning, but this was something completely different. It felt energetic, hot, and explosive, the complete opposite of frost lightning.

Thunderdragon Surge!

Araxus unleashed a full powered Thunderdragon Surge, the tip of the lance exploding forwards towards John's chest. More prepared to receive the attack this time, but still overwhelmed by the increase in Araxus' speed, John barely managed to lift his scythe before his body in time.

Peng!

The lance slammed against the shaft of the scythe, deflecting upwards and ramming into John's shoulder instead of his chest.

Boom!

Lightning exploded from the lance after piercing into John's shoulder, the power of Araxus' battle art exploding directly onto John's shoulder. The explosion overwhelmed John, who winced slightly from the pain of having his shoulder stabbed into several inches. The explosion of lightning then threw him backwards with violent power, throwing him into the ground below.

John slammed against a nearby mountain, his momentum carrying him directly through the mountain and out the other side. The mountain shattered and then crumbled from the force of the impact, while John continued to slam onto the ground, only coming to a rest miles later. His back slammed against the base of another mountain, finally coming to rest in a crater several yards deep.

He groaned ever so slightly from the pain enveloping his body. His shoulder had been stabbed into by Araxus' lance, at which point the youth had practically exploded a battle art within his shoulder, sending it through the tip of the lance to bypass John's defenses.

John's shoulder and the nearby area on his body felt as though it had been crushed by a mountain, wracking that part of his body in pain. John drew in a deep breath, feeling true surprise for the first time this tournament, as for the first time, he had taken damage despite wanting to avoid it. While he wasn't using his full power just yet, it was not an easy task to damage him even in his base form.

Flash!

A flash of lightning appeared before John once more, as Araxus continued to press his assault. Lance pointed directly towards John once more, Araxus surged down at him like a meteor of the apocalypse. With his Awakened King Lightning Essence Runes augmenting his attack, the power of Araxus' lance was truly terrifying.

Thunderdragon Surge!

Boom!