Speed Is King

"Are you okay?" Khellendra called out from the sky. "I saw the ugly giant land several powerful hits on your unguarded left flank."

"I am alright." Elliot winced slightly as he glanced down at his left body. Blood was flowing out of four deep wounds!

"The giant had layered his fist with condensed wind blades." Elliot realized. He quickly drank a health potion, and his wounds immediately started to close.

"I hope you're truly okay." Khalendros called out with a mischievous voice. "Because there are more blue giants enroute. Many, many more!"

"One. One hundred. One thousand, doesn't matter to me." Elliot said easily. "I'll kill as many as they come."

"Ha! We'll see how you plan to do that. If I am not wrong, this is an entire blue giant fugitive clan which was caught and imprisoned! You'll be dealing with vicious and heavily armed seasoned fighters with a wealth of experience taking down powerful individuals!!" Khalendros cackled with glee.

It was clear that he thought it would be a significant challenge for Elliot, and it was more than clear that he intended to stand aside and enjoy the show.

Elliot weaved his Purgatory Fire Energy and directed them to his feet to activate the third movement of the second stage - The fleet-footed fire rabbit cooks the giant snake.

"Good! The stronger they are, the more I can practice my new techniques. Sit back, relax and grab some popcorn!" Elliot told the two dragons who merely looked at him in amusement and confusion. They had no idea what the heck popcorn was.

Bam!

Elliot finished weaving his energy for the first movement and burst forward with much greater speed than that he displayed in his earlier fight with the two dragons. In addition, a trail of wicked violet flames burned the ground he passed by fiercely.

"That's a very interesting skill." Khellendra remarked when she saw the trail of violet flames. "He actually released his fire energy through his feet and made it stick on the ground to burn. Whoever created that skill is extremely creative."

"Hmmmm. More than just creative though. He or she is a genius of the highest caliber. That person managed to create the firetrail effect as well as giving the user an incredible speed boost at the same time. We'll have to see if the energy conversion is efficient or not, but for it to be usable in battle, especially as a core technique… It must at least have a 75% efficiency rate. Below that would make the skill a really poor choice, considering that there are many other generic but powerful skills out there.

But if that particular skill can be used at a 75% efficiency rate, then the mind behind its inception and perfection is indeed a terrifying one. " Khalendros said seriously.

"Let's see how he fares against the blue giants." Khellendra's eyes gleamed with interest as he tracked Elliot's every move intently.

GRAKARATO RARARAKAGA!

GARAAAA!

GARRRAAA!!

GAAARRAAAAA!!!

A chorus of bloodthirsty battle cries filled the air as around thirty blue giants crashed through the sparse forest and started to circle Elliot's position.

Elliot was totally unperturbed and he charged towards the first blue giant fearlessly.

GAARRRRRGAR!!!!!!

The blue giant raised his massive metallic shield and did a quick countercharge towards Elliot!

"Movement sixteen. Fire Cyclone atop Mount Taiju!" Elliot attacked the first blue giant with a fearsome overhead slash that sent the surrounding energy bursting into flames.

As Gilgamar streaked downwards with the force of a falling meteor, the fire energy all around it followed like obedient slaves and swirled magnificently behind it like a real mini-cyclone.

Instead of a loud CLANG, the sound that was produced by Gilgamar's impact was a curious one.

SCHLEB!

The huge metallic shield was sliced neatly in two! Gilgamar's fearsome sharp edge combined with the extreme heat that it was at due to Elliot's Purgatory Fire Energy caused it to cut through the shield like a lightsaber cutting through butter!

And of course, if it was strong enough to cut through the shield, the blue giant's arms and body were completely obliterated by it.

Elliot didn't even wait for the body to hit the ground before kicking it away and dashing ahead once more.

SLASH!

Gilgamar slashed down horizontally and bisected the rushing blue giant right behind it.

Two of them died without even managing to do anything! Apparently the blue giants had vastly underestimated Elliot.

But Elliot's vicious performance had immediately placed the rest of the blue giants on high alert.

GARGARAKH! KARTAGAR! KARTAGAR!

The largest and wildest looking blue giant began to shout out orders. Almost all of the blue giants sheathed their twin greatswords and took out rifles with a huge muzzle like a trumpet.

Instantly, an uneasy feeling filled Elliot's heart.

Whatever those things were, they only meant one thing for him. Trouble.

GARTO!

The blue giants leveled their trumpet rifles at Elliot from all directions and fired without even a single word of warning.

B-B-B-B-BOOM!!

The rifles fired just as Elliot began his twenty fifth movement of the first stage. The philosophy behind it was much more succinct compared to the other movements. Whirlwind of Death.

Elliot spun his body rapidly and created a whirlwind of powerful energy around himself.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!!

Whatever the rifle trumpets fired, they hit the whirlwind of energy with startling force and produced very strange sounds.

They sounded like things breaking as they crashed into Elliot's whirlwind.

"Huh? What did they fire?" Elliot thought with slight confusion. He was expecting the explosive projectiles to explode upon hitting his energy whirlwind. He did not expect them to merely crack.

However, just as he was trying to figure out what exactly hit him, one of the projectiles from the trumpet rifles managed to break past his whirlwind of energy.

It was… A clear blue sphere?

CRACK!

The blue sphere cracked in half right in front of him and immediately, an immense but invisible pressure crashed upon him and caused his spin to slow greatly.

"Space energy." Gilgamar said solemnly.

"SPACE ENERGY?!" Elliot shouted with slight panic just as another blue sphere exploded right in front of his face.