The Achievement Junkie

Not too far away from the battle of a mortal and an immortal, Eedaj was up against a powerful foe, Kylon. Eedaj had the greatest respect for her.

"Kylon, I'd rather not face you!" Eedaj shouted.

"Then cease your defenses and die!" replied the Storm Goddess.

"But aren't we too similar? Given our pasts, you share more experiences with me than you do any holy god."

"So? How could that change my allegiances?" Kylon questioned.

Eedaj sighed, pausing the fireball he was about to throw. "Kylon… Do you not blame Halmut?"

"Halmut is not to blame, but Skaryn is!"

"Why? Apparently, I know your thoughts better than you do," Eedaj stated. "I know what you're bottling up. I understand the anger and rage you've sealed away."

"Eedaj… I don't mind talking about this, but I must fulfill my duty," Kylon replied calmly.

"Very well. Then we'll chat while trading blows…"

Eedaj let multiple copies of himself surround the Storm Goddess, each wielding a fireball. They all launched their attacks and spoke one after another, each saying a different sentence in order to conceal the true body of the Mind God, "Why hide your anger from Halmut? It's right to be furious. After losing your home and most of your people, you should be angry."

"True…" Kylon admitted, actively throwing small bolts of static electricity to disperse the false enemies.

"Then why hide it? Why are you still loyal to him?" Eedaj asked, casting darkness around their midair battlefield.

Kylon created mist to spread and counter the darkness, answering, "Because I have no choice. I've already committed and it's too late to change that."

"It's never too late for change. Isn't that what Daruun told you long ago?"

At a loss for words, Kylon created her own flames and launched a pulse of fire across the air.

Forced to defend, Eedaj's true form was revealed after parting the flames with his magic. His eyes wandered over to Hadurt's battle. Seeing the former champion holding off the Brawler God was admirable, to say the least, and a great burden off of Eedaj's mind. But he was still worried about the other two, looking in their direction to reassess the situation if necessary.

The 2-v-2 battle of the gods was interesting as both sides used similar tactics. The frontrunner of each side was a swordsman while the second would defend, either with magic or their body.

But Grixor grew tired of the slow-paced match up. Turning to Tyres, Grixor shouted, "You take tubby. I'll take Jin…"

"Hey!" Jin shouted in defiance. "Wait your turn, Grixor! I'll face you after killing that leech."

"Too bad!"

Not giving the samurai a choice, Grixor charged him. His natural armor in hybrid form was beyond a doubt the strongest among the gods and he looked down on Jin with his four-meter frame. Without wings, Grixor was the slowest of the dragons but his natural defense and strength kept him from being at a disadvantage with the others.

And now that Grixor, a lv. 95 Quake Dragon, faced Jin, a magicless lv. 91 samurai, he had no shortage of confidence.

Guuro defended the charge initially but was pushed back as Tyres graciously accepted Grixor's change of tactics. So long as the plan was executed, Tyres didn't care what needed to be done.

The cleric defended and was forced away from the samurai. Tyres kept Guuro from returning to Jin's side while Grixor punched Jin in the opposite direction.

Jin managed to defend the strike and took little damage, but he couldn't fully negate the momentum and was thrown backward nearly a dozen meters. Landing on his feet, Jin squinted and groaned, "Whyyyy?! Why do you holy gods never honor our duels?!"

"I don't care about them, but I respect your determination," Grixor replied, walking casually toward the lonely samurai. "If you want to prove you're better than Tyres, then just defeat me. That's something that Tyres has never done and will never happen."

"Hmmm… Not a bad proposition, I suppose…" Jin pondered the thought while readying all twelve of his katanas.

"Like Kylon, us dragons respect you for your tenacity. But that doesn't mean we'll sit back and let you do whatever you want. If you're determined to prove Tyres's weakness, then prove your strength first!"

Grixor darted toward Jin with his plated, natural armor. His claws clenched into a fist as he tested the samurai's strength.

Jin responded similarly, using a joint attack of four arms to counter the dragon's punch.

Both strikes met and surprisingly canceled each other out. A look of surprise and excitement came over Grixor. "I'll tell you what… I acknowledge you as superior! I don't care about your level, not when you've got so much strength to back up your words. It's been a while since someone's gotten my blood pumping…"

Receiving the compliment Jin grinned. "Thank you. It's about time… Then I guess I'll need to get through that thief's bodyguard before taking his head."

They traded blows again, resulting in the same way. Both of them were grinning like madmen. With an eagerness to let loose, Jin and Grixor held nothing back.

Earth energy erupted from Grixor's body, enveloping his natural armor in even more protection.

Jin had only a thin layer of faint, white aura around him. He kept his twelve arms and changed hardly anything about his presence. But the sharpness of his eyes was enough to cut to any man's heart. But against the confident dragon, Jin's gaze was only fitting of an opponent strong enough to pique Grixor's interest.

"Let's see how long you can hold on, human!"

With that shout, Grixor barreled into Jin. Both of his front claws streaked toward the samurai, only milliseconds behind each other.

The God of Discipline never took any battle lightly. He used two more joint attacks to counter, wielding five swords for each strike.

Colliding yet again, the katanas and the claws held each other off. But Jin was pushed back a few steps while Grixor gained a few steps. However, the grin on Grixor's face disappeared.