POV: Wrath
As the boy flickered towards me with his near-inconceivable speed, a chance of victory presented itself to me as with an internal force of gravity, I lifted him off the ground and began pulling him towards me, disrupting his momentum upon being startled as he was unable to resist the attraction of my gravity due to his sheer momentum and in the moment he arrived before me, an enormous mass of gravity swelled within my palm as I placed my hand onto his chest.
There's no use in wasting my energy to repel him anymore as he has the means to overwhelm it through sheer power or speed.
"Distortion." I uttered as I blasted a destructive force of gravity through his chest, but despite his organs being ruptured multiple times along with his body taking the blunt force of the attack, the boy miraculously endured my attack as he only staggered backwards before eventually collapsing onto a knee, spewing out blood as he clutched his chest with an alarmed expression.
Am I sure this is a boy that I'm facing?
I've used Distortion on him multiple times and yet, he's able to retain his consciousness.
In terms of potential…
With my attack forcing the boy to take a moment to recuperate, I clasped my hands together with an unique hand sign.
He may be on par or even surpass Arthur.
Releasing a tremendous amount of energy, the earth around us disintegrated into a thousand pieces while the air itself began to tremble violently from the sheer intensity of my power.
"Heavenly Order." I uttered as I completed my spatial technique, which created an oppressing veil of gravity over a one mile radius as ever being within the technique's effective range was flattened onto the ground with the exception of Pride and the boy, whose feet were buried within the ground from the immense pressure as his expression remained sharp, yet strangely calm despite having his mobility suppressed by my technique.
Although this technique expended most of my energy, the cost is worth it as a spatial technique involving gravity is nearly impossible to withstand because of the sheer pressure it exudes.
The physical strain it places on one's body is nothing short of excruciating as with the passing of time, their body will ultimately break.
Of course, there are ways of escaping as the main one would be through an exertion of overwhelming power and because of my naturally high-resistance to gravity, I can basically move freely within my own space without needing to exert much effort while my opponent, being the boy, cannot.
With his speed at least reduced by half, victory should be mine-
"Your judgement was wrong." The boy voiced with a cold, yet contemptuous tone as the flow of his lightning began to surge exponentially until with a dying flicker, he had vanished from my sight.
Where did he go?
Unlike before, this instance was different.
I was now unable to sense his Aspectual Force, let alone even perceive his movement as there was no streak of lightning for my eyes to trace, arising an unsettling sensation within me as his sudden disappearance left me apprehensive.
With every passing second, my anxiety continued to consume my mind as I scoured the area desperately for any clues on the boy's whereabouts, but no matter how much I sharpened my senses, my actions were futile.
The boy now possessed speed that surpassed my own comprehension.
I refuse to believe that he ran away as he doesn't seem like the type to abandon his friends, but is there really a reality that I can't even fathom the speed of a mere teenager?!
Wait…
What if he possesses another Aspect that I'm unaware of-
Upon pondering frantically on the boy's location, I found myself looking down and standing before me was none other than the boy, whose fingers were raised towards my chest as my face tensed with fear and utter confusion from the boy's sudden appearance.
"This is the end, Wrath." The boy declared with absolute confidence as his fist struck my solar plexus with a devastating one-inch punch, seizing my breath as I stumbled backwards, choking on my own blood until the boy appeared before me within a blink and landed a bone-crushing uppercut into my chin, sending me upwards through the canopy of the forest as my consciousness was met with a perpetual darkness.
Trapped within the realm of unconsciousness, it wasn't until the scintillating light of the sun roused my senses, freeing me as I opened my eyes to a beautiful sight of the sunrise, which peeked over the Exterel Mountains in a rather welcoming manner as the vibrant morning sky looming above me was oddly gratifying.
How strange.
I could have swore I was in the midst of a battle-
Enthralled by the warm embrace of the sun, reality soon struck as I quickly grasped ahold of my senses and looked below me in hopes of anticipating the boy's next attack, but the boy was nowhere within my sights as I heard the faint sound of crackling from above, urging me to direct my attention towards the source of the daunting sound as it was from none other than the boy, who appeared to have descended from the heavens themselves in the form of a calamity as he held a formidable bolt of lightning within his grasp.
Ah.
Raising my guard would have been futile as in the moment I was aware of his location, the boy sharpened his glare and hurled the lethal bolt of lightning directly towards my chest, exploding upon contact as the impact sent me crashing into the earth below.
This boy…
Buried beneath the rubble of the forest, my body began spazzing out in a violent, uncontrollable manner upon being electrocuted alive as despite my agony, the boy spared no mercy as his descent from the sky was in an instant, leaving a visible trail of lightning within the air as he smashed his foot into my face, burying me deeper within my man-made crater of the earth as I felt my nose break amidst the destruction.
He manipulated me into using a spatial technique so I wouldn't have enough energy to defend myself.
In order to save myself, I used an external force of gravity to flatten the earth around me, forcing the boy to lose his balance as I swiped his foot from off of my face amidst picking myself up from within the cavity, allowing me an opportunity to smash my fist into his vulnerable chest, but what I thought was an opportunity was nothing more than a delusion as at this point of the fight, I would never be able to land another attack on this boy.
Smashing my fist into his guard, the boy was sent flying backwards through a thicket of trees as I wiped off the excessive blood flowing from my broken nose amidst stepping out from within the cavity of the earth.
With our fight nearing its end, the boy's lightning had surged around him before vanishing once again along with his Aspectual Force, leaving me to rely on my instincts alone in order to perceive his movements as upon his arrival, we began an exchange of hand-to-hand combat.
Although his speed was being suppressed by my domain of gravity, it felt negligible as his speed and strength gradually grew, attacking me with a variety of mixed-martial arts until he ended our exchange by smashing his fist into my ribcage, breaking a few of my ribs as my lips tightened in anguish with wrinkles forming where none had existed before.
Staggering backwards from the impact, I began coughing up blood as the boy unsheathed his broken sword and dashed towards me, wielding his weapon like a dagger as he stabbed me multiple times across my torso until I had no other option than to repel the boy away with an external force of gravity.
With his attack creating a chain of deleterious effects within my body, I nearly succumbed to the unpleasant pain coursing through my body, but I was able to save myself from collapsing as I buckled on a knee instead with blood flowing from the corners of my mouth, yet my disadvantageous state fueled me with exhilaration as I felt my spatial technique began to weaken from nearing my Exhaust Limit, inspiring a faint chuckle from me.
It's truly a shame.
As much as I wish I could prolong this fight, it seems the end for me is near.
As the boy slid backwards across the ground, he hurled his broken sword towards my head before sprinting towards me, but as I effortlessly repelled his sword away with my Aspect, the boy leapt into the air amidst spiraling his body within the air as he grabbed his weapon and slashed through my left eye before grounding himself.
With the vision of my left eye being severed, the boy capitalized on this advantage as he landed several precise strikes across the vital points of my torso through my blindspot and despite close-combat being my strong suit, the boy proved to better as his astute style of combat reigned superior over my rudimentary actions and upon trying to kick the boy away out of irritation of my own weakness, the boy slipped under my leg and grappled me onto the ground as he placed himself on top of me before stabbing the blade of his broken sword into my right shoulder, twisting it firmly into the ground as he pinned me onto the earth.
As I winced in pain, the boy began thrashing his fist into my face, his eyes burning fervently with the sole purpose of surviving as my own blood splattered across the forest bedding until I kicked him away from off of me, sending him tumbling backwards across the ground as I braced myself for the unpleasant pain that came with removing the boy's broken sword from my shoulder.
Groaning in pain, I eventually freed myself from being pinned to the earth, tossing his broken sword aside as I tried to stand from the ground, but despite my desire to continue fighting, my body had sustained far too many injuries as I immediately collapsed onto my knees, my every breath ragged from enervation as a faint puddle of blood began to form under me while I watched the boy approach me.
Pathetic.
I provoked the boy into using his full power and yet, all I was able to do was desperately attempt to survive, but despite my pitiful display of combat, I'm satisfied.
Although the boy stood no further than a meter away, I tried to raise my guard in order to continue our fight, but my arms dangled lifelessly as I didn't have an ounce of stamina left, prompting my Aspect to naturally deactivate upon ending my domain in the midst.
So this is what dying feels like.
With the barely audible shout of Pride, I began to relish the moment as I glanced into the cloudy sky, wondering if I could feel the warm embrace of the sun once more as my body grew cold, but scum such as myself would not be granted with such honor as upon my vision blurring and my senses numbing, my life flashed before my eyes.
What an interesting sensation.