NOVEL NEXT Chapter 435: A Battle of Water And Bone
Tam surged towards Thorn, a drill made of rapidly spinning water covering his fists.
Thorn skipped back, dodging Tam's attacks. He had three charges in his blood at all times, wary of his blood being yanked out of his body.
They'd been fighting for a few minutes now, and while Tam had stopped trying, Thorn wasn't willing to take the chance.
He ducked under one of Tam's drills, a shield of bone widening over his right gauntlet, blocking the other drill, then he kicked.
There was a loud crack as Tam's knee bent the other way, bones shattered, but the man didn't even feel it.
He fought like a mad man, standing on the shattered leg, water surging from his skin to brace it against the floor as it healed, his other leg rising in a kick.
Thorn leaned backwards, the kick blurring past an inch from his nose.
He dived back in, but spikes of water erupted from Tam's skin.
They broke against his bone armor, as he shifted all his remaining charges into the armor, solidifying it.
The strike sent him stumbling back in a fall, his guard broken.
Tam surged in with a giant spinning drill of water, straight towards Thorn's heart.
Thorn's eyes widened, and the moment his hands touched the floor behind him, pushed himself to the side.
The drill tore through the air, missing him by a hairsbreadth, and slamming into the ground.
The ground split with a loud roar, a large crater forming around the impact zone.
Scrambling to his feet, Thorn rearranged the bone armor in his right hand, supporting it with his left as seven rotating barrels formed above his fist.
Without hesitating, he began firing.
Tam leapt to the side, a giant orb of water encasing him, serving as armor.
Thorn didn't let up, tracking him with the gun, bullets tearing towards him.
Tam kept dodging around, the orb slowly compressing into a dense layer of armor, before dodging behind a building.
Thorn kept firing for a few seconds more before stopping. He kept his barrels trained towards the building, eyes narrowed.
He slowly walked to the side, trying to get Tam into view.
As he walked, he spoke. "Why are you doing this, Tam? Why are you so intent on killing Ren?"
Silence filled the air, only the distant sound of the battle taking place around them audible.
"Why must you do this?" Thorn asked, trying to pinpoint Tam's location. "You know Ren had nothing to do with Zuzu's death."
"Like hell he didn't!" Tam snarled.
Thorn's head snapped upwards just in time to see Tam leap from the roof, a giant spinning drill encasing his arm.
Thorn opened fire, his bone bullets slamming harmlessly into Tam's dense water armor. His eyes widened at the sight, and he dove to the side, still firing, adding one charge to the gun to increase the caliber of the bullets.
Tam's drill slammed into the floor, a few of the new bullets tearing through the armor on his shoulder, blood seeping through.
Tam didn't care, chasing after Thorn, a crazed look in his eyes. "He brought Shing to Patino! And that led to Zuzu's death! He killed her!"
He stretched both hands, and began firing smaller drills at Thorn, forcing him to dodge as he fired.
Thorn's bullet began shredding through the man, and overcome with rage, Tam kept coming, uncaring of the damage.
Finally, the bullets sheared through one shoulder, the hand attached to it falling to the floor.
Thorn took advantage of it, surging towards Tam. He dodged the fired water drills, juked to the side, before surging to the other side.
Tam raised a hand to create another water drill, and his eyes widened as he realized Thorn was attacking from the side in which he had no arm.
He turned to face Thorn, but it was too late.
Thorn's fist landed on Tam's chest.
There was a loud crack, a shockwave passing through the air, as the force of the punch cracked Tam's breastplate.
But that wasn't enough, so he went all in.
He removed the three charges he'd had in his blood, and dropped them into strength.
His second punch dropped like a meteor.
Tam's breastplate shattered, spraying water everywhere, and his chest caved in.
The force of the punch sent him flying, but Thorn didn't care.
His left hand snapped out, caught Tam on the forearm, and yanked him back.
His fist descended a third time, and Tam's chest instantly turned to mush. A spray of blood and flesh peppered the air with a hint of red, a hole appearing where his heart should be.
And with a final punch, aimed at the head, Tam's skull shattered, his body sent flying.
He hit the wall of a building, shattering it, and being stopped by a second wall.
Thorn exhaled, staring at the body. Was he dead?
That was when a flash of golden light filled the air.
Thorn shielded his face, and when the light died a few seconds later, he looked up to see Tam climbing to his feet.
Half the man's face was gone, but one eye remained, and it glowed a solid gold. His brain was exposed, but roots glowed within it, moving to close the hole in his gut.
In his chest, roots moved through his body to fill the hole, glowing a bright gold.
"Oh, fuck." Thorn stared at it, eyes wide.
Was the man immortal?! If not, then what would it take to fucking kill him?!
Then, in the distance, outside the layers of Carthage and the war, the sky cracked open.
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The Blurred Man looked up, a grin appearing on his face as the sky cracked.
"Finally! I was getting kind of bored." He glanced at The Forgotten, giving her a wink. "I told you. This is what is supposed to happen."
The Forgotten didn't take her eyes off the crack as it widened, golden light spilling through. "Then I guess we're going to win this war."
"Damn right we are."
They watched as the crack flared, and massive humanoid shapes made of vines began falling out of it.
Yggdrasil's warriors had arrived.