Blood Elf Monarch

Even though Tristan had casted [Fire Aura] to make up for the difference between the two of them, it was apparent that it was still not enough. It seemed what the Arcadian King said was somewhat true, that he really needed to have more practice in the art of the sword.

There was no point in having a lot of strength and speed, but kept getting parried and dodged by his opponent's skillful moves..

Previously, it was always his body's muscle memory that helped him keep up with the expertise his opponents displayed against him. However, the same couldn't be said about the Arcadian King.

The man seemed to have incorporated so many variations and techniques within his fighting style, and the King kept changing his approach, Tristan muscle memory finally found its limitation.

Splat!! Blood spilled from Tristan as the Arcadian King's golden sword managed to cut off his arm. As a result, Tristan's sword found its way to the ground.

After using [Blood Synthesis] to recreate his arm, Tristan decided he would abandon fighting using the sword altogether as he was sure he wouldn't be able to best the other party in it.. 

He started creating many blood-synthesized projectiles as he started bombarding with ranged attack.

Swish! Swish! Swish! 

Sounds of air being sliced through were heard as half a dozen of Tristan's projectiles flew rapidly through the air heading towards the Arcadian King. The razor-sharp, boomerang-like blades flew in many unusual trajectories, making them really hard to evade.

At first contact, the blades managed to overwhelm the Arcadian King and reach their intended targets. Alas, they were not able to cut deep enough through the king's defensive spell. Tristan only saw it ripple before returning back to normal.

Even so, the blades gave him the opportunity he needed.

While the Arcadian King was distracted by the blades coming at him from basically all directions, Tristan leaped into the air and proceeded to cast multiple [Fireball] in rapid succession. 

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Multiple strong fireballs bombarded and blasted the area where the Arcadian King was, creating such a big explosion that it launched dirt and dust in all directions. For a moment, visibility dropped to its lowest level as the area was shrouded in thick black smoke.

The fight of the two had gone for quite some time, and now it wasn't just Tristan's ten thousand orcs who were watching, but also the citizens of Caerleon City who were standing on top of the walls and behind the opened gate. The two parties watched their chief / mayor fighting in such a magical battle.

As the smoke gradually cleared up, Tristan saw a glowing, dome-shaped barrier of light that covered the area where the Arcadian King was. It was a tier 5 light element defensive spell called [Halo]. This spell allowed its caster to be impervious against element-based attacks for a certain period of time.

Apparently, the Arcadian King was a dual element magician, and he had been keeping it the whole battle. 

In the meantime, Tristan touched the ground again after his high jump. He looked at the Arcadian King who was currently standing behind the barrier, thinking about the next move he should do.

The man had multiple defensive techniques and great close combat fighting capabilities. There were simply no flaws with the other party at glance!

It was obvious that the fight would be much harder than he previously assumed. The Arcadian King was definitely a much better and experienced stage 5 Katra practitioner compared to that shitty prince of Forlorn Kingdom.

After dispersing the barrier, King Callan walked toward Tristan in a nonchalant manner while saying, 

"You are much better than I expected. There are probably only ten people in this world who can defeat you right now; it appears what Vanyar Queen said is right." Looking directly at Tristan's eyes, he continued, "Let's stop this fight and work together. Believe me when I tell you there are much bigger threats to face, and I certainly will need your help."

At this, Tristan revealed a smile and said, "Of course I will help you.. Only if you beat me!"

All of a sudden, Tristan's body started trembling, which was then quickly followed by a loud scream by the former.

  "ARGGGHH!!!" 

The pain-filled scream was followed by blood spilling out from all over his body. The blood painted Tristan in red as they coalesced together and formed into a large, humanoid shaped figure.

[Blood Legacy]

ROOOAARR!!!

The sudden transformation Tristan displayed immediately shocked everyone who spectated the battle. Some of those who were weak-hearted even fell unconscious when they heard Tristan's loud roar.

Not waiting for any signal, with the boosted strength the transformation had given him, the monstrosity which should be Tristan lunged at the unprepared king. 

Out of reflex, King Callan swung the golden sword, only to let his arm be caught by the blood monster. The bloody monster showed a savage smile as he used his other arm to send a punch.

BAMM!!!

A muffled yet loud sound resounded in the air as Tristan's fist landed squarely on the Arcadian King's face. The blow was so strong that even with his [Armor of Earth] activated, the latter's nose bled and the painful sensation lingered.

Still, in disbelief with what was in front of him, the King received another blow.  BAMM!!

The third blow quickly came, but this time, King Callan saw it coming. He tried to catch it with his other arm, only to no avail when he found both of his hands gripped by Tristan's monstrous hands. In response, he attempted to free them by force, only to hear a cracking sound.

King Callan grunted as he bore the excruciating pain coming from his hands. Realizing his attempt was futile, he decided to use both of his legs to kick Tristan's head. He hoped this attack would allow him to get away.

BAMM!!! 

The Arcadian King barely managed to escape from Tristan's freakish grasp as Tristan was pushed back by the kick in the head. Even though he was able to escape, it came at the cost of his two completely broken hands.

Everything that had happened during the last few seconds took away the composure he had displayed earlier.

"What the hell is this?!!!" shouted King Callan as he glared at the monstrosity that was Tristan.

He could still feel his head spinning from the one hit he received earlier, and that was certainly not good news. He quickly cast a healing spell onto himself, and within a few seconds, his arms returned to their normal condition.

Unfortunately, the fight wasn't over yet.

ROOOOAARR!!!

  Being influenced by the transformation, Tristan became enraged and roared loudly. He was angry that his prey had escaped from his clutch.

The Arcadian King wiped the blood flowing down from his nose as he stared at Tristan. He looked shocked, but after that, a small smile could be seen hanging on his lips. It seemed he had decided on something.

He started to chant a series of words and accompanied it with gestures done by his hands. His hand movements caused motes of light to appear, and they were quickly arranged into some kind of a drawing, a formation of some sort.

Tristan, who saw all of this clearly, would definitely not let the other party finish whatever he was trying to do. As such, he swiftly rushed forward, shaking the ground violently in the process.

But suddenly, Tristan felt his body heavier and gradually came to a stop. He was being restrained!

"If you can survive against this spell, consider yourself the winner!" the Arcadian King said with a smile.

From afar, Tobias shouted his lungs out telling the king to not cast that magic, but Callan ignored him and continued the chant. As the chant went louder, dozens of strings made of light started appearing around Tristan's monstrous body and covering it like a net.

This was one of the tier 7 light element spells, the exalted [Celestial Binding]. This was the proof that the ruler of Arcadian actually had reached the boundary of stage 6 Katra.

In a matter of seconds, Tristan was totally restrained by the weak-looking light strings and was barred from any sort of movements. As if that wasn't bad enough, he could also feel the strings starting to press inward, giving his body a pressure and slashing sensation at once.

The light strings managed to cut through the layer of blood covering Tristan's body. It seemed that the tier 7 spell was slowly dispelling Tristan's transformation as one could see the latter's monstrous figure bleeding profusely and gradually becoming thinner.

"Arrrghhh!!" Tristan screamed as he tried to use all his strength to fight back, only to be crushed in slow manner.

"Do you give up now?!" asked the Arcadian King, half shouting.

"NO! NEVER!" Tristan replied no less fiercely.

At this point, the spell had started to make its way through Tristan's flesh as blood started painting his skin in red.

"Give up, and I will release you!"

"NO! DAMMIT!"

The reason for his stubbornness was because Tristan could see the other party was not in his best condition as well. It was evident that the spell had taken a toll on him.

As for Tristan, while it was indeed surprising that such a spell was able to force him out of his transformation, he would not give in that easily. 

He felt he was still in the green as he had his Undying Body. Even though the excruciating pain was still there, he was not at risk of losing his life. Thus, he was able to keep going and even took another step approaching the king.

Maintaining the chant, the Arcadian King approached where Tristan was with his golden sword in hand. He planned to cut and stab Tristan's body to death because he realized the latter wouldn't give up until the end of the line.

"Last chance! Surrender!" Callan said when the distance between them was only one meter.

Glaring daggers at the Arcadian King, Tristan firmly said, "NO!"

He was confident because he still had something he could rely on. As soon as he heard Tristan's unrelenting reply, Callan immediately barraged his body with countless attacks. Slashing and stab wounds appeared on Tristan's body as Callan barraged him with his sword.

Not long after, as he felt grueling pain from the wounds all over his body, the long-awaited notification finally arrived.

[Body's condition has become critical. Host needs immediate treatment]

[Restore health for 500 Blood Essence]

[Proceed?]

"Yes!"

Tristan's mangled body was gradually recovering to its normal state at the same time, Callan finally dispelled his spell as he couldn't maintain it anymore. 

Glaring at Tristan, the Arcadian King said, "You just can't die, can you?"

Tristan was ready for another round when the King suddenly coughed and spat out quite a large amount of blood.  He seemed to be in excruciating pain and a few moments later when the coughing stopped he looked toward Tristan and slowly said.

"Congratulations… You won. Arcadia is now yours."

------

Further away from the battle, Inside a room within the District O of the capital Arcadia, a device emitted strange sounds continuously. 

Tut! Tut! Tut!

Then, all of a sudden, the noise turned into a voice.

"Captain Sigfried of the Grey Wolf. This is the 201st Cruiser, Galactus. We have already entered the galaxy. Over."