Michael's arm snapped like a twig.
Lincoln didn't even consider increasing the force in his iron-tight grasp slowly to let Michael catch his breath. No, he increased the strength in his hand as much as he could – instantaneously.
White hot pain reached his brain, overwhelming his senses. His mind became chaotic, and Michael found himself back on the battlefield in the Origin Expanse. His mind switched to battle mode as it perceived that a life-and-death battle broke out.
He responded instinctively after that moment. His eyes turned sharper and the golden glow in his eyes intensified. Michael exerted Lesser Enhancement on Spirit Whip while manifesting one in front of him.
Instead of losing control of his Soultraits due to distraction, Michael's battle mode was initiated. He perceived his battle with Lincoln as a situation where his life was on the line. This allowed him to enter a state of full concentration.
A Spirit Whip strengthened through Lesser Enhancement condensed above Lincoln. It lashed out at Lincoln, taking the young Piedra by surprise.
Despite his strong willpower and higher Tier, Lincoln failed to guard his mind at this moment. He was fully exposed to the power of the Spirit Whip and lost the ability to maintain his Soultrait. But that was not all. His tight grasp around Michael's broken arm loosened significantly.
Michael reacted at once. He used every bit of strength in his left arm to shoot forward. Michael's flat hand whizzed through the air like a projectile that impacted hard on Lincoln's elbow. Lincoln's right arm trembled and the young Piedra's expression winced in pain.
And, before Lincoln could react, Michael had already initiated his next attack. His leg shot high in the air. His right leg crashed down on Lincoln's neck – exactly where Seron Voulge's pole had impacted before.
As Lincoln was not able to use his Soultrait at this moment, the inertia weighing down on Michael had returned to the usual. Simultaneously, his stone skin was replaced by human skin, decreasing Lincoln's protection drastically.
Lincoln reacted instinctively when Michael's high kick crashed down. He raised his left arm and let go of Michael's arm in his right hand. While his left arm was supposed to block the high kick, Lincoln's left arm lunged forward.
Lincoln grasped Michael's right leg the moment the high kick impacted his left arm.
"It's over!" Lincoln shouted, but it was just a moment later that another enhanced Spirit Whip lashed at him, not once, but twice in succession.
Lincoln roared loudly as he was just about to utilize his Soultrait once again. Michael's timing had been perfect, forcing Lincoln not only to terminate using his Soultrait once again but to let go of his leg as well.
Michael backed off a meter after he regained freedom. Seron Voulge manifested in his left arm, but this time he was going to use the weapon's sharp blade.
'I found his weakness!' Michael roared in his mind, feeling the adrenaline kick in.
It was extremely difficult for Lincoln to continue using his Soultrait while guarding his mind against mental attacks and ensuring that he wouldn't be impaled by Seron Voulge.
'Keep distracting him!' Michael told himself repetitively.
Three simple words turned into his mantra. He repeated them over and over to prevent his mind from going crazy due to the pain shooting up his nerves from the arm that was hanging limply from his shoulder.
Seron Voulge propelled forward. Michael aimed straight at Lincoln's head, but Lincoln blocked the attack. The back of his hand turned into hard stone despite Michael continuously using Spirit Whip to lash at the young Piedra.
'His mind is too strong. A full restriction of his Soultrait is not possible…' Michael realized at last.
Lincoln could still use his Soultrait to do simple things while Michael targeted his mind with Spirit Whip. That was not what Michael had hoped for, but it was much better than facing attacks from all sides.
It was already enough to fight against a Tier-2 Lord whose skin was hard enough to make it increasingly difficult to scratch him, forget about inflicting lethal wounds!
Michael's energy consumption increased with every passing second. Using Lesser Enhancement on his Artifacts and his eyes the whole time was already tiring, but that did not stop Michael from using Eagle Eyes to the full extent while also maintaining the Spirit Whip above Lincoln to lash out at him whenever the opportunity arose.
Michael's proficiency and control of his Soultraits were exceptional, and they weren't too hard to control either since he focused on training his Soultrait mastery. Despite that, he was rapidly approaching a situation where both his mind and energy would soon be wrung dry with nothing left.
But Michael couldn't do anything about that. His opponent was too powerful to risk decreasing the usage of his three Soultraits. He could barely keep up with Lincoln by using three Soultraits to the extreme!
He had been torn between showing Spirit Whip and not using it, but he didn't want to lose either. He wanted to give his best to say that he had given the fight his all. Michael didn't want to regret it later.
Michael grit his teeth, not even realizing that blood was pouring down his nose.
The muscles in his body creaked loudly and his stance changed. His rhythm changed as well and he lashed out with Spirit Whip before using the voulge's pole to smash against Lincoln's hands, pushing them away.
In the next instance, Michael inched closer. Lincoln's hands were only centimeters away but he spun Seron Voulge smoothly before thrusting forward with every ounce of strength within him. The blade's tip pierced Lincoln's abdomen before it slowed down at once.
It felt like Michael pierced through hard stone as he slowly dug into Lincoln's body.
The tip of the blade wasn't even a centimeter inside Lincoln when Michael noticed that something was off.
Lincoln's skin turned into stone, and the young Piedra's body seemed to expand. His eyes turned yellow, and their shape began to change. Simultaneously, Seron Voulge began to creak. It showed signs of breaking apart.
Startled, Michael retrieved the voulge, only to end up facing a tremendous amount of pressure weighing down on him. That meant Lincoln's gravity manipulation had returned. Michael tried to cancel it by whipping Lincoln with his Spirit Whip, but it felt like the mental attack caused the opposite effect.
Inertia increased more than twice the norm. It kept increasing, and weighing down on Michael until he couldn't stand anymore. His body slumped to the ground with a thud. Small spider web-like cracks formed on the ground around Michael.
Lincoln took a step toward Michael. His movements were slow, and his body was growing increasingly heavy, causing the entire combat ring to tremble.
The young Piedra picked up Michael from the ground before he put some strength into his grasp due to which Michael's left arm broke instantly. It was almost as if Michael's arms were made of crackers. There was little to no resistance.
Michael roared out in pain. He manifested a second enhanced Spirit Whip, leading to the bleeding of his nose to intensify. Michael even began to bleed out of his eyes, but he couldn't pay any attention to this.
It was now or never!
Two enhanced Spirit Whips lashed out at Lincoln's mind repeatedly. Lincoln uttered a gut-wrenching sound before he threw Michael to the other side of the battle ring.
Michael crashed hard on the ground. His mind and origin energy were drained at last. He couldn't move his arms anymore either.
Yet, Michael didn't remain lying on the ground. He groaned in pain while standing up, shaking in pain and exhaustion.
'I don't want to lose.'
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