26 Goblin King Part 2

Regius lowered his center of gravity and placed both hands on Stella Sanguis while drawing the blade up to his shoulder as Petal of Wind activated and the singular green petal stood out on his back. He shot out like a cannonball and his blade drew across the Goblin king's chest, shooting blood into the air and opening a deep cut across the entirety of his chest.

The Goblin king roared in protest as he swung his ax downward while his other hand swept from the left with the other ax to cut Regius at the waist. Regius executed a short leap and rolled across the flat of the ax to dodge both strikes and while rolling across the blade he swung out with one arm to cut the goblin king once again.

The Goblin King took the exact moment before Regius's feet could touch the ground to plant his foot into Regius's chest, sending him sailing through the air backward while Regius landed the Goblin King shot forward and blade and ax met with the resulting force pushing both parties back.

Regius laughed out loud "Petal of fire." A second petal on Regius' back lit up red and strength coursed through his body as the fire mana fed itself through the armor at the same time as the wind mana. Regius had made the petals in a way that the activation of each petal would apply even more of a drain on his mana but at the same time, it would boost a different aspect of his physical attributes farther than his mana body already did.

The goblin king studied Regius once again before letting out a roar. Regius could feel mana in the area moving but couldn't tell what the Goblin King was doing. The wounds that had been previously inflicted began to close on their own and milky brown mana coalesced around his hands and axes. The goblin king slammed the axes into the ground and the ground rolled forward in the form of earthen spikes. They had both still been sounding each other out but clearly, that was over now.

Regius shook his head "The whole let's just use weapons thing was fun if you use mana then I've gotta and now the fun is gonna end."

Regius exhaled and all of the dragon eyes on Stella Sanguis switched to red while the clear space in between did the same. The scales that made up the edge of the blade seemed to vibrate and pull away from the blade while the fire mana that the blade was sucking into itself formed a red hard light that filled the gap turning Stella Sanguis into less of a long sword and more of a broadsword.

The change took place quickly and the wall of spikes reached him as it did. Regius slashed his blade horizontally and cut through the earthen spears that were coming from his front while the Goblin king appeared behind the wall of spikes and swung forward with his ax.

The now heavier Stella Sanguis batted the first ax away opening up the Goblin King's guard while Regius pivoted to the right out of the way of the other slash dodging the blade by centimeters. Now on the side of the much bigger Goblin King, he thrust towards the armpit while the Goblin King swung the flat of the ax towards Regius location.

The ax hit empty air as Regius simply ducked under it and his blade went through the armpit and struck the heart as the heat from the blade burned the Goblin King alive from the inside out. Regius pulled the blade out and the Goblin King dropped to the floor smoldering. The world itself seemed to rumble and the dying Goblin King that should have been dead sat up and with hits head alone headbutt Regius in the waist sending him soaring backward through the air.

Regius' armor was more than capable of taking the blow; his Empyrean artifacts were stronger than common sense could fathom. If Regius chose he could fight with ranks due to the strength of his creations but the force from the blow itself was not dispersed. Regius smiled as he righted himself in the air and landed on the ground sliding backward and coming to a complete stop further down the hill.

The Goblin king stood up and the milky brown mana wrapped around his body as the creature began to change. The creature became a mixture of flesh and stone as rock-like spikes grew from its shoulders, knees, and elbows. The earth mana in the area became frenzied and charged into the Goblin king assaulting his skin and changing it into some type of chitinous armor made of rock.

His axes seemed to melt into one massive double-bladed ax. Regius had read about this in the notes left behind by his father. A world boss was something that only spawned in lesser worlds but these lesser worlds were capable of picking a champion and in doing so the will of the world could infuse that being with strength beyond their means. The world finally stopped shaking and everything seemed to go silent as the Goblin King now smiled oddly a lot like Regius had been the entire fight as a deep voice came out of the now recovered Goblin King "Hearts...Two".

The Goblin smiled and its spirit, which looked like a giant black ant, came out of its body and clicked its mandibles before wrapping around the Goblin king. The Goblin King had stepped into Rank 4 the expert rank at the same time that the world itself had infused him with strength and used the skill that came with it. It is known as incomplete spirit fusion.

This ability allowed the spirit to fuse with its host for a limited time. The Goblin King had never expected the Rank 3 Regius to give it any trouble but when his first heart was decimated and he was dying due to most of his organs being melted by the heat the world itself intervened.

It directed what power it could towards the Goblin King mending his body while also pushing him into the 4th rank. Mandibles grew out of the side of his mouth and the chitinous rock armor grew dark to look more like his spirits while antennae grew out of his head. The Goblin King brought his ax into the ground, shattering the earth beneath their feet and sending a wall of the earth at Regius that looked like an avalanche due to the snow-covered ground.