Chapter 1303: Chapter 1303:- A Power Aditya Had Never Seen

BOOOOOOM!!!

A massive bolt of Crimson Lightning descended from the sky, heading straight toward Ren. The attack was so fast that an ordinary Sixth Order cultivator would have struggled to react in time.

However, Ren did not even attempt to move. Instead, several black tentacles extended upward from his back and gathered directly above his head. The moment the Crimson Lightning struck them, the tentacles began absorbing the enormous amount of lightning Mana contained within the attack.

For a brief moment, red lightning could be seen spreading across the surfaces of the black tentacles. However, rather than suffering any damage, the tentacles continued absorbing the lightning until the entire attack disappeared.

Seeing this, Aditya’s expression became even more serious.

He immediately launched several smaller bolts of Crimson Lightning from different directions, hoping that attacking multiple targets at once would make it harder for Ren to defend himself. However, the black tentacles moved with frightening speed, intercepting every bolt before it could reach Ren’s body.

Aditya then combined his lightning with several powerful wind attacks, releasing them one after another. Unfortunately, the result remained the same. Regardless of whether he attacked with wind or lightning, Ren’s tentacles managed to absorb the incoming Mana before the attacks could cause any meaningful damage.

What made the situation even more frustrating was that Ren barely needed to move throughout the entire exchange. He simply stood there with a faint smile on his face, allowing the tentacles to deal with everything Aditya threw at him.

"Is that all you’ve got, Aditya?" Ren asked with an amused expression.

"I thought you would have something more interesting to show me."

Aditya did not respond to his provocation. Instead, he continued observing the movements of the black tentacles, trying to understand how they worked. Although they appeared capable of absorbing elemental attacks, he had already managed to injure Ren through physical attacks earlier.

’Perhaps I should stop relying on Mana attacks and focus on close combat.’ Aditya thought as he tightened his grip around Raiketsu.

However, just as he was preparing to move, he suddenly sensed something approaching him from below. Before Aditya could properly react, the ground directly beneath him suddenly cracked open.

A thick, black tentacle shot out from underground and wrapped itself tightly around his right leg.

"What the....!" Aditya exclaimed in surprise as he looked down.

The tentacle had a strange, slimy appearance, and its surface was constantly moving as though something was crawling beneath it. Before Aditya could cut himself free, he suddenly felt a sharp decrease in the Mana flowing through his body.

At first, he thought that the tentacle was simply trying to absorb his Mana. However, within the next second, he realised that the situation was far worse than that.

The tentacle was also draining his life force, vitality, and stamina. Aditya could clearly feel his strength being pulled out of his body through the point where the tentacle was wrapped around his leg. His Mana reserves were decreasing, and he could sense that his physical condition was slowly being affected as well.

’It’s draining everything at once! Mana, health, stamina, and even my life force. Just what kind of ability is this?’

Although the amount being absorbed was not enough to immediately place him in danger, Aditya understood that allowing the tentacle to remain attached to his body would be a terrible mistake. The longer it stayed connected to him, the more of his strength Ren would be able to steal.

Without wasting another second, Aditya raised Raiketsu and swung the katana directly toward the tentacle wrapped around his leg.

SLASH!!!

The sharp blade immediately cut through the black tentacle, separating the portion wrapped around Aditya’s leg from the rest of it. The moment the connection was broken, the draining sensation disappeared.

However, Aditya did not remain there to examine the severed tentacle.

He immediately activated his teleportation ability and disappeared from his position. In the next instant, he reappeared several hundred meters above the ground, putting a considerable distance between himself and the strange tentacles.

Only after reaching a safer position did Aditya finally look down at his right leg. Fortunately, he had reacted quickly enough to prevent the tentacle from draining a significant amount of his strength.

Nevertheless, the experience had taught him something extremely important.

Ren’s black tentacles were far more dangerous than he had initially believed. They could absorb elemental attacks, return those attacks to their original owner, protect Ren from powerful impacts, and even drain the Mana and life force of anyone they managed to capture.

Furthermore, the fact that one of the tentacles had suddenly emerged from underground meant that Aditya could not afford to focus only on the ones extending from Ren’s back.

’I need to be careful. If one of those things manages to catch me while I’m distracted, I could lose a considerable amount of my strength before I even realise what’s happening.’

Meanwhile, Ren slowly raised his head and looked toward Aditya, who was now floating high above him. The severed tentacle had already begun withdrawing into the ground, while the remaining tentacles continued moving behind his back.

Despite having one of his tentacles cut apart, Ren did not appear particularly concerned. Instead, a creepy smile slowly appeared on his face as he watched Aditya from below.

After putting some distance between himself and Ren, Aditya began thinking about everything he had witnessed so far. There was one particular detail about those mysterious black tentacles that continued to bother him.

When the first tentacle had emerged from underground, Ren had been standing quite far away from him. Yet somehow, the tentacle had managed to reach his position without Aditya noticing its movements.

’Those things can extend much farther than a few meters. I don’t even know how far they can reach. And the most troublesome part is that I couldn’t sense the tentacle approaching me until it was already too late.’

This was particularly concerning because Aditya possessed extremely powerful senses. Under normal circumstances, it was almost impossible for an attack to approach him without his noticing it. However, those strange tentacles seemed capable of hiding their presence from his senses.

Realising this, Aditya decided that continuing the battle near the ground would be too dangerous. Since the tentacles could travel underground and attack him from unexpected directions, he believed that fighting high in the sky would give him a better chance of seeing them approach.

However, Ren had no intention of allowing Aditya to maintain a comfortable distance.

"Hahahaha! What’s wrong, Aditya? Are you already having trouble dealing with my new abilities?" Ren laughed loudly before suddenly flying upward. His blood-red eyes were filled with excitement, while the black tentacles behind him moved wildly as he rushed toward his younger cousin.

Seeing Ren approaching with such a crazed expression, Aditya immediately tightened his grip around Raiketsu. He had already learned that ordinary elemental attacks were not particularly effective against those tentacles. However, he still wanted to test whether the second ability of his katana could overcome their strange defensive properties.

Without wasting another second, Aditya activated Raiketsu’s second ability and launched it directly toward Ren. The attack moved through the air at tremendous speed, carrying a powerful amount of Mana. Aditya carefully watched Ren’s movements, hoping that the sudden attack would force him to defend himself personally.

Unfortunately, Ren reacted almost immediately.

Several black tentacles extended from his back and moved directly in front of the incoming attack. The moment Raiketsu’s second ability struck them, the tentacles began absorbing its power. Within seconds, the entire attack had disappeared, leaving Ren completely unharmed.

Aditya frowned upon seeing this. Although he had already suspected that the tentacles might be capable of absorbing his katana’s second ability, witnessing it happen so easily was still disappointing.

However, before he could decide what to do next, something completely unexpected happened. A thick, black tentacle suddenly appeared directly beside his left leg.

There was no warning, no movement through the surrounding air, and not even the slightest change in Mana that could have alerted him to its presence. One moment, there was nothing beside him. In the next, a slimy black tentacle had already wrapped itself tightly around his left leg.

’What?! How did it get here?!’ Aditya was completely shocked. He immediately looked toward Ren, who was still some distance away from him. More importantly, Aditya had been carefully observing the tentacles extending from Ren’s back throughout their exchange. He was certain that none of them had moved toward him.

Yet somehow, another tentacle had managed to appear right beside him without his noticing.

Before Aditya could think any further, he felt the familiar sensation of his strength being drained. The tentacle had already begun absorbing his Mana, vitality, stamina, and life force through his left leg.

However, having experienced this ability once before, Aditya reacted much faster this time.

Without the slightest hesitation, he swung Raiketsu downward and cut through the tentacle wrapped around his leg. The sharp blade separated it from the rest of its body, immediately stopping the draining effect. Aditya then quickly moved away from his previous position, putting more distance between himself and Ren.

Although the tentacle had only remained attached to his leg for a brief moment, the experience left Aditya deeply disturbed.

’How is this possible?’ Aditya wondered while looking toward the place where the tentacle had appeared. ’We are fighting hundreds of meters above the ground. There shouldn’t be anything around me that could hide those tentacles. So how did one suddenly appear beside my leg?’

He had originally believed that the tentacle which attacked him earlier had travelled underground before emerging beneath his feet. However, this time, they were fighting high in the sky. There was no ground for the tentacles to travel through, and Ren had not come anywhere close enough to attack him directly.

Even more confusing was the fact that Aditya had not seen any of Ren’s visible tentacles extending toward him. He had been watching them carefully, especially after witnessing their ability to absorb elemental attacks. Yet despite his attention, he had completely failed to notice the second attack.

’Could those tentacles appear anywhere Ren wants? Or is there some other ability that I’m failing to notice?’ Aditya wondered. He could think of several possible explanations, but none of them made him feel any better about the situation.

For someone who relied heavily on his powerful senses and quick reactions during battle, facing an attack that he could neither see nor sense beforehand was extremely dangerous. Even his teleportation ability would not be particularly useful if he failed to notice the attack before it reached him.

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