( Khnum and Kremeth's POV )
As Khnum condensed a lake's worth of water from the atmosphere around him. Kremeth braced himself, watching as Khnum, who was still getting used to the new, powerful body, was trying old tricks that he used to do in his prime.
The chuckle of the sea god resonated through the ritual site as he prepared to strike.
"Remember the time when we had our first match, old turtle?" Khnum said as he was goading with a sly smile playing on his lips.
Kremeth gave a nonchalant shrug, as he said "I remember winning, if that's what you're referring to."
" Ha - I drowned you with this very attack is what I remember.
Drowned you like the turtle you are " Khnum retorted right back as he launched his first attack.
[Tidal Surge]
A massive wave of water came roaring towards Kremeth, threatening to engulf him and Max behind him in a torrent of water, but in response, Kremeth simply raised his hand, the Vayu Astra resonating with his mana as a [Gale Barrier] took form around him and the gusts of wind pushed back against the torrent of water neutralising the attack in the process.
Their attacks collided in an enormous display of might, creating a colossal splash and a burst of high-speed wind that threatened to level the surroundings. But the two old gods stood their ground, not giving an inch.
"Hmm, you've still got it, turtle. But will it be enough against my new powerful body?" Khnum questioned, already gathering more water for his next assault.
" I'm not the same tier6 god I was when I faced you for the first time you foolish sea god, if you can exert tier8 strength because you took over someone else's body, I can too with my own-
No enhancements needed" Kremeth said as he reminded Khnum that he could still show a flurry of his tier8 strength with his very body.
Although Kremeth could not maintain his peak powers for much longer than 10 minutes, for those 10 minutes he did fight as a genuine tier8 monarch.
" Bring it then " Khnum said as they clashed again, Khnum's [Whirlpool Vortex] twisting and turning, looking to engulf Kremeth against the cowardly god's [Cyclone Deviation] which redirected the vortex away, leaving Khnum momentarily vulnerable.
"Having trouble there, sea god?" Kremeth taunted, seizing the moment as with a swift motion, he triggered [Wind Shards] and sent them slicing towards Khnum.
The sea god was quick to recover, using [Aqua Shield] to defend against the incoming attack. However, Kremeth's onslaught was relentless. The wind master pushed his advantage, constantly testing Khnum's defences with his barrage of attacks and managing to break through as a dozen or so wind shards found their mark and plunged into Khnum's new body.
" Aghhh " Khnum roared in pain as he was reminded of the fact that despite having a new stronger body of the shaman god, he was still someone who felt real pain and if hit even this body was vulnerable.
" Retreat now you old fag, it was never about your body, you were simply never my match.
Even if you are a tier10 warrior your skills won't match up against mine.
So Run before I kill you " Kremeth said as he tried to scare Khnum away following his small win.
Khnum, who seemed to be shaken, contemplated Kremeth's offer and pretended to raise his arms in surrender and slowly walk backwards in retreat.
However, he was trying to play ' fool the opponent ' in front of the original coward and gather his strength for a secret attack.
Unfortunately for him, Kremeth saw right through his tricks and trapped him within
[ Vortex Prison ]
" Way of the cowards rule number 14 - Never trust a retreating opponent who retreats of their own volition. Those bastards are playing the pig to eat the tiger" Kremeth said as he nodded in self satisfaction.
His way of the cowards was indeed the best way to live a fulfilling life.
***********
( Meanwhile Max and Angakok )
' Be careful- we don't know what domain powers he wields. If they overlap with yours he will be able to negate any attack you make ' Drax warned as he guided Max to not make any rash moves until he fully understood what Angakok's domain strength was.
Heeding that advice, Max first tried to test the waters as he used his fire domain prowess to create an extremely high temperature ring of fire around Angakok.
The nature of this flame was derived from the understanding he had gotten as he absorbed the Phoenix's blood.
This was a flame meant to contain and imprison an individual and to maximise it's effects, Max coupled it with a wind vortex to create a fire vortex style prison.
The raging flames were meant to stop Angakok from moving freely while acting as a barrier against whatever physical attacks that he would throw.
" Elemental attacks…. How weak " Angakok said as he looked down on Max's attempt to contain him as dark fumes emerged from his body and extinguished Max's attack as if it were nothing.
Max, who had never seen his flames be neutralised as if they were nothing, was shocked to see this development, however, he did not understand how he could counter the darkness element.
" While you wield the weak elements and laws, I wield the complexities of darkness and void in my domain " Angakok said as he flexed his prowess in front of Max.
It was both a dumb move for him to make as now he had declared his strengths in front of Max, and an intelligent move as he was successful in scaring the boy by his declaration.
Angakok was not the kind of God who needed to flex often, but seeing Max's remarkable attacks in the fight uptil now, he had started to feel an inferiority complex as somewhere deep down Angakok began to realise that Max at tier6 was much stronger than he could have ever imagined a tier6 god to be when he was one himself.
The flex was for him to feel good about his own strength and a boost for his own confidence that he was the dominant god in this fight.
[ Fire Compression ]
[ Gravity Concentration ]
[ Water Bullets ]
Max used three attacks in rapid succession as he first compressed a fireball into a small grain of sand sized particle
Then he used gravity compression to accelerate that small particle towards Angakok, however before that particle collided against Angakok, he used water bullet to come in contact with the small flame as it expanded violently coming into contact with water and created a small explosion which released a lot of fog and steam right in Angakok's face.
Momentarily Angakok was blinded, however he activated a void vortex and sucked the steam right from his face, however, it was at that moment that a second small grain sized fire particle that Angakok had failed to detect because of the initial mist hit straight at his stomach and burst into flames causing damage to the shaman god who seemed to be in disbelief.
In the real world, Max could never compress a flame so small that it would pass the detection of a god, however, in his own domain with absolute control over the laws of both gravity and fire there was no limit to what he could achieve.
With a smug smile on his face, Max said " There are no weak powers Angakok, only weak users ".