Chapter 213 Two Sides Of The Same Coin [2]
"Child of destiny, you have such a sca-"
[Raikou]
Cutting Abomination off mid-sentence a 30-meter big asura appeared in the air.
"Fifth Form: Thousand Divine Slash"
The asura moved, swinging the two swords vertically. Ma.s.sive arcs of golden electricity flew into the air. Destroying everything onto their paths, the arcs landed on the location of the Abomination.
Moving swiftly, the Abomination figure jumped out of the dust covering the air. It hopped back, creating a distance between Leon and itself.
Zapp-
The distance the Abomination opened up was at least 100 meters yet Leon suddenly appeared in front of the monster, leaving a trail of lightning crackling behind him.
"Seventh Form: Deadline"
This time Raikou didn"t attack but Leon himself. His blade descended swiftly, becoming faster with each pa.s.sing second as the concentration of lightning around him increased.
Bang-!
The Abomination"s figure flew back from the impact while knocking down trees in its path.
However, even before the monster"s figure could come to rest, Leon was already above it, preparing another strike while wearing an expressionless face like a Noah mask.
This was the real Leon, something Leon himself didn"t know. He had watched his parents beings eaten alive, his sweet and sour childhood memories were shattered by demons, he had trained day and night for years until he fell unconscious from exhaustion.
It was impossible for him, who had been carrying a seed of hatred and revenge in his heart, to be normal. The kind and na?ve Leon was a mask, a mask he unconsciously created and believed to be his true self.
Bang-! Bang-!
The monster, although unharmed, was unable to resist. Turning into lightning himself, Leon"s speed was faster than what the monster could stop.
"It"s not working."
Raikou swung its fist and threw the Abomination into the sky. Leon didn"t follow the Abomination and took a stance on the ground.
"Remember the feeling from the [Singularity]. Just once, once should be enough to cut this thing."
Rapidly falling back to the ground, the Abomination entered the 100-meter range on Leon.
Closing his eyes, Leon muttered the name of his technique.
"Fourth Form: Domain"
Instantly, an invisible sphere spread out from him, enabling him to sense even the movements of gra.s.s in a 100-meter radius.
The Abomination watched in antic.i.p.ation.
"Only once. Remember the essence of the seventh form"
"Seventh Form–"
The sword moved in an instant. Its weight bearing down on the world.
This attack was different.
Abomination moved, its arm turning into a ma.s.sive gate-like shield, but suddenly the monster sensed a presence behind him.
"–Deadline"
The attack came from behind the Abomination! It appeared out of thin air!
Swinging the ma.s.sive shield and using the generated momentum, the monster changed its position mid-air and used the other hand to form another shield.
As it believed to have blocked the two attacks, it abruptly felt multiple familiar presences. Five more attacks appeared out of thin air!
With his perception and agility enhanced to his limit, Leon was able to watch everything in slow motion.
His attacks were about to strike the Abomination, the monster still thinking of what to do, when–
Vupp-
"That"s unoriginal"
–Leon was teleported to the sky! No, he had swapped places with the Abomination!
Unable to dodge or defend, the attack crashed into him!
Bangg-!
Thrown into the air, Leon helplessly crashed into the ground, only alive thanks to [Raikou].
"I"ve seen those moves already. If you don"t show something new, you"ll be devoured, child of destiny."
The Abomination, still wearing the appearance of Nathan, strolled in front of Leon. Having faced Lark, Leon"s "new" techniques did not surprise the monster.
Turning into lightning, using a domain to launch attacks from anywhere, and lastly, trying to tear reality, the monster had seen it all.
***
-(Present || Location: Floor 13)-
Bam-
Nathan crashed into the ground.
In his numb state, he was unable to feel the branch that pierced his thigh as he fell.
Susan was lying unconscious on the G.o.d-Killing Spear, flying in the sky. Not bringing Susan down was a subconscious act on his part, as his mind believed that if a monster attacked, Susan could be in danger.
He hadn"t yet realized that no monsters were remaining on the floor. Rather, it was a blessing he could make out the appearance of rifts and avoid them.
"Haah..haah.."
Sweat and blood trickled down his figure. He was unable to command his body to dig the ore out. Almost as if he was driving a car with loose steering, his actions were out of control, his body refusing to listen to him.
"Argghh.."
He pulled himself to the place where the ore was buried. His flesh was torn apart, his body fluid mixing into the mud as he dragged his unprotected self over the ground.
It took him time, but he managed to reach to place. Not thinking twice, his left arm moved, the only limb following his instructions, and began digging.
Pachk-
He dug.
Pachk-
And dug.
Pachk-
His nails broke.
Pachk-
His black bones were exposed.
Pachk-
Yet he dug.
And dug and dug and dug.
Pachk-
Kill
Save
Only two thoughts remained in his head as he forced himself to not forget them.
And finally, he reached his goal.
Clang-
A dull echo, as if two metals struck each other, rang. Nathan pulled the purple stone out.
[Fragment of Eternity [Legendary] ]
Now he needed a weapon.
Nathan tried to recall why he chose this ore as his prize.
"My arm…"
His arm. He was planning to replace the metal in his left arm with the ore.
The ore couldn"t be broken, so it had to be smelted into his arm. The process would"ve been extricating, but he was ready to do it if he could become stronger because that would mean fewer enemies who could kill him.
But what was he doing now?
"Evolution….Second protagonist"
Forcing himself to evolve, something that was only supposed to happen after every three ranks. However, when the powerless second protagonist was thrown into a distant planet, he had no choice but to attempt it. The attempt was made by mistake, nevertheless the result was there.
Fortunately, as the materials the 2nd protagonist used were compatible with himself, he was successful and gained enormous power. The only downside was losing his humanity, figuratively and literally.
But Nathan was going to use an ore, an unalive object. Even the second protagonist used a Lich to evolve with his [Necromancer] stigma.
Nathan circulated and concentrated Nether on the tips of his fingers on his left arm. He moved without hesitation.
Sizzzle-
A burnt smell of flesh wafted in the air.
Sinking his fingers into his abdomen, he opened his stomach. Fortunately, or unfortunately, this wasn"t the first time he did something like this, although the previous attempts weren"t made in the real world, so he knew the extent he could move without spilling his innards.
He didn"t cry or utter a groan.
As his stomach lay open, he grabbed the ore and, moving his hand inside his stomach, held it next to his ether core.
"Mumfphh!!"
Cracks appeared on his core and ether spilled out. The pain was worse than having his flesh melted, but he didn"t stop.
Gripping his own core tightly…. He crushed it.
"Aaarrgh!!"
The heat melted his organs, his blood vessels burst, his nerves went haywire. The pain was unbearable, it was as if he was being skinned alive, burnt in a pot, being chopped into pieces, stabbed, pierced. All kinds of pain a.s.saulted him.
He almost lost consciousness. Almost.
Swoshh-
Vroom-
Burning the little ether left in his body, he placed the ore in the place of his previous core and began wrapping it in ether.
His figure withered rapidly, strands of his black hair turned white as he turned his life force into ether.
He couldn"t stop before he fused his energy into the ore.
A golden light wrapped around the [Fragment of Eternity] as he attempted to fuse them. His life force depleting rapidly.
But he went a step further. He added Nether into the fray, too.
Nathan didn"t know if he was doing it correctly, but he didn"t think about it. He was waiting for the signal that would tell him the answer.
[Attempting evolution….]
[User it interfering with Law of Weapons, Law of Demons, and Law of Humans]
[Checking requirements….]
Concept, that was the other name for Laws. Nathan was trying to integrate an ore, solely made to develop weapons, into himself, a human with Nether. Thus the concept of weapon, human and demon, respectively.
[Permission granted. With the user"s t.i.tle [Pseudo-Ego Weapon(Cursed)] he is allowed to attempt the evolution]
"ARRRRGG!!"
Nathan"s skin cracked, and a subtle purple glow permeated from beneath. The energy from ore fused into him, but it was too much for his body to handle.
A few white strands turned purple, a small purple glow appeared in the center of his pupils. The Nether from his left arm retracted and fused into his bones.
His body thrashed around. He was acting like a beast, crying out in pain while inflicting self-wounds.
Nevertheless, not everything was going smoothly.
The energy from the ore started to overwhelm him. His red pupils turned purple entirely, his black hairs lost their color and became purple after turning white, the golden black sphere trying to cover the ore also developed into a purple sphere.
His body was breaking down.
But Nathan knew this could happen.
Vrrrooom-
[Zero], a reddish-black flame, covered his body. The hungry flame devoured the extra energy from the ore, trying to maintain a balance between the three.
Nathan felt something blooming inside him. The sensation was familiar. Every time he used [Zero] he sensed something growing inside him, but thinking that it was from [Zero] itself, he never thought much of it.
As [Zero] hungrily ate the energy from [Fragment of Eternity] a string of notifications appeared and disappeared in front of his eyes.
[Warning! Warning! The evolution will be halted due to the specific combination of ingredients used by the user]
[Warning! Warning! Further attempts will result in interference by the System.]
[Warning! Warning! [Chaos] energy of the user is rising rapidly. This is the last warning from the System. Stop the process]
The energy from the ore wasn"t decreasing, however, the same couldn"t be said for [Zero]. There was a limit to the speed at which Nathan could burn his life force to use Ether. He was beginning to fall back.
At the same time, the feeling of swelling inside him had reached its peak. At his last leg, Nathan pushed for the final struggle.
And as a result.
[Error! Error! Seed of Chaos ha$ &%##@23r23]
Something bloomed.