ACC Chapter 12 Getting Up Close

I narrowed my eyes even as my divine sense screamed at me. Just the mere thought of sending it over had set off alarm bells within my mind.

The massive lion, which had now doubled in size, crouched. Before I could even register movement, the right side of my body simply vanished. Even detecting such a change only happened when the afterimage in front of me vanished entirely.

Simba had been clever. He had known that the moment any of his attacks targeted my core or my brain, my body would have reacted regardless of his power up. That was why, my head was still connected to my neck. And it was also the reason why even my exposed core was still within my body.

The pain was intense. I could sever my pain receptors, but it still wouldn't go away. Why? Because my spiritual form, linked to my body, had gotten damaged. Meridians had been torn apart, and my nascent soul was leaking soul energy.

This was a serious injury! My armor, the parasitic plant organism, worked hard, trying to regenerate my missing half, only to be hindered by bizarre cells. They were multiplying at a speed that was keeping up with the growth of my own, thereby keeping me in a perpetual state of agonising pain.

Even with all that physical and soul damage, I still willed my body into a turn, facing behind, where Simba had regained his humanoid form in the distance, having left a linear trail of destruction that had erased the amalgam of vine and branch, ending with the destruction of the giant flower stalk and the petals themselves.

He too, was facing me, panting, with crimson staining his body, and leaking from his eyes. Just like a deity art, there had been a cost even though he had only activated it for a fraction of a second.

If he had been at the late Nascent Soul stage, then the duration would have been longer, and the cost, lighter.

"Livia... You should forget about her... REED."

"Oh! You now have the energy to speak? And you even emphasized my name...hehehehehe...it seems like someone's happy to be at the same level with I."

"Heed my warning."

A mental sigh, released through my divine sense, gently pushed away the attributed and non-attributed spiritual energy particles from me. This demon...

"As I have said multiple times, we are just friends! If you want to pursue her, don't disturb me!"

"She doesn't need friends, only me."

Tendrils wove themselves around the wound, forming a hollow armor that took over the missing half. I could even move the dark green arm smoothly, as if it was my own arm. Ever since my acquisition of the armor, I had never tested this ability. It was impressive!

"She is free. That's how all of us are. Aren't you also free? If the demon emperor kept you in a cage, would you be happy?"

"That question is irrelevant. If she's mine, I can do whatever I want with her."

A vein throbbed on my temple at those decisive words.

"Arrogant!" I shouted through my divine sense, throwing the ocean of spiritual energy particles around us in turmoil.

Even with all the agony I was bearing, my body still moved. Fuelled by rage, I barrelled towards the demon.

My speciality wasn't close range, but long range battles... But with the comprehension of a Nascent Soul, how could I fail to have mastered a few arts of close combat?

And I only became this bold because of the fact that he was seriously depleted in energy and plagued with various internal issues.

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With a controlled explosion of spiritual particles, my body instantly appeared right in front of the demon, throwing a powerful punch, though with the knuckle having been turned into a sharp awl with reverse barbs.

With a small movement, and a shift of his feet, Simba dodged to the side. A forceful stomp caused my figure to abruptly stop in the void, with my upper torso turning around on the spot with the sharp awl, elongating and transforming into a whip with barbs, swinging horizontally towards the demon's neck, only for him to sink below the attack, with his claws glinting with gathered spiritual energy.

Blades of emerald protruded from my feet, growing directly from the armor, piercing towards the demon before he could unleash his attack, causing him to retreat.

But I didn't let up, only becoming more emboldened by rage.

I raced towards Simba, halting five meters away as spikes of brown, nearly grazed my form. A mental order caused my armor to produce vines, each having a small mouth, slithering like snakes and bypassing the brown spikes to assault Simba, forcing him to withdraw his hardened fur back into an armor around him, hardened and fortified with spiritual energy.

Before impact, the mouthparts vanished, replaced with sharpened tips that caused sparks with the armor. The sparks, through Simba's command of fire attuned spiritual energy, ignited into a blaze that converged and solidified into a whip that swept towards me.

A small push from an ejection of wood element particles placed me above the lion. But before I could conjure up another attack, his body blurred, appearing right before me, with the flame whip having been turned into a spear, whose tip was aimed at my head.

With a bizarre movement, my head snapped to the side, with my neck becoming as flexible as a vine.

Then, I snapped back, creating thorny teeth as my previously sealed off mouth opened and bit down on Simba's head, once again driving him into a retreat.

My wide open mouth, still pointed in his retreating direction spat out a globe of transparent sticky liquid, yet before it could make impact, he dodged to the side.

With a twirl of the flaming spear, he summoned even more flame attuned spiritual energy particles that created a circular rotating disk.

My eyes shrunk into pinpricks when it was released towards me, spinning furiously. I dodged to the side, before once again accelerating towards him, this time pumping more wood attuned spiritual energy into my stomach area, unleashing a large wooden serpent, with double the speed, but sparks still scattered when its jaws closed down on Simba's waist.

With a twist and a deluge of flames, half of the serpent was destroyed, allowing him to dislodge himself.

A grin almost took over my face when I sensed that my spiritual energy had finally won the battle. Now, my other half could finally start regenerating.

I paused in place and spammed sharp spiked thorns, hurling them wherever the lion demon went, causing his form to create a multitude of afterimages that filled the area around me.

Simba had made the mistake of activating his bloodline before I had even unleashed my deity art. That was a testament to his lacking understanding of me. If he had been cautious, he would have simultaneously unleashed it at the same time as my deity art.

But now, he was still feeble while I was in my prime. My core and nascent soul were all primed and ready. I was simply waiting for the perfect moment.

With a shout that reached me through the clash of our divine senses, a ball of bright flame expanded with him as the center, obliterating everything in its path and threatening even me, prompting me into a temporary retreat.

But then, those crimson eyes, appeared just a few meters away from me. Even through the conflagration coating his body, I could see the anger, humiliation and the burning conviction within those eyes.

This demon was determined to have our conflict end here!

With a pop, I vanished from the place, with a wooden log replacing me, whereupon shoots started growing out, ensnaring the unhinged lion demon.

"Did you know that I possess a deity art?"

From a distance away, I transmitted my voice even as my trap was instantly annihilated in a burst of flame.

Cautiousness appeared within his eyes and the movement of his body paused for a second when I spoke. Ultimately, he didn't charge over.

He simply stared at me while taking steps to the side with an intention of circling me, like how a predator circled its prey.

"What? Whoever sent you didn't inform you about that fact?"

There was an imperceptible twitch of his eyes. It had been minute and had passed too fast for normal eyes. But I had caught it. It seems that my guess was right on the money.

It shouldn't have been the Demon emperor as I didn't have any conflict of interest with him. Besides, I already knew that he was in the middle of preparations to take that qualitative leap in life level.

Then that only meant that there was someone from our side...the Sect faction probably. They were the ones who would get the most out of an altercation between us.

My trump card would only increase my chances of winning. After all, a deity art didn't really widen the gap between two combatants, unless you could extend its duration longer than your opponent.

Before I could initiate the art, a bright light, appeared from afar, causing every spiritual energy particle within the range of my divine sense to become excited.

A friend was about to arrive...