'Multi-cast Weapon? Isn't that me just using two crossbows instead of one?'

Confused, Orion questioned 'Ego'.

'You will see, this is not something I can easily explain. I know most of your intricate abilities are still sleeping inside you, and this one is maybe the third most difficult to manipulate.'

'I see, well, if you say it's enough to reverse the situation, everything works.'

'Alright, I will have you run inside that room alone and repeat what you hear from me. You understand?'

...

"What is he doing? He's been like that for fifteen minutes now. Is it that bad inside?"

Karteira was feeling curious about what Orion was so intently focused on.

They couldn't see the details of his expression or the emotions he showed, so they could only wait.

'Something's weird... He's going to do something bad, and I can feel it.'

Amelia could catch that feeling quickly. The moment 'Ego' made contact with Orion, she was alert. Not seeing Orion come back was another red flag.

"Karteira, he'll do something absurd again! We have to get to him quick."

Amelia tried to run, but Karteira grabbed her arm.

"He said he was coming back, so why do you say that?"

Angrily, she turned back.

"You don't know him as well as I do yet! We have to m-"

"Damn it!"

And she was right. Without hesitation, Orion ran inside the wide room alone.

"Karteira, we have to move! NOW!"

Her yell brought Karteira back to her senses, as she noticed Orion was gone from his spot.

"Right! I'm sorry!"

Panic took over them, imagining the worst situation happening to him.

They arrived at the spot where he was standing before. They looked inside and saw Orion, surrounded by thousands of bugs.

There was no way to save him now.

'Orion! Why did you do that!?'

"Ah- He's-"

Karteira had stopped thinking. Just seeing Orion cornered made her despair so intensely that her brain shut off.

But in the middle of the sea of gray, corrupt insects, the same Orion was smiling.

"I was born to reverse the Threads of Destiny! For the legend still hasn't been written!"

*Witness the light shine through me!*

He spread out his arms on both sides and shouted the words' Ego' murmured in his mind.

A massive burst of energy exploded from Orion as the center point, pushing every creature further away from him.

"What's happening?! What did he do?!"

Amelia grabbed Karteira, and Karteira clung to the wall entrance. The burst was so powerful that it lasted a few seconds.

During that moment, the two were struggling to keep their balance.

Where Orion was standing, a cocoon of light and dark surrounded him.

The cocoon rapidly crumbled, and Orion emerged from it.

'I was serious. Ten seconds. Starting... now!'

The person who was entirely different from the usual Orion clapped his hands, and three arrays of crossbows appeared in front of him, above him, and on each side of him.

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A total of twelve rows, comprising ten crossbows each, were formed from thin air.

The crossbows showed a different shape and color than the ones he usually showed; there were more intricacies to their design, more advanced parts, and surprisingly, the element changed.

It wasn't the usual light or dark element; it was a brand-new element.

"Is that... Orion?"

Karteira couldn't believe what she was seeing. Orion never mentioned such an ability, and from the face Amelia was making, she didn't know either.

"What did you become, Orion?"

She was looking at the weirdest being she'd ever seen. The short black hair he had was completely replaced by the gold and silver colors. Half of it was gold, and the other half was silver.

His clothes were thoroughly changed, too.

He was wearing black pants and a white shirt before, but now, numerous intricate details appear on foreign-looking clothes.

The clothes looked strangely sophisticated, like those of a prince of a powerful country.

On his lower back, he now had two wings. An angel wing of light, twinkling with dark spots, and a demonic wing of darkness with the same effect as sparkles of the light element shined through it.

Just when she was catching her breath from the blast, dizziness took over her body. She fell, kneeling on the ground, while grabbing her head.

"Amelia! What's wrong?"

Karteira crouched next to her, still looking at what was happening in the room.

Orion dropped his hand, which he had lifted above him. The crossbows began their mission to destroy his enemies.

Thousands of arrows flew in all directions, piercing each and every corrupt insect that was stuck in the room with Orion.

Five seconds passed, and Orion spat a large amount of blood on the floor. He immediately composed himself and kept his sight on the corrupted needing to be fired at after wiping the blood off his mouth.

'She was right... This is painful.'

He was suffering way more than he ought to be, since he was using 'Calm Analysis' at the same time to efficiently lock onto his targets.

No one was free from his onslaught.

But with each passing second, his body began to deteriorate drastically too. Blood was pouring from his ears, from his nose, and even from his eyes.

'Nine. Ten! Contract cancelled!'

'Ego' cancelled the 'Multi-cast weapon' ability, and Orion lost the right to wield its power.

The crossbows vanished, and his appearance reverted to his original one. His body was a total mess.

*Cough*

He continued coughing up a large amount of blood on the ground.

'I think my right arm is broken, and I might have a rib broken too. That's what you meant by my body rejecting the power.'

Feeling the pain inside his body, he winced.

'You are in way better shape than I expected. Good work on surviving and on exterminating all weaker lifeforms.'

Nothing had survived the attack. As 'Ego' congratulated him, he thought of Amelia.

'Thank you. How is Amelia?'

'She is still conscious, but she won't be able to help you further. I am sorry, but the last 'Lord' is still alive.'

'I will leave you there, as I have done my possible to offer a path for a future only you can create.'

Orion nodded, his eyes looking at the carnage he brought by himself.

In what could be said as mere instants, the legion of six thousand centipedes, cockroaches, and beetles were completely decimated.

If it wasn't bad enough, it was so brutal that corpses were embedded inside the walls and the floor from the strength of the arrows. There was no survivor.

Except one.

A giant centipede creature dropped like a snake toward the ground. It stopped ripping the roots when it watched all of its underlings die in a matter of seconds.

"You forced me to use this, so you better be ready to accept your death. I've had quite enough giant insects by now!"

Orion was unable to bring a crossbow out. His elements were exhausted.

He still managed to make them into daggers, but he changed a few ways about their uses.

Dawn and Dusk in hands, and even with a broken arm, he stood up proudly against the final 'Corrupted Lord'.

Its mandibles opened, and saliva began to drip on the ground.

*HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSS*

"Shut up."

His face dripping with blood, he spat the small amount he had in his mouth next to him and prepared himself to strike.

Amelia and Karteira were looking helplessly as Orion was throwing himself into the worst battle yet. He wasn't in any condition for such a fight.

"We need... to save him!"

Amelia tried to stand up, but her strength was entirely gone.

"We can't. Even if we go in, we won't be able to help."

"Even if I go, I can't promise I will be able to protect you, and you could get injured. I don't know what to do anymore."

Karteira was grabbing her eyepatch. This situation stressed her too much, and blood had begun to flow from it.

"Your eye!"

"It's fine. Worry about him instead."

They looked at Orion right before he moved.

"Your cores, I'll be destroying them."

Orion ran with all his strength on the centipede's left side and tried to attack the core near its tail.

But it was easily blocked.

This 'Lord' had the particularity of being extremely tough. Its shell was unbreakable using standard weapons.

The 'Lord' wrapped its body into a spiral and looked at Orion from a high vantage point. After assessing where his prey was, it spat acid in his direction.

"Try again. You won't hit me with this kind of crap."

He simply sidestepped the attacks and perfectly avoided them.

Thinking it was taking too long because of his injuries, Orion moved first.

He used Dawn and slashed toward the segment under its head.

A white slash traveled at high speed and touched the centipede before it could react.

The slash cut through a good portion of its segment, but it wasn't enough to decapitate it.

"Damn it. Too shallow."

It was enough for the centipede. The beast had stopped underestimating the prey in front of it after this one attack.

It began to undulate up and down like a wave, and when its whole body was in synchronicity, it jumped forward, turning into a rolling wheel.

A centipede wheel rushed toward Orion at high speed. The 'Lord' even used its earth element to create another layer of defense and spikes on its shell.

"This is bothersome."

Orion tried to pierce the 'Lord' sideways after dodging the rolling attack, but in vain.

"Well, there's only one way, isn't it?"

He waited for the enemy to come back and purposefully allowed the attack to connect. Orion was sent flying high into the air, and the centipede stopped its roll.

"Too predictable!"

He didn't take much damage, as he simply used Dusk to pierce the earth around its shell and sent himself flying instead.

He grabbed one of the roots of Tiohr-nam, and with three slashes from Dawn, he sent white slashes toward its back core.

To be sure, he even threw Dawn and Dusk toward the core. After making sure they would hit the correct spot, he used the ceiling as a platform and launched his body toward the head of the centipede.

"I won't give you time to think about anything!"

Orion crashed on its head and began to kick his way through its defense.

On the other side, the white slashes managed to break the defense around the core, creating a path for Dawn and Dusk. They both pierced the two cores flawlessly.

After kicking its head for a minute, Orion believed it had enough. The 'Lord' was agonizing on the ground, with its head cracked open from the horrible force of his repetitive kicks.

Orion moved to the third segment and cracked open the earthen armor, revealing the last core.

"I'm done; I don't want to see another corrupt beast for at least a month!"

He grabbed the core with his left hand and ripped it off its body. He threw it in the air and kicked it away, shattering it on the ground.

*Hiiii-*

With one last sound, the last 'Corrupted Lord' perished.

Orion breathed roughly on the dead centipede's back, holding his right arm as a painful sensation took over him.