Alyur wasn't lying... Annihilation Nova takes far too much mana. I've already wrung all of my available mana dry. I'm barely conscious.
An explosion beyond what any of them expected devastated the surroundings. Verim and Jynnette acted as one would expect, running away without glancing back. Sadin, on the other hand, accepted this attack head-on.
“I’ve gone through worse!” Sadin grinned. He was initially handling it quite well at first but it didn’t last. Sadin was brought to his knees as he bore the impact. Scraps of skin began to leave his body, revealing his muscles beneath. He was taken out of the battle so early due to his hubris.
Sammuel didn’t waste this opportunity to make his move. All his mana reserves had been completely used up when using [Annihilation Nova]. Such a power move was enough to completely clean out a mortal’s mana. Fortunately, he had a small workaround for this.
[Switch Ego: Enraged Basilisk | Ego: Entombed Turtle | Ego: Fractal Stune]
[Supreme Blessing of Attachment | Gain Combat Power: +??? | Sammuel: ???]
Sammuel’s body returned to its peak. His mana reserves were full and everything at his disposal was once again available to him. As this attack took a large amount of mana, there wasn't a lot of [Ego] he could use that would be able to handle using it a second time. He was even barely able to reach the threshold using multiple [Ego] at once.
This time, Sammuel didn’t completely wipe out all his mana once again but instead, decided to battle against Verim and Jynnette.
Bringing out his own weapon, Jynnette noticed this particular weapon as the one she gave Sammuel. Against three foes that Sammuel should have no chance against, he needed to be creative. Even more important was that he needed to take one of them down as soon as possible.
“Fighting a Master like myself? Just keep using your [Annihilation Nova].” Verim looked down on Sammuel’s ability to fight close quarters like this. "It's leagues weaker than what a real Dragon could use but it's still dangerous."
Sammuel didn’t back down at all because he had already planned this out. He hadn’t expected to fight Verim but he had somewhat expected to fight against Jynnette. As a person that solely relied on slashing attacks, Sammuel had already thought of a battle plan against that.
The Entombed Turtle was extremely durable against slashing attacks, making all their attacks weaker towards him. The Fractal Stune had an odd innate ability where there would be a backlash towards the attacker, forcing them to take a bit of damage every time they attacked him. And lastly, the Enraged Basilisk would gain Combat Power every time it took damage.
It was combining aspects of what he had at his disposal to the highest degree.
“I’ve thought this through.” Sammuel took out his Fevervent Fang and slashed forward. As expected, Verim and Jynnette easily dodged his attacks. Sadin at this point was still reeling in from the damage that he took from Annihilation Nova. Sammuel's blade had already made the other two back off giving him an opportunity to get rid of Sadin now.
Verim had seen the path at which Sammuel would slash, letting him easily attack his own. Verim has used Sadin as bait in order to draw Sammuel's attention away from him. Using this gap, he aimed to completely cut off Sammuel’s head in one clean strike.
[Status: Hardened Shell | Lose Combat Power: - 32,439 | Verim: 121,095]
Yet he was unable to do so, Sammuel’s neck was far too thick for his blade to cut through. There was a slight cut on his neck but nothing fatal. At the same time as his blade connected, Verim felt his hands shake, feeling the vibrations of his attack get sent back right at him.
Verim had actually been unable to cut through Sammuel's flesh. This caught Verim off guard. For his terrifying blade to be blocked by nothing but Sammuel's pure flesh made him wary.
What made this exchange even more absurd was what Sammuel did next.
[Self Restoration | Gain Combat Power: + 100/s | Sammuel: ???]
A skill he had taken away from one of the many foes he had slain. When he glanced over this skill, all it did was slowly recover someone's wounds over a long period of time. The small nick on Sammuel's neck began to heal immediately. This was far beyond what this skill could normally do.
With the [Supreme Blessing of Attachment], Sammuel’s very existence was improved in its entirety. Despite only being a Hatchling, Marie had power that was befitting of being the offspring of a Supreme Dragon. She wouldn't have been able to do this without Alyur's guidance.
If not for this blessing, Sammuel would’ve had greater difficulty. No, it was more accurate to say that he wouldn't even been able to handle one of Verim's attacks.
Jynnette noticed Verim feel the backlash of his attack and tried a different approach. If Sammuel’s body was impervious to swords then the obvious attack would be magic. Seeing how dangerous Sammuel had become, she didn’t care at all for the consequences of her actions. Avenging her mother took a higher priority.
[Death Curse | Lose Combat Power: -50,000 | Jynnette: 35,583]
Sammuel’s body felt heavy as if there was something weighing his very existence down. He noticed just what was occurring to him. A mist of black smoke began to emit from outside his body.
[Status: Death Curse | Lose Combat Power: 0 | Sammuel: ???]
A few seconds later.
[Status: Death Curse | Lose Combat Power: -96 | Sammuel: ???]
Another few seconds later.
[Status: Death Curse | Lose Combat Power: -239 | Sammuel: ???]
The number was rising quickly. He understood the implication. He would face the consequences soon enough. “A race against time, huh?”
Although it didn't massive affect him right now, sooner or later that number will
“I never knew you were this dangerous.” Jynnette fully admitted her mistake. Just how could someone she taught suddenly turn the tides against her, much less handle her so easily?
“Too bad, I’m going to cheat.”
[Switch Ego: Clinque Carron | Ego: Neo Rabbit | Ego: Lighting Eagle]
All [Ego] were primarily focused on speed. As for [Status: Death Curse], it had disappeared. It was no longer applicable to Sammuel. Jynnette had just used everything for nothing.
Verim noticed the currents of death latching on Sammuel’s body had immediately cut themselves off. Never before had he seen someone disobey the natural rules of the world to this degree. Though, this came at an opportunity.
Sensing that Sammuel was no longer that impervious to his blade, he tried to strike Sammuel down again.
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[Flowing Swordsmanship: First Form | Gain Combat Power: +1,583 | Sammuel: ???]
Despite such a minuscule increase, Sammuel’s eyes saw the same world that Verim saw. The flow of the world. With both of them seeing the same world, Sammuel easily raised his sword and blocked Verim’s blade. Despite being at such a terrifyingly high skill level, Verim was actually being matched by Sammuel.
“How?!” Verim couldn’t help but shout. He could tell that Sammuel's mastery of [Flowing Swordsmanship] was leagues below his yet his was somehow able to bridge the gap.
“If I can't do this much then I'm doing something wrong.” Sammuel twisted his hand, aiming to strike Verim down where he stood. Seeing such the world that Verim saw, they both made moves that blocked each other. It had turned into quite an odd scenario where despite knowing how the other would move, they still kept clashing.
“Jynnette, do something!” Verim pleaded.
Jynnette was crutching her chest, having difficulty breathing. Her lethal magical attack had just been rendered useless. It had taken up so much of her power that she was barely conscious right now.
Even so, she made her move, she was essentially out of the battle now but there was someone who wasn’t.
Jynnette used her remaining mana to disperse Sammuel’s [Annihilation Nova] that was plaguing Sadin's body. To counteract such a powerful force, Jynnette had to use a similarly large amount of mana. With such a move, Sadin had been set free from blocking such a monstrous attack.
“That packed quite a punch.” Sadin's grin turned grim and forcefully summoned both Sylph and Naia. Sylph’s gazes landed on such an exhilarating battlefield and created gales of wind that suppressed everyone else. Naia merely created a chamber of water, slowly encroaching on everyone. Their domains suppressed both Jynnette and Sammuel. As for Verim, they dared not get near at all costs.
When Naia noticed Sammuel’s existence, her eyes bulged as if she saw something unholy. Without any input from Sadin, she used all of her power and tried to murder Sammuel. “Kill this one.” Flowing tendrils of water began to hover around Sammuel, intent on immobilizing him.
Sammuel used [Flowing Swordsmanship: First Form] to easily slice away all those tendrils aiming to tackle him. Each one was sliced through and for those that he couldn't slice away, Sammuel merely dodged them easily.
“Already on it.” Sadin’s body morphed into the four natural states of the world. His body grew tremendously, enough to easily tower over any building. Each of his limbs became either combusted into fire, melted down into water, solidified into earth, or disappeared into a tornado. He no longer retained his human body as he tried to summon the very world to crush Sammuel.
[Great Favor: Elemental Overlord | Gain Combat Power: +52,691 | Sadin: 128,325]
With Jynnette completely weakened, Sammuel had an opportunity to strike her down, gaining an extremely powerful [Ego] at his disposal. Yet despite being able to, there were some lines that Sammuel didn’t want to cross. He didn't want to kill Jynnette. A selfish decision yet one he would stand by. Yet as for the other two, there was nothing holding him back from doing so.
With Sadin’s injury, he could only manifest a fraction of what he could. Despite his Combat Power reaching 128,325, he was still unable to compare to what his full power would be. Such a manifestation was incomplete.
The dynamic had changed, while Sadin was facing Sammuel head-on, Verim would occasionally attack from the side, aiming to land lethal strikes on Sammuel. With Sammuel’s current speed-focused set, he could easily chip away at Sadin’s attacks while dealing with Verim’s assassinations. Although that the case, Sammuel wasn't gaining ground either.
It was two on one yet Sammuel wasn’t budging at all. As Sadin continued the battle, his Combat Power continued to increase exponentially. [Perfect Affinity] truly was a heavenly ability. Sadin was growing stronger as he continued the battle reaching a Combat Power of 164,436.
[Status: Continous Onslaught | Gain Combat Power: +36,111 | Sadin: 164,436]
If Verim had played along with Sadin back then, the outcome might not have been as clear as last time. Sadin had lost far too quickly to be able to use his trump cards.
Sammuel wasn’t a fool though, he understood that at this rate, he would sooner or later lose. As such he needed to do something drastic. Throwing his weapon away, Sammuel aimed directly at Sadin’s head.
As an elemental creature, his head was blown into bits yet it quickly reformed without any issue at all. Sadin regained his ability to see yet he was caught off-guard by what Sammuel had decided to do.
He was directly in front of him. More accurately, Sammuel was standing on Sadin’s shoulders. He used one of the skills he had gotten earlier.
[Mana Tool: Hammer]
A weapon made out of mana appeared in Sammuel’s hands. As it came from his own manifested mana, the durability of it was below none.
[Switch Ego: Minotaur | Ego: War Elephant | Ego: Mortis Gorilla]
It was clear what these [Ego] focused on, complete and utter arm strength. Each [Ego] was unaffected by any previous afflictions meaning that they were in top tier shape. With a nearly indestructible weapon and devastating strength, Sammuel perfectly complemented his abilities to the fullest.
Raising his hammer in the sky, Sammuel slammed down, hard. Sadin was forced to bear the full force of Sammuel’s strike. Yet it was quite as simple as that.
[Reinforced Attack]
[Heavy Strike]
[Ton Weight]
Sammuel kept on adding weight-related [Skills] on this one attack. It had reached the point where even Sammuel had difficulty properly wielding it. Fortunately, he had applied everything as he struck down.
It was safe to say just what kind of result happened. Despite Sadin’s monstrous frame and durability, his very existence was rendered null. Both Sylph and Naia had disappeared nearly instantaneously as Sadin no longer had the mana to keep them summoned. Sadin was struck out of his elemental body, returning to his human body.
Verim didn’t waste this opportunity to land a fatal strike at Sammuel’s heart. With a sword piercing Sammuel’s heart, he wasn’t sad at all. “I knew you’d go after me.”
[Switch Ego: Enraged Basilisk | Ego: Entombed Turtle | Ego: Fractal Stune]
Verim felt a chill get sent down his spine as he tried to remove his weapon. He had failed. Sammuel’s heart seemed to have solidified as he could no longer bring it out. Yet this wasn’t why Sammuel chose to do this.
[Ego: Enranged Basilisk] made it so that the greater his injuries, the greater his attack power became. It was all for this one moment.
[Annihilation Nova]
~~~
It had been supposed to be a silent night. Weston was finishing up all the relevant matters that required his attention and was about to head off. He twisted the knob on his door when everything crumbled down.
An explosion to the likes that he had never thought caught him off guard. The Reuge Institution had exploded. A specific area had been torn down into complete ash, the entrance to the core of the barrier.
By the time Weston realized what had happened, the air was filled with thick smoke.
“This wasn’t part of the plan.” Verim slashed away any wisps of black smoke filling the air. He had stolen Sammuel’s weapon that he threw at Sadin. “I guess we didn’t need to do anything after all.”
Weston slowly came to his senses. He raised his hand for tiny bits of fabric to slowly gather up within them. He felt his connection to mana slowly struggle apart until he could no longer feel mana in the air.
“Mana… blocking? Such a thing exists?” Weston’s voice trembled. He quickly tried to make sense of the current situation yet he was far too late.
[Annihilation Nova]
It had been another formidable power coming out of nowhere. Weston immediately acted out in order to defend against this sudden attack. Gathering as much mana as possible he tried to manifest his own power to block it. Expecting such a devastatingly powerful attack, he had quite easily neutralized it.
It was when he realized something was wrong.
Weston looked up to the skies to see that the barrier was still completely intact. “But only Dragons could use… the Hatchling?!” Weston tried to clear up the smoke blocking his view.
[Annihilation Nova]
“Oh no, you don’t!” Weston’s lackluster mood these past few days turned radical. There was finally a moment where he could turn the tides. He was ecstatic, he would finally be able to do something that could save those left in Aganth.
Once again, Weston managed to block Sammuel’s [Annihilation Nova] yet he had made one crucial mistake.
“No!” Jynnette screamed out. She had been trying to reach out to Weston but was blocked by Sammuel. “It’s a bait-”
The core of the barrier, that Weston had been trying to protect this entire time had been blown up. It wasn’t from [Annihilation Nova] but from the explosives that Sammuel had placed prior. The skies turned dark as the barrier of the Aganth had finally broken down. Alyur’s majestic draconic appearance flew directly above everyone within the city.
“Nothing can stop me now.” Alyur’s hollow tone became slightly agitated. After so long, she had finally managed to breach through.
Sammuel finally achieved his mission. It had been a troublesome battle but he had finally managed to achieve victory. It required a lot of trickery but he had managed to persevere. “With Alyur finally here, everything’s… what’s that…”
Everyone looked up at the skies where a crimson light suddenly manifested itself in the air. It was quite a troublesome creature that no one else other than Sadin had the displeasure of being acquainted with.
“A Great Devil.”
“It wasn’t supposed to come to this point. But alas, things never work out as planned.” The very same Great Devil that had bewitched the Monster Faction and forced Sadin to act out. “I need to hold up my part of the bargain, Alyur. I’m sure you will understand. Kekekeke!”
And out of nowhere, Verim’s, Jynnette’s, and Sadin’s bodies were suddenly replenished with an immense amount of mana. It had a disgusting feeling to it but it was still usable.
Looking down, the Great Devil cackled. “Time for round two.”