And within that singular moment, the entire dynamic of the battle was once again flipped.
Sadin’s [Catastrophe Manifestation] was devastating. True to its name, it would cause the very world to undergo multiple world-destroying scenarios where nature itself would rebel against everything around it.
If his attack wasn’t completely contained within Naia’s [Aqueous Prison] then it would’ve spread all across Aganth, wiping it off the face of the map.
This was how powerful Sadin’s all-out attack was.
Now, Sammuel had reached a point where everything he had gained so far accumulated into letting him reach his most terrifying state. A state beyond even what Sadin could hope to fathom. With a Combat Power that was well beyond thrice what Sadin had, Sammuel’s [Annihilation Nova] was reaching a point where even a Great Spirit’s barrier would be unable to defend against.
A small orb of pure nonsensical compression slowly moved forward, facing against all the calamities of the world. Each raging earthquake was forcibly turned steady, every raging tornado within this small cage quietened down, the flames of wrath that surged through everything simmered down into a soft shimmer, and even the raging tsunami that Naia created flowed itself into a still.
Suppression to the fullest degree.
Sadin threw away his pride, this was the most dangerous attack he had ever faced. Perhaps the only thing that superseded such an attack was Vzella’s own [Annihilation Nova] at full power. He controlled every single element he could even grasp and begged them for protection.
If even his strongest ability was unable to even stop such an attack, he should brace himself for the inevitable. Even the [Aqueous Prison] that Naia had set up started breaking apart, she no longer had the mana to keep up with such an overwhelmingly oppressive power.
Instead of just letting it disappear into nothingness, Naia had chosen to use whatever remained within her ability and reinforced Sadin’s protection. Even though she had escaped into the void, she still oversaw every change in the world.
At the end of everything, Sammuel’s attack had met Sadin’s defenses. He was unable to resist at all. Every defensive measure that Sadin had placed up was rendered null, even to the point that it didn’t even faze Sammuel’s [Annihilation Nova].
Seeing how powerless Sadin had become, Sammuel no longer understood how powerful he had become. Erasing Aganth felt far too easy. It was a liberating feeling.
Even at the supposed end of Sadin’s life, the world seemed to favor him still. Standing before Sammuel’s [Annihilation Nova], a person Sammuel had etched into his mind appeared. He was a towering monster, that completely dwarfed any normal person. His raging expression showed an immense power that was contained within his body.
Riccen, the person that had welcomed Sammuel into this new world. Just as he had protected Sadin from Vzella’s [Annihilation Nova], he had similarly blocked Sammuel’s [Annihilation Nova]. Clenching his fist, he grinned.
[Dragon Slayer | Gain Combat Power: +??? | Riccen: ???]
A white and blue armor piece covered Riccen’s entire body, empowering him to an ungodly degree. Sammuel oversaw the entire process, observing keenly.
He reached out and grabbed ahold of Sammuel’s [Annihilation Nova] and tightened his grip. The attack that was supposed to take Sadin’s life had just been extinguished just like that.
“Strong. Gahahahaha!” Riccen turned his hand, looking at his scorched palm with a mad smile. “I chose wrong then. I should’ve chosen you back then.”
Sammuel merely shook his head. “I expected something like this. You won’t let someone like Sadin alone for no reason like this.”
Riccen had been watching over Sadin this entire time. Whatever happened to Aganth was irrelevant, his priority was encouraging Sadin’s growth. As for the Hatchling, he didn’t care about it. So what if it was from the Supreme Dragon? A Dragon was the last thing that Riccen feared.
“We’ve already lost then.” Sammuel took a deep breath yet the fire in his eyes were still there. “But I’m not going down without a fight.” Even Riccen felt Sammuel’s bloodlust, his body slightly shivered in anticipation.
Riccen merely shook his head. “I respect the strong. You’ve won this one. Want to play along with those Dragons? Be my guest. My Vis Empire’s not like those human supremacists in the Salvo Empire. I just want to bring this one back.” He took the unconscious Sadin by the neck, treating him like livestock.
The Vis Empire truly was an Empire that focused on strength. Everything else was irrelevant to it. Even to the point of turning a blind eye to such a crime.
“You’re not going to slay Alyur? A Great Dragon?” Sammuel needed confirmation.
Riccen turned his head, eying Alyur down like prey. His eyes shined a slight blue hue before grinning from ear to ear.
Alyur, who had been battling the Great Devil felt a threat to her life. She immediately pulled all her attention towards this greater danger. The Great Devil had only been keeping her company with its tricks, it was a matter of time before it ran out of mana.
Riccen snickered and turned his gaze back at Sammuel, “If Sadin had won, I would’ve. But now there’s no longer any point. I’ll let those cowards in the Salvo Empire handle it. Unless…”
Sammuel merely blinked and Riccen was directly in front of him. He had to look straight up to meet this man’s gaze.
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“You want to keep fighting? I don’t mind either way.”
“Go.” Sammuel’s nerves were steady. Despite knowing he was weaker, he didn’t back down. This earned him the respect of such a terrifying figure.
“Hah! What’s that… the Awakened Stage? And you can reach the power of a somewhat decent Ascendant Realm expert.” Riccen looked behind him and scoffed. “Better than these fakes. And better than this one.”
“You must’ve had a difficult time understanding how to progress in this world.” Riccen took out a somewhat tattered book from Sadin’s clothes and threw it at Sammuel. “Your spoils.” Riccen dragged then Sadin away and quietly left the ruined city.
Sammuel didn’t waste any time. As soon as Riccen left, he immediately turned his attention towards where Marie was. He haphazardly kept the book away, not caring whether it was damaged or not. If it could survive numerous powerful spells then it should be able to handle the upcoming fight.
Sammuel had only been in [Ego Overdrive] for a few minutes and was still trying to figure out what his limits were.
[Mimicry]
Overlapping two abilities, Sammuel’s body morphed into that of a bird, zipping past the city faster than Sylph at her full speed. Just as he had lost, Sammuel had also gained. He could now disguise himself into whatever [Ego] he had on. With [Ego Overdrive], he could essentially switch his body into anything he had sacrificed prior.
It didn’t even take a single second before Sammuel managed to reach where Marie was taken away. Reaching his destination, Sammuel saw countless blade lines going through everywhere, as well as what seemed like a mouthful of the landscape being eaten away.
He ran towards where the rift was supposed to be yet Fian and Lawrence were long gone. From what he heard earlier, Marie was taken away. There were no clues here that he could use. Agitated, he scoured the area until he found bloodstains on the floor.
These were special because they were still fresh. Following the trail, Sammuel saw Verim, pale and bloodied. His eyes had been dug out and all his limbs were taken away, except for his right arm. He dragged himself while cursing under his breath.
“I shouldn’t… have taken this… fucking job…” Even as he clawed himself forward, he was losing all sensation in his body. He wasn’t going to make it.
“Verim, where’s Marie?” Sammuel silently entered Verim’s range yet he didn’t realize this before he spoke.
“For the love of… I fatally injure that guy but another one’s come to take his place?” Verim mocked his own fate.
“If you tell me, I can heal you back to full. We can ignore each other’s path from now on.”
“And what? Betray the Genesis Foundation? In your dreams.” Verim’s chest puffed up and down, struggling to keep himself conscious.
“Are you afraid of the consequences of your actions?”
“Afraid? No. If you think I’m afraid of the Genesis Foundation then you’re largely mistaken. I firmly believe in their goal, like every other person in the Genesis Foundation.” Verim determinedly said. “Just because I badmouth them doesn’t mean I don’t believe in them.”
He could no longer see yet he still faced Sammuel. His firm expression said everything Sammuel needed to know. A belief so strong and pure that nothing Sammuel could ever say would change his mind.
“Farewell.” There was no point in continuing this conversation if Verim was going to be this stubborn.
[Mana Tool: Sword]
“My party’s going to have to find their own place in the world then.” Verim sighed. This was his last sentence before Sammuel cleanly slashed off Verim’s head.
[Gained Ego: Human | Card Quality: Gold | Star Quality: 3 (64/200)]
[Learned Flowing Swordsmanship | Mastery: Ascendant]
“Amateur, Novice, Advanced, Experienced, Advanced, Master, Ascendant. This is now my strongest [Skill].” A surge of information rushed through Sammuel’s mind. If he had his previous body then he would’ve started blacking out from the information overload but in his current state, it was nothing. “No wonder he was so strong… Ascendant Mastery, that’s terrifying.”
Yet until now, Sammuel still hasn’t figured out what [???] was. The Genesis Foundation had their own formidable measures to keep their techniques a secret.
Sammuel still had no idea where he should even look now. Everything was crumbling down. “I can’t fail like this.”
“Oh, a brooding person. Where are you heading?” Sylph flew around, teasing Sammuel. Sammuel stared at Sylph yet his mind started wandering off. “Just because I’m contracted to Sadin doesn’t mean I’m not my own person. That’s very rude of you.”
“Where’s Marie?” This tone made even the most playful of children terrified. Sylph wanted to play around more but seeing as Sammuel was willing to do anything, she didn’t tempt him any further.
“I can… tell you where she is. Mind you, she’s still very well and alive but not for long.” Sylph changed her attitude to one of seriousness. “It’s very simple, I want a contract with you. Instead of only having one point of view, I can have two! I can see two journeys at the same time. If you’re afraid of me divulging information to Sadin, then we can deal with that quite easily.”
“I’ll do the contract later, tell me where Marie is.” Sammuel ignored the implications of agreeing to this so easily.
“Ah… desperate people are such pleasurable people to talk to. This was worth using my own mana to manifest myself.” Sylph started stretching her limbs. “It was a werewolf, as it turned out it was one of the twelve leaders of the now-absolved Monster Faction. They all died a gruesome death under Sadin’s hands. Did you know that it was even an outsider? I certainly didn’t-”
“Straight to the point.”
Sylph caught herself, she couldn’t keep a straight face for too long. “In that direction.”
Sammuel didn’t waste a single moment, immediately transforming himself into a very large black bird. Sylph’s eyes bulged, not expecting such a sudden change.
“You could do this?” Sylph grabbed ahold of one of Sammuel’s feathers and was sent along for the ride.
Going in the direction that Sylph had thrown out, Sammuel noticed a creature running through the woods, demolishing anything in its path. It was faint yet the stench of blood was there. With Sammuel’s heightened hearing, he could hear what this person said.
“That bloody swordsman… killing so many of my pets! Luckily, the Hatchling’s finally mine.” The werewolf sinisterly said. The white balls underneath his clothing had visibly disappeared, only half remained.
Sammuel’s bird form flew down on the ground, shocking this werewolf. He had never expected that a Black-Winged Albatross would suddenly appear to attack it.
“Just a weakling… Go.” The werewolf took out three white balls and threw them all out, summoning three creatures. They all varied in look and shape yet they all had one thing in common. They were all predators of a Black-Winged Albatross.
Sammuel merely raised one of his wings and creature a gale that sliced through all of these newly summoned creatures. They quietly died behind their master. The werewolf was expecting an easy victory as his face still showed off a confident smile.
“Attack! What are you doing?” The werewolf shouted out yet… there wasn’t anything that moved behind him. Turning his head, he saw all of his three monsters turned into a bloody paste. Terrified, he threw even more white balls, summoning even more creatures.
Sammuel had done the same, merely waving one of his wings, causing everything that the werewolf summoned to die a pathetic death. Their lives were wasted for nothing, not even buying a single moment of respite for the werewolf.
“What the hell is this?” The werewolf no longer played around, throwing everything he had except for three white balls. Numerous creatures that he had grown very fond of tried to showcase their strength yet it was all for naught. Using the exact same move, Sammuel completely cleared every creature in front of him with sheer ease.
Transforming from his overbearing bird form back to his human self, he confronted the werewolf. “Where’s Marie?”