With one brutal punch that carried a lot of power, Lakshman sliced off the Ancient Evil’s head clear off. The force of the attack sent the head flying away to get smashed through several buildings, but the attack did not end there. The Phoenix Titan continued the attack by unleashing a devastating barrage of fists and kicks at his enemy’s body with a relentless fury. Finally, he finished his attack by aiming both of his hands at the enemy, gathering a massive amount of energy into it and unleashing a devastating wave of destruction while shouting the technique out loud.
“Spirit Destroyer!”
The attack enveloped the body of the enemy and seemingly vaporised every part of him from view. Once the smoke cleared, none of his remains could be seen anywhere and everyone began to cheer when they thought that the enemy was vanquished. However, the present members of the Nine Pillars of Power could still sense his presence.
“That doesn’t make sense!” Dominic exclaimed, looking shocked. “How the heck is he still alive after taking such a that attack?!”
“Aren’t you forgetting that the Ancient Evil is immortal?” Lagron asked wearily by letting out a sigh. “I don’t think it’d be that easy for mortals to kill an immortal that might as well be categorised as part of the Gods.”
“No way!” Dominic exclaimed while Nara looked on with frustration on his face.
“Damn! What now?!” Nara demanded as he gritted his teeth. “Do we just surrender and give up at the face of such a foe?!”
There was a moment of silence, broken by the father of Athurus, the Mardana Kingdom’s King, with a laugh as he stated, “Giving up is the right thing to do, War Titan. It serves you right after all.”
“Bastard…!” The War Titan exclaimed, glaring fiercely at him and raising his fist in a show of wanting to attack him.
It was then that Valerian spoke to counter him by saying, “Have faith, sirs. The Phoenix Titan wouldn’t have come unprepared. He must have a way out of this.”
They looked at him with surprise before the enemy snorted and replied, “We’ll see about that.”
All of them turned back to look up at the sky where the Phoenix Titan was hovering without doing anything. There were a few seconds of pause before small particles began flying from all directions and gathered at a place several meters away from him. Soon, the blood took form and completely restored the Ancient Evil back to normal.
“I’m back!” He announced happily and beam at his enemy. “Did you miss me?”
Lakshman did not reply but simply glared at him with great anger, which made his enemy chuckle.
“Oh~! Scary~! I like that look, but I’ve got to wonder what you were thinking. Seriously! What makes you think the Spirit Destroyer could kill an immortal? I mean, that was a good try. It was,” and he clapped him a few times before finishing with, “but it’s a wasted effort. Really.”
His words earned him a murderous stare that made the Ancient Evil chuckle once again
“Honestly, you’re showing so much more emotions than you did the last time we fought, but then again, it wasn’t much of a fight. More like me beating you and that other guy up so badly that you resorted to killing yourself… only to weaken me. You didn’t manage to kill me, which I’m grateful for. Really because it gave me the chance to learn and be ready for you on our next time encounter.”
“You talk too much!” Lakshman growled.
“Well, what can I say?” His enemy replied by spreading his arms out. “I finally have a body to call my own, and I can finally experience so many things that I just couldn’t experience while in my previously formless body!”
“Then, experience my wrath!” Lakshman roared.
He surged with an incredible amount of power and shot off towards him at such a speed that his allies completely missed his movements within that few seconds. Even the Ancient Evil was taken aback when his enemy suddenly appeared in front of him delivered an unbelievably powerful punch straight to the enemy’s chest.
“UUUURRRRAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”
With a scream, Lakshman unleashed his power and blasted his enemy away at an unbelievable speed. He flew away so fast that a sudden boom echoed in the air as he broke through the sound barrier and continued to fly. Like this, the Ancient Evil zipped through the air all the way around the world before returning to where his enemy was hovering and ready to retaliate.
As he came flying from the other side, Lakshman whirled around and landed another devastating punch straight to the enemy’s chest. The enemy’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets from the blow before being sent flying away. Once again, the Ancient Evil was zipping through the air at an alarming speed and flew around the world once again before reaching the side where he once flew off from.
This time on seeing his coming, Lakshman began to gather a massive amount of energy into the palms of his hand and shouted out his signature technique with each incrementing stage.
“Pho-nik-ala-chala—!”
The moment his enemy reaching him, the Phoenix Titan aimed both of his hands at him and unleashed the enormous energy while finishing his chant with a roar of, “RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!”
A violent massive golden wave of destruction was unleashed from his hands and completely enveloped the enemy. The entire sky lit up by the golden rays of the attack, causing everyone to instantly cover their eyes. This lasted for a few seconds before the light died down and the view returning to normal, allowing everyone to uncover their eyes and see that not a single trace of the enemy was left in sight. Yet, a few seconds later, blood particles began flying from all around and gathered in a singular spot before forming into the Ancient Evil once more.
“I… never expected I’d experience that again in this lifetime,” the Ancient Evil admitted with a remarkable amazement on his face. “Being sent flying all around the world. Twice this time unlike the first time you sent me flying only once.”
“That was because you attempted to murder my lover and soon to be wife!” Lakshman said fiercely.
“Oh? So, I was sent flying once because I nearly killed your life partner, and this time I got sent flying twice because I caused a whole lot of damage to thousands of people, including someone you knew I guess? Right…! That makes sense total sense!”
Angered greatly, Lakshman soared forward at an amazing speed and attempted to strike him across the face, but the Ancient Evil blocked it by grabbing his punch. Still with the same smile on his face, he asked his enemy with a curious smile.
“Incidentally, what made you think your signature attack would fare when the Spirit Destroyer did nothing to me?”
“I have no reason to tell you anything!”
With an angry shout, Lakshman began to unleash a barrage of punches and kicks at him, to which the Ancient Evil moved to match his attacks and blocked them successfully. The attacks that landed sent the Ancient Evil flying back, and Lakshman chased after him only to miss his following attack and going back to being blocked before sending him flying elsewhere and repeating the cycle.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Down on the ground, Dominic was watching his best friend fighting in a frenzy and could not help but wonder aloud, “Is it just me or… is Lucky attacking without much planning?”
“It’s not just you,” agreed Lagron with furrowed eyebrow. “Looks like his anger has blinded him, and he’s going all-out assault on him.” Then he snarled, “Idiot! This isn’t the time for it, and each attack he’s unleashing is making his enemy stronger!”
“That’s right, Dragon Titan!” The father of Athurus said with a laugh. “Feel the despair as your greatest hero loses all reason and fights like a madman!”
“When this is over, you’re next!” Lagron growled at him.
Their enemy snorted and replied, “I’d like to see you try, but first, make sure to defeat your enemy before making bold and useless statements!”
Gritting his teeth with frustration, Lagron looked up at the sky where his rival and friend was fighting and bellowed, “Lucky, stop fighting him! You’re making him stronger, you angry bastard!”
His bellow reached Lakshman’s ears, who was flying down steeply to catch hup with his enemy, whom he had blasted towards the ground. The shout of the Dragon Titan managed to snap him out of his angry state make him realise what he had been doing.
Feeling angry at himself for letting his emotions guide him, he backed away while muttering, “Damn! I nearly lost control!”
“It’s okay, but at least you managed to recover thanks to Lagron,” said Asura inside his mind curtly, “but Lucky, never let your emotions guide you, especially your anger. You are more unstable than me when it comes to controlling your rage. You’ve only displayed it in short bursts in the past, but this time it’s driven you to nearly do the wrong thing.”
“Yes. I realise that, Asura. I’m sorry,” replied Lakshman apologetically.
“Oh? Why stop attacking me now? I was just starting to enjoy the entertainment you’ve been providing me,” his enemy spoke at that time with a smug smile. “Come on, now. Attack me already and unleash your rage! Do that thing you’re your face too! Raaa!”
He even mocked him by making a face of anger that Lakshman had been making while attacking him. Lakshman remained composed this time and replied in a fierce voice.
“I’m not going to let my emotions get the best of me, stupid.”
“Oh. How sad,” said the Ancient Evil in disappointment, but he quickly recovered his smile and said, “but it’s okay because I know how to ruin your mood even more.”
“What?” Lakshman asked suspiciously.
“More precisely, what really causes the death of your brother and his wife.”
There was a moment of stunned silence in which Lakshman’s eyes widened in alarm. Inside his mind, Asura was also feeling suspicious and began to boil with great anger.
“You… It can’t be…!” Lakshman said slowly.
“That’s right! It was I who gave the location of your sibling and his wife to those that hated you,” the Ancient Evil said with a twisted smile on his face.
“No…!” Lakshman said slowly before growing very angry and exclaiming, “Why?! Why did you do that?! What have they done for you to do that to them?!”
There was a moment of pause in which the Ancient Evil looked like he was thinking before he shrugged his shoulders and replied, “I guess… I wanted to weaken you.”
Lakshman stared at him in disbelief and asked, “What?!”
“You see, I was sent to this world on a mission, but… I couldn’t physically manifest myself until I was properly summoned. However, I found out that I could whisper into people and give them directions, almost like what Gods do. The people, being stupid as they were, easily believed me and did as they were told.
At that time, you had conquered the world, and your brother and his wife left the safety of your presence and ventured out into the world. I knew you were seen as a worthy warrior of the Gods, and I would face great impediment if you were left in full strength. So, I knew to destroy you mentally was to destroy your siblings and all those close to him. Thus, I shad they attacked, the wife was brutally killed and then your brother was taken advantage of by my master.”
While gritting his teeth and clenching his fists tightly, Lakshman tried to remain calm as he asked, “Your master… who is he?”
With a smug smile on his face, the Ancient Evil replied, “The God of Calamity.”
Lakshman was stunned so was everyone else close enough to listen, including the four of the Nine Pillars of Power, Athurus, his guards and his father. Their jaws dropped in shock and disbelief that the creature they were trying to vanquish was the spawn of the God of Calamity, who had attempted to destroy the world not too long ago.
“The God of Calamity… is your master?!” Lakshman exclaimed, looking stunned.
“Yes, he is! The greatest god in all of existence! My one and true master!”
There was a moment of silence before Lakshman asked, “So then… you had a hand in a lot of destruction that occurred back then?”
The Ancient Evil smiled wickedly and said, “You’re smart, Phoenix Titan and for that, I’ll reveal it all since you’re all going to die in the end anyway.” Then he began to agree by saying, “Yes. You’re right. I did play a role in causing conflict, chaos and ultimately destruction. Much of it was done solely towards yours, but some of what I intended didn’t go according to plan. Such as making the Dragon Emperor’s brother revolt and take over the Dragon Clan and wage war against the Phoenix Clan.”
“You what?!” It was Lagron who exclaimed from down below. “What did you do to my brother?!”
“Your family are quite the foolish people, Dragon Titan,” said the Ancient Evil while looking down at him. “It was easy to manipulate your father to destroy the Dragon World and it was just as easy to manipulate your brother! It’s like your whole family is born to be taken advantage of!”
As Lagron looked on in stunned disbelief, Lakshman demanded, “What did you do to his brother?”
“Nothing dangerous; just that I told him he was the rightful worthy successor to rule over his people, but was thrown aside when his brother conspired to kill his own father and making him out to be the bad guy to go to a new world and take control from there. Since the young man was filled with doubts and resentment, he was easily convinced to fight against his brother like the fool that he definitely was.”
His words hit heavily against Lagron, who glared up at him and yellowed, “DAMN YOUUUUU!!!!”
With a roar, he blasted off his feet and soared towards him with the clear intention of fighting him. However, as soon as he reached him, his enemy dodged his attack and brought his clenched fist down hard on his head. The heavy impact blasted the Dragon Titan straight towards the ground, where he smashed nearby.
“Lagron!” Lakshman, Dominic and Nara shouted together in alarm.
“You’re not worthy to be my opponent, fool,” remarked the Ancient Evil without interest. Then he turned back to his enemy and asked, “You’re still not feeling angry enough to attack me? In that case, let me reveal something that happened with the Workshop Clan.”
“Huh?” Lakshman reacted with surprise and so did Athurus’s father on the ground.
“What are you saying, sir? What happened with our clan?” The Mardana King’s father asked anxiously.
The Ancient Evil looked down at him and said, “Your clan has been of great help to me twice now, so I shall reveal a small little secret of the Workshop Clan.” He let out light chuckle and asked, “So, do you know why the Workshop Clan, who were working closely with the Phoenix Clan, suddenly turned against them in a single night?”
“I don’t know the reason,” replied Lakshman flatly.
Down below, Athurus’s father said, “It was said that the God of Power warned us that the Phoenix Clan are becoming destructive and out of control and must be stopped.”
“What?!”
“What?!” Lakshman and Asura both exclaimed simultaneously at this shocking revelation.
“It seems that you never knew that the Workshop Clan worshiped the God of Power as they believed their advanced technology was a gift by him since he was the strongest God,” said the Ancient Evil before adding curtly, “or so they believed anyway. However, the God of Power was missing at that time; it was a common knowledge and when they gave an oracle, they believed he was guiding them to destroy the Phoenix Clan to save the world.”
“It… can’t be…!” Lakshman said slowly as realisation slowly dawned on him.
“They were so stupid, they never stopped once and wondered why a missing God would suddenly reappear to give them an oracle even without announcing his return to all the Gods?” The Ancient Evil asked, to which everyone hearing this reacted with surprise. “Think about it. Back then, many people were able to witness the miracles of different Gods and yet… the mightiest of all the Gods… was always missing, but he appears to give an oracle to a bunch of idiots? How ridiculous is that?”
There was a moment of silence in which the tension in the air was strong before Athurus’s father asked nervously, “W-What are you? It wasn’t the God of Power that gave the oracle?”
“No, it wasn’t, you dolt!” The Ancient Evil replied firmly. “It was me!”
Athurus’s father was so shocked that he stumbled back and fell to the ground while looking utterly horrified.
“Those fools never suspected it when their oracle suddenly started hearing a voice in their heads, not knowing it was me all along directing them to their demise!” Their enemy said with a gloating smile. “I knew the Phoenix Titan would spare some of them, and I manipulated the remaining Workshop Clan into hating the Phoenix Clan and swore to avenge them by having them construct a summoning mechanism that would bring me physically into their world. My plan worked, and I fully manifested myself to fulfil my mission!”
Those that were nearby were looking horrified by this historical revelation by the enemy of the world. Through years of manipulation and control, he had brought upon the situation they were facing that day.
“You… monster…!” Athurus’s father finally reacted and shouted at him fiercely.
The Ancient Evil then proclaimed smugly and triumphantly, “Like I care, fool! I manipulated everything and everyone, and I caused chaos and destruction as a result! All of it is done to fulfil my mission, and I swear on my master… I shall fulfil my mission at any cost!”
There was a moment of stunned silence before Lakshman finally asked, “What is your mission?”
The Ancient Evil gave him a sinister look and stated, “Destroy the world.”