"Hooh... How... How will I do it?" Adhrit asked as the immense strength of Arav's yellow energy surged through him.
Arav momentarily gazed at Adhrit. "Your body won't be able to handle such force. Even if it does, the opened portal won't be big enough for all of them to leave in time." Arav's gaze fell on the sword sheathed at Adhrit's waist. "Channel your mantra through your sword; let it be the anchor of the portal," he followed with an idea that made Adhrit's eyes widen.
With a doubtful expression, Adhrit spoke, "But how will the sword gain enough energy if I'm not able to in the first place?" As if expecting this question, Arav immediately answered, "That's my responsibility."
"But brother, your con--"
"There isn't enough time for hesitation." Arav interrupted Adhrit as his gaze fell on a red object in the distance.
Adhrit brushed off any doubts or concerns he had and swiftly unsheathed his sword.
[WOOSH!]
His silver energy once again emanated from him and rapidly surrounded the sword's blade. Adhrit's feet began shaking, with his hands rapidly losing strength to hold the sword. Adhrit intended to form the portal without following Arav's plan, but his own body once again stood in front of him like an unbreachable wall.
"ARGH!" Adhrit embedded the sword in the ground while forming a slash of silver energy by the blade. Within seconds, the short slash of energy quickly expanded and began tearing through the space.
—
[CRASH!]
The figure fell flat on the ground, while the blood demon slowly descended from the sky. The figure quickly began standing up. The blood demon, who was already on the ground in front of him, gazed at him with intrigued eyes with his hand placed on his red chin. The figure had wounds and tears covering his entire body, but what surprised the blood demon was the small dark particles that appeared in thin air and reformed the damaged parts.
Suddenly, the demon’s attention was brought to his own condition. The cracks that Arav had noticed not long ago had slowly crept their way onto the demon’s entire shell, now clearly visible on both of his arms. “Ho?..I suppose this hunt is over-..”
[WOOSH!]
A sudden rise of energy halted the demon’s words. Upon turning in the direction of the immense energy’s origin, the blood demon found a silver energy rising meters high above the ground. The next instance a silver energy slash tore through the space and formed a crack.
A wide smile quickly appeared on the demon’s face, making his hundreds of sharp teeth visible outside. “Heh…quite an interesting turn of events, don’t you agree?…” The demon spoke while moving forward towards the figure. The figure gazed in the direction of the silver energy and paid no attention to the demon.
“Let’s make this more interesting,” the blood demon spoke as he raised his right hand, one of his sharp fingers pointing at the sky.
[WOOSH!]
An ominous dark-red sphere appeared on the tip of the demon’s finger almost immediately. The figure turned his head towards the demon. In response, the blood demon widened his smile even further:
[BHUM!]
The dark-red energy sphere burst into a powerful beam of energy and shot directly at the sky. The resulting explosion engulfed the entire dimension in a bright red color. “Hehe…” The demon’s laugh echoed in the area, while the red shell began shattering at a rapid pace.
[THWOSH!]
A burst of dark-red energy appeared under the demon’s feet, and he was thrown away from the figure. All the while, cracks began appearing all around the dimension, leaking an immense amount of dark energy.
Adhrit and the elves gazed at the phenomenon with a terrified expression, while Arav’s eyes widened upon noticing the silver portal slowly closing due to the sudden disturbance in the dimension.
“RAAARGH!!’’ Arav exclaimed, with a red aura immediately appearing around him the next instance. Adhrit got startled by the sudden burst of power, but this time, he wasn’t impressed or surprised by Arav’s power; he quickly noticed the absence of the beast’s roar that resounded every time Arav entered that state.
Arav’s peripheral vision caught the image of Yaksh freefalling rapidly inside one of the giant holes in the ground that the figure's technique had created. He quickly raised his hand towards Yaksh, with a red energy sphere appearing around the unconscious elf the next moment. Adhrit quickly grabbed the sword embedded in the ground and began transferring all the energy he had in an attempt to stabilize the portal. But his last-ditch effort only bought a couple of seconds, as the energy required was far too much for Adhrit to handle.
As soon as the red sphere containing Yaksh got close to the ground, Arav immediately brought both of his open palms in front of his chest. The faint red aura surrounding Arav began condensing and forming a sphere between his palms.
“GET AWAY!”
[WOOSH!]
Adhrit jumped away from the sword as soon as Arav’s exclamation entered his ear. The red sphere burst out in a beam of energy and collided with the sword. Adhrit’s eyes widened at the sheer precision of control Arav held over his energy, even in that condition. Instead of blasting the sword away, the energy entered the blade and the portal began expanding the next instance.
The yellow energy sphere containing the elves began heading towards the portal. Adhrit wasted no time and placed Yaksh and Aizen’s corpse over his shoulders and sprinted towards the silver portal as fast as he could. The immense pressure generated by the dimension breaking down made Adhrit’s chest heavier. Even in that moment, he held respect for Arav’s decisiveness, as the elves couldn't have possibly survived this pressure, let alone escape the dimension.
Just as they took their first breath of relief, a sudden rise of energy sent chills down Adhrit's spine. His restless eyes gazed forward, and desperation washed over his entire being as soon as he saw the yellow energy sphere getting pushed away from the portal. His feet stopped, and his mind went blank. He quickly turned towards Arav in search of any sign of hope or answers.
"The portal still can’t handle travelers; more time is required," Arav said, realizing the problem. But that wasn't even one of his worries. As he turned his head back, he found the terrifying source of the previous rise in energy. The figure was floating above the ground at a distance away, with his hands raised in the sky and a huge red energy sphere over his head that kept getting larger and larger. Arav's eyes darkened, while drops of sweat streamed down his spine.
A gust of wind, originating from his back, made Arav's silver hair wave. He quickly realized that the portal had managed to connect the two separate dimensions. As if reaching this conclusion himself, the figure swiftly moved his hands down. The red sphere, raging with terrifying energy, was launched at the unfortunate targets.
“Adhrit, the portal is prepared. Enter it as fast as you can and don’t look back,” Arav said while moving his right hand away from his chest, stretching it towards the incoming red energy sphere.
Adhrit’s feet moved on their own, fueled by fear and urgency of the situation. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he sprinted towards the portal.
“Resonance... light control,” Arav’s voice vibrated strangely, and the very next instance, a powerful shockwave burst out of Arav’s location.
[BHUM!!!]
The collision of the shockwave and the red energy sphere formed deep craters in the ground almost immediately. But the damage dealt to the ground was minuscule compared to Arav. Blood began pouring down his mouth, nose, and ears. His lungs were immediately flooded, with every single nerve in his body about to burst. His mouth turned pale, with the red expanding veins clearly visible under his constantly worsening skin.
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His hands shook while facing the sphere, but he managed to achieve his goal. The sphere had completely stopped moving with its energy getting weaker and weaker.
The elves stood on the Chandra kingdom's land, while their teary eyes gazed at Arav. Adhrit jumped out of the portal the next instance, and quickly turned back to Arav. He was horrified to his core upon witnessing Arav's condition.
"Brother..." Only a whisper could escape the young warrior's shivering lips, while his legs kept losing strength.
"[COUGH!]..This journey hasn’t ended yet, this struggle is just one of hundreds to come." Arav said, turning his blood-soaked head towards Adhrit.
"Just jump out!" Adhrit exclaimed on top of his lungs.
[THWOOSH!]
The red aura fueling the portal's presence and the technique that stopped the red energy sphere suddenly dispersed away from Arav. Adhrit's heart immediately became devoid of any hope he held. He fell to his knees and dropped Yaksh from his arms.
"Why won't you escape?!" Yaksh, who had just woken up, asked in a horrified yet anxious tone. Both he and Adhrit noticed the silver energy forming the portal getting thinner, while the portal itself remained only one fourth of its original size.
"Heh...A Dragonian elf should know this. A Dragon never turned his back from a battle...nor will do."
[SHING!]
Two swords contained inside a red energy sphere fell out of the portal, which closed the next instance.
“BROTHER!!!!”
Adhrit’s scream echoed throughout the lands of Chandra Kingdom. His face contracted with agony, while his eyes were flooded with pain. The thought of the loss of his Master and Brother both shattered the boy’s heart into a million pieces.
“NO!!...NO!!...NO!!”
Yaksh had an opposite reaction to the entire ordeal. He repeatedly slammed his fist on the ground with immense rage, turning his face red.
—
[FLASH!]
Arav’s eyes were met with a familiar, but unpleasant darkness that Pralaya had lived through five centuries ago. The rapidity of the changes in dimension still left goosebumps all over his body. “This appearance...I should have returned to my original form.” Arav said as his eyes widened upon falling on his palm.
“I'm not dead...there must be a way to return.” Arav spoke in a surprised tone as he realized he still held the appearance of his reincarnation. “I was brought here...right before the impact.” He further concluded as his eyes began noticing slight disturbances in the void.
“You are correct...Pralaya...” A familiar voice startled Arav, his mind immediately began racing with the thought, ‘This can't be possible…’ At the same time, the hope of him not making a mistake made his heart thump rapidly.
Arav lost his patience and turned around quickly. A woman with long black hair, wearing brown clothes, and dark eyes stood in front of him. That warm, smiling face created a whirlpool of emotions in Pralaya’s heart along with a thousand questions. But then, the woman’s previously spoken words rang in his mind.
Arav said in a serious tone, “You...are not her.”
As he spoke, the void around him immediately filled with a bright blue energy, erasing every iota of the empty darkness that previously dominated the place.
“Your words are true. I'm not the one you see me as, nor am I anyone.” The woman spoke while floating towards Arav. She stopped a small distance away from him and placed her hand over his head.
"Then... who are you?" Arav's voice broke down as he spoke. The warm touch on his head made his heart heavy with emotions that began threatening the Dragon Lord's composure.
"Before I answer you, tell me... who is the one you see me as? Why do I feel these intense emotions?" Tears rolled down the woman's cheek as she asked.
"You hold the appearance of... my mother..." Arav's voice began rapidly changing as he answered, along with his entire appearance. Within a few seconds, a red-haired boy not older than eight years stood in front of her while gazing at her with his bright red eyes.
"I... I see..." The woman distanced herself from him, her eyes widened as she gazed at the pure innocence-filled eyes of the form Arav had taken.
"Now, answer my question," Pralaya asked while doing his absolute best to control his emotions, not unnoticed by the woman.
"As mentioned before, I am not a being. I exist as the energy inside the life crystal. I gain the appearance of the one most close to whom I am in front, and it seems appearance isn't the only thing gained in the process." The woman replied in a calm tone, every word spoken with a warm smile.
"Do you perhaps... also have her memories?" A desperation echoed in Pralaya's voice, while his hopeful gaze made her hesitant to answer.
A strange pain filled her heart as she spoke, "I... I apologize..." The woman answered while turning her head away.
Pralaya briefly went silent, “Life crystal?..Is it perhaps the one radiating blue light?..” he asked;
“Correct…”
“Why were they behind that crystal?” Arav asked the next question with a serious tone;
“That answer lies in our very existence.” The woman answered,
“Our?” Pralaya’s left brow was raised immediately as he heard her response;
“There are four crystals similar to the one you saw, each holding immense energy enough to create life. Any being would desire to gain such power, but I’m not aware of the exact reason they require this much power.” Her expression became more and more serious with every word she spoke, all the while Pralaya listened with absolute concentration.
“Why would they need the demi-humans if they already have the crystal?” Pralaya asked the next obvious question,
“...A barrier protects the energy inside. It is not impossible to breach it, but doing so forcefully will result in the energy inside the crystal getting erased out of existence. Demi-humans have raw energy of nature, purity of which can remove the barrier without being forceful.”
“That explains a lot..” Pralaya felt as if he just got the final piece required for a seemingly unsolvable riddle.
“The only other way to acquire this energy is, if the crystal itself chooses its master..” The woman gazed directly at Pralaya.
Pralaya’s eyes widened, “Why me?!” His tone of speech held a sense of respect.
“That…is a question you must answer yourself..” As soon as she spoke,
[WOOSH!]
The entire realm around Pralaya began shaking, with the blue light around him rapidly condensing inside the woman.
Pralaya gazed with slight shivers in his eyes, as the woman’s smiling face suddenly turned into a mass of red energy and rapidly began flowing inside him.
—
Not a single moment had passed since the red energy sphere crashed onto Arav; the figure still had both of his hands stretched forward.
[BHUM!]
The crystal on the head of Pralaya’s statue flew towards Arav with lightning speed. Tremors began shaking the entire dimension right after the crystal went under the red sphere.
Alarmed, the figure raised his hands once again and began forming a huge red energy sphere.
[HUM!]
A wide beam of blue light tore through the red energy sphere above Arav’s location, apparently originating from the ground. The shockwave generated threw the figure away and dispersed the energy sphere he had just created above his hands.
The ground had mostly been torn apart, with dense dark energy leaking out of it. making it clear that the dimension was going through its last few moments before its inevitable destruction.
The figure quickly rose up from the ground, intense red energy surrounding him as he moved his hands up in front of his face. Two fingers stuck out of the closed fist of the figure, and the next moment:
[BOOM!]
The ground from where the bright blue beam of energy had just appeared blew up, with intense red energy erupting out. The red energy suddenly stopped as soon as it reached a few meters above the ground, as it had collided with Arav, now surrounded by a bright blue aura. Arav raised his head and gazed at the figure, while his eyes glowed with a blue light that generated tremors in the air. He raised his right hand, opening his palm in the figure's direction.
"Resonance...light control," Arav's voice vibrated with a powerful shockwave, crashing the figure in all directions. The next instance, the red energy surrounding the figure began to get stripped away from him, dispersing at a rapid rate.
Only seconds had passed, and every iota of energy was extracted from the figure, leaving the previously unbeatable opponent slowly falling down.
Arav suddenly appeared right in front of the figure and grabbed him by his throat.
“....I see you….” Arav said, while his eyes filled with blue light stared at the figure’s head.
"@*&#" the strange language being spoken by the figure made Arav's brows furrow. For a few moments, he listened to the figure speak.
"Enough," as this single word response escaped his lips, the figure’s entire body exploded in tiny dark pieces and fell down on the ground.
—
Adhrit, Yaksh and the elves gazed at a bright blue light appearing, tearing through the sphere’s top and heading towards the sky. The king and Drona stood at the back with somber expressions. Their eyes shivered as the bright blue light could not hide the countless cracks appearing in the dimension. Drona still held a belief that Arav’s strength would be enough to escape the destruction in front of them, while Adhrit’s still hopeful heart kept beating with darkness engulfing it every passing moment.
[BOOM!]
The dark sphere containing the separate dimension exploded with an intense amount of dark energy that blasted in the surrounding.
[HUM!]
Drona quickly raised his hand and formed a yellow shield between them and the explosion. The ground shivered with the tremendous force generated by the blast and unbalanced most of the present onlookers.
Adhrit’s eyes darkened; the slight hope he desperately held got destroyed along with the same explosion. He silently lowered his head with drops of tears falling on the already wet ground.
[Chapter 39: END]