Alexander slowly descended from the stands, cleaning his armour. He opened a gateway inside the barrier, which closed immediately after Bucephalus entered.
“It looks like the show can finally go on. Apart from the cat and the archer, there doesn't seem to be much we can do for the others,” there was remorse in the King's voice.
Iblis ran his hands over his face.
“We have already caused enough damage. Even David came after our interruption. Probably, if Snowflake hadn't seen Lumia change so radically, there wouldn't have been any such situation. The course of fate has been changed enough, but the result will be very close, if not identical to the previous one. Luckily."
As he shrugged, the King's curls swayed for a moment.
Iblis, Alexander and Bucephalus disappeared, leaving Snowflake alone, immersed in the hibernating battle, with a distraught expression for what he had just witnessed. After a few seconds there was a snap of fingers echoing inside the Arena. The battle resumed as if nothing had happened.
Seal Removed:
Heavenly Star Tiger Blood Legacy Unlocked
Stats +400
Skill Amplified + 1000%
Snowflake saw a whole series of notifications jump before his eyes and finally felt alive again. He looked at Lumia and Helial and felt no longer alone.
With impressive speed, the cat dissolved its Formation and carried all the Goblins that were inside it towards the Formations of Frankenstein, Circe, and anyone in its path.
"Snowflake!" Frankenstein's voice was lost in the tangle of bodies fighting in the arena. "Snowflake, get back in position immediately!"
But Snowflake didn't hear him. The cat was now a blue bolt of lightning flashing far and wide across the arena. He stopped beside Helial and Lumia.
Lumia was covered with a layer of translucent moonlight, which acted as an impenetrable energy field, an ethereal and beautiful armour. It was as if she came from another dimension. In his hands, Lunar Sickle looked like an omen of death to anyone crazy enough to approach.
Curse of the Demon was taking away colour from the world, as all the Trolls and Undead who happened upon Helial were thrown away by the energy accumulated on the weapon.
Lumia and Helial were back to back, ready to defend each other from the enemies that surrounded them.
"Lumia!" Helial yelled in exasperation.
“Don't worry, Iblis and Alexander gave me a hand”, said the girl, to reassure her brother.
Indeed, Helial sighed with relief. If Iblis had helped her, it meant that Lumia would easily withstand the shockwave generated by the use of the Sickle.
But… a blue flash moved from one side of the arena to the other and Helial couldn't figure out what it was. When the lightning stopped beside him, a voice made its way through the clash of battle: "They didn't help just you." Snowflake materialized in all the whiteness of his fur, covered with lightning.
Helial noticed that around his neck was a new pendant they had never seen before, a white and beautiful crystal. She wondered where it had come from, but they didn't have time for questions.
"Hold on tight," Helial snarled, who could no longer control the buildup of Mana on Curse of the Demon, despite unlocking Pasta with Butter made Mana manipulation much easier. The second set of Meridians he had unlocked inside the sword seemed to be able to handle all that energy in a much more fluid and stable way.
The Great Sword now seemed several meters long, as it descended towards the Revenant.
Cesar and Aure exchanged glances, circulating all the Mana they had in their bodies, ready to somehow block twenty Immortals who would attack at the same time.
…
Inside Helial's Soul
"I think it's too unfair and not very funny like this," muttered Alexander.
"And who are you to decide the path of destiny?" Iblis trembled with anger for the umpteenth time.
“Ah, don't worry! I have no intention of helping Helial and his friends. I mean the Undead Immortals who are there, ready to kill him in a matter of minutes. If Helial were an Immortal, he could crush them like insects. Luckily 15 of them have just died under very mysterious circumstances."
Iblis did not seem to understand the last statement for several seconds, before spitting on himself half the tea he was sipping.
"ALEXANDER, DAMN IT!"
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"Whoops."
…
Just as Cesar and Aure wondered how they could face so many Immortals all together, most of them disappeared under the incredulous eyes of the two Goblin Immortals. The five remaining men in black looked around in dismay, wondering where their comrades had gone.
Now only Kari, Lostro and five other Immortals remained. Yes, the situation wasn't easy, but it wasn't as desperate as before.
The King felt a strange vigour run through his limbs, taking him back to when he was still a young warrior and there had been no first conflicts with Aure.
Cesar looked at Helial with a heart full of hope and thought he would make it this time too.
Helial swung his sword. Although it hadn't yet become a Skill, it continued to be his most powerful attack. He could not imagine how strong the version created by Iblis would be, if used correctly. If a fake, a copy so far away from the original, was so powerful, the original would have been terrifying.
Circe watched Helial's attack with a lump in her throat. When Snowflake had turned into a bolt of lightning, leaving them all speechless, the sense of inferiority had definitively crushed her. Just like with Pseudonym again. The black crow didn't seem able to fly free in the sky.
But she wasn't going to give up, not now.
Frankenstein was continually trying to get Snowflake's attention to call him to order. The poor Goblin couldn't know what change had hit the cat and how tremendously stronger it had become in a matter of seconds.
By now, Lumia and Snowflake were watching Helial's back and would not return to their positions.
The Prince of Darkness saw the terrifying attack make its way towards it and felt a shiver run through its putrid flesh.
It was the first time it had felt such a sensation being transmitted by someone weaker or on its Phase. For the first time, it felt truly threatened.
He couldn't let Helial and his companions get away with it.
Looking in all directions, the Revenant was looking for a way to take revenge for the Human's blow when he saw one of the Goblin Formations wave in Snowflake's direction.
"Snowflake, get back to your Formation immediately!"
A Goblin who was too exposed to be intelligent was screaming The Revenant saw him and showed a set of sharp, yellowish teeth.
Frankenstein's Formation went further than the others.
The paralyzing effect of Helial's blow and its incredible pressure did not seem effective enough to block the movements of the Prince of Darkness, who disappeared in an instant.
The only one who could follow the fast movements of the shapeless mass of the Revenant was Snowflake. The cat's pupils narrowed to two slits.
But it was too late.
Helial's slash had hit the barrier, missing the Prince of Darkness, who hadn't been waiting for the blow like a idiot.
When Helial had launched his attack earlier, the Aura of the attack had allowed him to pin his enemies in place. Or, as had happened with Cesar, his enemies had not found it necessary to dodge the blow.
But the Prince of Darkness was a monster with highly developed intelligence.
Snowflake turned into a glimmer of light, instantly vanishing into thin air.
"Damn, FRANKENSTEIN, MOVE!" This time it was Snowflake who screamed. The Goblin heard the warning, despite continuing to advance and call the cat's name, and was dumbfounded for a second, before perceiving a shadow blocking the light.
Frankenstein looked up.
A monster over five meters tall stood in front of him and grinned with all its sharp teeth.
The sharp claws of the Prince of Darkness did not hesitate for a second. They pierced the chest of the Formation with disarming ease. The rotten, whitish flesh of the Revenant was harder than hardened steel, its claws were like blades of a meat grinder.
A sweet taste filled Frankenstein's mouth.
The Goblin's gaze followed the Revenant’s shapeless arm to his own abdomen, where one of its claws had pierced him mercilessly.
Heart and lungs were punctured, Frankenstein could no longer breathe.
You have lost 28.342 HP!
The Goblin slumped on the claws of the Prince of Darkness.
He died.
His body began to dissolve quickly. Not a trace remained of the Goblin in a matter of seconds.
The Revenant pulled the claw out of Frankenstein's body and, simply moving its hand, tore apart all the other members of the Formation. An acid rained on them, so powerful it dissolved their remains in a fraction of a second.
Frankenstein and Lulu died, just like that. Without being able to react, without being able to fight. Without being able to exchange a glance for the last time.
Snowflake had watched, helplessly, the death of his friends. With impressive speed, as fast and devastating as a comet, he hit the body of the Revenant.
"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"
The cat saw Frankenstein's body rapidly decompose, starting from the two holes in his chest and felt anger take over all of his senses.
Skill Activated:
Authority of the Tyrant
You are forcing the Skill's limits!
Authority of the Tyrant level up!
Authority of the Tyrant: Lv 10
Skill Activated:
Claw of the King
Snowflake delivered a devastating blow, but without using his claws. Had he done so, the Revenant would have died in no time and would not have suffered even a little.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM
The Prince of Darkness rolled its eyes at the violence with which it had just been hit. Thanks the terrifying speed that characterized the movements of the huge cat and the power of the blow, it was as if a twenty-story building had just fallen on the Prince of Darkness.
Sparks upon sparks covered Snowflake, a huge cat covered from head to toe by lightning and thunderbolts. The air around him had become charged with electricity and was self-igniting, generating sparks out of nowhere.
Helial and Lumia had seen the scene from afar, unable to do anything. They watched Frankenstein's body dissolve into thin air.
Snowflake took one last look at what remained of Frankenstein. It was his farewell to one of his most trusted companions.
The Revenant's blood stained the white fur on Snowflake's paw, but the cat couldn't help but think of all the adventures he'd had with Frankenstein.
He thought of when Frankenstein was trying to explain his too difficult and odd theories on the Mana Circulation; he thought of the endless lunches in the more expensive restaurants in Orma, when they knew that Nelia would pay the whole bill and ordered as many dishes as they could; and he remembered when he and Vlad had dragged him to steal Circe's underwear.
The Los Gatos had just lost a member.
Goodbye, Frankie.
Skill Activated:
Authority of the Tyrant
Snowflake felt all the muscles in his body were under too much stress. But it did not matter.
Skill Activated:
Claw of the King
Claw of the King was a special Skill. His father had thought it to him when he was little. It was one of the many things he was disgusted with and promised never to use again. His pride could not tolerate that something so tainted by the memory of his childhood would become one of his weapons.
But death knew neither pride nor dignity.
And, at that moment, the cat didn't care at all about using a Skill he had banished from his memory, because this time Snowflake was really pissed off.