Souta swiftly dashed across the centipede's body, slashing through its tough flesh with his weapon. Roaring with heightened energy, he accelerated, leaving behind a streak of blood-colored lightning in his wake.
Swoosh!
The centipede emitted a painful screech, attempting to shake off Souta while Kessa pinned it down. Despite its efforts, the monster couldn't break free as its strength waned. Nonetheless, it gathered its remaining energy, unleashing powerful beams in a desperate attempt to retaliate.
Focused on restraining the centipede, Kessa disregarded the beams, maintaining her hold on the creature.
Unlike Kessa, Souta dodged the incoming energy beams, avoiding direct hits. His strategy was to keep moving and not engage in direct confrontation, mindful of the peril these fifth-stage monster attacks posed.
Swoosh!
Continuing his assault on the centipede's wounds, Souta aimed for its head. Kessa steadfastly held the creature down as Souta prepared for a powerful strike. Bending his knees, he propelled himself into the air, wielding his weapon high above his head, as it crackled with lightning.
Boom!
Souta's energy soared even higher, forming a massive concentration of power around his blade.
"DIE!"
With a shout, Souta descended like a meteor onto the centipede's head, leaving a straight crimson trail in his wake.
[Archetype: Great Blood of the End]!
[First Form: Lifeless Tribulation of the Blood Lightning]!
A powerful force came down as Souta thrust his blade downward. Though the centipede attempted to create a barrier, it shattered instantly. The blood-colored lightning continued its unhindered path, piercing through the flesh and blood of the centipede.
Boom!
The centipede struggled fiercely, generating a spherical energy that expanded from its head. Kessa, who was restraining the monster, was forcibly pushed away, stumbling and falling to the ground as the energy passed through her body.
Souta sensed the force spiraling out of control. The expanding energy field shredded his armor into pieces, and he tasted the bitterness of blood in his mouth.
"Tsk, it's its final struggle... I was so close."
Gritting his teeth, Souta swiftly healed his injuries and pressed through the tumultuous energy field.
"Kessa, one more time!" Souta commanded, knowing that this battle would conclude soon. Despite the centipede's powerful resistance, this was its futile final struggle.
Responding to Souta's directive, Kessa swiftly rose, roaring to assert her dominance over the monster. She lunged forward, seizing the centipede's head. Her claws tore through its defenses, prompting the centipede to thrash more violently.
Simultaneously, she unleashed several [Bestrou] beams, rending through its flesh and exposing its head's interior.
Observing this opportunity, Souta charged forward for another attack.
[First Form: Lifeless Tribulation of the Blood Lightning]!
His form blurred into a stream of light, piercing through the energy field. His blade shimmered, weaving the combination of his two elements together, creating immense friction in time and space. It converged, propelling the blood lightning forward.
Swoosh!
In the next moment, Souta's blade penetrated through the centipede's flesh, creating a gaping hole in its brain. A flash of light erupted, illuminating the entire area in alternating darkness and brightness.
Boom!
Gritting his teeth, Souta narrowed his eyes as the explosion propelled him hundreds of meters into the air. Glancing downward, he witnessed several beams of light forming a line that razed everything in its path.
They were unleashed by Kessa.
The resulting explosions reverberated across the vicinity, the smoke covering a diameter of over twenty kilometers, annihilating everything within.
Survivors glanced upward to witness smoke enveloping a substantial portion of the enormous tree. The exposed section of the centipede outside the smoke had stopped moving.
Within the smoke, energy fluctuations surged. Souta knelt and coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"Using my Archetype repeatedly takes a toll on my body!" He cursed while wiping blood from his mouth. Gradually, his injuries began to heal, and his energy levels significantly dropped as the effects of the [Emperor's Blessing] dissipated.
"That was my one-time card," Souta muttered, rising and grasping his sword's handle.
The Earth Drill Centipede, a fifth-stage monster, had perished.
Closing his eyes, Souta sensed a slight headache. He focused on processing the recently acquired information, particularly about the crimson twilight. He also noticed an improvement in his brain capacity and computational abilities. This enhancement enabled him to easily recall all the tier 1 magic circles he had recently studied.
Did this mean he could cast tier 1 spells without relying on his system?
He tested this thought by raising his hand and saying, "[Water Bullet]."
A magic circle manifested in his palm, shooting several water bullets, all in a fraction of a second.
Souta found himself slightly surprised at the enhancement in his computational abilities and the ease with which he could build a magic circle. Though the spell's power was low, lacking any elemental affinity boost, this newfound skill was promising.
It seemed true that an Emperor possessed not just strength but also an agile mind. This development was better than expected. His accelerated learning speed would allow him to acquire more spells without depending on the system.
However, there was a downside. He remembered more about those unsettling dreams. The experience of death in those dreams disturbed him deeply, causing his emotions to fluctuate. To regain control, he had to bite his tongue again to calm himself.
"Damn it!"
Souta muttered softly. The traumatic nature of those dreams had shifted his mindset significantly. While previously terrified of death, now he found a peculiar comfort in it. Accepting death at any moment seemed reasonable, even pleasant.
Accepting this change within himself, Souta acknowledged that he couldn't alter it. Those experiences might have dulled his emotions to some extent, preventing the occasional emotional instability he used to face.
After a few moments, he managed to calm himself. He focused on sorting through the overwhelming information in his mind regarding the crimson twilight. As an Emperor of the crimson twilight, he became aware of the existence of other crimson twilights in the world, but their numbers were scarce. Collectively, they might amount to no more than a single tribe, explaining why many believed them to be an extinct goblin species.
Ohm!
A sudden chill coursed through Souta as the voice of a little girl resonated in his mind. His eyes widened as he glanced towards Kessa.
"Kessa! Move!" He shouted in urgency.
Two streaks of light materialized in the air accompanied by splashes of blood.
Souta clenched his teeth, feeling his leg cleaved in two. Blood sprayed, splattering everywhere, as he staggered and fell to the ground.
He turned his head, witnessing two of Kessa's severed heads suspended mid-air.
A pained roar echoed from Kessa as she collapsed. Her heads were brutally cleaved apart, causing an unimaginable agony.
Coughing, Souta struggled to push himself off the ground. The attack had occurred so swiftly, he hadn't even had a moment to brace himself.
Looking upwards, he muttered, "I foresaw this, that's why I prioritized eliminating the centipede first. But who could have anticipated an attack undetectable by our instincts?"
Had it not been for the little girl's warning voice, the devastation caused by the attack would have been far worse. The high energy fluctuations in the surroundings had masked the attack's energy signature until it was already too late to react.
In a location within the Selnes Country...
Erkigal sat at the heart of a colossal magic circle, assuming a lotus position with closed eyes. Her mana fluctuated intensely as she commenced the ritual, awaiting Hoei Methal to complete his part.
Abruptly, her eyes snapped open, and she coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Cough!
Erkigal raised her head, staring upwards with an expression of shock and surprise.
"You...! You've succeeded! How is this possible...?"
Confusion mixed with her astonishment. Once the ritual started, it was irrevocable. Even if she died, the ritual would have persisted, albeit at a slowed pace. But it was completely halted now.
Her gaze seemed fixed on something unseen.
"What in the world did you discover there, Paente?!"