A/n: Well, its been 4 or 5 months… Anyway, I got nothing to say, enjoy the chapter :P
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"...Why is this shit is in his chest!?" Wildcat exclaimed as he and everyone else was surprised. None of them were expecting something like this nor even imagined that the dragon would be this crazy. It was suicidal!
The dragon was using his own mana to keep the entire magic array running. That was an enormous amount of mana that even more than a hundred A-ranks should not be able to supply. And if the dragon was unable to continue supplying mana to the array, then the rebound of the magic array could kill him.
No sane person would do something like that. But when Marcel thought for a moment, he understood why the dragon dared to take the risk.
'His domain.'
Using his domain, the dragon could absorb mana from every individual in the city. It allowed him to replenish his mana quickly and continue supplying it to the array. But even so, what he was doing was way too risky.
'What in the hell is that magic circle for? Why is he going so far?'
It must have a very important purpose if the dragon dared to go so far to keep it running. Marcel could not help but think about the magic array in Orazvil. Back then, the magic array was very similar to this one, and it was being used to nurture that creature made out of a lump of shit.
'Could this magic array have the same purpose?'
But if it was so, then how strong was the creature that the dragon wanted to nurture that he was trying to use the city with the most powerhouses in the world as a sacrifice?
Marcel could not help but shiver when his thoughts reached this point. If his deduction was right, then this dragon was not just crazy. He was insane!
"Guys, what the hell do we do now?" Delirious asked at that moment. Just like everyone else, he had noticed where the sixth node was.
Marcel thought for a moment before looking back at Sherene, "You should leave first! You won't be of help in your current situation."
"What about you?" she asked.
Marcel smiled, "My friends and I will stay and try to find an opportunity to defeat that lizard."
Sherene raised an eyebrow, "Are you planning to interfere in a battle of that level?" She said while pointing at the sky, where terrifying explosions were happening every second. "Are you crazy?"
"I know what I'm doing. Trust me." Marcel said with a confident smile.
Sherene was dumbfounded. "I don't know if to praise your bravery or to curse your stupidity."
Marcel smiled wryly, "Ehhh... Don't worry, I will be alright."
"And do you have a plan for all of this?"
Marcel confidentally nodded, "Totally,"
—————————————————————
"Guys, my black friend has a plan," Terroriser spoke to the other demigods.
"Marcel?" Regina was surprised. "What kind of plan is it?"
Terroriser quickly explained the plan. When he finished speaking, the other demigods were dumbfounded.
"Will it really work?" Regina asks with a dumbfounded look.
Terroriser did not hesitate to nod. "Titally!"
The demigods fell silent. They hesitated whether to follow the plan or not. In fact, Regina didn't want to take the risk. But Wave spoke up at that moment.
"I agree."
Regina raised an eyebrow in surprise. She then put on a complicated expression and sighed, "We can't continue like this anyway. It's worth a try!"
Although the group of demigods agreed to the plan, on the surface, they did not show any sign of it. In fact, during their conversation, they continued fighting the dragon as before.
Even so, the dragon's instincts warned him that something was wrong.
"It looks like you are planning something." It said with a snort. "However, do you really think you have a chance to defeat me?"
Nobody replied. They just continued attacking. Leading the attack was Terroriser, which he continued using his energy weapons to attack the dragon restlessly. The dragon was the wariest of him. During the battle, he was the only one who had injured him the most and injured him more than once with some unknown energy.
Unfortunately, the dragon's powerful regeneration allowed it to heal his injuries after a few minutes. Otherwise, the wounds caused by Terroriser alone would have been enough to make him unable to continue fighting.
Due to it, the dragon focused most of his attacks on Terroriser. However, most attacks could not break the defenses of Regina's shield, and every time he was about to injure her, the other demigods interfered, restraining him and allowing Regina to retreat.
The problem was that the dragon continued absorbing the mana of the city every second, becoming stronger and stronger as the battle dragged on while the demigods became more and more tired and their mana reserves diminished as they fought.
The dragon was aware of it, so he was not in a hurry to end the battle. If he could keep the current status quo, he would win before long. Suddenly, though, until Regina casted a magical barrier surrounding the Dragon and beneath him. But for some reason, she didn't casted any barrier above him.
The dragon roared. He created a shield of mana in front of Regina to stop her attack.
"Foolish Outcast! Have you run out of mana?" He roared
Regina remained calm, though. She stood there confidently with a cold smile on her face. This perplexed Zero, not before he soon noticed something green located on one of the two moons. Using a divination magic to check what it was.
…What he saw was a massive cannon.
"What is that?" The dragon was surprised, but before he could understand what was happening, the green light on the moon lit up. The next second-
A massive pillar of green energy was erupting from the cannon and heading towards the planet. Or rather, towards him.
"!!!" The dragon's eyes opened wide. It could feel an enormous amount of energy in that attack. He did not dare to take it with his body. He did not hesitate to create another shield, this one even stronger than the previous one.
But at that moment, Wave suddenly manifested over his head.
"You...!"
Wave ignored him. With an expressionless gaze, she extended her claws and touched the dragon's head. In the next second, her hand turned translucid, going through his head and reaching deeper.
She reached into his soul, in her true dragon form.
The dragon's face changed at that moment.
"SHIT!"
Wave's eyes flashed coldly. And a golden light that brightened the whole void as she unleashed a massive pillar of golden light enough to split the heavens in two. She had risked having her entire mana drained away just to land this devastating attack she called [Spiritual Destroyer], an attack enough to wipe out spiritual lifeforms from existence. It was too late when the dragon realized their intentions.
They intended to use several powerful attacks against him at once.
In that instant, his movements stiffened briefly, stopping him from supplying energy to the barrier.
"NO!"
The void trembled, and his voice alone cleared everything and sent Wave's ethereal form back into the physical world.
As soon as he returned to reality, Zero glanced around, still within Wave's universal barrier before gazing up.
…And was met with the blast of the BFG-10000.
"Well… shi-"
BOOMM!!!
Not only the entire city but nearly the whole world trembled. A weapon that could wipe out a whole continent was used for the first time since Terroriser built it on one of the moons. If not for Wave had set up a barrier around Zero, the weapon would've destroyed the whole city. But due to the blast landing on a small space the barrier set up, the energy condensed itself into the small space and increased the pressure of the attack, making it more powerful enough to even obliterate an army of S-rank Demigods.
"Arrgh!!!" The dragon screamed in pain. Terroriser's BFG-10000 attack hit it head-on, destroying his dragon body entirely. His second humanoid form rested on the giant crater caused by the BFG-10000, standing up from his weakly, he cast a fierce gaze upon his enemies.
"A surprise attack, not bad. But not enough!" Zero roared. If he did not manage to escape the attack at the last second by using his dragon form as a shield before transferring his soul into the new body he created inside him, that attack would have hit him directly.
But when the dragon thought that he had managed to escape the danger, he felt a chill on his spine. Looking up, he saw Terroriser wielding a giant sniper rifle, its barrel lit up brightly as Terroriser gathered an enormous amount of energy, mixing his power and the unknown energy into it.
The dragon's eyes opened wide in fear. He did not hesitate to cast another barrier in front of him as he tried to retreat, but all of sudden, he felt his movements being restricted.
At some point in time, several magic circles had appeared around him, releasing countless chains made of mana that restrained him.
It was Regina! The headmistress had used almost all her remaining mana to cast this spell to restrain him.
"Do you think this is enough to kill me?" The dragon roared. He then opened his mouth and filled it with mana, releasing a breath towards Terroriser to interrupt his attack. But then, Samara appeared in front of him.
"Don't forget about me!"
With a cold gaze, the captain paladin of the church of the golden dawn appeared in the sky after her little journey. Swinging her greatsword down upon the beast.
Boom!
The greatsword and the breath collided, creating a powerful explosion that rocked the entire city. Samara was thrown away by the power of the explosion, but she bought Terroriser enough time to complete his attack.
"Die you sonova bitch!"
In the next second, a crimson-black bullet burst from his sniper, traveling through space as it cut the world into two.
But-
"Don't underestimate me!" The dragon bellowed. In that instant, all the mana in his body erupted, turning into a giant breath that clashed against the bullet. For an instant, the bullet and the breath were in a stalemate. They collided midway between Terroriser and Zero, creating a blinding explosion. But an instant later, the breath started to disintegrate the bullet.
Surprisingly, even when multiple demigods joined hands and used their trump cards, the dragon managed to resist them.
But right then, the dragon's eyes opened wide. An enormous feeling of threat gripped his heart.
'The ground!'
He looked down, only to see Marcel, Nogla, Moo, Wildcat, and Delirious use everything they had on him. The Banana bus Squad let forth their combined trump cards that is enough to destroy a weak S-rank's body to oblivion.
"USELESS!" Zero roared, and a multitude of black tendrils sprouted from his back and sent them to the group.
Facing this danger, the group knew that defeating the dragon was not easy. A half-hearted plan would most likely fail against a powerful demigod that could fight multiple demigods by himself. Thus, since the start, they all planned to risk everything in this plan.
It was the same for Regina and Wave, except for Samara, whose arrival was unexpected. Anyway, from the moment they agreed to Marcel's plan, they were ready to risk it all. They knew that this could be their only opportunity to defeat him. Thus, they did not hesitate to show their trump cards, and Samara did not mind being injured to give Terroriser a chance to kill the dragon.
It would have been great if they defeated the dragon after that, but even when they failed, they were not disappointed.
Because they knew that the key part of the plan was about to start.
SHING!
Out of nowhere, the legendary pigman himself had appeared, blocking all of the attacks with little effort. As soon as he blocked all of the attacks, he swung his other sword at Zero, who widened his eyes in surprise and jumped back, only to wince in pain when the tip of the sword managed to slit his chest, and could feel a part of his soul was lost.
"Ah, right on time." Technoblade said with a grin.
"YOU!"
"Hi,"
"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE IN THAT ANIMAL KINGDOM AND THEIR POLITICS!!"
"Because it was kinda boring," Technoblade simply shrugged, "Anyways, it's been like what? A thousand years?"
While the two old enemies conversed, the Banana Bus Squad recovered themselves. Terroriser soon met up with the group.
"Marcel, you call Technoblade here?" Terroriser asked his black friend.
Basically smiled, "I simply got his phone number from Evan. Its not that hard."
"Not that hard, huh." Terroriser murmured, his cybernetic eyes scanned the energy fluctuation from Technoblade. And to his surprise, the amount of magic energy within him is more massive than the first time they met. Like a sea.
Technoblade somehow reached from S-rank to borderline SSS-rank in a matter of months.
"Is that why they are called Irregulars or Monarchs?" Terroriser wondered.
Breaking Terroriser's line of thought is when Wildcat chimed in, "Speaking of Evan, where rhe fuck is that Owl bastard?"
"Hey guys."
Hearing an all-too familiar voice, everyone turns around to find Vanoss simply sitting on top of a building with popcorn in hand.
Wildcat exclaimed, "Evan!? How long were you sitting there!?!"
"Oh, the moment the battle started :)"
"AND YOU DIDN'T HELP!?!"
Vanoss simply shrugged his shoulders, expressing an innocent look.
"I decided to not help yet. Because I was thinking about something."
"Thinking about what exactly? Thinking about Capybaras or something?"
Vanoss shook his head, "Nope, I'm thinking about if what I'm planning could kill that lizard."
Back to Technoblade and Zero, the two continued to rant about themselves from both past and present, and as they were about to reach the climax, Zero stopped himself.
"You know what! Enough with all of this! The past is the past! Let us end this rivalry right here and right now!" He declared.
Technoblade laughed out loud, "I like the sound of that!"
Sliding his left foot backwards, Technoblade's back leaned upwards and with a slam of his foot, his figure vanished and an enormous cloud of dust erupts from the area he stood previously, moving at unprecedented speed in Zero's direction.
Zero snorted, "Don't underestimate me!!" he roared, waving his claws and sending forth a purple wave of world-tearing slashes.
🎶Memory's broken, the truth goes is unspoken, I even forgotten my name!🎶
With a wide grin on his face, Technoblade swung his sword at the reality-tearing waves one by one at perfect precision. Despite the dangerous properties within those attacks, Technoblade doesn't bother the dangers in them as he moves forward.
🎶I don't know whats season or what is my reason, I'm standing here holding my blade!🎶
Creating a hole on the massive cloud of smoke Zero created, Technoblade one of his blade upon the humanoid dragon, who quickly jumped to the side, leaving the ground he left split into two and tens of kilometers ahead by Technoblade's blade.
Landing his feet on the side of a building, Zero poised his claws and jumped ahead at Technoblade's attack, obliterating the building he stood on along with multiple more by his overwhelming strength. Technoblade immediately turned, reverse gripping one of his swords and swung at the incoming opponent he fought.
🎶A desolate place! Without any trace! It's only the cold wind I feel!🎶
BOOM!
Their entire collision caused the destruction of an entire city district, sending the two tens of kilometers apart. Locking his feet onto the ground and preventing himself from flying back any further, Zero launched himself spiraling back to Technoblade like a purple tornado.
Kilometers in the outskirts of Academy City, Technoblade locked his feet on the ground and found himself in the Forgotten lands. Gazing ahead and seeing the incoming enemy clear as day, he also launched himself at blinding speed. And in a span of a single glance, both collide once more, their wepons colliding which create a dazzling spark.
🎶It's me that I spite as I stand up and fight. The only thing I know for real!🎶
A shockwave pushes the two once more. Technoblade spun his swords and roared at Zero with a swing of his sword, his opponent followed suit as the two were now unleashing a barrage of assault at one another.
🎶There will be blood Shed! The man in the mirror nods his head! The only one! Left! Will ride upon the dragon's back! Because the mountains don't give back what they take!🎶
"RAHHHHH!"
"RAHHHHHHHH!"
Their roar echoed throughout the whole landscape, moving like a storm as they continued to send their relentless assault at one another. Each of their attacks caused massive shockwaves that crumbled the surrounding mountains, shattering the earth beneath their feet, and sending clouds further apart from each other.
With a final attack, another shockwave was made, but this time, it leveled the entirety of Academy city, launching the two apart into the air, but that didn't stop them from fighting.
🎶On no! There will be blood! Shed! It's the only thing I've ever knowwwnnnn!!!🎶
The two moved like flashes of light, traveling hundreds of kilometers in a matter of seconds and their attacks shattered mountains and created earthquakes that level entire continents.
Far from their battle, Vansos and the rest of his friends stood near a shattered mountain and witnessed the earth-shattering battle between SSS-rank demigods.
"Jesus! They are destroying everything!" Nogla exclaimed.
Marcel glanced at his Asian friend, "Okay Evan! The plan! What is it!?"
"Simple! Fix your bayonets! Raise your shovels! And charge that motherfucka for the love of your God!"
This dumbstruck his friends.
"WHAT KIND OF RETARDED PLAN IS THAT!?!" Wildcat shouted, infuriated and bewildered by this.
Marcel facepalmed himself, "Really Evan? We should do my plan and-"
"But it failed," Vanoss retorted, "Your plans and confidence are bad luck for us, Marcel. We'll do this MY way."
Basically was to speak back, but he thought for a moment. Yes, most of the time, his plan and his confidence just keep biting him and his friends in the ass. As for Vanoss, despite his plans being the dumbest shit than Nogla's, it ended up successful.
Swallowing his pride, Basically groaned, "Fuuuuuck! Fine! We'll do it your way, so what is it?"
Vanoss let out a mischievous grin, "Like I said, all of you will he the bait."
Back to Technoblade and Zero's fight, the two continued their never-ending onslaught. The entire landscape around them was completely decimated despite its already destroyed to begin with. Throughout this brief struggle, the two were evenly matched, the pressure from their blows creating more shockwaves powerful enough to decimate cities.
The equal exchanges were broken when Zero managed to get a clear hit by severing one of Technoblade's arms. Technoblade grunted as he sent another attack, only to get his eyes slashed.
With this opening, Zero landed a roundhouse kick against Technoblade's face, sending him to the ground and creating an enormous crater, and a shockwave was produced with enough power to crumble mountains.
"I don't know how you got so strong in a short period of time, but despite the fact that we have equal grounds, at the end of the day there could only be one winner!" Zero claimed as he raised his claws and foul stench of chaotic energy radiating from it.
Blood spurting from Technoblade's mouth as he glanced at Zero with a grin on his face.
"But there is one thing you lack to reach victory, Yu Zhong."
"Then what is it?"
"As the quote from Sun Tzu himself… 'Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer'."
"Hm?"
At that very moment, a flashbang suddenly falls next to Zero's feet and explodes on his face, blinding him in the process. As he regains his vision, a huge amount of killing intent bursts from his body as he roars.
"WHO THE HELL DID THAT!?"
Out of nowhere, Delirious, Nogla, Wildcat, Basically, Moo, and Terroriser materialized out of thin-air and surrounded him. Zero was taken back and wondered when did they appear in this battle without him noticing their presence.
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Wildcat shouted as he and the rest of the Banana Bus Squad fired the massive bazooka over their shoulders, sending a large rocket from the weapons and traveled towards Zero at blistering speed.
Zero snorted as he effortlessly caught every one of the rockets with the tendrils of the Blight.
"Such pathetic efforts. In what goal does sending pointy objects could even-"
BOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!
Cutting Zero mid sentence was a blinding light and a shockwave and heat burst out as a power of 100 megatons of TNT on each rocket he held was used against the peak demigod. Several mountains were destroyed, the earth shattered like never before and people from the main continent could feel the sensation of the power of Nuclear weapons.
But despite the devastating capabilities of these weapons, Zero appeared to be unharmed, hell, not even a scratch, and hell! Even the battered Technoblade seemed completely fine!
"Pathetic try. I am very perplexed why Regina chose you? Y'all no different than the rest of these- huh?"
At that moment, Zero sensed something through the thick smoke and intense radiation in the air. Something powerful, something… horrifying.
Squinting his eyes to get a better look, he was able to clearly see something.
There, a young man was holding a nearly-shattered sword which appeared to be absorbing the energy of...
The Sword of Rupture!? The Crucible Sword!? And the lost Almight's Sword itself!? Where did he get that!?!?!
"IMPOSSIBLE!" The dragon cried out, looking at Vanoss using his Thousand Dagger Sword absorbing the power of these three powerful swords in fear and disbelief.
As Zero gazed toward Vanoss, a torrential wave of magical energy burst out of his body, converging all of his remaining mana toward his mouth to unleash one of his powerful attacks.
"[DRAGON NOVA!]"
Bursting from his mouth was a gigantic pillar of energy filled with colors that didn't seem to exist. The attack easily struck dozens of mountains about the size as Mount Everest, completely obliterating them to existence, splitting the sky, the earth, and the sea across the world into two, erasing them cleanly as if they weren't there in the first place.
But despite that world-ending power, Vanoss seemed rather calm as his hand touched the hilt of his sword in response.
When he touched the hilt of the Thousand Dagger sword, Vanoss felt his senses and strength enhance dramatically as he felt his body brighten up, all thanks to the energy of the Sword of Rupture, the Crucible Sword, and the Almighty's Blade he absorbed.
[Everlasting Strike]
A bright white light flashed. It flashed for an instant before his form dissapeared once more.
But in reality, he moved at the speed that even caught Technoblade off-guard. With the power of three different weapons, his weapon effortlessly slit through the energy blast in Vanoss' path, splitting it into two separate paths and he eventually reached before Zero.
"H-How?" Zero stuttered as the world within his vision came to a halt.
With a smile, Vanoss replied, "Skill issue," he said, even in the dim light, he could see Zero's intact figure standing before him like a statue. A look of pure helplessness adorned his face, as his eyes widened up completely.
In a flash, he appeared behind the humanoid dragon, slowly placing his sword back on his sheath.
"Aaaannnnnd, skadoosh!"
Click!
The moment the sound of a clicking noise was heard, the fate of the dragon had been decided.
The magic array shattered, making the dragon suffer a powerful backlash. Moreover, with the Blight in his chest dead, he could not keep the domain working and his powerful regeneration was gone.
In one second, the situation had been reversed.
Spurt!
Cuts appeared all over his body, gushing out great amounts of blood. It was a result of both Vanoss'attackoss and the backlash caused by the magic array. At the same time, his mana quickly started to leak out of his body, until the point that he could not continue flying.
The dragon turned pale. He immediately polymorphed into a human to try to control his injuries. But as soon as he landed, Regina, Wave, Samara, and Technoblade appeared around him.
"It's the end." Wave's face was cold.
The dragon did not reply. He just looked at the four demigods, calmly assessing his situation. He soon noticed that although Wave, Eve, and Samara had exhausted most of their mana, Technoblade was still in good condition.
With his current injuries, if he tried to fight that pig now, he would lose.
"How unexpected..." The dragon said with a sigh. He still could not believe that the direct cause of his defeat was not any of these demigods around him, but by a mere A-rank that he did not put in his eyes. "Life is full of surprises, huh." He looked in Vanoss' direction, "What an interesting one." The dragon chuckled.
Regina frowned when she saw that. For some reason, she felt that something was wrong.
"What are you planning?"
"Me? Nothing" The dragon shook his head. "It looks like I was too hasty. Unfortunately, I failed to destroy Academy City."
Regina's eyes became extremely cold upon hearing this, "Bastard... Why did you want to destroy the city? What is the "Chaos' Eye" planning?"
"You don't need to know what we are planning, Headmistress. You only need to know that Academy City is no longer necessary, and we are not the only ones that think so, but you already know it, right?"
Regina's eyes shook and her expression became stiff. Just as Zero said, she had noticed it already. Academy City had become a stumbling block in the way of many ambitious people. If they want to fulfill their ambitions, Academy City must disappear.
For an instant, her eyes became filled with sorrow, but immediately, her expression became determined again.
"Academy City will not fall so easily. I will make sure to protect it. People like you will never succeed."
"Naïve little girl." Zero chuckled. "Well, it doesn't matter. Fortunately, even though Academy City was not destroyed, I managed to get enough nutrients."
Regina was startled, but then, she remembered something. The magic array around the city. Wave and Samara thought about it as well. What was the purpose of the magic array? Why did the dragon protect it so desperately?
"I guess this is my end."
And like that, everyone watched as he dissipated from existence.
"...Well, good riddance he died." Technoblade remarked as he and everyone else returned to the city, finally dealing with the biggest threat they had ever faced.
But unbeknownst to them, Zero isn't dead, as he sent a fragment of his soul to escape.
—————————————————————
After his escape succeeded, Zero appeared in the underground tunnels of Academy City, inside one of the Chaos' Eye research facilities. These tunnels had been built by them through the years, creating a red of tunnels that spread throughout the entire city. They were the perfect place to hide, run, and perform forbidden experiments. In fact, there were tunnels like these in many other cities throughout the continent. They were the result of their millennia of work.
"It's unexpected that I had to retreat like this, though." Zero muttered to himself. Today's attack was the result of many years of planning. He had carefully perfected this plan to bring down Academy City and nurture a powerful Blight, taking every possible variable he could think of into account.
Even facing dozens of Demigods in the city, Zero was still confident. He was sure that everything would go as planned.
But-
"These bastards of the Church of the Golden Dawn were supposed to not intervene, why did that religious whore interfere then? Wait."
Then he recalled the person who nearly killed him.
"Test Subject Number 682… now I know why you look familiar," Zero groaned, "So my friend Oh Il-nam's son failed to capture him,"
Even after so many years of planning, Academy City managed to remain standing, all because of that damn whore's cult, the arrogant pig, and one of his many organization's successful experiments.
Moreover, after the failure of today's attack, many other parties will reconsider Academy City's strength and hesitate about attacking it. In other words, he would need a couple of years more at the very least to bring Academy City's down.
'Sigh, this is troublesome. The fall of Academy City 22 rra1s2. bn crucial for my plans. As long as Academy City is standing, the whole continent won't be engulfed in war.'
Academy City was a symbol. A place that showed that the different races could coexist and pursue the same objective. It was synonymous with peace. It was a place that should not exist.
'We will have to change our plans after this.' Zero put on a pensive expression as he walked through the research facility. Eventually, he reached a room that had been strongly sealed by a powerful magic array to stop anyone from entering it.
"Well, at least this part of the plan succeeded." Zero chuckled as he put his hand in the magic array. Then, the magic array was deactivated, allowing Zero to enter the room.
Inside this room was the result of his many years of research. A Blight creature that was stronger than any other creature out there.
The creature had a humanoid shape with gray skin and countless tentacles on its body. Its long ravering hair had been completely replaced by tentacles, and eight powerful tentacles came out of its back. It was the perfect specimen that he nurtured with great care with the only purpose of helping him to take the next step.
A Blight creature at the peak of demigod. And today, he fed it with the mana and souls of thousands, if not millions of lives of Academy City, a place filled with special individuals, such mana of each of these individuals could strengthen the subject even greater than the thousand souls he fed it every day. Zero could feel it. If he fused with this creature, he could finally become stronger again.
He could become an Elder God!
But just then-
Spurt!
A fiery blade pierced his heart from behind.
"Ugh..." Zero groaned in pain and his eyes opened wide in surprise. He then looked behind in rage, only to find the brown ravering hair and green eyes of a girl.
And that girl is Erika.
"Who are you!?"
Erika scoffed, "You don't recognize me?"
"I have never seen you in my life." Zero hissed.
Erika smirked, "I guess I should reveal myself right about now." she said as she placed her hands behind her back, closing her eyes as a vortex of shadows swirled around her.
Zero's eyes narrowed and he watched intently as the clouds of shadows completely enveloped Erika, shrouding her from view. Glowing green eyes began opening within the dark vortex, dozens of them, each one immediately locking onto him.
And for some reason, Zero felt anxious.
Finally, the shadows melted away, and Erika stood revealed once more. However, she appeared rather different.
Right now, her feminine appearance was nowhere to be seen. Instead, replaced with a muscular physique, the person appeared to wear a top hat, an avion mask with the eyes glowing emerald-green. His hands were like claws and his brown hair matched his Victorian Era formal suit.
Upon seeing the true appearance of this girl, Zero's expression became astonished.
"You... You are alive!"
"Surprised?" The man smiled. "Yeah, I'm alive and well."
"Impossible! I saw you die with my own eyes!"
"The eyes can sometimes make mistakes." The man neered. He then pulled out a sword, which was engulfed in heavenly flames that could slay demonic gods. He kicked Zero's back, slamming him against a wall. "I have dreamed of this day for many years." He murmured slowly as he walked towards Zero. "The day when I finally kill you."
Despite his calm appearance, though, his emerald-green eyes burned with so much hatred that it seemed to make the space around him thicker.
"So you are here for revenge, huh." Zero chuckled self-deprecatingly. "I see. So I'm going to die today." He was injured very badly, and the man's attack had drained all his remaining mana. Moreover, now that he paid attention to his surroundings, he realized that he couldn't feel the slightest sign of life inside the facility.
Everybody had been killed by the man in front of him. He would have not failed to notice it normally, but he was so badly injured by Vanoss and the others, that he overlooked the strangeness of this place because he felt that he was 'safe'
"Any last words?" The man asked indifferently. Zero stared at him calmly before chuckling.
"None."
The man nodded and raised the sword of a certain Emperor he met in his hands. Then-
Swish!
Zero fell on the ground with his eyes wide open. The man did not show any sign of happiness after beheading him. Even though he killed his most hated enemy, he did not seem glad or at peace.
He just walked inside the room, where the Blight creature was looking at him in a daze. Getting access to this room was the only reason he did not kill Zero as soon as he appeared in the facility.
"Sister..." He looked at the creature with an expression of sadness.
"Erik, is that you?" The creature suddenly spoke up. It looked towards the man dazedly and its lips curved into a smile. "So you really came to save me."
"I did, sister. I did." The man smiled with tears in his eyes.
"I missed you, brother. Being here is so painful. Every day I feel like I'm in hell, and the voices… The voices don't stop. They whisper evils in my mind, all the time."
"Sorry, sister, I was late." The man gritted his teeth and tears rolled down his cheeks. He let go of the sword and walked towards the creature, not hesitating to hug it despite how horrifying it looked. "Sorry, I'm sorry."
"It's alright, brother." The creature hugged her back. "I forgive you. Now... You just need to become oN̴̳̤̦̖̎͊ȩ̸̡͚̘͚̍̎̀ ̴̮̟̄͂Ẅ̵̧̋͌į̸͕̙̜̓͝T̶͕͚̼̼̀͒͗h̸͔̎ ̸̭̖͍̠̥̉M̸̻̒̆̈́̚e̷̞̰̰͒."
And, its tentacles pierced the man's body. The man froze. He looked at the creature in a daze, only to see it smirking disgustingly.
"So you are not my sister, huh." He smiled sadly.
"w̴̖͉̥̹̲̅̚H̴̳̬̰̀̐̈́͒̌ä̷̭͉́T̵̺̫̯͖͋̔́̇͘ ̵͉͚̐d̴̻͈̬̻̃̊Ó̶̺͋͗̿͠ ̶̛̹͋̈́̿̿Y̸͉̮̯͌̿̏́o̸̼̬͙̗̊Ŭ̴̼̯̳͋͗͝ ̴͚̤͍͎̎̽͐͠t̷̥̝̤̀̎̄̃͜ͅḦ̸͓͇̦̫̬î̸̻͉͔̺͋N̶̛̜̰̲̈́͛k̵͓̗͓̣̱̋̔̏̄!?"
"F̵̢͚̮̿̌̋O̵͍͔͖̰͊́̑̓ǫ̷̩̜̤́͗̏̐͠l̴͚̥̪͈̅͛̂̂͗ͅḯ̷̡̧̯̀̓͐S̴̯̈̓͝H̵̝̬̾͝ ̷̢͉̑͋b̵̳̪̱̮̆̓̀O̶͎̖͕̅̿͌̄y̸̟̰̠͎͓̍͒̊.̸̪̼͔̿̀̔ ̴̳̟̊Y̴͎̟̲̦͐̈́̕o̸̹͉̓͝ü̵̺ͅR̶̠̓ ̷̛̜̻̖̑̓̊̂S̴͓̓̉͘͠i̴̺̎͐̃͒͝S̴̥͗͗͐t̶̞̀E̵͇͉͛́̂͝r̸̛͎̲͔̺͙̋̌ ̷̼̝̱̒̊͘͜D̴̦̤̖̿͌̄̋ͅĬ̶̝̹̱̦̘̆̆̉͝Ę̵̨̂̈̄͝ͅḐ̶͖͙̌̎̈́̄ ̸̳̾̾L̶͓̼̩̅͛̑̅͋Ọ̷̳͈̔̍̓̄Ņ̷͍̫͊͒̆̔͝ͅG̶̬̠̱̣̍̊̚̚̚ ̴͎͔͒̚A̸̪̪͋Ǵ̶̨͓̱͗͐̚͝O̸̦̙̻̯̐̌͋͂̉!"
"Ď̴͉͕͉̓̆Ǫ̴̻̤̅͝N̴̲͎̝̾͜'̵͇͋̋̃̅͛ͅt̵̞͚͐́͊̈́͗ ̶̬̝͑̇̆̈́̉ͅy̴̮͍̓̃̓ò̸̺͊̾ṵ̸̢̓͜ ̴̣͙̩͊́̇͌M̵̯̫̲̀ī̵̦͒͆s̶̹͙̩͛͛̕s̶̻͍̬̟̏͠ ̷̺̯̯̀ḧ̵̛̛̺̗̥̘̝́̎E̷͚͇͎̗̭͘͝r̸̙̝͓̆͗?̸̝̔̿͆ ̶̙̳̿̉͛͜͝T̵̜̠͓̣̥̀͒̕H̶̬̽͛̈̚͝E̷̡̦̿̅̀͒Ň̴̹͚͖̥̓͆̽̚ͅ ̵̨̲̦̠͐̎́̂͝B̷̯͉̘̓E̸̛͙̗̳̺͐͋̀͗Ç̴̠̤̦̼̃́̓͆o̷̜͖̬͋̊͑̑͝m̸̳͊ȅ̴͇̔́̌͝ ̵̜͍̂͒͌͛̌O̵͈͗͆N̴̜̝̅̉͘͝Ẻ̸̲̬͈́͛͗͛ ̶̡̖̉̉͝W̴̗̮͓͗́̽̃̓ͅÍ̷̧̟͎̐Ț̴̫̱̭̇Ḩ̸̆͋͊̔ ̶͓̻͍̌͊U̸̺̩̻̰̒̽̽͑S̸͕̰̥̆̎͛͑̈́!"
The man laughed. He laughed desolately and tears rolled down his cheek. "So Leader was right, after all. My sister really died."
"I told you, your sister did not exist anymore." A voice suddenly resounded in the room.
The man nodded with a bitter smile. "Yeah, you told me." Strangely, the two voices sounded exactly the same. It was as though he was talking to himself, or as if two people were inhabiting the same body.
All of a sudden, countless tentacles surged out of his body. And before the creature could react, the tentacles pierced towards the creature, injuring it gravely.
"W̷̬̼͉͑̉̏́̌ḥ̷͑͒̒À̷͓̼͓̐͝ͅt̶̺̙̆̐̊ ̷̹͚̋̄͂̈́͝i̴̠͗̆͆̑̄S̷͚͒͌ ̶̱͉̏͒̿͊̏T̵̥̻̱͇̀̄͜ḧ̵̺̟̱̳̚Ī̶͓͙̌̾̕͝S̵̭͆̌!?"
"n̶̥̥͂̉O̷̡̡̤̓̏͒̽̌!"
"i̷̦̳͎̒̐͗͝M̵̛͙p̷̡̢̗̗̥̆̃̓̂̈́Ǫ̴̡̘̖̀̔͝s̷̳̥̣͚̾̀̊͐͝I̴̞̩͇̲͆́b̸̯͌́̈̑͝L̶̡̧̯̗͗͋̈́̋̋ȩ̸̛͔̬̏͛͗!"
"W̷̞̝͈͙̓͑̈́h̸͉̙̄͗͆̕O̷̡̺̟͍͌͝!̴̘̔́͑̈́͘?̶̱̥̿̑̍̍ ̵͈̪̺̈̂̉̆w̴̲̣̿͑̈́̕H̴̬̜̣͓͔̽̊́ö̵͔̬̯͕ ̴̜͈̲̥͒B̶̟͗̏͝e̸͓̚Ț̶̣͔͝r̵̢̖͑͋̆͛A̸͓̮͛̇͝ỳ̶̞̫̹̮̏̚͝ͅË̸̥́͛d̵̠͖͚̤͆́͌ ̴͚̔̒͂̓͜͠ũ̶̱͘S̶̗̖̩̾!?" It looked at the man and its eyes became red in rage.
"T̷̢͎̳̍͐͜͝R̷̙̂̈́͆̐̚a̸̳̝̳̔̇͠i̴͈͉̊̀̒͘T̸̡̪̹̠̏̿O̶̢͚̿̀̍̚͝ͅr̴̺͊̈̓͆͌!"
"t̸̞̉̀̐͆̾͜r̵̰̝̘̤͕͗͗ā̵͈͉̳̭I̸̭̘̰̗̋̉̄ͅṯ̵̭̍̿ơ̷̰̤̭̂̽R̷͕̈́̚!"
"T̵͔͊̈̑͑ṛ̶̝̭̣̎̇A̷͕̥̥̲͑͊͋̎̊I̷̡͔̽̿̋̈́T̶̥̳͙̳͐̐̍̌͜ó̵̡͜r̷͉̞̒̍̓͝!"
"Yes, I'm a traitor." The man sighed. "But what is wrong with wanting freedom?"
With these words, he finished devouring the creature. Once he was done, the tentacles returned to his body as though they never existed, and he was once more a normal human.
This time, though, his eyes were colder and calmer than before entering the room.
"So it looks like you finally decided to accept me as a part of you, huh. Yeah, without your sister, there is no point in keeping your humanity.
"Don't worry, I'll live like you. After all, we are one, Erik."
Just then, a voice came from behind him.
"Huh? Zero is dead as well?"
When the man turned around, he saw a tall woman and a little girl looking at her curiously.
"Wait a moment, is that who I think it is?" The little girl tilted her head curiously. "So you are alive, huh?"
"Dollmaker..." The man hissed.
"So you remember me." The little girl smiled innocently. "That is great. Then, you won't mind becoming my doll, right?"
"No."
"Oh right. Anyway, you met your sister and ate her? Does that count as incest or...?"
Before the little girl could react, Erik arrived in front of the little girl and grabbed her head.
Then-
"Erased."
SHRIEEEEK~!
He tore her body apart, reducing the girl into atoms.
"This isn't Alabama, Annabelle rip-off." Erik muttered before crushing the remains, even destroying the atoms that were once hers. When he was done, he looked at the tall woman that had remained quiet until now.
"Aren't you Incursio?"
"Nope, I'm Solia, my sister got killed by one of the guys you sent into this world."
"Oh... Are you going to attack me as well?"
"Why should I?" The tall woman shrugged her shoulders. "Did you forget that I was one of the individuals that helped you to escape?"
"I did not forget, especially that one Elite member he sacrificed for me. God bless his soul."
"Aren't you an atheist?"
"I'm not religious, yes, but I can thank anyone I want, Solia! I played UNO with Jesus and Buddha before returning to my old home universe, so shut up!"
With these words, Erik walked past her.
"You have become really strong, little one." The tall woman smiled nostalgically. But Erik ignored her and walked away.
Before leaving, though, he opened his mouth one last time.
"Don't call me little one anymore. I'm now like tens of thousands of years old. And stay out of my way, because I will put an end to this shit."