Black String of Fate

Chapter 19: Levels of Death: Conclusion

*Slash*

"Fuck... again... but you're not looking good too!"

Xavier exclaimed as he took his dying breaths with his chest half open, seeing the half-dead, but still alive state of his opponent. Cuts and bruises were everywhere on both parties, but the difference was that the white silhouette wasn't burning his life to fight. It wasn't even using Qi, an energy vital for warriors.

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[Death]: 999

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"...Silhouette, this will be the last battle. I will fucking kill you."

The silhouette looked towards Xavier as if he understood what was just said. It even seemed as if it was smirking, which got on Xavier's nerves. Xavier had discovered quite a few facts about this mysterious opponent.

'This thing's sentient, very much so. It can feel fear, happiness, anger, everything. And it can also learn. The reason why I couldn't beat it was because it was also growing and adapting to me, the same way I was adapting to it. To defeat it, I need to surpass myself in every aspect possible.'

Once again, for the thousandth time, both clashed swords and began the exchange of moves. It was the peak of swordsmanship, one achieved from the skill of an Archon, ever growing in the flames of battle.

A slash countered with a parry,

A parry leading to a stab,

A stab leading to a feint,

A feint leading to another feint,

Finally, both fall back due to recoil.

Once again dashing with their swords gleaming, the dance continued.

Each strike sharpened the other's blade, each feint sharpened their focus.

Each wound fueled their battle spirit, neither of them backing down the slightest bit.

'This... This is it. An opponent who can truly match me. How many years has it been since I felt such a thrill of the battle? A fight without consequences, without results, where I can let loose even at the cost of my life, it's way more enjoyable than the fight I had with the hero...

This bastard ain't gonna die the normal way, I need to hit harder. A strike, something stronger, sharper, and better than all others I've made now. I need to burn my soul more...

burn.

Burn.

BURN!'

Xavier's sword and soul responded to his will, burning even brighter and being infused with even more power. He struck the silhouette with the blade, and for the first time, the silhouette was pushed back.

Xavier had done it. He had surpassed the strength of a rank 4 while being uninitiated. Even though it took unimaginable sacrificial techniques and extreme battle momentum, the fact that a feat considered to be surely impossible was achieved.

Xavier didn't let this momentum go, as he struck again, and harder this time. He struck again and again, each of his strikes being more powerful than the one before. He knew that he could never do something like this in real life, as the cost had become deadly a long time ago already. What he was doing now, was squeezing out even more power from his life, by using his burning will as fuel.

*CRASH*

*BOOM*

*CLANG*

*SLASH*

*STAB*

'An opening!'

Xavier had pried open an opening with his strength, and this time on a vital point. He knew this wasn't a fake one, he could smell the fear from the silhouette. Xavier gathered all his remaining strength and then some, and unleashed a slash on the neck of the opponent.

'It's OVER!'

[Advent of Insanity.]

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"...Huh?"

*BOOOOM*

A destructive power never unleashed yet in the fight, encapsulates Xavier and makes him fly far back. His arm was completely shattered, bones and all. His nerves were fried from shock, his muscles were torn and burst to the microscopic level. His hand had become a bloody purple mess, it wasn't even recognizable as a hand anymore.

'W-What was that? Did that fucker just speak, more than that, did it use Advent of Insanity? My prized technique, he used that against me as a trump card?

...Now, of all moments? Did he hold that back all this while? He could've overpowered me easily, but he falsely gave me hope, he led me on like this? I burn my soul, my life, my will, my everything in this battle, and he treats it like a joke?'

Xavier, now all battered up, looked towards the silhouette. He had seen something he had not seen coming but should've expected. The silhouette was smiling. Condescendingly. It seemed to say that it's useless to try to win against it. There was no will to fight from it, just mockery from watching the pathetic struggle play out in front of it a thousand times.

'Maybe... It was impossible from the start. If it can use Advent of Insanity, it can probably use other techniques too. Since it is of the strength of Rank 4, it won't even face too much recoil... I should just give up, I took up an impossible task in the first place...'

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"IS WHAT YOU THOUGHT, RIGHT?!"

Xavier once more got up despite all the deadly injuries. All the muscles responsible for movement were already damaged, he was moving from pure soul power from Desolation's Requiem.

"YOU FUCKER! YOU WANNA COPY TECHNIQUES?! COPY THIS, YOU SOUL-LESS BASTARD!"

Xavier was pissed beyond reason now. This was the first time he was mocked like this, to this extent. If he was simply weaker, then it should've been clear with a one-sided thrashing. Instead, it played with his emotions and made him believe in a slim chance of victory. To grasp that chance, he gave his everything, lost, gained more, and gave everything once more. Again and again.

In the face of that sincere effort, the silhouette just spat in his face by using that technique in the last second.

Xavier gathered his soul powers inside him and directed it back to where it came from. A thousand deaths while using his soul were enough to let him sense it clearly. He imagined the flame burning inside him and did a crazy suicidal thing he couldn't even imagine before.

'I need more power. A brighter flame than that bastard could ever even imagine. To get even a spark of that flame, I will sacrifice the whole of the power I wield now!'

He used the soul power to fuel the flame which burned his soul. He had used Desolation's Requiem to boost Desolation's Requiem.

This gave him a brighter, more potent power. But Xavier wasn't satisfied.

He used the newfound power to once again boost the flame.

A brighter flame, a stronger spark. But it wasn't over.

'more. more. more. more. more. More.

More. More. More. More. MORE. MORE.

MORE. MORE. MORE. MOREEEEEEE!'

The flames kept burning hotter, the spark kept getting smaller and more powerful.

Finally, all of Xavier's soul was used up. He had a few seconds to live, but what he had now, was unimaginable power. His anger had enlightened him, he had created something surpassing the ultimate move of his very own Supreme Demonic Arts.

"Copy this, robot."

A small bright star, condensed with highly unstable soul power was floating on the tip of Xavier's sword. The power was so extreme that it even distorted the fabric of spacetime around it. It was small, yet infinitely powerful. This was his masterpiece, his conclusion to the Supreme Demonic Arts.

'Oh how arrogantly I assumed I had exhausted these damn arts... But this is it, my tribute to these arts assisting me on the journey of my previous life.

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"Supreme Demonic Arts: Conclusion

Demonic Soul Supernova."