abcnovels
Chapter 1201: The One Left Standing (15)
Chapter 1201: The One Left Standing (15)
Chapter 1201: The One Left Standing (15)
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POW!
For Tulnas, the blow couldn't have been anything less than the mightiest burst of thunder he had ever heard proceed a streak of lightning.
He gawked at the two figures that had suddenly appeared in the empty streets of Surloin, which had been swarmed by frantic souls only a minute ago. The trembling of the world, shattering noises crackling from every direction imaginable, had cast everyone in the small stronghold of a town into their homes, with Tulnas and other able combatants stationing themselves outside for what they expected to be another Great Trembling.
But it wasn't.
It was worse.
A second ago, Tulnas had been rendered completely immobile by some invisible sludge that seemed to have manifested all over Pelian at the very least (he imagined). He had no way of fighting back if something monstrous attacked. He was helpless. Only his eyes were livid with motion.
With said frantic eyes, Tulnas saw something even more harrowing than what he had expected to proceed the trembling.
He saw a monstrous ebony creature that suddenly regrew two of its arms, completing the set of extra limbs it had. Aigas was warping around it, as though the creature was a humanoid manifestation of a black hole slowly guzzling the spatial canvas that the world was fixed on. Tulnas also saw an unnaturally dark monstrosity with a red mask. Well, there were six of them and two robed folks behind them. One of the creatures took a heavy blow just now that neither he (Tulnas) nor it could see, and sustained a fair bit of damage. The dark monstrosity's mask broke into pieces that loudly clattered as they landed on the ground.
The shuddering winds that came afterward sent chills down Tulnas' paralysed spine, but what made him turn pale, was the face that was revealed after the hideous mask left its original position.
The dark-haired young man, no longer twisting his hair into a man bun like he used to back then, when he was the prestigious Guild Master of the Harem Guild and then the Vice Guild Association Head, was lost for words.
The face he saw had changed considerably since he last saw it, though this was only half of what made him realise that the individual he was looking at... was indeed Festos.
The darkness that odd little man had used back then left a deep impression on Tulnas, and though it was different now, the look of fury in those white eyes seemed to be the very same he'd seen in that little Mage who had been - for a short time - a partner of his on a mission to defeat the Evenfall cultists outside Inhone City.
On top of this, there was a familiar sword held in one of Festos' ghosts. Demion's Dance. 'It must be... him!' Tulnas thought, his eyes unblinking and bulging.
Then...
POW!
POW!
POW!
POW!
Tulnas turned paler as the town was suddenly drowned by gusts from the rapid impacts and shockwaves.
He mustered all the power he could into his throat and screamed "LOOK OUT!" on instinct to everyone, but his voice was like a whisper. Besides that, none of his fellow combatants could have mobilised any sort of resistance against becoming collateral damage.
Tulnas watched as one of his mates, a hard-faced woman with a shield, was swept away so quickly by the gusts that one would have thought an abhorrent creature had swiped her into the dirty, windy air.
Tulnas gritted his teeth.
The view of whatever was happening with Festos vanished and he couldn't find the courage to keep trying to spectate.
*
Skullius was disgruntled.
'How does he know which one is the real me?!' he thought furiously as the Inverted-Mana- infused blows he received, repeated through the manipulation of time by Replicus, punctured through CREATURE's defences and blasted his flesh apart. But then his thoughts cycled towards something more important. 'Those two better not have been disrupted by this... this...! Wait! Is this [Static Limbo]?'
At once, Skullius activated [Null Life Aura], just like Replicus had done against Caxellac. He had received this skill for use in his human form after managing to evolve [Flesh It Like You Mean It] once.
Upon activating it, there was a considerable degree of ease on the pressure surrounding Skullius, and as his ghosts did the same - some vanishing only to be replaced by new ones- they were able to resist [Static Limbo] loosely as well.
But Replicus didn't allow Skullius to gain any sort of relief!
On top of the hasty utilisation of Integral Time just now, he cast one of his hands forth and used [Maximum Reach]. Like before, the real Skullius - as Replicus could see with his enlightened eyes - didn't react to it in time and was once again gripped firmly by the massive purple-gold hand!
But Skullius' the ghosts didn't stand around and do nothing.
One of them chanted "DHYIESMYK BLACK, |Mages]" and the two Mages under their control were suddenly swallowed by darkness, taken into the Melanoid Prince's safe keep. Yet of course, they were still in use.
Replicus quickly spotted an unusual twisting of space beside him and...
The Stolen Angel's fist flashed from it, detached from its main body to strike at his face!
Replicus dodged in time, but found another one of the Angel's fists blasting for his gut from below!
His eyes saw through the sneaky offensive, however, and he vanished, appearing several
meters away.
'One of the Mages is using some kind of space spell to help the Stolen Angel get a hit on me,' Replicus thought as he dodged another series of punches. It was annoying that the Mages could still attack despite being in a separate dimension.
Replicus was forced to release Skullius who immediately sicced his ghosts on him.
Thankfully, they weren't as freakishly fast as before because of [Static Limbo], so he
(Replicus) could handle them much easier, and furthermore...
'It seems while using this dark power, he can't use a lot of those ghosts or clones or whatever.
He can only use six at a time.'
Empowered slashes flew at Replicus just as another one of the Angel's fists missed him by an
inch. The Progeny was unwilling to take hits from the damn thing. There was something off about the creature's fists. He surmised that they were enhanced by a spell from one of the
Mages somehow.
Replicus saw Skullius summon more Soul Spawn and cast them all throughout the town to look for victims to bond with.
The bastard was trying to create more Masterpieces and the Progeny understood why. None of the combatants in this town could help Skullius in combat directly, but bringing them under his influence would help him very, very, very much.
Replicus harrumphed.
'You're not going to get the chance!' he thought and his phantoms went livid with creativity!
One of Replicus' hands shot forth and...
[You have created a new skill, 'Cold Time'!]
A series of lightning bolts coloured in a sexy midnight blue exploded from Replicus' finger
and smote all of Skullius' ghosts at the exact same time!
At once, the ghosts, along with their immediate surroundings, were turned into black icicles that hissed of cold steam!
They were imprisoned in a mix of Absolute Frost and Integral Time!
...!!!
Skullius was alarmed.
'Damn it!'
Replicus dodged another blow from the Stolen Angel and...
[You have created a new skill, 'Impartial Mirror'!]
What looked like an ovular pool of silvery waters spawned before Replicus, reflected within
them the figure of the Stolen Angel standing in Genhuis City, where he and Skullius had been
fighting only a few seconds ago!
Replicus dipped his hand into the pool and grabbed the image of the Stolen Angel. What he touched was merely a reflection of the real thing, and as he overdosed the mobile Attegoth on potent Ju`wtte, making it explode from the inside, the real Stolen Angel in Genhuis City was blasted apart as well, only with three times the amount of violence!
[Impartial Mirror], a skill created by fusing Lambent Phosphor, Coordinated Disruption and Spatial Lightning, allowed Replicus to manifest the image of an enemy as a reflection and whatever damage he did to this reflection would be compounded threefold to the original, provided he had met and interacted with said enemy.
The momentary reprieve that this skill gifted Replicus allowed him to once again use [Maximum Reach] on a scurrying Skullius!
A burst of intense light exploded from the Hybrid Luman, repelling the skill successfully!
He had used the Heart of Revelation while adding his 'trick'!
But Replicus now understand enough about how it worked.
Thus, he had already set in motion another attack!
The purple-gold light of Maximum Catalyst's Reversion fell on the Hybrid Luman from the
sky before he could even speculate on Replicus' next move!
However, the countless disembodied slashes that surrounded Skullius were the ones that bore
the full wrath of the ability!
Replicus felt his defence of unending cuts vanish... along with all other passive effects of
[Infinite Sword God]!
He panicked.
He was disoriented. He didn't know what was coming next.
[You have created a new skill, 'Selective Time Rewind'!]
At the same time, Replicus used another newly formed skill on his evil counterpart.
It carried the same capabilities as his Reversion in some sense, which made it perfect for the
plan he had concocted against Skullius just now. Even if Skullius managed to wiggle out of
one, he would get him with the other to produce the same result!
And thus...
"NO!" Skullius screamed.
His form, which had been that of a handsome, auburn-haired young man was gone, replaced
by a pitch-black skeleton with Levin crackling from the thunderclouds that covered its body!
The Eternal Storm Veil Penetrator was now matched against the Warmoth's Progeny!
In a flash, Replicus had his grip on Skullius' neck and was raising him in the air.
"It's over," he growled coldly.
[Author's Note]
Sorry for the absence. For those not on discord, I was at a funeral, but I'm back now.