Online In Another World

Chapter 446 Victory Fanfare

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"Hey, genie! I wish upon our systems being returned!" Sirius called out, allowing his voice to be carried even past the cataclysmic storm.

Immediately, such an impossible request caused Maximus to pause, "You can't–?!"

Sparkles fluttered through the storm as the Djinn's supernatural body flickered, subconsciously meeting the requested wish. Sparks of electricity began stuttering around Sirius' body, reawakening into a full surge of lightning around his body.

"Oh, yes I can!" Sirius smirked.

'It's as I guessed, or rather…I hoped–the "wishing" is granted through a conscious invocation–it doesn't need to be verbal, only registered through thought. So, just putting the thought of wishing our systems back worked,' Sirius thought.

There wasn't a second wasted by Sirius as the playful man now got serious for the first time, readying himself as the air around him changed completely, causing even Maximus to hesitate.

'He's–what is this feeling? The air is…charged?' Maximus thought.

Around the Stormheart's body, electricity scaled every inch of him, drawing upon an armor forged of a pitch-black and magenta, crystalline material, forged seamlessly as a superb armor. The design of it looked like that of a knight, personified as a storm itself with a sharp, sleek helmet.

The cape that flowed down Sirius' back was a cloak of lightning itself; his fists were engulfed in this abundant, magenta electricity, bursting with seemingly boundless power. All of the cataclysmic power raining down was overridden by a bright-purple storm, infusing the air and clouds with mystical lightning that burst onto the atmosphere like a rapid torrent.

[Stormheart System Activated]

[Current Stage: 10/10 | Godkilling Tempest]

'I'll finish this before he can remove our systems again. He's unskilled, but his ability is almost divine in nature–I'll have to access "that" speed to end it fast enough,' Sirius thought.

The mere presence alone of the tenth stage Stormheart rippled throughout the world of Skyborne Rhapsody, stirring up uncontrollable winds as if the entirety of the created world was within the spiral of a disastrous tornado.

"Th-that power…!" Maximus muttered in shock.

It was the reaction that Sirius had banked on; that single second was pivotal, all relying on how Maximus reacted to the actions taken by the Stormheart. Only a single second would've been needed for the wielder of Skyborne Rhapsody to remove his power again, however, that second had passed.

'...Alright, let's do this…' Sirius thought.

Taking off, the scenery around him warped; the sky twisted and contorted, as if folding two papers over one another. At full speed, he took off, however, he did not charge directly towards Maximus, instead bypassing the limitations of space altogether.

Folding space and creating his own wormholes like a perfect track for himself, he took off, becoming a blur of light that encircled the world of Skyborne Rhapsody.

It felt as though everything had come to a stop; Emilio halted, feeling his draconic power regained, though his attention was occupied by the blaring hum that accompanied the lines of light wrapping around the sub-world.

'Sirius…He either slacks off or way overdoes it,' Emilio thought.

What was happening could barely be described as "speed", but something else altogether–a fundamental abuse of the laws of physics itself as Sirius continuously bolted from wormhole-to-wormhole. This infinite repetition led to infinite velocity; passing through horizons and zooming around the sub-world enough to seem like a continuous line of light.

'More…! More! I need to finish it in one blow–all within a second!' Sirius thought.

Passing through thresholds of space made by his own mastery of the mythical element, he felt his physical body dismantling, leaving only his consciousness guiding him as a stream of electricity, warping around the entirety of Skyborne Rhapsody.

[Time Elapsed: -0.02]

[Time Elapsed: …-0.003]

[Time Elapsed:.....-0.00016]

With each rotation through the wormholes he set around the perimeter of the sky-forged world, the more he overlapped the flow of time itself, beginning to reverse it through the abnormal levels of speed he obtained.

A void of nothingness—deprived of sound, occupied only by the faint sparks of outside realms; this was the hyperspace that Sirius flung himself through.

'Stay together. Concentrate—don't…fall apart!' Sirius thought.

It felt as though his body was metal and powerful magnets pulled from every angle, attempting to tear him apart into thousands of pieces. In order to access such transcendent speed, he couldn't be a singular form of physical mass, instead becoming strands of energy itself during this time.

[Time Elapsed:...0.00001]

A careful balance had to be struck; a teetering of two lines, so easily crossed, yet held the difference of life-and-death, victory-and-defeat, by that boundary. This balance was the threshold of time itself; if he went too far back, by just a few seconds, the wish that returned his system would be reversed.

Thus, he had to control every facet of the uncontrollable; stabilize the unstable–master that which has never been done before.

[Time Elapsed:....-0.8]

[Time Elapsed:....-0.98]

The world of Skyborne Rhapsody began peeling apart under the sheer throttle of the Stormheart's infinite momentum being built. With each further increase in velocity, skyrocketing with every inch gained through the boundless momentum, the mass behind Sirius rose in tandem, boiling into his fist as he readied himself.

A hum filled the sky world, picking up as the man reached his maximum speed, opening one more wormhole in front of him that led directly to the djinn-transformed figure.

'It's ready–don't worry, I only built up enough momentum to only barely NOT kill you!' Sirius thought.

[Time Elapsed:....-0.9999999]

["Principle Fist of Space and Time: The Strike That Pierced Through The Cosmos"]

Ascended from any spell, what was created was a perfect unison of magecraft and the power of a system–a soul-forged bond of two, inherent abilities that could only be brought forth by one with a one-in-ten million talent: Sirius Stormheart.

Breaching through the final wormhole, he blitzed through it as an unstoppable stream of light, reforging his physical form in that moment as his knuckles were thrust forward with unequaled force behind them.

Lightning scattered around like a world-enveloping arc, encircling the sky world and turning the horizon into a shining beacon of magenta.

For a moment, so brief that it fell between the passage of nanoseconds, everything had contorted; the sub-world condensed itself in front of the man's reality warping fist, locked behind such abuse of the fundamental laws of reality, however–

It had worked.

The immediate impact parted all surroundings clouds, pushing away the falling rain and dispersing the storm completely. So much momentum behind the blow–a density not unlike that of a world being slammed into another; that's the fist that struck the wielder of Skyborne Rhapsody.

"Wha–"

From one second to the next, Emilio witnessed the dragon chasing him disappear before a massive sound resounded through the entirety of Skyborne Rhapsody–BOOOOOOM. It was the punch of none other than the self-proclaimed "Strongest Adventurer"--a title proven undoubtedly in that moment.

–

"Uuuungh…!"

The world-shaking blow rippled through the colossal djinn, forcing Maximus to spit out as his body deflated like a balloon picked by a needle. What was once a grand, wish-granting form, was now just that of the thin, silver-haired man.

It all crumbled away, burning away like an ignited room of paper as the sky world returned them to the original room they had entered.

"Woah," Emilio let out, finding himself standing on the hardwood floors again, surprised by the jarring return.

Sirius brushed the steam from his fist, allowing the lightning armor to disappear from his body, looking at the silver-haired figure that had crashed against the wall with a now fractured face, "That was a fun one."

"What did you do? I mean…How did you do that?" Emilio asked, realizing their systems were returned, and against all odds, a one-sided victory was achieved.

"That's a secret," Sirius smiled before focusing again, "Alright–should we send this guy back to the others?"

"Right. Yeah," Emilio nodded, stepping forward.

The silver-haired, high-ranking member of the nefarious organization was knocked unconscious by the unparalleled blow, slumped against the wall and drooling blood.

'He's definitely not waking up for a long time,' Emilio thought.

He held the golden ring around his finger against the chest of Maximus, invoking the words needed to activate its unique effect, "Seraphheart: Capture."

A radiant light wrapped around the unconscious figure, binding him before a brief portal opened, allowing the knocked-out man to be sent directly to the Cerulean Keep.

"All done," Emilio stood back up, breathing out, "Bastian said he'd know when I used that. So, he'll take care of the rest now."

Sirius smiled, slinging his arm around the Dragonheart's shoulders, "Sounds good. So, now that our mission is complete–shall we partake in the joys of 'Party City'?"

Over the course of the wild encounter with their target, he had forgotten about the deal he made with Sirius, not focusing on the eccentricities of his partner previously.

A small sigh left his lips as he gave in, "Fine. I did agree to that, didn't I?"

"You sure did," Sirius chuckled.

After accomplishing the task of abducting the main supplier of the Children of Chaos, Emilio looked around the exuberant room for a bit, seeing lavish paintings on display along the walls and furniture of rich fabric and wood.

"I wonder what'll be done with all of this stuff," Emilio wondered out loud, "I assume that people from that organization will show up at some point and take everything here."

Sirius thought about it before putting his hand to his chin, rubbing it with a sneaky smile, "If that's the case, why don't we indulge ourselves?"