For the first time, Tallo, Maxim, and even Baddan saw the clear sky.
There was not a cloud in sight for a large stretch.
The GOAL, and the mountain could be seen a distance away, plastered to a starless sky that simply had a glowing lens flare, which was the source of all light, limited as it was in this world.
The Kiiyatakas had vanished, as if they had never existed in the first place, and the Baddans clones were no more – the other attacks they had been conjuring included
One couldn't be more dumbfounded than in the context of this moment. Baddan especially.
His face had turned pale as he looked up, and when he turned his eyes to the ground, he found the Hybrid Luman still standing in his stance, his right hand ever-ready to draw his sword, it seemed.
A silence followed.
Then, unexpectedly, Skullius spoke again.
"I'm still waiting, Baddan."
Baddan's dark eyes quivered.
What kind of power was this?
No. What kind of madness was this?!
The air was turning so stale, and damp while a chilling uncheeriness burned away at his faith, and his reasoning, but Baddan held on.
"What... are you? How can you... how can you command..."
He didn't finish the sentence with word of mouth.
Yet, in his mind, he continued.
'... how can you command death?'
Yes! How could a mortal being hold death in their hands?!
There was no mistaking it!
The All-Guiding Appairitoni had consumed the dead for millenia, and Sky Watchers like Baddan had overseen said dead too many times to not be familiar with the stench, the stale, dreadful stench of vessels without the winds of life!
Baddan gritted his teeth, and looked to the mountain high, and far.
No.
This was unseemly.
How could he look so weak now that his exalted was in full view?
Baddan took a step, his assegai in hand, and walked towards Skullius.
Towards the Courting Death.
As he approached, the air turned more, and more unhealthy, and Skullius' figure was skewed into a variety of forms by the mirage.
A literal devil; a firm, regal master; a commanding king....
A lesser being would have lost themselves at the sight.
Tallo, and Maxim drew close – yet still far from the Skullius – to watch what would happen wordlessly. They had been left awestruck by the disappearance of the surge of obstacles, but their focus didn't relent.
Baddan stood just a step away from the Courting Death, as Skullius had called it.
He looked at the weak flames, and then... a shuddering burst of mana of a profound quality raged from his mana core to stack itself many fold over his figure. The sudden flash of the mana burrowing out, caused a forceful blow of wind, but everything before Baddan within the Courting Death, remained unshaken.
The brilliant, crispy layer of energy he donned was the first to taste the interior of Skullius' attack zone.
...!
Baddan's eyes opened wide as he slowly went in.
He felt as though something taut... no, many entities stretching tight were pressing against him so firmly, that casually walking forward wouldn't work. His body wouldn't budge if that were case.
The Sky Watcher pressed with more of his strength, and finally passed into the gleaming, slightly dark area.
Tens of thousands of extremely thin depressions appeared on the coat of mana, pushing against it so hard that it almost reached Baddan's skin.
Baddan was struck with a realisation instantly.
'So that's what it is!' he thought, half relieved.
This entire space... even though he couldn't see it with his eyes, now that he had come into contact with it, he understood what had happened to his clones!
Then had been shredded to pieces the moment they tread into this space!
Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of super thin, taut threads were haphazardly decorating the Courting Death, and they were so strong, and resilient that Baddan's clones couldn't defend, as their power was a bit limited, the mana they could draw from Baddan himself even more so!
What's more, strangely enough, he felt a slightly hot sensation tickling his skin as his mana wrestled the threads, and even more than that... Baddan felt... little by little – so very little a lesser combatant wouldn't have noticed – his mana getting sucked away!
No!
It wasn't getting sucked away!
It was... dying!
Withering away like plants to a scorching sun!
Skullius' voice suddenly interrupted Baddan's horrifying realisations.
"Good. Right there is fine," Skullius said in a cold voice, and Baddan heard the hiss of a sword leaving its sheath.
With all the strength he could muster, he moved, aiming to get ready to block whatever was coming, most likely a quick draw at astonishing speed!
But...
A mighty force shocked his right hand which held the golden spear, and before he knew it, the assegai had flown out of his hands, speeding outside the Courting Death!
...!!
Baddan didn't understand what happened.
From what he could see right now, Skullius was still drawing his sword out, something he could make out because he was still faster than the Hybrid Luman by a large margin!
And yet...
Something was terribly wrong!
He had dared to walk into Courting Death so as to no desecrate his image before the blatant presence of the All-Guiding Appairitoni, but perhaps, caution was a wiser move now.
Baddan's figure blurred, as he used all his might to resist the grip of what he perceived to be thousands of threads, and in a blink, he had dashed right to where he had been standing before his approach towards Courting Death.
As he landed, the tip of his toe licking the ground... dark blood exploded violently from the centre of his chest, all the way to his lips!
A deep, clean gash had ravaged the Sky Watcher from his open, furry chest, to the left corner of his mouth, and the look on his face couldn't be more exaggerated.
'What.... But, but I got away in time...' he thought in horror, only to look forward, and see the Courting Death vanish, Skullius who was now standing straight, caressing his sword from hilt to end with his left hand, darting toward him!
He reverse handled his grip on the hanger, before holding it right again.
Just when Baddan was turning even more wary, fearful of making the first move, Skullius darted to the left, stopped, and took three steps to the right, then pounced at the Sky Watcher again, his sword whirling viciously... unrealistically in his grip!
What was this movement?!
As Skullius approached, his speed being nothing Baddan couldn't handle, the Sky Watcher, for a moment, saw innumerable flashes of light – radiance bouncing over Demion's Dance's shiny surface, which wasn't unusual. But....how did one sword make a hundred reflections of light in a moment?!
Baddan grew tired of this, and stabbed with his dark spear, his speed which far outclassed that of Skullius allowing him to stab the bastard directly in the head!
The Sky Watcher felt the force of his assegai pass through flesh and bone, but then...
Like a passing apparition, Skullius' body continued towards him as if nothing had happened!
...!!!
Baddan's guard soared, along with his shock, and he saw Skullius about to slash at him, a move he hurried to prepare against long before it was close to fulfilme-
The robed Sky Watcher found himself carved through once again – another large, and long gash to the chest, crossing over the previous one!
'What is the meaning of this?!' Baddan was genuinely astounded.
He was guarding his body with mana, but it did not help at all.
He saw every one of Skullius' moves, but somehow, he was successfully cut anyway.
He had stabbed Skullius at a vital point just now, and expected him to at least take a moment or two to heal the damage, but he passed his spear like a ghost!
What in the world was this?!
...
Skullius was dancing, as Demion's Dance lead him to do. One couldn't tell that all he was doing was a dance, unless they were seeing it from the distance, as the irregular movements were incredibly bizarre.
If he had been wearing the VergeRider, Skullius doubted he would have been able to perform this series of moves as perfectly as he was now. Only while in this slender armour could he do so – one forged using his own blood, and incredibly adept at reinforcing his unique traits!
Demion's Dance had burned away the VergeRider, because, as Skullius had soon discovered, the sword was very attentive.
Moments ago, the green sword had finally found a worthy wielder, and after so many years since Demion died, it had managed to rupture the old, dying shell it had been trapped in, shedding its previous appearance.
Doing so however, raised its grade high, reaching the Legendary.
But that wasn't its summit.
For convenience's sake, it had limited its awakening to this bare level so as to not make things difficult for Skullius, who was in a death game where one was allowed only one, Legendary grade tool, and nothing of a higher grade!
The VergeRider had acted as Skullius' Legendary grade entry for the Royale, so Demion's Dance had burned it away, replacing it with itself.
From there, Skullius allowed the sword to lead the way, and in doing so, he found Demion's Dance manifesting its advanced intent; the multiplication and refinement of Mortal Ruin into a zone where anything that entered boisterously would be cut into ribbons, a draining skill which allowed him to KILL phenomena he desired over a specified range, and finally...
A deathly dance so profound, and mesmerising that it blew death away from his body, and onto the atmosphere, poisoning his enemy instead.
The more he moved in this seemingly erratic, unfathomable pattern, the more he swept away the potential of receiving fatal damage; and by harnessing Null Life Essence onto the tip of the blade...
Skullius stabbed at the Sky Watcher who hurried to perform an incredibly quick series of hand gestures for the activation of a different technique, but when he set to incite the last ritualistic symbol, he found that his fingers were gone....
They had been cut up cleanly.
Worse yet, the muscles on his shoulders, his eyes, and his throat were slashed so horribly in the same instance, that Baddan felt the invasive hopelessness swimming about finally win against his defences...
~~~
[ Demion's Dance ]
-Legendary-
A beautifully crafted sword given to Demion on his birthday by his lover, Irisa, to commemorate his legendary battle with Escus.
-Damage-
235,000-239,000
-Durability-
125,000/125,000
-Special Effects-
?65% increase in speed
---
[ Skill: True Memory]
Regardless of the user's level of power, they are able to fully replicate the raw movements and a quarter of the attack power that Demion demonstrated in his battle with Escus.
---
[ Skill: Irisa You Whore ]
The remnants of the unfaithful Irisa shower the user with supporting, tryst-infused bliss, which is able to restore your mana, and stamina to its best thrice a day.
---
[ Skill: Impermanence ]
Death is the destination of all things. As the user of a shard of death, you are allowed a single instance a day where you can create an expanding field that KILLS mana borne phenomena of your choice, as well as its source. A minimum of 1,000,000 (I) Mana Points required, and increases depending on the scale of the feat.
---
[ Skill: Courting Death ]
A field of malevolence born from mass producing, and refining Mortal Ruin is erected around the user. The density is dependent on the user's desire, and amount of amount.
~~~
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[Author's Note]
Mashu_Berusutora has donated supremely to the novel!
[+5 additional chapters above the daily quota as at 25/05]
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