Chapter 1216 Spell Upgrades I
As Raphael prepared to cast the teleportation spell, Gaya, seizing the moment of distraction, transformed into her formidable naga form. Her appearance as a massive, purple-scaled king cobra, towering ten feet tall, momentarily stunned both Raphael and Marli.
Without hesitation, Gaya swung a massive chunk of the rooftop debris at them. Raphael, reacting swiftly, snapped his fingers, conjuring a flurry of golden swords that shattered the boulder into dust. But this brief distraction was all Gaya needed.
In that critical moment, Michael capitalized on the opportunity. He delivered a forceful kick to Marli's chest, propelling himself backward. Simultaneously, Gaya's tail swiftly coiled around him, launching him into the shimmering portal. She then followed suit, diving into the portal after him, ensuring their escape.
"What just happened?" Marli asked, her tone amused but concealing her surprise at the sudden turn of events.
Raphael, on the other hand, was visibly frustrated. His usual composed demeanor had vanished, replaced by a sense of urgency and annoyance. Under pressure from Zorian to capture the God of Darkness, Raphael could not afford any delays or failures.
"They escaped. That's what happened. Your theatrics have jeopardized my mission, Goddess Marli," Raphael growled, his voice laced with irritation and disappointment.
Despite being tasked with apprehending the God of Darkness, Raphael harbored a grudging respect for Michael. However, his feelings towards Marli were far from respectful. He viewed her betrayal as a grievous sin, far worse than any other transgression.
"They can't run forever, Raphael. They'll head to the dungeon's center for Vedora's remains. That's where we'll trap them," Marli strategized, her chuckle hinting at her confidence.
"And keep an eye on that Naga. There's something unusual about her power," she added, recalling the force behind Gaya's attack.
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In the dark, a labyrinthine maze where Michael and Gaya found themselves, an eerie silence enveloped them. The only sounds were their own breaths and the distant, indiscernible echoes of the maze. With concern etched on her face, Gaya hurried to Michael's side, her eyes widening at the sight of his injury.
"Michael!" she exclaimed, her voice shaking as she saw the golden swords embedded in his body. As Michael grimly pulled a sword from his chest, blood spurted from the wound, staining his clothes and dripping onto the ground.
"I'm going to tear those bastards apart!" Gaya growled fiercely, her anger palpable. She quickly shifted back to her human form, her hands moving deftly to assist Michael in removing the remaining swords.
"He's not playing around anymore," Michael grunted through clenched teeth, his expression a mix of pain and determination.
"We underestimated him," Gaya admitted, her eyes ablaze with a desire for vengeance.
Michael attempted to absorb the energy of the golden swords using his Energy Devourer ability, but to his frustration, the swords vanished as soon as they were removed from his body. The pain of extraction was intense, and the inability to absorb their energy only added to his irritation.
Sensing Michael's discomfort, Gaya looked at him with a mix of worry and resolve. "Please tell me we're going to make them pay for this," she said, her voice thick with vengeance.
"Marli, definitely. But Raphael... there's something about him that's not quite clear," Michael replied, his voice trailing off as he pondered the enigmatic nature of Raphael.
"Shut up, Michael. We're going to kill him. He almost killed you," Gaya shot back, her tone laced with concern and frustration. However, Michael managed a small, pained smile in response. His APD had already kicked in, releasing a healing potion into his bloodstream to treat his wounds.
To their astonishment, while the wounds closed, the scars remained, looking like burns from intense flames. This was a stark reminder of the formidable power wielded by Zorian, whose grace Raphael had absorbed. Unknown to Michael, Raphael had been forced to consume a special potion to temporarily ascend to the Soul Ignition Realm, a necessary step to absorb the grace of a level 6 god like Zorian. Without this boost, Raphael wouldn't have been able to handle such a powerful sliver of grace.
(Initiate Realm, Qi Awakening Realm, Spiritual Embryo Realm, Elemental Attunement Realm, Celestial Resonance Realm, Soul Ignition Realm, Ethereal Fusion Realm, Void Transcendence Realm, Divine Ascendancy Realm)
"Are you going to be alright?" Gaya asked, her eyes reflecting a hint of worry as she watched Michael methodically remove the short swords from his body.
"When was I ever not?" Michael replied calmly, his smile unwavering even in the face of pain.
As he extracted the last short sword, Gaya's attention shifted to their surroundings. The maze's walls loomed around them, dark and imposing, with a ceiling thirty feet high, just as shadowy and daunting. The lone path before them stretched into the darkness, its end hidden from view.
"Where are we?" Gaya queried, her gaze sweeping across the unfamiliar surroundings.
To her surprise and relief, she felt a connection to the Celestial energy around her. Despite not having ascended to the realm of gods through the traditional means – a path that had been inaccessible for the past five thousand years – Gaya still retained her Celestial stage cultivation from the mortal realm. In the mortal realm, the Celestial stage represented the pinnacle of power and cultivation. However, in the realm of gods, it paled in comparison, even to the lowest cultivation stages of that realm.
Gaya's situation was somewhat unique. In the realm of gods, the majority of beings lacked any cultivation, as achieving it required an immense amount of resources, the favor of a god, and considerable wealth, privileges that few possessed. Therefore, even Gaya's relatively modest power from Celestial stage cultivation was formidable enough to hold her own against many adventurers. This disparity had allowed her to fight effectively against numerous challengers, despite her technically lower standing in the hierarchy of power.
Once the APD had fully healed Michael's wounds, he started down the wide path stretching out before him. The ancient, untouched appearance of the path suggested it hadn't been walked by any soul for millennia.
"How are we going to kill that bitch?" Gaya asked, her voice laced with a mix of curiosity and killing intent, as she walked alongside Michael.
"I'm working on it," Michael replied, his focus turning to the system interface.
"System, decode the Grimoire of Gods and find a way to kill Marli," he commanded. The Grimoire of Gods, a book penned by an angel of Seshat, contained information on how to eliminate nearly all gods. Its only drawback was the hefty cost of badass points required by the system to decode the necessary information each time.
As Michael issued the command, the system promptly requested a payment of three million badass points for the decoding process.
[The system will finish decoding in two days…]
The system's notification appeared, setting a clear timeline for their next steps.
As Michael and Gaya cautiously traversed the desolate path, the ground beneath them suddenly trembled, followed by a distant, thunderous mooing sound that echoed through the maze.
"What was that?" Gaya asked, her hand instinctively reaching for the short sword at her waist, her senses heightened by the unexpected noise.
Before they could speculate further, Silvaris's ethereal figure emerged from the ground. "tsk, tsk, tsk" He clicked his tongue sarcastically.
"You are not supposed to be here alone," he said, his voice dripping with faux concern.
Silvaris then let out a laugh, adding, "Oh, I forgot how we had party crashers."
His amusement was evident as he continued, "I didn't expect a goddess and the lapdog of the pantheon to come crashing my party. This is becoming more entertaining than I anticipated."
Silvaris's tone turned mocking as he expressed his 'pity' for their situation. "Good luck navigating this maze and defeating the surprise I have in store for you," he said, his laughter echoing ominously as his figure faded away, leaving Michael and Gaya alone once again in the eerie silence of the maze.
Gaya's frustration was palpable as she watched Silvaris vanish. "Did I tell you how much I hate that son of a bitch?" she growled, her annoyance evident.
However, Michael paid no heed to her comment or Silvaris's taunting departure. His mind was preoccupied with the vision he had seen in the orb taken from Silvaris's treasure chest. The image of the dark flames, frozen within a house crafted from nature, lingered in his thoughts. The connection to Marli seemed plausible, given the similarity between the house's natural composition and Marli's affinity with the forest.
With the quest to kill Marli now added to his list, Michael found himself juggling four major quests. The first involved unlocking Vedora's powers, a task shrouded in mystery and potential danger. The second quest, and arguably the most challenging, was to help Gaya embrace her destiny as the Goddess of Monsters, aiding her in navigating the complex relationship between beast tamers and the creatures of the realm. The third quest, to upgrade the dark flames, promised to enhance his own powers significantly. And finally, there was the God Killer II quest – the mission to eliminate Marli.
Michael's resolve hardened as he considered their next move. "Let's reach the dungeon's center and throw a wrench in Marli's plans. She's probably setting a trap for us, but this time, I'll be the one with the surprises," he said, a determined chuckle in his voice.
Despite Raphael's earlier advantage, Michael was confident that in their next encounter, it would be he who held the upper hand. The element of surprise, which Raphael had used effectively before, would now be Michael's to wield.
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