Chapter 628.2: A Small Window for Victory (2)
The only thing Roel could see right now were towering waves that stretched from one end of the world to the other.
He couldn’t say that he had seen many Divine Domains, but he was certain that Alicia’s Divine Domain had to be one of the strongest.
The Black Moon in the sky represented absolute might; not even the ancient gods dared to be insolent before its prowess. However, the ocean beneath their feet was treacherous as well.
Towering waves crashed down on them one after another, forcing Grandar to hurl his fists again and again to ward them off. Thanks to the Giant Sovereign’s protection, Roel was able to slowly advance toward Alicia.
Still, relying on Grandar’s punches to ward off the waves was not the most efficient maneuver. Roel was burning a great deal of mana due to that. However, he had no other choice, since the ocean contained a spell that absorbed one’s life force.
Controlling life force had always been Alicia’s forte.
In this Divine Domain, she wielded absolute power over all life that fell into the ocean. Should Roel be directly struck by the waves, he would have a huge amount of life force instantaneously siphoned away from him, thus be pushed toward death.
No defense could last long against such relentless waves of calamitous attacks.
The only hope of surviving this ordeal was to quickly bring down the enemy, but just attempting to get close to Alicia had already severely drained Roel’s mana. This prolonged battle battered his body and mind, but he refused to give up, for he had one last ace up his sleeve.
It was thanks to the Loborian serum that Roel was still holding on, but there was a time limit to its effectiveness. As soon as the serum’s benefits wore off, its side effects would start to settle in, and his physical condition would swiftly deteriorate.
This was the moment Roel had been waiting for.
Being Toward Death had always been his greatest trump card to turn the tides around in times of adversity. Furthermore, Alicia, after having lost her memories, wouldn’t know about this ability of his, so she would be caught off guard.
The odds were stacked against him in this battle; he knew his only hope at victory was to exploit the information asymmetry between them. This was the decisive moment; it was either make or break.
Alicia was in an advantageous position here, and not just because she was an Origin Level 1 transcendent or because her astounding stamina and recovery prowess was a bad match for burst-type transcendents.
No, her greatest edge in this battle was the Black Moon.
Roel had personally witnessed the Black Moon’s power before. Even the ancient gods were powerless before its terrifying prowess. He wouldn’t want to taste its prowess, even if Alicia was unlikely to be able to utilize the Black Moon’s power to the extent of the Mother Goddess.
Furthermore, Alicia had the aid of two of the Six Calamities.
Even though Shrouding Fog had been severely wounded, Roel knew that it would swiftly recover under the Mother Goddess’ powers. It was not without reason that the Six Calamities had been dubbed as civilization destroyers.
Furthermore, Light Devourer and Shrouding Fog would have learned from this encounter and avoid direct confrontations with Roel and Grandar in the future. They would intentionally drag out the battle, and that would be highly disadvantageous to Roel, especially since he was still only at Origin Level 2.
Admittedly, it would have been much safer if he had first made a breakthrough to Origin Level 1 before confronting Alicia and the two Calamities.
The Kingmaker Clan was the Overseer of the races in the ancient era, after all. Roel, as the Kingmaker, wouldn’t pale in comparison to Alicia once he reached Origin Level 1. That would have greatly increased his chances of curbing Alicia and bringing her back.
But he couldn’t bring himself to wait, for he knew that memories weren’t eternal.
As time passed, Alicia’s memories of her time as a human would become more fragmented, making it harder for her to recall them. That was also why he was so anxious to make a move. He had to make things work this time around, no matter what it took.
These factors pushed him to struggle desperately with everything that he had.
Finally, the time had come for the serum’s effects to wear off.
The burning sensation in Roel’s body receded, and the side effects from the Crown’s Stones and Sia-fication settled in at the same time. Intense pain and exhaustion assailed him, causing him to nearly pass out, but he quickly whipped out Ascendwing and stabbed his arm.
Blood splattered. The sharp pain helped him to barely retain his consciousness in this critical moment. Then, the long-awaited Being Toward Death finally activated, and his dimmed Crown Origin Attribute glowed with renewed fervor.
In the blink of an eye, Roel reverted to his peak condition.
A blaze reignited in his golden eyes, as if signaling a new phase of the battle. He looked at the sky before charging upward.
Alicia noticed his transformation and widened her crimson eyes. Knowing that she didn’t have the luxury of indecisiveness anymore, she killed her hesitation, and her eyes turned sharp.
Another round of clashes broke out between the two.
This time around, Alicia didn’t hold back. Looking at the enemy beneath, she subconsciously took another step back as if she was afraid of something. She twirled her finger, and the tall waves of water started spinning into a catastrophic cyclone that rushed at the incoming Roel.
At the same time, the silver moonlight intensified.
Heavy pressure clamped down on the world once more, freezing everything in place. It felt like a reflection of Alicia’s closed heart, as she rejected Roel’s approach. But this time around, Roel had no intention of backing down.
“Grandar!” Roel roared as a blood-colored aura ignited around him.
This was mana fueled by his own blood, and his further weakening condition became fodder to further stimulate Being Toward Death. With this massive influx of mana, Grandar let out a howl as he activated his Divine Domain once more.
The mirage of a sunset plain manifested behind Grandar and extended toward the sky, resulting in an explosive clash of the two Divine Domains.
Grandar threw his punch forth, as countless warriors roared deafeningly behind him.
Boom!
Grandar’s fist tore through the cyclone descending from the sky with a burst of crimson light, splattering the ocean water all over the Divine Domain as torrential rain.
In the meantime, Roel further closed the distance with Alicia.
In response, Alicia raised her hand, and the silver moon flickered before unleashing its brightest light thus far. The moonlight engulfed Roel’s vision, covering Alicia’s figure, Grandar’s silhouette, and everything else in the surroundings.
Even the Black Moon temporarily vanished under the intense brilliance of the silver moon.
Then, the silver moonlight converged into a single ray directed at Roel, as if he was the sole target of the moon’s wrath. Yet, it was also at this moment that he revealed a smile, knowing that his shot at victory had arrived.
Faced with the devastating ray of moonlight, Grandar’s body suddenly vanished into thin air, causing Alicia to narrow her eyes. Then, Roel called the name of his next companion.
“Artasia.”
“I’m here,” the Witch Queen replied cheerily as her body manifested out of thin air.
Roel raised his hand toward Artasia. His blood and mana manifested into a crown fragment, which drifted to the Witch Queen’s head and manifested into a magnificent crown.
Artasia’s madder-red eyes glowed with fervor. She looked at the seemingly unsurpassable silver moonlight coming from the sky and unleashed her true strength for the first time.
“Divine Domain.”
An inviolable surge of mana rushed forth from Artasia and violently distorted the space around her, as if it was some kind of bent shield. The silver moonlight descending from the sky blasted onto the distorted space…
… but there was no reaction whatsoever.
There was no explosion or flames. Even the blinding moonlight simply vanished without a trace, as if it had been swallowed by the distorted space.
Alicia was taken aback, whereas the crowned Witch Queen smirked.
“Contradiction,” Artasia murmured.
The Witch Queen’s Divine Domain flared, and the night sky suddenly lit up once more. The silver moonlight that had disappeared inside the distorted space suddenly shot out from within, but it was targeted at its previous owner this time around.
Startled, Alicia hurriedly channeled her mana, and the Black Moon behind her descended. She was forced to resort to her trump card in order to protect herself.
Countless black arms crawled out from the Black Moon and lunged at the silver moonlight, resulting in a violent clash between the two moons. However, the two powers were equal; neither was superior to the other.
“No!” Alicia exclaimed as she felt her Divine Domain rattling under this overwhelming impact.
She sensed that things were going awry, but it was too late to salvage the situation. With a gust of wind, Roel suddenly appeared before her with open arms and tightly hugged her in place. Then, he loudly called for his third companion.
“Edavia!”
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