Chapter 445: Survive II
Duskhand did not know or care about Arthur’s thoughts, as the man pulled back his spear faster than Arthur could even finish thinking and struck out again, activating a skill for the first time.
"Lightning Surge Thrust"
His lightning law energy and divinity were channelled into the tip of his spear, forming a crackling orb of electricity.
The orb detonated in front of Arthur’s face, the blast engulfing the boy’s head a second before Duskhand’s spear followed through the explosion and pierced his skull and straight into his brain killing him instantly—
—is what should have happened if a certain ’Rule Breaker’ called the ’Stellar Guard’ did not exist.
"?!"
Duskhand’s expression contorted as his spear collided with the cosmic energy barrier that enveloped Arthur’s upper body at that moment and rebounded the power of his skill.
The man was blown back by the power of his own strike, his feet carving lines through the earth as he barely maintained his footing.
’WHAT WAS THAT?!’
Duskhand was sure that he had gotten Arthur with that strike, as the power held within it was enough to completely deplete Arthur’s durability and vitality in one go.
He was confident his speed was faster than any defence Arthur could put up and was 100% sure Arthur could not defend against his attack.
But the reality that played out was different.
Arthur, taking advantage of Duskhand’s shock, used Null’s power to expel the residual lightning law energy in his facial wounds so his regeneration could kick in.
Simultaneously, he willed Lostvayne back into his hands and activated ’Anti-Gravity’, yeeting his body into the air at sonic speed.
’1 down...4 to go.’
Using two Rule Breakers simultaneously strained Arthur due to his Existence realm constraints. Those same constraints also prevented him from using it infinitely, so he only had 5 chances to block a ’Certain Death Attack’.
What’s more, there was a 5-second cooldown between each shield generation, so he could not deal with successive attacks.
’Oh well...I still got Mum’s artifacts.’
Cattleya had stuffed Arthur’s subspace with enough things to ensure he ’Wouldn’t die’ during his trip to Valmone and the boy wasn’t going to shy against using any of them.
As for Duskhand, the man had recovered from his surprise and analysed what happened with a calm mind.
’That shield most likely was not his own power but an Artifact, Treasure or Special Item. To be able to allow him to defend against my attack...it must have limited uses.
In that case...’
The man looked up and kicked off the ground, accelerating to hypersonic territory in an instant as he circled around Arthur and thrust his spear forward.
"Divine Smite."
The spear filled with intertwined light and lightning law energy hurled towards Arthur’s chest in an instant, however, just when it seemed like it was going to pierce the boy and blast a hole in his body, a barrier of cosmic energy manifested to protect him once more.
The spear collided with the barrier with a resounding impact, its momentum halted by the formidable defence.
’When did he—?! Fuck...3 more.’
|¬Pseudo-Authority of Destruction: Annihilation Sphere! ¬|
Arthur’s destruction energy erupted from his body, forming a volatile sphere of power around him. The sphere rapidly expanded outward, unleashing a devastating wave of destruction that obliterated everything caught within its radius.
Duskhand pulled back his spear and blitzed out of Arthur’s maximum range of 500 metres in an instant, before holding out his hand and activating a Tier 5 Magic spell.
"Lightning Nova!"
His immense lightning law energy rapidly gathered into a concentrated form at a single point. In the next second, the amassed energy exploded outwards in a brilliant burst, resembling a celestial phenomenon.
The lightning nova emitted blinding flashes and crackling bolts that streaked across the sky, striking towards Arthur with electrifying force.
In response, Arthur ran his destruction energy through Lostvayne, amplifying it with the sword as he activated his Pseudo-Authority.
|¬Destruction Nova¬|
Silver energy circuits manifested on Arthur’s hand as the power of his Null mixed in with the destruction energy condensing into a concentrated form at a focal point in front of his sword.
He released the energy and it erupted outward in a nova-like explosion, unleashing devastating force in all directions.
The air crackled with raw power as the volatile energies of the two Novae intertwined in a fierce struggle for dominance.
The collision sent shockwaves rippling through the fabric of space, causing it to tremble and warp under immense pressure. Brilliant flashes of light illuminated the area as the opposing energies clashed, creating a dazzling display of destructive fury.
It only took a few seconds for the clash to reach its peak, achieving a moment of equilibrium.
The combined might of the two Novae created a temporary rift in space, crackling with unstable energy. With a final burst of power, the rift collapsed in on itself, swallowing the remnants of the two Novae and nullifying their powers.
As the fabric of space was stabilizing itself, Arthur pulled out a grenade launcher from his subspace and applied his Time Acceleration to it, letting him fire all fourteen rounds in a single second.
Duskhand waved his spear to strike down the projectiles that hurtled towards him, however, the instant his spear touched the first one, his eyes widened in shock as he realised the true power held within them.
’Not good!’
**KAAABOOOMMM!!!!!
The explosion that occurred was even more powerful than the previous one where the two Novae had collided.
The potency of the destructive energy that burst forth was greater than what any mortal could ever hope to achieve.
As the grenade detonated with devastating force, a maelstrom of destructive energy engulfed Duskhand faster than he could fully react.
His divinity and lightning law energy formed thick coats around his form in a desperate attempt to shield him from the onslaught. However, the destructive energy tore through his defences like paper, shredding them apart with merciless efficiency.
Duskhand gritted his teeth as he felt the searing heat and force of the explosion bearing down upon him.
He hurriedly elementalized his body and zapped out of the explosion’s range in an instant, but waiting for him was Arthur’s sword thrusting towards his head.
"Extreme Nothingness!!"
’Divine Convergence! Divine Retribution! Judgement’s Edge!’
In a split-second decision, Duskhand activated his Unique Skill and two techniques, channelling his divinity to meet the incoming attack head-on and proceed to overwhelm it in an instant.
He swiftly pulled back his spear and struck forward in the same second, unleashing an attack on the same level as the one he had used to wound Aravae at the start of the battle.
As he expected, the Stellar Guard activated to protect Arthur from instantly dying, but he remained undeterred.
His divinity surged forward in the next second and he converged it around his spear’s tip, striking out towards Arthur’s falling form with the intention to deal a fatal blow.
’?!’
The man’s instincts abruptly flared, warning him of imminent danger.
Reacting on pure reflex, Duskhand turned and unleashed a beam of divine lightning from his spear towards the incoming projectile that was on a collision course with him.
’That thing?!...those grenades had a homing feature!’
Arthur had fired all fourteen grenades at once, but Duskhand had only slashed at the first one. The sheer amount of destructive energy that was released distorted his perception and prevented him from noticing the locations of the remaining thirteen that Arthur had stopped in time.
Just as he escaped, Arthur had attacked him to draw his attention, before releasing the time stop and letting the grenades home in on his current location.
However, Duskhand had still been able to react in time.
Instead of striking them with his spear, the man chose to counter the projectiles with ones of his own, detonating them in the air before they reached him.
’Aura Projection, Thunderstorm, Storm Surge, Lightning Nova, Arcane Bolts of Severance!’
The man unleashed a skill, two techniques and two Tier 5 Magic spells respectively in that moment.
Magic circles materialized in the sky, casting golden bolts of divine lightning that streaked towards the thirteen grenades pursuing him through the air.
Simultaneously, Duskhand’s aura surged from his body and infused his weapon, as he began to spin it in a circular motion above his head, creating a whirlwind of electrified energy around him that attacked anything that entered its range.
It was powerful enough to completely engulf Arthur’s Cataclysmic Divide in an instant, along with every other attack Arthur threw at it.
The volatile sphere of law energy and magic that was ’Lightning Nova’ exploded outward in a brilliant burst that engulfed the surrounding area in a chaotic storm of electricity.
All thirteen grenades were caught within the blast and simultaneously detonated, releasing a surge of destruction energy that seemed as if it wanted to destroy the world.
