Chapter 594: Reveling in Destruction comes with benefits!
"Thunder’s Edge! Sanctified Judgment!"
|¬Slow!
~
Cataclysmic Divide! Time Shatter! Space Warp! ¬|
Time slowed, Arthur released a fusion slash that ruptured space, broke time to make Duskhand experience multiple impacts at once and then dipped with Space Warp, a copy of Beatrix’s skill that dealt spatial damage to all enemies in his departure and arrival zones when he teleported.
The moment he appeared, Arthur let go of his sword and condensed an orb of temporal energy in his palm, heaving it high as the orb ballooned to titanic proportions.
|¬Time Bomb! ¬|
He hurled the glowing orb toward Duskhand, but before it could land, one of Duskhand’s aides leapt forward, unleashing an attack that obliterated the bomb in mid-air.
Seeing this, Arthur’s brow twitched in irritation and he activated his Pseudo Authority of Gravity, reaching out with his left hand.
|¬Get the fuck out of my way, bitch! ¬|
Arthur’s voice reverberated with fury. The transcendent aide had no chance to react as Arthur clenched his fist, his gravitational power amplifying with a sudden burst of law energy.
The aide was yanked off the ground and hurled through the air like a ragdoll, crashing into a distant mountain with earth-shattering force. The mountain trembled, rocks crumbling under the violent impact.
With the nuisance out of the way, Arthur snapped the fingers of his right hand, summoning an array of elemental magic spell circles.
Firestorm — A blazing inferno erupted in the sky, raining down scorching flames upon Duskhand.
Earthquake — The ground quaked violently, sharp spikes of rock thrusting upwards, aiming to impale.
Cyclone Veil — A powerful windstorm howled, trapping Duskhand in its rotating vortex, attempting to shred him with razor-sharp gusts.
Tidal Wave — A towering wave of water surged out of the cracked earth, crashing down in an overwhelming torrent.
Arthur didn’t use spells much in fights, but that didn’t mean he didn’t know them. Not using them was simply a choice as his techniques were more powerful.
Duskhand spun on his heel after dealing with Arthur’s Cataclysmic Divide, spinning on his heel just in time to face the elemental onslaught.
The man’s spear danced through the air, lightning arcing around it as he dismantled each spell.
With a single sweep, his lightning pierced the Firestorm, reducing the flames to harmless sparks. The spikes from Earthquake were shattered by his spear, the force of his strikes breaking them apart like brittle stones. The Cyclone Veil was dissipated as he called forth a lightning vortex of his own, cancelling the windstorm. Finally, the Tidal Wave crashed harmlessly against a barrier of light magic he conjured, the water vaporizing on contact.
Arthur wasn’t even fazed by Duskhand’s effortless neutralization of his Tier 5 magic spells. After all, Duskhand was a Transcendent.
His thoughts flashed back to his recent victories over Transcendents. The god Jakimor on Olrerth had been a tough opponent who left Arthur drained after, but Arthur had used his Progenitor Authority to forcibly drag Jakimor down to the level of an Inferior Transcendent and defeated him.
While his win against Jakimor was largely due to catching him off-guard, it was still a victory. Arthur had even fought other transcendents, though most of his wins had not been solo—none except for Jakimor.
But Duskhand was different.
From the outset, the Divine Human General had been hailed as one of the strongest beings on Aramis. His reputation was no mere exaggeration.
Duskhand was the kind of opponent who even made Alvey struggle, and though Alvey had eventually bested him, it had been no small feat.
The battle had left Duskhand grievously injured, costing him a significant portion of his power. Yet even in his weakened state, Duskhand was still leagues beyond the average Transcendent.
In their rematch, Alvey had decisively defeated Duskhand, slicing off his arm—but that had only been possible because Duskhand hadn’t fully recovered from the damage he’d sustained in their previous fight.
Speaking of sliced arms, Arthur couldn’t help but notice that Duskhand’s arm, even though Alvey had completely severed it, was perfectly restored. The man was swinging his weapon with a level of finesse that suggested no hint of past injury.
|¬Celestia.¬|
His sword flew back into his hand on command and Arthur stepped forward, swinging it and releasing a horizontal Extinction Slash that severed the bodies of over a hundred Aramisian soldiers to his right in two halves.
The boy’s left hand conjured a Destruction Nova and he launched it at the Transcendents fighting the Dread Leviathan.
Duskhand rushed to intercept the attack, but Arthur dashed forward, blurring into a streak of light as he intercepted Duskhand.
The man increased his power output and to his surprise, Arthur could still keep up with him.
It was at that moment that Arthur suddenly froze and his eyes glazed over.
To anyone else, it was a fleeting moment, barely noticeable. But to Duskhand, moving at hypersonic speed, that second felt like an eternity.
Without hesitation, he seized the opportunity. His spear gleamed with powerful lightning energy as he thrust it forward, striking Arthur with immense force.
"Thunderous Thrust!"
The blow sent Arthur flying, his body crashing through the air at incomprehensible speed. He blasted through an entire mountain, smashing through rock and earth as if they were nothing.
Arthur finally emerged on the other side, plummeting to the ground, his body leaving a deep crater where he crashed.
Duskhand jumped into the air, watching the devastation below. He had poured enough energy into that strike to kill an inferior sovereign, confident that any normal being would have perished from such an assault.
But Arthur was not ordinary and Duskhand knew that from experience.
While Duskhand could feel that Arthur was wounded, he knew better than to think it was over. The boy had time on his side—the notorious ability to rewind his injuries, as well as that strange artifact that blocked any lethal attacks.
Still, Duskhand’s mind whirled. Why had Arthur frozen like that in the middle of the fight, giving him the perfect opening?
Arthur was fighting against a higher-level opponent, so despite the fact that both sides were not going all out, Arthur couldn’t afford to make any slip-ups as his opponent would definitely take advantage of that.
Yet, Arthur still froze mid-battle. Why?
The answer was simple, and it hit Arthur as he lay in the rubble, recovering from Duskhand’s attack. A wide grin stretched across his face as realization dawned on him.
Arthur’s comprehension of the Law of Destruction had increased.
For a while now, his comprehension had lingered at the 75% mark and the final 25% was probably going to be harder to complete than the 75% he’d already comprehended.
He had expected to remain at this level for much longer—perhaps until he became a Superior Transcendent.
But now, amid the chaos, destruction, and carnage he had wrought, his comprehension had risen by one full percentage. Not a mere fraction, but a whole percentage, bringing him to 76%.
It was the sheer, wanton destruction—the chaos he had unleashed on the battlefield, the revelry in tearing everything apart without regard—that had pushed his comprehension forward.
Every explosion, every broken form, every life snuffed out had deepened his connection to the Law of Destruction.
|¬HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!¬|
Arthur threw his head back and laughed. The sound echoed through the shattered landscape, a sound of elation and madness all rolled into one.
His laugh grew louder, more unhinged, as the realization of his newfound power surged through him.
|¬And here I thought I was lucky the first time! Hey Jamie, seems you’re not the only one who’s got a law in love with them! ¬|
Arthur’s words made Jamie who was watching the situation roll his eyes.
’Boy, you comprehended the Law of Destruction to more than 70% in a mere two years. Rather than the law derived from it, I think the Concept of Destruction the Candidates are fighting over is in love with you.’
Down on the ground, Arthur sat up, cleaning the blood streaking down his face behind his mask. Duskhand’s attack had not triggered the Stellar Guard since it didn’t hold enough power to be fatal to the current Arthur.
Time law energy swirled around him and his wounds began to heal. He looked up to see Duskhand charging down at him from the sky and he laughed again before springing to his feet, his mind buzzing with the energy of destruction.
Without a word, Arthur kicked off the ground, rocketing back toward the battlefield with Duskhand hot on his tail. But Arthur moved with time-accelerated precision, slipping out of Duskhand’s reach before the man could adjust his trajectory.
Arthur teleported, arriving above the Aramisian base, his eyes gleaming as he dove down and planted his sword into the ground.
|¬Extreme Nothingness. Seismic Surge! ¬|
The omnidirectional wave of energy that destroyed the Duskhand Bastille erupted from Arthur’s body, a combination of destruction and time law energies, along with his violently clashing Divinity and Anti-Divinity.
A purple, pulsating surge spread across the battlefield, selectively destroying everything that wasn’t under Arthur’s command—his summons remained untouched, but the Divines, both fake and real, the environment, the very essence of the land, were ripped apart in a violent surge.
’Aramis’ cried out in pain and Duskhand, now roaring in fury, launched a series of rapid thrusts with his spear.
Each strike created projectiles of light and lightning, the attacks streaking through the air with deadly speed toward Arthur. But Arthur merely glanced at them, his left eye glowing with temporal power.
The projectiles froze mid-air, each one trapped in its own Chronosphere, suspended in time.
Arthur raised his hand, and in his faux true voice, he spoke in Olympian:
|¬Antistrofí. ¬|
