Chapter 715: "Why do I hear boss music?!"
’Well, he’s not the only one with buffs.’
The thought echoed silently between the trio as their eyes locked onto the enormous silhouette emerging from the ground beyond the veil of smoke and swirling energy left by the earlier explosion.
Its overwhelming cosmic destruction power kept them from getting close, a defensive measure Bewússtsein used to buy some time.
|Vale Blade|
Evan extended his right hand as he spoke, summoning his sword, the Unforged Vale. The weapon materialized in his hand, its blade transforming into a Lightsaber-like beam of crimson-golden energy.
’Activate Slot 1: Vanitas.’
While he gave that command, Arthur, beside him, silently muttered Lostvayne’s summoning chant. A small spatial fracture tore open beside him, and Lostvayne’s hilt emerged.
As he grabbed it, he issued his command.
|Lostvayne: Full Release.|
The intricate silver lines etched on the jet-black blade ignited with brilliance, and tendrils of silver energy spiralled from the hilt, piercing into his hand.
At the same moment, Celestia’s voice echoed in his head.
[Master, Lostvayne says you only have 60% of Soul Energy remaining.]
’60%? That’s plenty.’
[If you say so. Anyway, I’d try using that armour thingy again to boost your defences.]
While Arthur conversed with Celestia, Jamie conjured a portal at his side, drawing forth his own Rule Breaker.
’Alright buddy, mind waking up for a bit? I need your help.’
Jamie’s thoughts flowed into the blade, awakening the Ego of his Rule Breaker from its slumber.
[...what universe is this? And what happened to you?]
Those were the first questions that the neutral, groggy voice asked Jamie, recalling having fallen asleep while in a different Universe.
’Some place called Valmone. Now I need your help in dealing with this guy in front of me.’
[Is this a Core Dimension? You always get yourself into the strangest of situations, Jamie.]
The Galaxy Sword sounded exasperated as it spoke, but that exasperation gave way to surprise as it sensed a familiar presence.
[Hmm? Lostvayne’s here? And—]
Suddenly, its surprise turned into shock and the Galaxy Sword yelled in Jamie’s head.
[CELESTIAL DARKNESS??!!]
Clearly, the Galaxy Sword recognised Celestia on Arthur.
’Celestial Darkness?’
Jamie raised a brow in confusion, which was understandable as he didn’t know Celestia’s full name.
[That boy with hair like yours, he’s using Celestial Darkness! I haven’t seen her in billions of years!]
The words ’hair like yours’ instantly let Jamie know it was Arthur that the Galaxy Sword was talking about. He glanced at Arthur at his side, before returning his gaze to his weapon and speaking.
’Tell me about that later. Right now, I need your power. My opponent’s transformation looks like it’s finished.’
[Oh...no problem. You know the drill.]
Jamie silently nodded, before issuing his command.
’Awaken, Cosmic Blade of Dimensional Severance.’
His lips parted, and he spoke the last two words aloud.
|Galaxy Sword.|
Immediately, his sword’s blade which mirrored the patterns of swirling galaxies and nebulae, began emitting a black mist.
Jamie looked up right after, just as the veil of energy finally parted, revealing Bewússtsein’s ’new form’.
Bewússtsein had absorbed the organic mass of countless dead inhabitants of Cruotis Prime, using them to form a towering half-humanoid body that rose from a bubbling pool of lava.
Its skinless body was a grotesque mass of exposed flesh and muscle, with four massive, muscular arms extending from its torso.
Cosmic energy condensed and wrapped around this 500-metre body, creating multi-layered barriers.
The creature’s featureless head lacked eyes, a nose, or a mouth, but atop its skull, an incision split open, revealing Bewússtsein’s incomplete vessel.
Like the giant it controlled, Bewússtsein’s vessel consisted solely of an upper body, though he possessed all the standard humanoid body features.
His iridescent eyes burned with fierce hatred as they locked onto the protagonist trio.
Suddenly, the fabric of reality distorted, and three shimmering lines of red text materialized in the air above Bewússtsein’s head:
’CRUOTIS PRIME’S CONSCIOUSNESS’
~ "Bewússtsein" ~
[▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇]
The trio froze, staring in disbelief at the gothic-font text hovering above their enemy.
"Is that a fucking Health bar?!"
Evan shouted, his voice laced with shock. Then, as if on cue, a low, ominous tune began echoing in their ears.
"Why do I hear boss music?!"
Arthur exclaimed, his eyes darting around in confusion.
But unlike his bewildered allies, Jamie sighed, placing a hand over his face.
’What the hell are you doing, Ranus?’
Jamie immediately recognized this as the handiwork of the Eternal of Space and Reality.
Of course, Bewússtsein couldn’t see what they saw, nor did he care for their confusion. He simply roused his cosmic energy, roaring with unbridled fury as he attacked.
|DIE, YOU IRRITATING SINGULARITIES!!!|
The ground around them shattered, revealing writhing tendrils of flesh entwined with cosmic energy, elemental energy, and destructive law energy that shot toward the trio.
Evan immediately raised his left arm, summoning his shield to block the beams of destructive light that tore through the air at hypersonic speed.
Jamie frowned slightly at the sight of Evan blocking the attack with his shield but kept silent, waiting for Evan to unleash his follow-up.
The Rogue Hero infused his energy into his sword, which burned with prismatic flames as he swung it, releasing slashes that tore through the writhing flesh like a hot knife through butter.
It was then, that Jamie finally spoke to him and Arthur via telepathy.
[I hope you both understand this is a fight where you have to avoid getting hit as much as possible.
He’s three times stronger than us individually. If he lands one full-power attack on any of you, you’re screwed.]
Jamie’s message reached them instantaneously, and upon hearing it, Arthur responded confidently.
[I have the Stellar Guard, Jamie.]
Time law energy surged from Arthur’s body and time slowed to a crawl. The writhing tendrils and energy beams aimed at him halted mid-air, suspended in a moment of frozen time.
[Even if you have that artifact, avoid a situation where you’re forced to use it. If he drains its charges, then the next strike would take you out.]
Jamie warned as Arthur dashed forward and swung Lostvayne, releasing thin slashes of extinction law energy that shredded the onslaught of flesh to pieces.
The normal flow of time resumed a moment later, and the severed tendrils collapsed to the ground in writhing heaps.
[As for you, Evan, that shield of yours might be tough, but your body may not handle the shock from blocking his full-power attacks.
Use Blink to dodge instead—I’ll ensure he can’t interfere with your teleportations.]
As Jamie spoke, he flicked his fingers, warping the space around the three of them. The next barrage of cosmic destruction beams, which should have struck them head-on, twisted off course, their trajectories bending and spiralling harmlessly away.
Seeing this, Bewússtsein roared and one of his giant avatar’s massive arms extended, firing a concentrated beam of cosmic energy.
Jamie started distorting space to counter the incoming attack when Evan responded to his advice.
[Don’t worry about me, I’m confident he can’t one-shot me.]
[...how so?]
Evan’s confident tone made Jamie arch a brow in skepticism as he conjured a wormhole that swallowed Bewússtsein’s attack, then a second that spat it back at the giant avatar with twice the power.
The giant was knocked back, and the trio launched themselves into the air simultaneously, their swords ablaze with prismatic flames, crimson destruction, and azure spatial energy respectively.
As they launched simultaneous attacks, Evan spoke to the other two via the telepathy link.
[Sure, he’s stronger than us individually and has a ton of home turf buffs since we’re in his Core Dimension. But he’s not the only one with tricks like that.]
Bewússtsein sent another of the giant’s hands descending upon them, but Evan summoned his shield and activated multiple defensive skills to intercept the strike.
The sheer force of the impact sent shockwaves through the cavern, and at that moment, Arthur halted time once more, allowing Jamie to warp space and reposition them.
[Not the only one with tricks? Are you talking about his buffs?]
Arthur asked as they regrouped and Evan infused his sword with more magic power while responding.
[Of course, I’m talking about buffs.
Don’t forget that while you two may normally be stronger, I’m the one with the most stat buffs of us three.]
As Evan spoke, he dashed forward and slashed across the giant arm reaching for him, sending a burst of prismatic flames rippling through the flesh.
[He’s actually got a point, Jamie. If our levels were the same, Evan might even be able to beat me.]
Arthur spoke to Jamie as he followed up Evan’s attack with a time-splitting strike, carving through the sinew that attached the hand to the giant’s body.
Finally, Jamie’s sword tore through the fabric of space itself, severing the massive arm in two at its elbow.
[True. Evan does have a ridiculous number of stat bonuses.]
The severed arm crashed to the ground with a deafening roar, sending tremors through the Core Dimension.
Bewússtsein roared furiously, unleashing a burst of cosmic energy intertwined with the sound. But the trio quickly conjured energy barriers, shielding themselves from both the deafening sound and the accompanying destructive wave.
As the dust settled, Arthur glanced at Evan and asked.
[Anyway, Evan, I’ve gotten used to controlling my body now. What about you?]
Orange flames crept up Evan’s arms and legs as he nodded and responded to Arthur’s query.
[I’m good to go now. I can better control my output as well.]
Arthur smirked, not the least bit surprised by the response. Destruction energy crackled around his body as he took a stance with Lostvayne and spoke aloud.
|Alright guys, let’s end this oversized motherfucker.|
With Arthur’s declaration ringing in their ears, the trio sprang into action, launching themselves at the Bewússtsein’s giant avatar.
As they charged toward their opponent, the trio executed a well-practised tactic—attacking from different directions to exploit their numerical advantage.
Evan veered left before curving sharply midway, Jamie dashed right and cut inward, while Arthur lightened his body using gravity manipulation and propelled himself forward from the centre, accelerated by time energy.
Recognizing the threat posed by both Arthur and Jamie, who wielded the dangerous Rule Breaker swords, Bewússtsein decided to focus his attention on them.
However, the moment he reduced the level of focus assigned to Evan, the latter activated a skill.
| Blessing of Destruction: First Activation.|
| 1st Activation;
For up to 150 minutes per 24 hours, this skill allows the user to harness the power of an Aspect of Destruction.
It draws on ambient Destruction Universal Law energy to cloak the user in an aura that boosts overall power by 300%.
True Damage dealt to opponents is enhanced during this state.|
The sudden surge of Destruction Law energy radiating from Evan’s direction made Bewússtsein’s eyes widen in alarm as he snapped his gaze toward the source.
Evan’s body groaned under the strain, but he countered it by wrapping himself in his green flames of life.
Then, in an instant, he vanished.
