Chapter 721: “Cruotis Prime’s Consciousness” VI
"?!"
Alvey’s eyes widened as his fastest strike was avoided so easily. His sword cut through empty space before slamming into the ground, carving out a fissure that split the continent beneath them in half, proving that his attack was not only fast but immensely powerful.
However, that power meant nothing if it did not strike its target, and worse yet, his opponent was on the verge of unleashing a powerful counter infused with destructive energy!
At that moment, Artemisia’s voice echoed in Alvey’s ears.
"Remove Stat Limiter: Agility!!"
Alvey’s body instantly felt lighter, and the world around him seemed to slow. No, it had not actually slowed—he had simply become so fast that everything appeared that way.
Taking advantage of this sudden speed boost, he leapt back to avoid Bewússtsein’s counter, but the Rogue Consciousness did not relent.
He quickly recondensed his destruction energy and closed the distance in an instant, launching another punch toward Alvey’s face with the intent to obliterate his head in one strike.
However, just before the attack could land, a staff wreathed in corrosive darkness flew in from the right, striking the side of Bewússtsein’s hand and forcefully redirecting his attack, making him miss Alvey’s body entirely.
Alvey immediately seized the opportunity, swinging his sword with such blinding speed that his hand seemed to blur. Flashes of white filled Bewússtsein’s vision, and in an instant, his body was slashed all over, rotten blood spilling from the fresh wounds.
The cosmic energy from the Morphic Edge mixed with Alvey’s demonic energy, seeping into the gashes and rendering them irreparable unless a superior Authority of Life was involved.
At the same time, McEnda—the one who had thrown the staff to deflect Bewússtsein’s attack—melted into his shadow and re-emerged from the shadow of his staff, which had crashed into the ground on Bewússtsein’s left after altering the trajectory of his strike.
As soon as his body fully materialized, McEnda grabbed his staff and spun to build momentum before swinging it toward the Corpse Puppet with tremendous force.
"Remove Stat Limiter: Strength!"
Artemisia’s voice rang out again, this time weaker, but the effects were undeniable.
McEnda’s muscles expanded, veins bulging beneath his skin as his staff whirred through the air and struck the Corpse Puppet with devastating force.
**BAAAMM!!!!
Darkness law energy exploded on impact, and the sheer power of the blow sent the Corpse Puppet hurtling kilometres away in an instant.
McEnda’s muscles immediately returned to normal, and the surge of strength drained from his body, leaving his arm temporarily weakened.
His gaze snapped toward Artemisia as he sensed the shift, and his eyes widened when he saw her collapse onto her knees, blood dripping from her nose as she heaved for breath.
"Arty!"
Beatrix’s voice rang out as she rushed to Artemisia’s side, activating her Unique Skill: Light of Restoration, in an attempt to heal her.
But despite her efforts, the blood continued to trickle from Artemisia’s nose. Her sclera had turned from white to gold, and the golden blood seeped from the corners of her eyes.
Her body was under immense strain.
It was expected—after all, she was the cornerstone of their survival.
Not only was she constantly buffing Alvey and McEnda, both of whom were over 300 Levels higher than her, but she was also using her ’Limit Break’ to amplify their already enhanced Stats.
As if that wasn’t enough, she was also removing the ’Limiters’ on their Stats.
Every Existence within a certain Realm had a maximum threshold their Stats could reach. Alvey and McEnda, currently weakened to Transcendence, had already hit that Cosmic Limit.
Yet, through her power of Evolution, Artemisia was forcefully removing that limit, allowing them to exhibit power beyond Transcendence.
It would have been weirder if her body and soul weren’t under extreme strain.
She only remained conscious for three key reasons.
First, Beatrix was continuously healing her body faster than it could break down.
Second, the bloodstained book she clutched tightly. It was a Grimoire given to her by her father—one of the self-defence measures he had provided her.
It was crucial to remember that applying all these buffs and breaking these limits required Energy.
Specifically, magic power, since her divinity would do more harm than good to Alvey and McEnda, who were demons.
This Deity-Level Grimoire currently functioned as a magic power battery, sustaining Artemisia’s buffs. If she let go of it, her buffs would be undone, as she lacked the energy to maintain them on her own.
As for the third reason... it was the entity??? floating beside her.
Indeed, unbeknownst to Alvey, McEnda, and Beatrix, there was a fifth entity present in that space, hovering silently beside Artemisia.
[Child, why do you put yourself through such suffering? Just say the word, and you will be INSTANTLY removed from this dangerous space.]
The voice echoed in Artemisia’s head.
Still breathing heavily, her pupils darted to the side, meeting the floating humanoid figure that bore her exact likeness—except its entire body was pure white.
An entity only she could perceive, simply because they allowed her to perceive them.
’...just me?’
Artemisia asked the question, and for a moment, the entity remained silent. Then, they responded.
[Yes. Just you.]
Artemisia said nothing.
She knew exactly what she was speaking to. She understood that if she so much as willed it, she would be taken away from Cruotis Prime in an instant, far from any danger to her life.
But as the entity had said—it would be just her.
Alvey would remain. McEnda would remain. And most importantly, Beatrix would remain.
She did not want that.
The entity seemed to already understand her thoughts and sighed.
[A pity. While I comprehend the concept of emotions, I am incapable of empathizing with them. I suppose being a 100% logical existence has its downsides after all.]
They leaned in closer, lifting Artemisia’s chin with glowing fingers as they spoke.
[Because you desire to stay and protect your dear friend rather than escape and leave her for dead, I shall permit you to break my rules—just once.]
"?!"
Artemisia’s eyes widened in shock at the words, completely tuning out Beatrix’s concerned voice.
Seeing her expression shift, the entity burst into laughter.
[I think I may be experiencing this "emotion" thing after all. What I feel right now is definitely what you would call "amusement," isn’t it?]
Their words snapped Artemisia out of her shock, and she muttered two words.
"...thank you."
Beatrix, hearing this, assumed Artemisia was speaking to her, but that was not the case.
Sensing the sincerity in Artemisia’s gratitude, the entity smiled, moving around her before embracing her from behind, their voice a soft whisper in her ear.
[Anything for you. You are my favourite, after all.]
With those words, their body faded away, and Artemisia’s mind was instantly overwhelmed with incomprehensible streams of information.
She clutched her head in pain, prompting Beatrix to immediately attempt another healing.
However, Beatrix’s eyes suddenly snapped in a different direction as something entered the range of her Chrono Space Dominion, and the resultant future of that thing—no, those things—was instantly fed into her mind.
Besides healing Artemisia, Beatrix was also rewinding the wounds that Alvey and McEnda sustained while simultaneously using her power of time to peer into the future.
With her Chrono Space Dominion, she created a domain around them that allowed Alvey and McEnda to see illusions of the future, enabling them to intercept attacks from the walking dead before they were even executed.
The combination of Alvey and McEnda’s raw power, along with Artemisia and Beatrix’s special abilities, was the key to their continued survival against the swarm of walking dead.
And now, Beatrix’s eyes had caught sight of a future attack, and she immediately warned the two demons.
"Incoming! North!"
Alvey and McEnda activated their Unique Skills, instantly conjuring defensive shields and moving just in time to block the incoming rain of destructive meteors crashing down from the direction where McEnda had sent Bewússtsein’s Corpse Puppet flying.
The ground behind their shields cracked open, and more walking dead emerged from beneath, roaring as they charged toward them.
At the same time, undead figures appeared behind Artemisia and Beatrix, rushing toward them with lethal intent.
Alvey immediately left their northern defence to McEnda and dashed to the girls’ location. With all his might, he swung his sword, unleashing a powerful wave slash of light that surged outward in an expanding arc, consuming the advancing walking dead with his immense light energy.
The attack also struck Bewússtsein’s Corpse Puppet, who had used the meteor shower as a diversion to keep Alvey and McEnda occupied while he mixed in with the undead to snatch his true target.
However, Alvey’s attack exposed him, as he was the only one strong enough to withstand the devastating wave of light.
But just as Alvey was about to dash forward and attack Bewússtsein’s Corpse Puppet, he felt a weak hand grab his left arm.
His eyes snapped toward Artemisia, who held him tightly, and before he could say a word, she spoke.
"Existence Realm Limitation..."
"?!"
Alvey’s eyes widened at both her words and the sight of law energies condensing around his arm, revealing invisible chains extending from the ground and wrapping around his body.
Artemisia grasped one of the chains and uttered a single word.
"...break!"
**BOOM!!!
Everyone froze in shock as Alvey’s demonic energy surged outward, his original Deity Realm power flooding back into him. What’s more, Artemisia’s buffs on him, which scaled off his base power, adjusted accordingly, amplifying his strength even further.
Artemisia’s face turned pale. Her heart pounded as though it would burst from her chest, and her body burned fever-hot.
Yet, despite the strain, she forced herself to speak two more words to the stunned Alvey.
"Thirty...seconds!"
Alvey needed no further explanation.
He snapped out of his shock and instantly dashed toward Bewússtsein’s Corpse Puppet, his sword cleaving through space at nearly Mach 1000, splitting the corpse into ten uneven pieces in the same instant Bewússtsein abandoned it.
Rotten blood and organs rained down on him, but he paid them no mind. Raising his sword high, he activated his Authority.
|Authority of Light: Radiant Death!|
From the skies, spears of dark light descended, piercing every walking dead within a hundred-kilometre radius. The weaker ones perished instantly, while the stronger ones, though still standing, were left wounded.
Even the new Corpse Puppet that Bewússtsein had relocated his soul fragment into was not unscathed.
The Planetary Consciousness was in a state of disbelief.
What the hell had Artemisia just done?
How did she do it? On whose Authority?
None of it made sense.
But there was no time to dwell on it. The moment Bewússtsein’s soul fragment gained full control over the new Corpse Puppet, Beatrix turned toward him and shouted.
"East! The red-head Flugel!"
[?!]
