Chapter 601: A clash of powers.
Rasmus followed the small path into the forest behind Natia’s castle, a place that was said to be untouched by everyone, not even Zechariah because it belonged to Natia. It took him a while until he walked out on the other end of the forest and was welcomed by the beautiful lake and a vast field. The sound of crickets and frogs, the view of the stars in the sky, the smell of water and grass, and the view of the city down below were amazing.
Aris and Rullein were standing in the middle of the field with a portal made of black smoke behind them. Rasmus looked at them from the distance for a few seconds before he approached them. He stood in front of the portal and then looked at both of them, he then nodded with understanding as he walked into the portal. Aris and Rullein followed after him into the portal before the portal disappeared into thin air.
They entered a different dimension of the world, everything was the same, but the difference was there were no living beings other than them. It was a complete silence until suddenly Aris pulled out Aristoria’s sword and Rullein turned black smoke into two greatswords in her hands. Rasmus watched those two walk their separate ways as he pulled out the two blackswords, one a long sword and the other a greatsword.
Rullein’s body slowly released black smoke, covering her body and the swords with it. Her eyes began to glow dark orange as wings made of black smoke came out of her back. On the other hand, Aris held Aristoria’s greatsword with both hands as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her silver hair slowly turned light blue from the root until her whole hair began to glow, and the moment she opened her eyes, her eyes glowed bright blue as her body began to release a visible light blue Mana around her.
Rasmus hadn’t used his power ever since that incident in West Neva, and one of the many reasons was fear. He feared that his body would be taken over or worse, that it would self-destruct because his body might not be able to withstand it. However, Aris had assured her that he would be fine and that he had to use the Overlord’s power so he could tame it and get used to it.
The moment Rasmus exhaled deeply, a cold breath was released and it was enough to drop the temperature into sub-zero. The ground around him began to freeze, from that alone was enough to make Aris and Rullein glance at him. The more he let out his breath, the colder the air and the more ice covered the ground.
The air grew denser and denser as cold mist began to surround him. It wasn’t the past where both Aris and Rullein were shocked, it was the alternate dimension that began to crack. Even during the spars between Aris and Rullein, they needed to use a lot of force to affect space, but the cold that Rasmus released, it was already enough to break the space.
"Can you maintain this space?" Aris turned to look at Rullein.
"No, I don’t think this space can hold the three of us fighting each other. I need to use my full power to maintain this space if he’s going to use that much of his power," Rullein shook her head as she let the swords in her hands dissipate and used her energy to maintain the barriers. "What do you want to do? I can’t join the spar like this."
Aris stared at Rasmus and the whole mountain that began to be covered in ice as the cold mist began to wrap around it. It was the same view when Rullein showed her the inside of Rasmus’ body after that incident.
"The cold that succumb all things..." Aris muttered as she readied her stance and pointed her sword at Rasmus. "Maintain this space for as long as you can. I’m going to spar with him, to see how strong he is with that power."
A hand rested on Aris’ shoulder, it was Aristoria who stood behind her. It had been a while since Aristoria showed herself, and mostly she appeared when it came to Rasmus.
"A part of me has become one with the Overlord, devouring it and turn it into Rasmus’ power. That power contain not just my memories, but it also the Overlord’s will," Aristoria said as she observed Rasmus with a gaze that showed pride and joy.
"You’re saying I need to be cautious?" Aris glanced over her shoulder at Aristoria.
"Both his swordsmanship and his power. One wrong move you’ll be hurt, another wrong move, you’ll awaken the Overlord’s will to devour. You’ll be the target of it all," Aristoria warned before she pulled her hand away from Aris’ shoulder. "I want you to be careful, not too hard, and not too soft..." She muttered before she disappeared.
A breeze of extreme cold air reached Aris, and that was when she watched her hands react to the cold. She narrowed her eyes, finding it disturbing, to see her body react to it. She looked at Rasmus, but this time, she looked at him through her draconic eyes. Pale gray strings filled the whole space, there were no other colors, even Rullein’s strings were overwhelmed and subdued by Rasmus’. She also felt like her energy was being subdued by the Overlord’s energy due to her nature as an Aristoria that was inferior to the Overlord’s.
"This is bad..." Rullein said as she watched her black smoke turn into mist and slowly the mist entered her body. "I think my power is being converted..." She clenched her fists and pushed out the mist using her power.
Rasmus slowly opened his eyes and noticed what the power he possessed did to Rullein. He took a deep breath and controlled the mist like it was his limbs. He pulled the mist back into his body and made sure nothing remained in the air. It was quite hard to control the mist, he couldn’t keep it at bay once he released it.
"Sorry, I had to try the power of the Overlord," Rasmus looked at Rullein and Aris. "I think I understand a bit of my power, and I need this space to train more about it in the future," he pointed out as he swung his swords around.
"You scared me for a moment there," Rulllein sighed as she rested her hands on her hips. "But are you fine? You feel nothing after using the Overlord’s power?" She asked with a serious expression.
"I’m fine, nothing feels different other than my body feeling light," Rasmus nodded. "Let’s spar, no holding back," he looked at Rullein and Aris before he readied his stance.
The three of them glanced at each other, but the moment Rasmus and Rullein’s eyes met, they decided to do the same thing.
The moment Aris dashed toward Rasmus, she felt Rullein’s presence beside her and Rasmus instantly appeared in front of her. She took a step back and immediately used her sword to block both of their attacks at the same time. The impact immediately cracked the barrier that separated the two dimensions.
"Two against one?" Aris smirked as she stared at both of them.
"Who said it was two against one?" Rullein glanced at Rasmus and used her other sword to stab him, but to her surprise, Rasmus had predicted her move and used his other sword to block her attack until their swords clashed and worsened the cracks in the barrier. "I hate that you can read my mind..." She grinned at Rasmus.
"You’re just that easy to predict," Rasmus smiled at Rullein as he released more energy that his eyes began to glow in light gray.
