Twelve worlds had fallen in front of Charlotte's eyes. Through the many years that she had lived on the edge of death, she had seen the rise and fall of dozens against these outer gods.
Twelve was the number of worlds that she had tried to prepare before the arrival of the Outer Gods.
And twelve was the number of times she had failed.
Almost all twelve of those could be attributed to the one that she was facing right now. The Outer God of Invasion.
Screams ruptured and blood spilled all around her as people started falling against the unending numbers of the Invasion Navy clones.
With each swing of her blade, dozens upon dozens of the clones fell but there were always more.
"Fuck…" A curse left Charlotte as she clenched the sword made of pure energy.
This was the worst possible timing.
If only the dimension marker was not followed all the way here, there would still have been time before the advent of these demons.
She couldn't blame anyone for it. There was no way for Eugene to know. In the end, this was just a coincidence.
The easiest way to defeat the Invasion Navy was through numbers. One had to stretch its resources so thin that it became easy to kill all its clones one after another. It was either that or to be so strong that even in its complete form the Invasion Navy could not defeat you.
She had to hold on till backup arrived. The numbers here were nowhere enough.
And she couldn't go all out either. On the off chance that she had to evacuate with everyone, it would be better to do so and let this world die. To tap into the strength she would need for that was beyond stupid.
Her eyes darted toward the red hair. Even amongst all the worlds she had been to, Han Jun Ho was one of the strongest she had faced. But his lips were turned down too.
He seemed to be in a bind as well. It would be impossible to expect him to use his full strength. Reassuring him that she was keeping it in wouldn't work either, there was no trust here, and she didn't think she deserved it when her final option was to let this world go and try to retrieve it later.
Charlotte was slowly running out of her wits' end.
It was then.
Through the skies, Eugene dashed upward. His blade swung on both sides, slaying dozens upon dozens of clones with each swing.
A pure black form of energy had gathered around his sword and destroyed all it struck.
The clones and the energy of the Outer God were meeting an End.
"What in the…"
A smile spread on her face, that was a strength completely opposite to her own. An energy that she was never able to tap into due to the sheer amount of control it required.
"World's End…" Eugene turned in the midst of his climb and looked down. His sword soared high before slashing back down. "Rain!"
A rain of pure black spears came thundering down the skies and jabbed into the clones. Not a single of the spears was out of his control. Each of them skewered through the clones and only the clones before disappearing.
Charlotte was left slightly in awe.
Strength like this… it made her want to fight her son.
Eugene dawdled not for a second. He pivoted on the invisible shields and continued rushing up. The mobility and safety they provided were incomparable to flying.
Though he was strong, the Invasion Navy was not going to sit down and take it.
Hundreds of clones merged into one, even more than she and the red hair hunter had managed to bring together coalesced into one.
Almost immediately, a ball of bright light formed inside its mouth. It seemed to be stronger than any yet—
"No, you don't."
With a snap of Eugene's fingers, the clone lost the ability to form the attack. Charlotte could only watch with widened eyes.
"[CATACLYSM]"
Those words rang through the air as the dark energy turned into a murky purple. The End had filled been filled with malice and turned into a Cataclysm.
With a stab of his sword, space itself was torn through.
The blade cut apart the strongest clone yet and dashed further upward. Through every other clone that dared come in the way, the single attack cut through.
It couldn't reach the top where the Outer God stood, but that wasn't a problem.
Since Eugene could just climb higher.
The shields in his path appeared once more as he dashed up.
It was then, the smile on the Outer God's lips widened.
Charlotte shifted her gaze around her.
And there.
All the remaining clones had formed into one. If that wasn't enough. Hundreds of others started pouring out of the rupture in space and came straight down, ignoring Eugene.
"GAH!"
A scream resounded. The clones that had gathered below turned into a humanoid and punched a blue-haired man.
"Tony! Fuck—AHk!"
The strongest of Hunters, one after another, were being fizzled down.
Charlotte pulled her sword back to take it on, but at the same time another of the humanoids formed in front of her.
"Tsk."
She clicked her tongue as she swung her blade.
Was that Outer God bastard trying to form down here? She kicked the humanoid clone and tried to stab it, but two swords of the same white light it fought with formed in its hands.
Charlotte looked back and saw Han Jun Ho in a similar position.
At this rate…
A bunch of them would be sacrificed.
The battle with the clone raged on, always just a little stronger than her. Charlotte looked to the sky once more, but Eugene was not there any longer.
She turned her gaze toward the spot where the group of hunters were fighting a single humanoid. All of them were wasted on the ground. From the elf and dryad to the hunters and mages.
The humanoid clone picked up the red-haired child that had come here with Eugene and pulled him up by the neck.
The sword of light in its hands pulled back and stabbed ahead.
But instead of tearing into Luka.
The sword struck deep into Eugene's shoulders. Energy multitudes greater than the blow which destroyed the floating island and struck into Eugene.
Blood spilled out of his lips as a nuclear explosion fell straight into his arms. But he grit his teeth and tightened his grip. With widened eyes, Eugene swung his blade again and chopped off the arm holding Luka.
"Not while… I am around."
The cataclysm swirled against his blade again as Eugene stabbed the sword ahead. The energy of the malicious end collided with the strength of a dozen nuclear bombs and swallowed it all up.
The clone was pushed back, and Eugene charged straight in.
Charlotte's scream rang then.
"KID!"
But it was too late.
Behind him, a fourth humanoid had already appeared.
Another sword struck Eugene's back at speed that even Charlotte could barely process.
Rage filled Charlotte. But she held it in. Not yet.
She couldn't lose herself and attack just yet.
Eugene grabbed his blade again and turned back to fight.
The clone simply stepped back as another presence appeared above, aiming straight for the fallen Luka.
Eugene jumped down on the ground and covered the body of his friend.
And one more blade pierced through his back.
A fifth.
Then a sixth.
Seventh.
Humanoid clones stronger than the one she was facing kept streaming down the skies.
"H???????????????????????????????????????????????A???H??????????????????????????????????????????A??????????????????????????????????????_????H????????????????????????????????????????A?????????????????????????????????????????H????????????????????????????????????A???????????????????????????????????????H????"
A spine chilling laugh rang out.
In the skies, the Outer God of Invasion kept growing smaller and smaller, but the laugh that spilled from its lips never ceased.
Along with his command.
One last clone stabbed Eugene's heart.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel