VOLUME 3 : CHAPTER 2 : NEVER TAKE A STRANGER AT HIS WORD (Part - 2)

VERTIGO

I had finally cornered that little brat. All she had been but a pain, her magical prowess is terrific. She is physically able to stop the movement of my sword. But all that amounts to nothing, when facing my swordplay and battle experience honed everyday in real battles to death. Hell had never been the place of the weak and frail-hearted.

I was about to deal her the final blow, after all that regular strikes and dodging her unseen and weird magical attacks she was finally wounded.

I sped up my movement and held my blade with my hands which had gotten stiff because of the prolonged fight.

“Even though you proved to be a worthy opponent, but you are thousands of years too young to face me. But since you dared to provoke me, you have to die. I will be taking your life now. I wonder how a little girl feels when her head is severed.”

My mark was not far off, when a white pillar of light reaching the heavens illuminated the rocky dungeon floor. I reflexively shut my eyes to protect myself against the blinding flash of light, with energy levels going far beyond my comprehension.

CLANG.

A loud metal clasp, brought an end to the white light, and on my close inspection, my sword instead of piercing through my prey’s heart was stopped by two crossed swords which she lightly held in her hands.

“Just what is happening now? Those two swords. When did she….”

I was perplexed, so I checked over the top of the boulder and unfortunately the swords were gone.

I watched in disbelief, the ‘light of the Creator’ – the most powerful energy source, engulfed her from head to toe. A divine glimpse of the power of the Creator. I could have recognized those energy signatures anywhere. So warm and bright, a divine sight to behold.

The pillar of light began to flake out, revealing her in a new light. The wounds I dealt to her with my legendary weapon were now all healed, the blood stains vapourised, she held a new shining white sword in her right hand and a black sword as if it was a shadow in itself in her left hand.

“I don’t understand any of it.” I lost my chance to kill her, and now she has even received the blessings of the Creator. I have never heard of this from Master Zero. He always use to say that the Creator is the supreme and only He can truly govern the worlds and rule over all the three realms. But since he chose neutrality, it is up to us to hold that place for him, till He make up his mind to lead us to a new utopia.

If so, then why out of all people a weak naïve little girl, suddenly ended up with His power. What is the secret behind those swords?

It doesn’t matter; I will kill her and claim those swords along with her power. I need to make this as quick as possible. She lacks battle tactics, strategies, coping with enemy attacks and doesn’t know anything about swordplay as it was evident from her stance of holding the swords.

She does not stand a chance against me, and with that predominant thought I launched a quick succession of slashes, with its strength magnified with my lightning and dark matter magic. It proved effective against her the previous time, so even now she should be vulnerable to it.

CLANG.

CLANG.

CLANG.

“Impossible. How did she…”

All of my sword attacks were nullified, but I didn’t even see her body move.

A torrent of white and black glows started revolving around her, until they got absorbed by the swords of their respective colour. Her face which was up till now, clouded in light, was now clearly visible to me.

Red glowing eyes….. An expressionless face. I was terrified, the magical density in the surrounding started turning in her favour, making it difficult for me to absorb magic form the surrounding.

“Are you kidding me, a mere child cannot match my strength.” With that said, I launched another heavy down strike from above on her. For a movement there, I thought I got her. But just before it was about to split apart her head, with a loud metal strike, my attack was halted midway.

She was not even looking at me and yet, her white sword was lifted up slightly, just to parry my strike. Suddenly the white sword started giving off a bright hot golden-yellow light, which kept on increasing in intensity.

At that moment, she lifted up her head and made a direct eye contact with me. Bloody eyes, the amount of bloodlust I had never experienced before. I wanted to run, this thought repetitively crossed my mind.

FLASH.

“My body… AHHH.ahhh.” M y skin was melting, just by the slight graze of that light. I jumped as far as I could, and yet I sustained a lot of damage. M regenerative skill, doing its best to keep up. I tried to locate my enemy again, and she was standing still at the same position.

She broke in a cynical smile, and yet her face appeared to be lacking any expressions. Devoid of happiness, excitement, anger and loath it was purely filled with the intent to kill. That very evil smile, and her curled up red lips, though alluring, made me shudder in fear.

For the first time, I was afraid. I was afraid of dying. If I don’t think quick she will surely kill me. A mere kid, how can she hold such power.

I need to inform about such an existence to Master. Only he may have the ability to stop her.

I headed for the exit, but before I could take my next step, she teleported right in front of me. I knew she had such magic, but I was still then able to keep up with her with my Shadow Movement skill. I had the advantage because I could easily read her attack pattern and have guessed where she would teleport next.

But now it was altogether a different story. The tables were turned against me.

Before taking the possession of swords, she could be considered the most powerful human mage for her age group and counted as one of the best among veteran adults. But my combat skills, far surpassed her.

So why am I afraid now? I can still manage to defeat her. Then I remembered the order that Master Zero gave me. My duty, my loyalty and my love it all belonged to him. Even my life was for his sake.

I determined myself to kill her here in this very labyrinth so no one can ever know of such a being. I will wipe her very existence from this world.

“Just what was I thinking, trying to escape. Don’t make me laugh.”

{DIABOLUS INITIA}

The Dark Matter Magical energy surged in my body at a drastic rate. Black sharp claws were now covering my both hands and a pair of long black wings sprouted out of my back.

This is a special kind of transformation in which we Apostles sacrifice our blood and convert them to pure magical energy. It boosts all our stats and effectiveness of skills.

But there is a heavy price to pay, in worst case if I overdo it, then I will surely die. But even so, I know I can still make it out alive. I am going to kill her, no matter what.

My whole body was now covered in black aura and finally four long tentacles like hands grew out of my back, each holding a magical sword.

This was my ultimate form. THE DARK COUNTESS.

“Human you should be glad, that I have graced you with my ultimate being transformation. You will pay the price of your insolence with your life.”

I unleashed lightning attack in rapid succession. There didn’t exist any strategy or trickery, but just overpowering, brute force spasm.

CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.

Intense shock waves rippled out from the point where the six blades and dual blades clashed. The amount of magical energy that was thrown off was chipping down the walls and creating vicious large holes in the ground.

From an earthling perspective, it would appear more like a war, one where several air-borne missiles had been dropped just a minute ago.

Things are not working in my favour. She is blocking my every attack, just how much good did she became in such a short amount of time.

I need to use everything in my arsenal, if I want to assure my victory.

“O, gates of hell, heed my call, open your heavy doors and let the wrath of my thunderstorm rage over this land. THUNDER CALAMITY.”

This was a multipurpose spell, that creates artificial black lightning over a large area, as well as I am able to augment my body with lightning itself, which increases my muscle movement and thinking capability.

I had made my final move, and all that was left was to strike her down.

Several black flashes surged down from above creating charred craters wherever it landed upon.

I looked back at my enemy, and all my hopes perished. Just the sight of her mad me regret my own actions.

“What’s happ…ppening. N-noooo” I exclaimed, before I was sent flying towards my own doom.

As if life itself flashed before my eyes when I tried to look deep into those bright red eyes. That smile…

Humans were supposed to be low-borne creatures who shows love and fall into despair when they follow their own compassion. Desire is the emotion of the weak. One who does not desire has the only right to be called the strong.

So why, this human wield such a power that I cannot persist against her.

Joy, harmony, excitement, fear, anxiety, anger– right now she lacked every emotion on her face. Her posture was not that of a living being but of the sword itself. She had become one with the sword. Abandoning all of her feeling and concentrating all of her flesh, brain, blood, cells and everything that reeks of power she had achieved the ultimate realm of swordsmanship. A level which I could never hopes to achieve.

She lifted her Black sword in the sky and in one fell swoop all the thunder clouds vanished. No more fitting would be for me to say, it was completely nullified and the raw magic was absorbed by it.

My high level magic spell meant nothing to her. My efforts were in vain.

She then lifted her another sword and a black sun appeared above us. She brought down her swords and so did the sun follow.

“That could be bad if I take a direct hit. All I need to cut that thing with Acies and dispel its magic.”

HIYAAAA.

I poured every ounce of my physical strength into my arm, while I jumped and made a shearing continuous slash through the large black sphere. I split the sun in half, but the magic did not dispel.

The magical energy compressed in it was too great for even a legendary weapon to show effect. Just what kind of existence I am fighting here. A being blessed by the Creator’s light right in front of me and then indulges in using Dark Matter Magic. Nothing makes sense to me at all.

Everything then that came in touch with the sliced off part of the sphere was obliterated. It was not a joke to be taken light off, nor a metaphor to mislead. Everything that touched those black masses were compressed, pulverized, turned into particles and disappeared into the wind.

The shock wave’s pressure was on par with that of a large typhoon and I was easily blown away. Losing balance and tumbling over the ground. This had never happened to me before. But it is real, covered all in blood and wounds; I rose up again to face this opponent. I wanted to know my own extent, to fix the problem I made by myself.

It was composition magic of – Dark Matter Magic, Fire Magic and finally Gravity Magic. Composition magic is considered to be one of the toughest magic to use, and she is doing it so easily and naturally. I don’t want to say this but her skills in sorcery might even rival Master Zero. That’s more the reason I need to stop her, before she stands in our way of complete dominance over this world. To be ruled by those who are worthy and can lead this world form the age of chaos into the age of prosperity and peace.

This is not over yet, all my years of training, the hardships I faced. Just to gain a bit more strength, to get a bit stronger than yesterday I had given up on all pleasure of life.

In my years of fighting I had learnt that the sword of the person who has the greatest conviction flows like serene water and can cut through even the hardest metal. So is my conviction comparatively weaker to that girl. Impossible…

I used all of my sword stances against her and all were blocked. Since the start I have been on offensive, and the smile on her face had kept on getting deeper and deeper. Before I knew it I was traumatized by her bloodlust.

She was only and only thinking of killing me. It did not matter whether she gets hurt in the process, the fear of losing or the thought of celebration upon victory. It was none of her concern. All she wanted was to kill me. So it really is true, people can really get strong when they are on the verge of dying. Now that I think about it, I wonder what dying feels like. Is there a way to return? Will I be lucky enough to evade the last blow? Or, will my luck run out in the battlefield.

There was only one way to know. To move your body, to move the sword and cut down your enemies. That is what I had only known, what I always had known and what I will always know.

The wind pressure of the surrounding was changing. The person who just stood there in a defensive stance now started slowly walking towards me. She launched her first strike, even though the blade was too far, my right arm started bleeding heavily. The wind shock waves sent by her sword swinging was strong enough to get past my magical barrier.

She kicked into the floor and throttled like a gale of wind. She moved so fast that my eyes couldn’t keep up, which brought us directly into each other’s sword range.

I thought this was my chance.

But she swung her sword first, even before I could clutch the hilt of my sword to deal a heavy strike.

A mid-level slash with the left sword. A quick thrust with the right. Left, right, left, right. Again and again. Her movements grew faster and faster. But something was new. Something I was not accepting of. There was no way.

This fighting style – the sword movement and the battle flow of the blade. It was so familiar. Its breath-taking beauty of each high-pitched slash and the beams of light shooting out like stardust. It was so close. Too close, to be precise even better than the term perfection could describe.

She in this short amount of time, while defending herself had analysed and picked up my sword skills. Not only that, she altered it to suit her own dual wielding style, her body size, her arm strength and vision.

Could I be blamed for leading to the birth of a monster, who could annihilate any of his enemy by just a single look.

I was enjoying it; no one had ever pushed me to my limits. Even though she was playing me around. Her expressionless face could only mean that she was toying with me. Fighting a weak opponent, who slowly grows stronger with time and finally surpasses you. Though it happened so fast, though I will fail my mission and though I lost my final battle. I was still content.

The Noble art of my blade which was slowly getting dull, but I was finally given a chance to take it to another level. To become one with the sword. The sword bestowed upon me by my master. His expectations from me, shattered because of my foolish desire.

I must have been a bad subordinate to begin with. To think like this.

I was about to reach my limits. I tried my best to squeeze as much magical power as I could from my active blood and channel into my magical veins. Finally I casted a spell on myself to absorb and emit a specific amount of magical energy form my surrounding to maintain a steady flow of magical energy circulate in my entire body.

I flew straight up and launched a frontal aerial assault. So did the person in front of me, I knew she was able to use flight magic, but even so it was advanced to the extent that it could overcome my sonic flying speed.

Wherever I go, she followed. Bright sparks of unimaginable colours and the resonant clashing of metal to metal could be heard, even if you hid yourself among the rocks closing your ears.

I wanted to fly faster, faster. I knew being free felt so good. To wield the sword I dedicated my life to hardships and free of all desires. But I now wanted to let loose. The atrocities of hell, the dark abyss where light never reached, the kingdom of fallen and the discarded souls.

Those who had been deemed unfit and unworthy of the light of the Creator.

But the person who stood in front of me could grant me salvation. Oh! If only Master Zero was here to watch this. Surely he would understand the radiance of those who were born to be the light of those who loomed and despaired in the shadows.

Finally I was sent flying down into all the rubble, under the rules of gravity, which already seemed to be altered by her.

“It’s not over yet? I want to see it once more. The light… which I had always desired. The light that can change all of our lives. To grant my wish. Do it for me.”

I concentrated all my awareness on using magic and strengthening my body. I drew every drop of magic molecule from every muscle, blood, cell and fiber of my hair. None was left. A black aurora, much darker than before giving off its own ruinous and brutal light, my body was slowly burning in it. As it dissolved my own skin and flesh. But that did not matter. I wanted to go deeper, to peer into myself, to look what’s within me. The answer we had been searching for hundreds of years, we looked everywhere but never inside ourselves.

I could barely see my enemy anymore, but the imagery of two red glowing dots and a black curled up smile, was carved deep into my memory even in all that smoke dust.

“One last swing, which had all of it in me.” The desire to merge and become a part of this light and darkness was so great that I broke past my limits. I could feels myself moving at an incredible speed, the sword of my master had become a part of me and it too was aiming at the same thing. Our thoughts aligned, I had left my past behind me, and in the present moment I was moving forward to grab my future.

My vitality, stamina, magic power, life force, fighting spirit and personality – I mustered up all that I had in me.

Right now, in this very moment I wanted to let loose my sword and end all of this in a single strike. The enemy, I could not see her, the distance between us I don’t know, but I knew I was on the right path and the right time to strike….

When the flash of lightning from the colliding steel blasted the air away and torrents of magical aura ripped the surrounding dimension leaving it in tattered black glass pieces.

A phenomena that can only be said as impossible was taking place right in front of my eyes, the room was painted white and so was I too white washed. My fear, insecurities, screams and dark desires all were washed away. The me left was pure and pristine in everyone’s eyes.

No one would discriminate against me. No one would glare at me. No one would want to hurt me anymore and I won’t be able to hurt anyone. No one would call me defeated. No one would call me the victor either. For I had lost the battle but achieved my goal.

CRACK.

In the long silence afterward, the deep sound of breaking steel echoed throughout the labyrinth. The legendary mythical sword Acies laid on ground destroyed into fine pieces.

With my right hand I touched my heart, but it was the cold of the steel that stained my hand with fresh blood. Her black sword was pierced right through my heart.

I looked at my left hand which was slowly dissolving into black threads. Was I turning into ash?

The warmth of the light was vanishing, even though I was able to witness it, I could not contain it. More of the ash drifted away gently and more of me disappeared. I was fading, and yet I thought I was merging with something even bigger.

My memories.

My fears.

My sadness.

My name.

My loyalty.

My rage.

And my smile it all merged into something incomprehensible that I could not feel anything but be grateful. The embrace of one who created us and his touch.

Time stood still and in that moment I made another wish, and hoped that Master Zero too could witness this LIGHT.

In that stillness another mechanical display became visible –

[YOU HAVE LEVELED UP]

[YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 12]

[ALL SEEING EYES OF THE GODS ACTIVATED]

[FIFTH FORM : EQUIVALENT EXCHANGE]

///////////////////////////////

INFORMATION BROCHURE

FIFTH FORM : EQUIVALENT EXCHANGE

An alchemy based skill that allows the user to create anything, by consuming either material or magic power.

However, there is a limit to which things can be created. Also you must have a comprehensive and deep understanding of the item which is to be created.

For example you can create Magitite Ore, if you understand its detailed structure and uses. However you cannot re-create the dual swords of Black and White since they are of a singular existence entity.

***

STATUS WINDOW

NAME : --------

AGE : 7 MONTHS

RACE : HUMAN

LEVEL : 12

HP : ERR

MP : ERR

SP : ERR

UNIQUE SKILL : ALL SEEING EYES OF THE GODS

Ø FIRST FORM: EYE OF INVESTIGATION

Ø SECOND FORM : KINETIC EYE

Ø THIRD FORM : EYE OF ADRANEIA

Ø FOURTH FORM : EYE OF SOUL

Ø FIFTH FORM : EQUIVALENT EXCHANGE

SKILLS : [GLUTTONY LV 8][MYSTICAL POISON MAGIC] [SAGE OF ADVANCED FIRE MAGIC ] [SAGE OF ADVANCED WATER MAGIC] [SAGE OF ADVANCED WOOD MAGIC][SAGE OF ADVANCED WIND MAGIC] [DIVINE MYSTIC THREAD MAGIC] [ADVANCED SOUND MAGIC ] [SAGE OF ADVANCED SPACE- TIME MAGIC] [SAGE OF ADVANCED ICE MAGIC] [SAGE OF DIVINE LIGHT] [SAGE OF ADVANCED GRAVITY MAGIC] [SAGE OF DARK MATTER] [SAGE OF ADVANCED LIGHTNING MAGIC] [SAGE OF ADVANCED EARTH MAGIC] [BIO-ENGINEERING] [ELEMENT MANIPULATION] [ABNORMAL STATUS INFLICTION]

TITLE : LEGACY OF GODDESS ARACHNE, SECRETIVE PLOTTER, IMMORTALITY, MERCILESS

***

LIGHT OF THE CREATOR

The denizens of Hell – call the Almighty World God – THE CREATOR. For He is the one who made the three realms. The omnipotent One, who stands above all, rules above all and bestows his blessings on all.

The creator of life, the light that guides all and the darkness that follows us.

No one can defy him, because he is the one who holds absolute authority.

But during the GREAT WARS, He decided to choose neutrality so that no side gains absolute advantage. No one doubted or questioned his decision – because it would be foolishness to question the All Knowing entity. Only He is the one who knows all. The One, who created the past, projects the present and directs the future.

In the war, the Devils and the Fallen lost their battle – the light of the Creator was soon banished from ever reaching the Bottom. Marking the beginning of the suffering of the beings that dwelled there. The Gods had sinned and so they finally after about two hundred years have decided to rise up again to claim what is their right and reach to the light themselves..

Light of the Creator – refers to the special powers of the Almighty World God. It is the strongest power in existence.