Chapter 229 [Hollow Town] [11] [Demigod v/s Demigod]
Chapter 229 [Hollow Town] [11] [Demigod v/s Demigod]
"What happened?"
As soon as Azariah entered the town, Arianell asked, waiting for him at the entrance.
"Nothing," Azariah replied as he entered the town, followed by her. "Where is Aimar?"
"He is guarding the orphanage," she replied as they moved. "Are you alright? You're sweating a lot."
Azariah turned to look at her. He could clearly see concern in her eyes.
"Why do you even care for me?" he whispered softly as he walked.
"....."
She didn't reply but just quietly looked at him.
Her mind swirled with many thoughts, but she couldn't convey them.
All she could do was look at him.
"Nobody cares about you," she grumbled softly, slapping his arm.
"Well, you are wrong," Azariah replied with a light shrug, rubbing his arm. "...A lot of people care about me."
"...I see," she whispered as they arrived at the orphanage.
Aimar stood at the entrance, leaning against the wall while looking at them.
"What is she doing here?" he asked, glancing at Arianell. "...Better yet, what the fuck is going on inside the forest?"
"Some ritual," Azariah replied as he walked toward him. "Are you ready?"
"Who are we going to fight?" he asked, his voice tired.
"Not we," Azariah replied as he walked inside the orphanage. "It's just you two."
"Where are you going then?" Arianell asked while he moved toward a bench.
"I'm going nowhere," he replied as he sat down on the bench. "I just need to do something."
"Like what?" she asked, but Azariah didn't reply. Instead, he closed his eyes.
Since the time he saw the weapon lodged in Molech's rib, he couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity with it.
It was barely recognizable, but as soon as he started to focus, it slowly became clear.
A golden thread slowly materialized from his heart, moving toward the forest.
"Looks like he's busy," Aimar whispered as he glanced at Arianell.
"I can see that, idiot," she grumbled softly as she turned around.
Her body flinched slightly as she looked up; the eye that had been following them was now floating above the town.
"So we have to take care of an eyeball?" Aimar mumbled as he looked up. "...That's easy."
And just as he finished his words, the 'eye' screamed before other parts of its body started to materialize.
It became a giant creature resembling a jellyfish, its tentacles extending in the air.
"...Fuck," he cursed.
"Next time, keep your mouth shut," Arianell grumbled as she readied herself while the creature levitated down.
.....
.....
.....
Deep within the forest, a figure floated above it, hands clasped behind his back.
His gaze looked down on the altar that was prepared to burn down the children in his name.
"...Fourteen years," Molech whispered, clenching his fist, his voice filled with anger. "...I've been waiting fourteen years for this."
His mind reminded him of the time he got defeated by a mere mortal.
"Ragnar," he growled as he looked at the broken staff levitating. "...I will take my revenge."
His bull-like head moved up as he looked at the moon glowing in the sky. "....I will bathe in the blood of your family."
Molech blinked as he felt the air around him suddenly become thick and heavy.
A shimmering wave of light appeared around him, turning everything grey.
It took him only a split second to recognize it.
....A sub-space.
He calmly yet confusingly looked around until he felt a presence behind, making him turn around.
"How have you been?" El asked, 'looking' at Molech.
"....Who are you?" Molech asked as he looked at him, confused.
Molech couldn't sense a single drop of mana from him.
Even a mortal has mana in his body, yet—.
His pitch-black eyes widened as he took a step back.
"...Impossible," he whispered, his voice filled with confusion. "Aren't you dead!?"
El smiled softly as he stepped forward, his every step regal, showing utmost confidence. "When Azariah asked politely, you should have just let them go."
"How are you alive!?" he yelled, his face contorted with anger.
"It doesn't matter, Molech," El replied, his voice slowly turning cold. "You won't be alive long enough to worry about that."
Molech roared in anger, his voice coming out like a crazed scream.
The world around him twisted, and a blazing ruin of an ancient civilization started to emerge around him.
All the buildings, either half or fully collapsed, were burning in flames that looked eternal.
A huge pillar extended from the middle of the ruin, carved with runic symbols, and at the top of it stood Molech.
El looked at his 'kingdom' curiously.
Like every other demigod, Molech could manifest his 'kingdom' in reality where he could rule and change the 'Concept of his element' like a god.
"Did you find a way to come back from absolute death?" Molech asked, looking at him.
His gaze soon turned from anger to greed.
Coming back from absolute death is impossible, and if he could get that power...
"You still haven't changed a bit," El commented as he 'looked' at him, "greedy as ever."
"Shut up!" Molech yelled as he raised his hand.
The runes on the pillars glowed softly before figures started to emerge from them.
They had human-like features, wearing ancient armor, their bodies burning with crimson flames.
Their crimson eyes fixed on El as they slowly walked on the ancient road toward him.
"Are you going to fight like this?" Molech asked, looking at El, who stretched his body a little.
"I don't need my 'kingdom' to win against you, bullhead," El replied with a light smirk on his handsome face.
Molech snorted as his 'servants' started to rush toward El.
"Emperor's time," he whispered, his voice echoing through the howling of the guards.
He bent his body slightly before vanishing from his place, arriving at the center of the enemy.
His body twisted slightly, dodging the axe lodged toward him.
Grabbing the arm, El gently pressed his palm on the enemy's chest.
Boom!!
The blazing chest turned to dust, leaving a massive hole in its body.
El moved again, his body vanishing, his palm gently touching their chests as he killed all the guards one by one.
"Are you doing this on purpose?" he asked as he looked up at Molech. "Your pathetic guards can't even touch me."
"Shut up!" Molech yelled as he raised his hand again.
The pillar glowed again, and the next instant, an unimaginably huge crimson serpent emerged.
It slowly glowed with blazing crimson as its scaly body slipped toward the road.
El looked at the serpent, whose one-third of the body raised up, its jaw gaping, showing its white teeth.
The serpent moved, coiling its body around a collapsed building as it hissed toward El.
With an unimpressed look, El moved.
Howl!
The serpent howled, opening its mouth wide in the air to bite El, who had just arrived.
El twisted his body; the serpent's mouth rushed past him at an alarming speed.
Twisting mid-air, he kicked the side of the serpent, a low 'booming ' sound echoed as the serpent's body fell on the ancient road.
El smiled as the serpent got up, shaking its head to remove the confusion.
It hissed, opening its mouth; flames emerged, engulfing him entirely.
El walked through the crimson flames nonchalantly as he 'rejected' the damage to his body.
The serpent rushed toward him, mouth wide open, ready to crush him.
El walked closer to its gaping jaw, raising his hand up, stopping the huge serpent in its path.
"Twist," he whispered, and in the next instant, the serpent's body contorted.
Its tail started to twist, slowly shredding its body; wounds started to cover it, blood and flesh mingled, and even the bones became visible.
Its dying cry reverberated throughout the ancient place.
El's smile turned into a grin as nothing was left of the serpent's body except pooling blood.
"...Sigh."
Letting out a sigh, El looked up at Molech, who had a grim look on his face.
The guards and serpent alone were enough to annihilate a small kingdom, but they didn't even last a minute in front of this monster.
"Enough playing around, bullhead," El said as his body slowly levitated above the ground. "Let's end this quickly, shall we?"
"Arrogant peasant," Molech whispered as he raised his hand again.
But this time, before the pillar could glow and another 'servant' could emerge, El whispered, "Inverse reality."
"Huh?" Molech let out a startled sound as he felt something wrong.
Even though he tried to use the pillar to call out his 'servant,' nothing happened.
The pillar glowed backward, and instead of summoning, it took in the previous dead summon back inside it.
It was as if the 'flow' of the pillar had reversed.
His instinct screamed at him to move as El arrived beside him.
He stepped back to dodge the punch, but instead, his legs moved 'forward.'
The punch connected right on his jaw, sending him flying toward a nearby building, crashing hard. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
"Hah, it's been so long since I used this," El whispered as he floated toward Molech, who tried to remove the debris around him.
It took him a few seconds to stand back on his feet, as all his 'actions' had been reversed.
Landing on the ground, El walked toward him.
Molech glared at him, flames rose around his body as he changed the 'concept' of the surrounding flames, making them an absolute defense.
El's body blurred again as he bent his torso to kick Molech, but the flames stopped him.
Molech grinned as he slowly started to get a hang of his reversed actions.
Millennia of living helped him do so.
Without resting, El continued to kick him, but the defense stopped him from doing so.
Molech's confidence grew as he grinned widely at him.
"Give up!" he yelled, glaring at El. "Within my kingdom, I am absolute!"
Without replying, El grinned as he raised his hand before touching Molech's burning chest.
A bulge appeared on Molech's back as his body flew at unimaginable speed.
Slamming against the concrete walls of his own kingdom, he finally stopped at the tenth wall.
"What!?" he yelled, confusion etched on his face.
His mind couldn't comprehend how his defense had been broken.
He bent his waist as he let out a fit of violent coughs, blood dripping down his mouth.
"Arghh." He groaned in pain as he fought the aftermath of El's attack.
The flames around him rose again as he changed their 'concept' from burning to healing, making his injuries start to recover.
But just as he began to recover, El arrived beside him.
"How?" he asked as he looked down at El, his body towering but due to his state, he didn't look like the bigger man.
"...It's impossible to harm me in my own 'kingdo—!"
His words abruptly halted as he let out a crazed scream.
His gaze moved toward his ribs, where a weapon was always lodged, but now it wasn't there.
"Looks like he succeeded," El whispered softly, looking toward his side where a weapon flew out of his sub-space.
"How!?" Molech yelled, his body screaming in pain. "How can someone control his weapon!?"
"Tsk, tsk, poor guy," El mocked as he looked at him. "Always left with confusion."
Molech yelled as he changed the 'concept' of his flames to absolute attack, wrapping it around his hand and punching El.
"Huh?"
But soon his expression turned into confusion as it didn't have any effect on El.
He stood there without flinching.
"How?" Molech asked, looking at him in utter confusion.
"Just die with that doubt," El said, and in the next instant, the world around Molech crumbled.
An unbearable pressure crushed him and his 'kingdom' from all sides.
His internal organs started to rupture, his breathing turned ragged.
"STOP!!" he yelled, glaring at El.
El grinned, and instead of stopping, he walked toward him, the pressure around Molech increasing even further.
"ARGHH!!"
He growled in pain as his body slowly started to disintegrate.
"Hahaha."
El let out a small yet manic laugh as he watched Molech's body turn to pulp.
Now, El stood in front of him with a huge grin on his face.
BOOM!!
A thunderous sound echoed, followed by eerie silence.
There was nothing left of Molech, his blood splattered around the place.
"...Sigh." El sighed as the grey world around him slowly started to disintegrate. "He thought I would fight him without my kingdom. What a dumbass."
The sub-space around him disintegrated as he returned to the normal world.
"Sigh." He let out another tired sigh as he turned around.
....There she stood.
With a sword in her hand and a silver crown floating right above her head.
...Esmeray looked at El with her lifeless grey eyes.