Chapter 214 Forged
Endless amount of reddish-black flames gushed from Nathan.
The flames devoured everything in their paths be it the trees, the surface, or the rifts.
[Error! Error! Birth of a new Overlord detected!]
[■■■■■■■■■■■ found]
[Requesting permission to increase the rate of Edna]
[Permission granted]
[Beginning the Extermination]
[Error! Error! Interference detected]
[Increasing rate of Edna]
[Error! Error! Energy Insufficient]
[Searching for other methods to exterminate ■■■■■■■■■■■…..]
[Searching…]
[Searching….]
[Method found! Generating….]
Nathan, having trouble maintaining his consciousness, was unable to read system notifications.
His bones expanded, muscles shrank and became denser, his height grew. His body was undergoing phenomenal changes.
In the span of a few minutes, he grew physically by a few years. Reaching the physical age of 20 years.
At the same time the endless amount of [Zero], or [Chaos], suppressed the energy from the [Fragment of Eternity]. Nathan's black hair returned with a few white bangs, his eyes reverted to their original red color and his left arm became pale white like the rest of his body.
As [Chaos] energy reached the ends of Floor 13, it began rushing back to him.
[Title upgrade! Your title [Pseudo Ego Weapon(Cursed)] is undergoing evolution!]
[ [Pseudo Ego Weapon (Cursed)] --> [Ego Weapon (Cursed)] ]
Sizzle-
Beneath his shoulder, at the top of his upper arm, a tattoo of a snake eating its own tail appeared.
Slowly, consciousness returned to Nathan and he was able to think clearly.
"Did I… succeed?"
Checking his body he noticed that his thoughts were no longer muddled. The injury he self-inflicted on his stomach had disappeared and his left arm had been restored.
After inspecting his core, he sighed. A lot had changed.
"I can tell that all my stats increased and it is easier to do this."
A reddish-black flame hovered above his hand. The process was almost instantaneous. This was thanks to his cores being closer to each other.
Yes, cores.
He now had an Ether core that housed [Fragment of Eternity] and a Nether core.
"It seems a Nether core formed because it didn't fuse completely with Ether. Also, the nether core feels suppressed."
Nathan crouched and jumped into the sky. He was surprised again, as he realized that his stats had increased by a large margin.
Landing on the God-Killing Spear, he checked on Susan and flew toward the Boss Zone without hesitation.
"Eth… no I can still change it."
Biting his lips, Nathan resolved himself. He was going to kill the Abomination.
First, he decided to check his stats.
"Leaderboard"
Nothing happened.
Calling out the leaderboard, Nathan realized he couldn't access the status screen. However, he recalled his title as Ego Weapon and muttered in his mind.
'Status'
A screen flickered before him.
=======
Name: Nathan Hunt
Rank: Iota
Grade: -/-
Rating: 9.8/10
Title(s): [Successor of the First King], ■■■■■■■■■■■, [Ego Weapon (Cursed)]
True Name: -/- (Locked)
-Reach Legendary grade to get a True Name
Stigma: [Iridescence] (Cannot be used)
*
[Stats]
Attack Power: 2789
Durability: 2500/2500
Speed: 3000
Defense: 1200
Luck: (-13)
Ether: 5700/5700
Nether: 19000/19000 (Dormant)
Chaos: ???(Locked)
*
[Skills] Slots –5/5
-> [Pierce [Common]]
-> [Synchronization]
-> [Golden Turtle [Unique]]
-> [Appraisal [Legendary]]
-> [Multiply [Unique]]
*
[Techniques]
-> [Armory of Eridu [Legacy]] Mastery – Proficient
*
[Equipment Perks]
-> [Domination Decree Lvl2]
-> [Absolute Evil Lvl1] (Passive)
======
"This… this is the same as [Sword of Eternity]? Ah!"
Nathan re-read his status.
"It changed because I became an ego weapon."
[Sword of Eternity] was also an ego weapon and had a similar status screen.
"[Chaos], is this the official name of [Zero]?"
Nathan also noticed Nether stat. He could tell that the total amount of his Nether had decreased, probably because it was no longer stored in his left arm, but it was still a lot.
His eyes became firm and he closed the screen. Everything was an added bonus, he only wanted the power of [Fragment of Eternity] to fight the Abomination.
Although it wasn't mentioned on the status screen, he could feel its energy coursing through his veins.
Suddenly, he heard a familiar chime.
Ding!
[Yuor SeED of ChAOs ash cmpolteely bloMeMd]
[yo'VE gAINeD a NEW tiTTLe]
The notifications were weird but the title shook Nathan to his core.
[Overlord of Chaos]
***
-(Present || Location: Floor 14]-
"You are becoming predictable, child of destiny"
Zap-
Clang-!
The Abomination effortlessly blocked Leon's strike. Leon's figure flashed and the next moment he was standing dozens of meters away.
'It's not working… I can't recreate the Seventh From with its essence'
Leon moved at an unimaginable pace. He was zapping throughout the battlefield. One second he was standing near you, the next second he was already dozens of meters away, leaving a trail of lightning behind him.
'Just once. Once is enough'
"Seventh Form: Deadline"
Schwing-!
Three arcs of swords slashes attacked the Abomination from a different direction, but the monster merely dodged them.
"You are weak, child of destiny."
Leon wasn't weak. At this moment, he was capable of fighting multiple peak Enma-rankers in a head-on fight and win, but the Abomination, knowing all his techniques, was playing him for a fool.
"How about this, child of destiny? If you can survive for the next 15 minutes, I'll let you live!"
Leon jumped and took a deep breath.
'I need to cut his core.'
Even the high-ranking Royal Demons, who are nigh invincible, have one weakness. Everything will have a weakness, it was a Law, a concept everything had to follow.
For some, their weakness would diminish as they grow stronger, for some their weakness will grow, many will aim for abilities to cover for their weakness. Yes, a being will always have a weakness. And in most cases, it is a core.
'It's letting me cut it some times but stopping me the other times. The core must be in those places at that moment.'
Huuuu-
Craccklee-
Holding his katana in both hands, Leon took a deep breath.
The giant asura swung its fist and attacked the ground.
Boom-!
Massive chunks of ground were flung in the air, along with trees that were uprooted from the impact.
Tentacles grew out of the Abomination and caught the large pieces of rocks and trees. Lashing with them, it threw everything onto Leon.
Boom-! Boom-!
Zaap-
Leon dodged the onslaught by turning into a bolt of lightning. The bolt of lightning danced on the battlefield and rapidly covered the distance between them.
This was one of his new abilities after his stigma evolved. But that wasn't all.
His [God War Physique] also recovered a bit as it removed restrictions over Leon's stigma. As a result, he was able to convert a portion of the damage he received into stamina and mana.
"Be original, child of destiny. Be original"
Bangg-!
The Abomination dodged [Raikou] fist and retaliated. By taking it easy, Abomination was trying to let Leon grow.
It had learned a lot of abilities from Lark. Naturally, among those abilities, the strongest ones belonged to Leon.
Regularly pointing out the familiar techniques, the monster was hoping for Leon to create a new technique for it to steal.
Its hand turned into a scythe.
Schwing-!
Jumping, Leon barely managed to avoid the horizontal grey arc. Looking behind, he found almost every tree in several hundred meters to have been cut.
But it was a chance too. Abomination will slow down for a few seconds after every big attack.
'Now!'
Zap-
Leon appeared behind the monster. This was his last chance, he felt it instinctively.
"Seventh Form–"
Light converged at the edge of his blade, the air split apart creating a path for the sword, he succeeded. He recreated the essence of Seventh Form. To Separate.
The essence of the seventh form was to separate everything, be it light, air, thunder, or the reality.
"–Deadline!"
Schwing-!
The blade cut through the silence.
A true strike. Even the Abomination wouldn't be able to block it, after all the attack was meant to tear the fabric of reality itself, however, Leon abruptly changed the trajectory of his swing.
The attack was as fast as lightning yet as slow as a breeze. The moment the tip of the blade touched the ground, a deep chasm was created.
BOOOOMM-!
The space struggled to hold itself together and not be torn asunder. The fissure running through the surface was at least 20 meters deep and ran a few hundred metres long.
"Haah…haah…"
Leon fell to his knees, exhausted.
"Why did you stop, child of destiny?"
Watching his glare, Abomination smiled manically. Covering the entire body of the monster was a thin layer of ever-changing fire. The flickers of the flame continuously changed color, telling Leon its identity.
"Ah, this? Don't think much, it's the ability I gained after absorbing your friend's soul core. Oh, did I mention that if you return these flames to him, he can be revived? You ca-KAkakakakaka"
The Abomination couldn't hold it longer and burst into a fit of laughter.
Leon's eyes, which had been emotionless till now, shook when he came to know that he could save his friend.
"Kakakaka! But you need to save yourself first!"
Bang-!
Leon's back arched as a kick landed in his stomach and threw him away, breaking through dozens of trees.
"5 minutes are up!"
The Abomination jumped into the skin, and for the first time, initiated an attack from his side.
Blood flowed down Leon's temples. Wood splinters had been embedded into his flesh, making it difficult for him to stand.
It seemed that this was the end of Leon when, abruptly, a magic circle appeared beneath him.