CHAPTER 151: | GATHERING BEFORE THE FINAL BATTLE

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  ~ ? ~ The Fallen Empire of Atlantis — Endless Dunes of the Abyss — Western Part of the Fallen Atlantis ~ ? ~

  In the depths of the Endless Dunes, no life thrived except for the infamous, vicious Demonic Deathworms. These creatures that devoured every living thing that moved across the sands of the West. Individually, they weren't particularly feared by high-tier entities, as their average strength ranged only from Zenith Overlord to Higher Sovereign.

  But there was one Demonic Deathworm feared by all. It was the highest in the hierarchy, the being that forced these solitary hunters into a coordinated pack it was the, 'Archdemon Deathworm.'

  This enigmatic ruler was terrifying. It could swim through the dunes without resistance, turning the sand into both a shield and a weapon for sneak attacks. Their movement did not disturb the grains, they were silent, like spectral ghosts phasing through matter. This stealth was why they were feared.

  So, what happens when these stealthy predators band together to hunt Solia and Tellus? The result? The result was their total annihilation.

  Tellus’s affinity to the earth was at the highest peak. Even if their movement was deathly silent, the worms stood no chance against him. He could detect the faintest vibration, he was one with the earth. What were mere worms crawling in his very domain could do to him? Fool him? When they had already been fooled into thinking that a clay doll was their real target.

  The strategy that Tellus came up which was simple yet genius, replicate the heat of a living being using Solia's lightning affinity. His logic was lightning generates heat, and since the worms possessed neither spiritual sight nor naked vision, since they relied on their unique senses that allows them to see their prey thermal heat to ambush them from below.

  So these dolls along with Solia, were a great method to bait these predators, she disguised herself as one of the clay dolls. As she stood at the center, surrounded by decoys. Her eyes were covered by a loincloth. She squeezed her eyes shut, placing her right foot forward and her left foot back, crouching into a stance. She waited for the faintest vibration in the sands. Then she took a deep breath, imbuing just one of her swords with ambient lightning mana.

  RUMBLE.

  The ground moved. Solia readied her swords. In an instant, the Demonic Deathworms erupted from the sandy like it was 'water,' appearing in droves. They devoured the clay dolls in a frenzy. Below Solia, a circle of teeth extended for nearly a mile, protruding from the sand as the Archdemon Deathworm targeted her.

  SNAP.

  The Archdemon Deathworm jumped from the depths, devouring the decoy directly in front of Solia in less than a second. It was enough. Because in that split second, Solia analyzed every worm that had breached the surface. Before she drew her sword.

  FLASH.

  A streak of white lightning phased through space and time. As she slashed in a perfect three-hundred-sixty-degree arc. The blade cut through the flesh of every Deathworm flying in the sky.

  Solia inhaled. She reminisced about the moment she abandoned the technique book her Master gave her to create her own, a style with a single move but infinite variations, adaptable to any hoard, duel, or unknown threat.

  She confidently proclaimed the name of her technique in the cold silence of her mind. "Script of Nothingness: Wolf of the Nightless Sky."

  SHING.

  Her words reverberated across her mind as the Archdemon Deathworm was cut in half, along with all of its subordinates.

  Solia touched the massive carcass, storing it in her inventory. She took a step, turning into a streak of lightning that flashed through the sky to collect the remaining bodies. Once finished, she settled next to Tellus, ignoring the system notifications raining down on her.

  She spoke directly into his mind through telepathy, a skill she accidentally discovered while honing her mana mastery. "Tellus, let us journey to the South... Master has summoned us."

  Tellus nodded, acknowledging her words. He, too, felt it, the opening of the passage to the next segment, accompanied by the suffocating aura of Amara surging at the ruined Imperial City. But he didn't bother heading to the ruins, he knew his Summoner would handle it.

  ROAR.

  Tellus transformed back into his dragon form. He carried Solia on his back, flying through the currents toward the South.

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  ~ ? ~ The Fallen Empire of Atlantis — Endless Mountains of the Sacred Expanse — Northern Part of Atlantis ~ ? ~

  Meanwhile, in the heart of the forest, Lumicor sat in meditation alongside Ishtar.

  Suddenly, he frowned. He opened his eyes after a full year of darkness. He sighed, letting his vision adjust to the ambient light of the world. He turned his head to the South and smiled softly.

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  He felt the presence of the passage opening. But more importantly, he felt the presence of his mother-in-law, Amara, vanish from the Second Segment.

  He felt relieved. His mother had survived and evolved to fight another day. He believed he had thoroughly concealed her presence from Alister. Unbeknownst to Lumicor, Alister had known all along but ignored her, as he planned to let Amara 'ripen' before devouring her.

  Oblivious to this, Lumicor felt a surge of confidence. Ishtar, noticing the change in the atmosphere, opened her eyes. She stretched out, yawning, then moaned with a relief she hadn't felt in a long time.

  Then she gazed at Lumicor and muttered softly. "Hehehe, it seems that it's time for us to reunite with the rest, don't you think so... strange Uncle?~"

  Ishtar’s eyes flashed with a wisdom that told anyone staring into them that she knew Lumicor’s little plot. But Lumicor didn't bother to read her intent or stare at her pupils, he saw her as nothing more than a doll.

  Oblivious to what Ishtar was planning, Lumicor grabbed the now fourteen-year-old Ishtar by the waist. As he took off from the ground, flying across the sky toward the South with a smile as he mused to himself.

  'I guess it's time for me to break free from this illusory chain... I wonder how he'll react when he finds out that I have already betrayed him?'

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  ~ ? ~ The Fallen Empire of Atlantis — Sanctuary of the Holy God — Southern Part of the Fallen Atlantis ~ ? ~

  Half a day had passed since the death of the Grand Overseer.

  Amara appeared like a ghost in the Sanctuary. Upon sensing my presence, her expression twisted in an ugly way. Her face, stricken with horror, contorted as she realized I was near the portal.

  It was quite a delicacy to look at, especially as I ravaged Samantha inside the room, paying no heed to the intruder. Amara feeling my attention shift, rushed toward the portal that stabilized just outside the chamber and teleported to the next segment. And I smiled since the insect were finally gone, since I couldn't be bothered with her presence at this moment, because there was a more pressing matter to attend to.

  That matter was Samantha. She moaned softly, as she shyly sucked on my fingers. I smiled, then seized her neck. As the oxygen that she desperately needed was cut off from my grip, Samantha gasped, her moans turning guttural. Her body convulsed violently, her arousal peaking in the chokehold. Her vision slowly drifting away, but I let go at the last moment, as I didn't intend to kill her. I was merely satisfying her cravings.

  I sighed, sensing a disturbance. The signature mana of Lumicor covered the whole Sanctuary. With swords made of starlight hovering atop the structure, as they've threatened to destroy it. But I merely sighed at his bravado.

  I let go of Samantha and covered her exposed body, then called out.

  "THE THIRD ZEN OF DISTORTION: FORM OF ASCENDANCE: STATE OF THE FALLEN LORD."

  CRACK-SNAP.

  An exoskeleton rose from my flesh, covering my skin. My back split apart. Thread-like tendrils in the millions rose, fusing together to form eighteen gargantuan tendrils, which then shifted into seraphic wings. As I took a step using 'Void Step.'

  ZOOM.

  I appeared next to Lumicor. Mercy already fused with my claws. And before he could react, my hand had already dug deep into his ribs.

  SQUELCH.

  I gripped his heart. As I smirked. In the next second, I seized his neck. All of his starlight projectiles flickered in and out before breaking into useless pieces.

  I smiled, staring him dead in the eye as I coldly muttered. "I had let your mother escape to the next segment since I am intrigued by how she would mature. Did you really think that I, a Master of Mana, couldn't detect her presence in the rubble of the Imperial Palace when I am more attuned with mana than you?"

  "Kuhahaha!" I cackled, staring through his eyes with insanity alight in my gaze.

  CRUNCH.

  I crushed his heart. I retracted my hand and, in a fluid motion, pierced his skull, forcefully grabbing his core. I threw his broken body away like trash.

  Ishtar, watching all of this, trembled. She didn't open her mouth. She knew Lumicor deserved this ending for daring to exploit the kindness of someone as insane as this bastard.

  Reading Ishtar's intent, I couldn't help but chuckle. I seized her body with mana, grabbed her neck, and teleported to the center of the Sanctuary where Samantha waited.

  The earth rose to form a throne. I sat down and threw Ishtar toward Samantha.

  Samantha understood my intent immediately. She raised her guns, pointing them directly at Ishtar’s head as she muttered coldly. "It seems that my apprentice is thinking of rebellion?"

  "Huhuhu, Samantha, you're wrong about that. Ishtar isn't thinking of rebellion... she's thinking of getting revenge for me. Because of what happened to Solia. It's funny, right? The young girl that I decided to nurture is thinking of getting revenge on me?" I cackled in an evil way, staring Ishtar dead in the eyes.

  Ishtar froze, realizing that this "Mister" of hers had known of her vengeance all along. But before she could think of a way to escape, lightning flashed.

  ZAP!

  Solia appeared, her blade pressed against Ishtar’s neck. She spoke coldly into Ishtar's mind. "It's a foolish dream to get vengeance on the man known as Alister Von Fai, the one whom I worship as my God. Ishtar, he knew everything about you the moment you met him. That's why I tried to dissuade you into abandoning this rotten notion of yours... but sadly I couldn't convey it well since I couldn't speak at that moment. And I pity you."

  I smiled at Solia's arrival. Tellus who arrived with her remained outside the Sanctuary, I understood that he still didn't want to meet with me. But with a direct command, he appeared right beside me, kneeling. He clenched his teeth, glancing at Ishtar, then glared at me, enraged at the meaning of this scene. But I merely lifted my foot.

  BAM!

  I kicked his head into powder.

  "It seems that some of you don't agree with my methods, huh? Well, I understand you. Especially you, Lumicor. Since your pride comes first, so how about I utterly crush it along with your stage, letting you live as a cripple?" I stopped and scanned their expressions.

  Ishtar on the other hand was trembling violently, and was about to cry. In her mind, she blamed Solia. She couldn't believe that the woman she trusted so much would betray her, she didn't expect that she would still side to the man who hurt her.

  Solia frowned, when she read Ishtar's thoughts. So she sent another message into her brain. "To clarify my position, I didn't betray you, my lovely Ishtar. My stand remains the same. Before we are best friends, I am the servant of my God. Even if he tells me to jump into a pit of magma or kill myself, I would gratefully comply with his words. So if he commands me to kill you, then I shall follow his words. Since a servant that doesn't listen to their Master is worthless."

  Ishtar's heart dropped at her words. She couldn't believe Solia had thoroughly brainwashed herself, she had become a zealot, a fanatic who would follow every command of this dreadful man.

  She was right. Solia had brainwashed herself the moment she killed her fellow Titans at his command, hiding her sorrow behind her duty as his servant.

  Ishtar sighed, surrendering. "It seems this endeavor of mine is extremely foolish... I thought that I could use the both of you to punish yourself but... he-hehehe... I didn't think that you were already a step ahead of me, Mister..."

  "Huhuhu, it seems that you've finally understood your role. But a bad girl needs punishment, right?" I grinned. "Strip bare naked."