★59
ASTERI'S POV
"No need to eavesdrop, come sit, Hinata."
Even though she was keeping her distance, she couldn't escape my senses.
"Ah, hahaha... okay."
She laughed awkwardly, before walking over to one of the regular seats.
"No, you belong up there."
I pointed toward the VIP section, and before she could even react, she suddenly found herself sitting among the upper seats, looking both flustered and amused.
"Ehe?"
"Good."
I turned, now ready to engage.
"Are you...."
I cut myself off and lunged at Atlas, aiming a surprise punch. He was ready, calm and sly, blocking my strike with a barely perceptible smile.
"Nice."
"Temporal Twist: Static World."
Elaine moved without warning. Her attack was already complete by the time I realised she had acted.
The Art rippled outward with absolute authority. The air stiffened. Light froze mid-flicker. Sound died before it could form. Everything was forced to a halt.
< The longer the range, the more exhausting it is; knowing Elaine, I doubt she will keep it for long.>>
Atlas, untouched by the Art's range, reacted instantly. He spread his palm and a long sword manifested along his left arm, its edge humming with compressed power.
Without hesitation, he stepped forward and swung down at me, at a target frozen in place, bound by Elaine's authority, unable to move or resist.
< Our physical bodies are constructed based on these pre-subatomic particles, and I made a name for my Energy, Essen. Derived from the word essence.
Grey particles, Eseen, began to flake off my body like drifting ash. My fingers twitched, and my arm broke free first, twisting unnaturally as it intercepted Atlas' blade. The next instant, my other arm surged with energy, blasting him backward with overwhelming force.
In less than two seconds, I had released Eseen, the one thing unaffected by Static World. By binding those particles to my frozen physical form, I created a paradoxical motion within stillness. Releasing and re-binding Eseen in rapid succession allowed me to move freely through the suspended time.
With unmatched speed, I reappeared before Elaine, the one maintaining the Static World.
"That won't scare me."
She declared, keeping her usual expression.
Roots erupted from the ground, thick and fast, surging towards me like living chains. I evaded them with ease at first, stepping cleanly through the gaps without breaking pace. Too easy.
That was when I realised the mistake. The roots weren't meant to catch me, they were positioning themselves.
In the span of a breath, they coiled outward, encircling the space itself. Before I could react, the ground beneath and the air around me were completely overrun, a dense lattice closing in from every angle.
I attempted to teleport, instinctively forcing the shift, nothing happened.
The space refused to respond. I was sealed in place, surrounded, my escape already calculated and denied.
< "Babylon!"
I drew a sword in a single fluid motion, its edge gleaming with silver light as I cut cleanly through the roots blocking my path. Without hesitation, I advanced toward her. Now that I could move freely within the Static World, there was no point in keeping it active, it only drained stamina. She seemed to realise this too and calmly released the Art.
"You're eliminated!"
I roared, bringing my blade down with full force.
The sharp clang of metal meeting metal rang out.
"Not on my watch."
Atlas had appeared between us, intercepting my strike with a jet-black sword. Sparks flew as our weapons collided.
We exchanged a flurry of blows each faster and heavier than the last, before pushing off and creating distance, both of us measuring the other in silence.
"I'm impressed with your sword-star-ship. Wise choice using Babylon! How about this, Demonic Babylon."
As soon as the first sword faded, a darker one that was blazing amethyst flames was drawn from the portal. In a single collision, it split Atlas and his sword in two.
< Atlas appeared up ahead.
"Divine Weapons will always stay at the top. The one you used is of Special Class. Had it been you who used a Mystic Class, the strongest would stand their ground. This is a Mystic Class Demonic Babylon: Azazel's Sword."
I explained, showing off the Demonic Mystic Class weapon.
"Oh, I see..."
"The class that stands above Mystic Class, a God Class. It'll get your job done, but summoning and using them requires a lot of practice and energy."
I explained further. I knew about weapons especially the ones in the Divine Gates. I've gained access to most of them and know which to use in any situation.
"God class or not, all seem futile in the presence of this."
Elaine voiced out, raising her palm.
"Anathema: Holy Demonic Deactivation!"
A shock wave circulated around the ring instantly, and Atlas's broken sword, along with my Azazel disappeared.
Anathema targets both Holy Aspects and Demonic Aspects of Babylon. The Gates remains, but all weapons within becomes unmanifestable.
< "Honestly, I'm surprised, Elaine. You've exceeded my expectations."
In all honesty, she did. It's impossible for a M-Class White Dwarf to pull such feat.
"Thanks for the compliment. But.."
She froze, her gaze snapping to my waist. For a brief moment, her breathing faltered.
The transparent crystal dagger rested there in plain sight, yet its presence felt heavier than any weapon. Recognition flickered across her face, slow, unwilling. She had caught the hint.
That dagger wasn't ceremonial. It wasn't for show. It was a line I had never crossed. And the fact that it was there meant I was considering it.
< I drew the translucent dagger, a crystal blade that shimmered faintly even in the unmoving air. I rolled it between my fingers, its low hum subtle yet sharp enough to tense the space itself.
"You're right,"
I said evenly, my eyes fixed on Elaine.
"But you've overestimated your power."
I raised the dagger slightly. Its glow narrowed, refined into a single, merciless line.
"This is a God-Class weapon, Severer. As the name implies, it cuts through every—"
I swung once. The word 'thing' was cleaved from 'everything'.
Space split along the blade's path, a fracture opening like a wound carved into reality itself. The rift widened, bleeding distortion, light bent, sound warped, and even logic recoiled.
The shockwave rolled outward, with absolute authority, as if the world had briefly accepted a contradiction.
I flicked my wrist and tossed the dagger into the rift. It vanished without resistance, swallowed whole as the tear slowly sealed.
"I won't be using this,"
I said calmly, flexing my fingers as pressure thickened the air around us. As Zhou ones said, 'Power was never about what one could do. It was about what one chose not to.'
"Let's use Mega Arts."
My aura surged outward, the ground cracking beneath me. Dull green particles wrapped around my arm, swirling like miniature storms until my entire fist burned with power restrained only by my will.
< Atlas thought to himself and responded with a black aura. Yes, I choose green to represent harmlessness. I can't risk using grey here.
"Elaine, be my backup."
"I got you."
He closed the distance, and we collided head-on. Punches and kicks were exchanged in rapid succession, each impact cracking the air. Atlas pressed forward relentlessly, his strikes precise and heavy.
Elaine moved the instant she sensed an opening, her Arts striking whenever I appeared exposed. Blades of force, bindings, and spatial distortions converged on me, but every attack was deflected cleanly.
The vulnerability was deliberate. I had created it, giving her something to aim at, an opponent to commit herself against.
While her focus locked onto that illusion of weakness, I shifted entirely to Atlas.
My movements sharpened, pressure bearing down on him alone as I advanced, cutting off his rhythm and forcing him on the defensive. The exchange ceased to be a clash, it became control.
< Elaine didn't take it lightly. Anger flashed across her face as her control snapped.
< I smiled, keeping a blind eye towards her tantrum.
"It's a two-on-one, goddammit! Static World!"
She roared, and reality obeyed. The world ground to a complete halt, motion and localised time frozen in place.
< My body locked in place, time crushing down on me, but I forced my will through the paralysis and answered with my own Mega Art. The overlapping freezes twisted against each other, cracking the stillness just enough.
I tore myself free in the next instant and vanished from the ring, reappearing atop the coliseum. I exhaled slowly, giving myself a brief moment's reprieve as the halted world struggled to resume beneath me.
< I sighed.
"Had it been she were a Hypergod, all these restrictions would be meaningless."
I stood up, stretching my arms.
"Where are my Mega Arts?"
< With that, I concluded.
"It's time to see what my Ultimate Skills are capable of."
I appeared in my previous spot before Static World and released my time stop only to be trapped in Elaine's Static World.
"Mega Art Cosmic Petals."
As she attacked, cosmic energy-infused petals started to appear on my body. Atlas knew the pending danger and retreated right before it exploded.
Had it been for the barrier, just kidding. The explosion obliterated the barrier in an instant, but I had safety measures already.
Behind the barrier is a thin veil to Paradis. There's a small rift between the veil and the barrier, and as the cosmic energy erupted, planning to eradicate me, the barrier also fell victim, and Elaine couldn't stop it. The rift took in the explosion, channeling it to a universe in my world.
Hinata's eyes widened, reflecting the flares of cosmic energy that danced across the arena. A shiver ran down her spine, the intensity of the aura making her instinctively step back. Anyone observing would have understood the magnitude of power on display, the very air trembling under its weight.
Still, she steadied herself, inhaling deeply. It's just training, she reminded herself, forcing her nerves into submission. Yet, even with that thought, the sheer scale of the display made it impossible to ignore, the energy crackled with a reality-bending force far beyond ordinary exercise.
As the cosmic energy depleted, I was standing, bruised and clothes burnt, remnants of light flickering above me.
<>
I threw myself into the summoning of the veil, absorbing the brunt of the explosion head-on. My body hadn't acted yet, but some unseen force protected me. I never thought the cosmic energy could completely obliterate me anyway but still...
Then, as another barrier dissolved, the atmosphere shifted violently. Shadows thickened, suffocating the light, and from nowhere, black birds swarmed the sky, their wings blotting out the sun as they circled with a menacing, unnatural precision.
"Without a doubt, this is At..."
Atlas, whose eyes were green, turned to black, his real eyes were active. With speed matching his category, a jab was aimed towards me.
I didn't bother to move, taking pride in my durability, but to my surprise, my arm moved on its own, blocking the punch. This can only mean one thing, Enta's doing.
Upon contact, I felt it.
< I admitted. He shoved me back with a crushing blow, but I reacted instantly, freeing my left arm and striking him in return. The impact of our fists meeting detonated the floor beneath us, sending shards of stone and energy spiralling outward in a violent eruption.
"Are you still keeping up?"
< I said with a wicked grin etched across my face as he continued throwing the same punches. Atlas struggled to keep up, his movements lagging as the black birds encircling him were torn apart one after another by the shockwaves of my blows.
< I raised my fist to deliver the final bow, but my arm was caught by Elaine's roots. She is annoying.
It drained my energy while immobilising me. Using this opportunity, Atlas points his index and middle finger to launch his next attack.
"Galactic Bomb!"
I got hit at an extreme close range. The explosion destroyed the barrier again, and the rift channelled the explosion away. Unlike Cosmic Petals, the Galactic Bomb annihilated at least three universes when it resurfaced on the other side. He planned on using this on El Dorado? How careless.
There was silence and debris, Asteri's signal erased.
"It's over."
Elaine exhaled, making quick decisions. Atlas on the other hand was different. His ears picked up the hissing echoing from all around as he scanned the area. The barrier was regenerating. Noticing this, his expression shifted abruptly.
"He's still alive."
"I can't believe I keep relying on my Mega Arts."
I muttered, standing with my cloak scorched and fatal wounds knitting themselves shut at an unnatural pace.
The harsh truth remained: without a Mega Art, I had no way to counter a Supergod's assault.
"You guys are quite the formidable duo, I'll give you that, but.."
A beam of darkness rather than an aura ejected from my body piercing the barrier. Their faces immediately went stiff.
< < "At this rate, you'll kill everyone!"
Elaine yelled, her voice backed with concern. I raised my palm, and a thin air rippled out from it as I cast.
"Don't worry, everything is under my control.
Ultimate Skill False Administrator; Sub Skill: Artificial World."
Nothing special happened or so, they thought.
When I motioned for Elaine to come closer, she was drawn in my direction. It wasn't telekinesis, it was absolute authority.
My fist clocked with a golden aura as I hit the back of her head, knocking her out cold. Atlas couldn't comprehend what just happened.
"W..what is this... gold and dark?!"
"Yep, hitting her with dark will kill her unwillingly. I'm yet to master that."
In the blink of an eye, I was beside him, shoulder adjacent to his. Atlas's body stiffened; I could feel the fear in his aura, even though he forced his face to remain calm.
"You're next,"
I whispered, my voice almost blending into the hum of energy around us.
He ground his teeth, forcing a grin despite the sweat forming on his forehead.
"Yeah, you are."
He hissed.
"Mega Art: Necrotic Grasp."
His entire body ignited with a black-green radiance. The force expanded violently, coating the battlefield in a deathly mist. I felt it instantly, an aura of death. My left arm began to rot at the cellular level, the flesh turning to dust before my eyes. The decay crawled upward like wildfire, devouring everything in its path.
Without hesitation, I tore the arm clean off and hurled it aside before it could spread further. The severed limb disintegrated midair, leaving nothing.
Atlas fell to one knee, breathing heavily, his aura flickering. That kind of technique wasn't free. Necrotic Grasp demanded a toll, and it was clear his body could barely contain it. His knuckles dug into the cracked ground as he steadied himself, refusing to fall.
"You didn't expect this, didn't you?"
"Devil Lord? Could it be the Curse Lord? The Omni Alnath?"
"Exactly. He's my mentor. Together, we're the only duo who can use this Art. That arm is gone, you can't get it back."
< "Chaos Shift, Temporal Twist."
I invoked probability and time manipulation, and to my suprise, my nonexistent arm didn't recover.
Atlas chuckled.
"Your arm never existed in the first place. You can't regenerate it."
"I see. But I don't think it'll work on our True Body."
I called forth Severer once again. Atlas on his knees sent the same death aura towards me. I flashed forward, slicing through the remnants of his aura as if cutting air itself. In the next instant, I stood behind him Severer's crystal edge resting lightly pressed is against his back.
"Concepts such as death can still be severed."
I said, my tone flat, absolute. It can but I hadn't actually done it.
"I s- Static World."
Atlas stammered, trying to regain footing as his spell ignited around him. But the moment he cast it, his expression froze. Nothing happened. The world refused to still.
He exhaled shakily, sweat trickling down his jaw.
"I... give up."
The tension snapped. Severer's glow dimmed, dissolving into golden motes that vanished like fading stars. I sheathed the silence in my movements and stepped past him without a glance.
Elaine lay unconscious ahead, her breathing faint, her aura fractured from overextension. I knelt beside her, the air heavy with aftershock.
Behind me, Atlas finally managed to speak,
"Why didn't it work? I have a lot of reserves to keep Static World running yet.."
I knelt touching Elaine, and she woke up only to see the smile on my face.
"Y..young Master?"
I gave her a hand as she got up, unable to float, but stood her ground.
"One of my sub-skills from my Ultimate Skill False Administrator allows me to create a field where all Laws can be overwritten by me. So, I control everything within the field, be it matter, atoms, magicule, you name them."
"Ultimate Skill keh? Never thought I would lose to such less skills."
"It's not lesser. The Grand Lord has an Ultimate Skill but not a Mega Art."
The barrier was lifted, and we were surprised to see the crowd staring in awe.
"When did you get here?"
Atlas asked. Scarlet King and Majo appeared ..
"We were the first badge as we sensed the intense magicule from this direction."
Scarlet King replied.
"I tried to fend off some, but Lady Hinamatsuri told me not to."
"Did she? Judging from the numbers present, majority of the population is here."
I spoke, based on the rough estimate.
"Thankfully, no one can pass the barrier you've created, so nothing bad will happen."
Elaine responded.
"This was a magnificent battle now. I truly knew you were more than holding back against me."
Scarlet King noted.
"Well, he's holding back now, too. The fact that he almost killed us."
Atlas spoke, glaring with his side eye. I chuckled, scratching my chin.
"A..a...it was just training."
< Elfaria thought.
< Hinata couldn't help but feel scared and frustrated at these godly creatures.
"Hey, is something bothering you?"
I asked, appearing in front of her. Her face was a little pale before she answered with a fake smile.
"Yeah, I'm good. That was an interesting match."
I sighed before landing on one of the thrones.
"I'm here for you, Hinata, and I'll always be...I won't force you to tell me anyway. But I'm ready to do anything for you."
She was surprised and speechless.
"Clear your head and get some rest."
I said as I faded, leaving the venue. She was sitting there, unable to do or say anything.
To be continued...