Chapter 1188: The One Left Standing (2)
Replicus, while using [Sorcery of Essence] had long sensed the massive purple core in the Stolen Angel's body. It didn't perturb him that the core had nearly eighty million units of mana, but the fact that an organism with a Tier could produce Aura did make him question just how exactly Skullius had put this thing together.
Beasts couldn't produce Aura, after all. The closest Replicus had come to meeting such a contradiction, was Jerthrax, a beast who utilised the human, Sif and Giant power system.
This was insignificant for now, though.
What mattered was that Skullius was ramping up his attack strategy, choosing to start with Aura rather than Nitros for some reason.
The Stolen Angel, in addition to using [Greatest Antiphon of Malignance], had manifested a Genuine Incarnation and merged with it, quite like how peak Masters did to achieve the full 1,000% power boost granted by their Stage. The entity didn't look all that different from before except for the fact that its shawl was now black with sigils of [Just Light] printed on it. Skullius had merged with his Incarnation, which had been a set of red beads strung into a necklace. Now they looked like red tattoos around his neck. The shadows around his body became deeper, as though he had become a sketch with heavy hatching.
Replicus didn't miss the fact that this was likely the effect of the skill he had activated just now.
What could it be?
Before the answer could find him, however, Replicus quickly found himself in the midst of a hard assault.
The Stolen Angel threw a fist towards his face, but with infinitely higher speed than last time. As it did, its body swelled with blinding light!
Replicus was unfazed, but he was a little surprised when he found that the Ju`wtte which reacted to the attack spontaneously, was unable to reach the Stolen Angel. It was repelled by the bright light!
Replicus had no choice but to block and swipe away the Stolen Angel's fist.
'Why is it so... heavy?' Replicus wondered when he felt the creature's hand. 'Could it be...?'
From the back, Skullius' zhanmadao left a series of dark afterimages as it aimed for Replicus' neck, but before it could touch him, tens of extra slashes had already been released against the Warmoth's Progeny which his Ju`wtte responded to successfully.
The Stolen Angel cast a flurry of deadly punches at Replicus, but he blocked them all easily with one hand despite them moving faster than the speed of light. They could not be compared to those of Caxellac, after all. Not by a long shot.
Skullius kept sending a series of slashes with his sword that kept Replicus' Ju`wtte busy and didn't seem to intend on stopping any time soon.
The look of focus that had suddenly formed deep shadows on his face concerned the Warmoth's Progeny a little.
Thus, with his three free hands, he launched his offensive.
After blocking the brutal storm of fists from the Stolen Angel with one hand, he conjured a large blot of Distorted Gravity behind the Stolen Angel with another, and before the entity knew it, it was pulled sharply backward, losing its balance in the process. By the time it recovered, a large hand made of purple-gold crystals had already grabbed it, seemingly resisting the repelling effect of the light it expounded!
This was an application of [Maximum Catalyst] Replicus had learned from the Second Layer of the Empyrean Hatcher known as (Maximum Reach]. It worked the same way as [Neutral Acumen], but instead of offense, it worked as a support ability that allowed Replicus to grab distant objects and enemies before they could even fathom what was happening.
Replicus then conjured a sliver of the Rule-Level concept Absolute Frost, and froze the Stolen Angel at once. The creature was instantly into a pure white icicle.
The Warmoth's Progeny then turned to Skullius who continued to hack away at his protective Ju`wtte almost dementedly.
Replicus' hand shot towards Skullius at once.
However...
...!!
A detail that would have been easily overlooked met Replicus' senses just as a wide array of nigh-infinite, thin, dark red threads exploded from one of Skullius' swords, and stormed towards him!
His Ju`wtte reacted promptly, catching the majority of these thin, crazy sharp threads, but... Seemingly without the activation of mana or any energy for that matter, a rapid sword slash was sent forth by Skullius amid the strings of dark red Mortal Ruin towards Replicus head! The slash came with a brilliant, short-lived flash of light!
POW!
It was unthinkable that a sword slash could carry about as much grace as that of a whip's swing. Replicus was surprised when the force behind the attack actually forced him take a few steps back!
His silver armour hissed of smoke and a long, thin, angled, scratch rang along it from the helmet to the right side!
Skullius let out a subtle laugh of happy surprise. Before his darkened vision, notifications sprang up one after the other.
[You are HYPED!]
[You are HYPED!]
[You are HYPED!]
[You are HYPED!]
...
Replicus didn't like this. Not one bit.
Almost instantly, he darted towards Skullius, fully utilising his Ju'wtte Blizzard Motion - which allowed him to temporarily enter an alternate spatial tunnel that accelerated his movement - and sent Ju`wtte smashing into the Hybrid Luman's head from above! Before it landed, however, Replicus had grabbed Skullius' arms with two of his hands, and with a third, threw the meanest straight punch right into his chest!
However, the punch went straight through Skullius seamlessly, and as the Ju`wtte Replicus had sent towards his (Skullius') head hit, it was revealed that what he had bound was no more than a... ghost. It dissipated like smoke!
But the Warmoth's Progeny was undeterred. With [Sorcery of Essence], he immediately deduced Skullius' presence and stormed towards it at full speed!
In a fraction of a moment, he had grabbed the Hybrid Luman's neck and was crushing it, but the vile grin on Skullius' face told him that this too... was a fake. And it indeed was; it vanished
from his hand like a ghostly dust.
Replicus turned urgently.
He saw thousands of Skulliuses flitting about at frightening speeds around him. All held the presence of mana Replicus recognised with his skills to be Skullius', and all were completely indistinguishable from the other.
What was more, all of them seemed... real.
A dozen of them hurled themselves at Replicus, but before they all could swing their swords or release slashes, the Progeny knocked his Ju`wtta together. There was a loud clang and a
terrible storm of violent Ju`wtte that boomed, crackled and shuddered, completely obliterated most of the like-faced assailants!
"There was an unwanted Prince once, you know?" Replicus heard a voice behind him. One of
the Skulliuses had flashed behind him.
He sent a bolt of Ju`wtte to kill it instantly. It dissipated after it was hit.
"He took in the darkness of the world when all the cowards in their civilised shelters and
those in their luxurious forests fled from it, terrified, when the night came."
Another Skullius had stormed towards him from the side. Replicus struck it at once. It
dissipated.
"This Prince was blessed by the darkness," another said with a chuckle.
"As long as he carried a shadow and was embraced by the dark, he would never know any
harm. He would never die," another added.
"Is that so?" Replicus challenged and he called upon the Fallen Reincarnator's Shadow into
his hand.
"Indeed," one of the remaining Skulliuses said, right as a brilliant mark appeared on his
forehead; it was a half a skull mark!
...!
Replicus frowned.
Before he knew it, something black and humanoid escaped from the Skullius who had just
spoken.
It was a dark outline of Skullius, perfectly shaped like him, quite like a shadow!
At once, Replicus realised what this was! It was Crude World Projection! Skullius had projected himself as an entity of darkness with his consciousness that could
move freely in the world.
Whenever he used this ability, his body was usually left limp like a corpse... but not this time.
As the Projected Skullius reached Replicus and made a clawing gesture with its hands, the Warmoth's Progeny saw the body it had just left behind, clutch the hilt of the Bashful
Abomination and lower itself in a frightening stance!
The mark on its forehead grew brighter!
Perhaps because of the influence of the Projected Skullius and his gesture, the light from the
chandelier above vanished and everything became dark, so much so that all the other
Skulliuses who had been flitting about, disappeared from Replicus' view.
All turned dark.
The Warmoth's Progeny was left in a soundless, lightless, substance-less void in that
moment. He could hardly tell if he was standing on something solid or not.
'Dammit!'
Replicus immediately made full use of [Sorcery of Essence] at full throttle, anticipating an
attack while he was blinded like this.
But he couldn't judge the surging of mana or any kind of energy from anywhere.
There was none.
However, that didn't mean no attack came.
A crisp, metallic whistle loudly blared in the dark space at the next instant, and...
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