R-a - Volume 4 - Chapter 39 (Patreon)

R-a - Volume 4 - Chapter 39 (in editing-v0) 

Micheal died instantly.

For all the power and strength he had built up in his second life, even Micheal was helpless in the face of 46 Close Impact Bombs simultaneously exploding just 2 meters behind him.

The momentous explosion shook the air, sending out a suppressive shockwave that shattered the earth. The impact happened so quickly that, even to Micheal, the blow was instantaneous.

In one moment, he was alive and fleeing, his intuition screaming at him to get away.

In the next, he was dead, and a gargantuan, 45-meters wide crater had formed in the earth.

Micheal returned to the mysterious fog-like world of his Soul as he gathered his consciousness, automatically preparing to shatter one of his Life Orbs and respawn.

As he came to, a wave of shock swept over Micheal. Emotions cascaded within his Soul, forcing him to pause.

Joy, anger, frustration, horror, helplessness.

‘It’s not enough.’

Micheal’s mind raced as he reflected on the battle, trying to get his heart under control.

Rising to the forefront of his mind rested one particular thought:

He still was not strong enough.

‘I should have had every advantage over the Vile King... I’ve undergone a Master Class transformation, my body and Ki are far more developed, I have more than a decade of combat experience…’ Micheal’s Soul pulsed angrily.

Constantine had a much stronger Soul stat, but compared to the enemies, the trials, and the tribulations Micheal had already faced in his second life thus far, defeating the First Wave version of the Vile King should have proven trivial.

Technically, he had won… but he had lost one of his Life Orbs in the process.

‘The Constantine I’ll face off against in the future will know about my powers.’

This version of Constantine hadn’t.

Micheal’s vision flashed as he abruptly vanished from the world that was his Soul, reappearing inside the heavily damaged Dueling Arena.

Micheal let out a sigh as he walked over to where his sword, Bloodshorn, had fallen, flung several, dozen meters away by the explosion.

It took him a few seconds more to find his Mid-Tier Spatial Ring, the nigh-invincible Artifact the only other remnant from his body. He put the ring on and tapped on it, withdrawing his Silk Strider Gloves, his Cloud Stepping Shoes, his Aura Nullification Necklace, and a new set of clothes.

It was then, at this moment as he was regearing, that Micheal suddenly froze.

“Wait a minute… why hasn’t the Duel ended?”

Micheal spun around, his gaze jerking to the last location where Constantine had been.

Slightly north of the center of the crater lay… nothing.

Micheal frowned. He stamped down hard on the ground, launching himself forward rapidly with his blade out in front of him.

He landed with a resounding thump, sending up a scattering of dust and dirt into the air. There was a faint, brown haze covering the surroundings of the crater, the aftermath of the massive explosion still not settled.

Micheal focused his senses outward, searching for even the slightest anomaly. His eyes glowed with energy as he pulled on his Ki, enhancing his body to its peak state.

After a second, Micheal knelt down on the ground and touched the dirt.

Immediately, a large, crimson-red circle fluttered into existence. The circle was inscribed with various glyphs and symbols, interconnected with a series of long patterns and lines that seemed to move with some sort of mysterious intent.

Micheal’s eyes widened as he recognized what he was looking at.

“This is… a Bestowal Circle?” His mind blanked for a moment.

In the next moment, Micheal’s sword transformed into a blur as he instantly lashed out, golden Master Tier Sword Energy rushing towards the red circle without a whit of hesitation.

An instant later, a small explosion of dirt, blood, and crimson energy blasted into the air, echoing out in a loud boom.

The Vampiric Bestowal Circle had been destroyed.

The Vampire Type was one of the more unique, but very widespread, Types that could be purchased through the Shop. Among other things, it granted the user powerful recovery skills, extended their natural lifespan, enhanced their senses, and boosted their strength. Stronger users of the Vampire Type could utilize more powerful and mysterious Vampire-related Abilities.

Among the myriad of powers a Vampire could learn, the ability to engrave a ‘Bestowal Circle’ was one of the most mysterious.

Compared to the movies and books Micheal had read on Earth, there were some notable differences between the Vampires that came about by humans purchasing the Vampire Type and the Vampires of human legend.

For one, Vampire Type users did not possess an aversion to garlic, crossing rivers, or entering into residences without the permission of the owner. Sunlight did have some effect on Vampire Type users, but only as far as a minor irritant that slowed their regeneration. The only true weakness Vampire Type users shared with their literary counterparts was that of silver, the substance affecting them as if it were poison.

Another notable difference lay in how one could become a Vampire. In movies, Vampires could often convert other humans into Vampires by biting them.

In reality, however, to convert a human into a Vampire, one must use a ‘Bestowal Circle.’ By engraving a specific ritualistic pattern onto one’s body and imbuing it with Ki, it was possible to transform someone into a Vampire without the need to purchase said Ability in the Shop.

Such a great power didn’t come without cost, however.

Every Bestowal Circle a Vampire made would severely weaken them for a period of up to several months to several years. As a result, few Vampire Type users made use of this power.

Micheal’s eyes were cold as he looked at the remnants of the shattered Bestowal Circle.

‘So this was his final failsafe?’

This Bestowal Circle had been pre-imbued with great power beforehand. Despite Constantine’s corpse being obliterated, as long as the Circle was able to activate without being interrupted, his body would be able to reform and return him to life as a Vampire. Full body reconstruction was one of the perks of activating a Bestowal Circle. 

Micheal silently nodded to himself.

It wasn’t like the Vile King to blindly commit suicide in an attempt to take Micheal down with him. Obviously, the man would have a way to survive his own attack. Even if he believed that he was a Clone, as long as there was even the slightest chance that what Micheal told him was false, Constantine would fight til the bitter end to survive.

“It was a good attempt, but-” Micheal’s voice trailed off as he stared at the shattered Bestowal Circle in front of him, a frown appearing on his face.

“...”

The arena had yet to change.

He was still able to move and speak freely.

“You can’t be serious…” He muttered to himself slowly.

The Duel was not over…

Constantine was still not entirely dead.

Micheal walked over and inspected the shattered Bestowal Circle, confirming once again that it was well and truly destroyed. He then began to turn around and scan the rest of the arena, his gaze pensive.

There was no trace of Constantine’s body. Micheal was completely certain that it had been obliterated.

And, if that was the case, then…

Micheal sighed to himself after a few seconds.

He then began extending his senses to his utmost limit and started to walk around the arena, combing over every inch of dirt in a large, wide-scale search.

The seconds passed by quickly, the endless river of time marching forth step by step.

Roughly 2 hours later…

Micheal’s eyes were bloodshot when he finally jerked to a stop, his gaze brightening as he looked down below him.

A powerful Aura burst out around him as Micheal withdrew Bloodshorn from his Spatial Ring.

He then cut downward with all his might, a slice of Master Tier Sword Energy tearing through the earth like it was butter.

A flurry of dirt shuddered into the air, obscuring Micheal’s vision for a moment.

In the next moment, however, a small smile appeared on Micheal’s face.

“Got it.”

A dozen meters underground, Micheal’s Master Tier Sword Energy had ruptured a large, head-sized glowing green orb. Hazy green energy exploded forth out of the orb, forming a small, 2 meter wide hole in the earth and setting the ground to rumbling for a split second.

“How did he already have a Lichen Orb?” Micheal muttered as he stored Bloodshorn back in his Spatial Ring.

The orb Micheal had destroyed was a Lichen Orb, a powerful Limited Artifact that cost 840,580 Points in the Shop. Micheal had no idea how the Vile King had managed to acquire one on the Second Layer.

A Lichen Orb was an Artifact that could be bonded with one’s Soul and could be used to resurrect its user after they died. The resurrection, however, would be an incomplete one that brought the user back to life as an undead Lich.

Coming back to life after dying was, by itself, a huge positive, but life as an undead Lich came with many negatives. Liches had weakened physical senses and dampened human emotions, as well as an inherent weakness to Elemental Light and Sacred Magic.

Few humans were willing to become a Lich of their own volition, but as a backup failsafe to resurrect oneself, a Lichen Orb was an extraordinarily effective tool.

“That took forever.” Micheal rubbed in between his eyes, feeling the warning signs of a headache setting in.

Constantine had somehow managed to activate and hide this Lichen Orb a dozen meters underground without Micheal noticing. Given that the man wouldn’t have had time to hide it while Micheal was attacking him, Micheal could only assume that the Vile King had prepared and hidden it in the moments before they battled, as a preemptive safety measure.

The Lichen Orb had been covered in some type of anti-detection paint, making it extremely difficult to find. It had taken Micheal the full two hours of scouring the arena to find it.

“How many failsafes did Constantine set up? It’s no wonder humanity never killed him the first time around.” Micheal’s eyes narrowed as he stared down at the cracked Lichen Orb, watching the last few bits of energy explode out of it and fade away.

A few seconds passed in silence…

And…

He remained in the unchanged arena.

Micheal clenched his fists and took a deep breath.

He slowly let that breath out.

‘Damned cockroach.’

…

53 minutes later, a flash of golden light shook the air as Micheal cut forward with his sword, slashing at an invisible object floating two dozen meters in the air.

A small explosion of blue light appeared as Micheal’s Master Tier Sword Energy destroyed a large, floating blue cube.

Micheal’s eyes drilled into the remnants of the blue cube, his gaze never leaving it as he watched it fall towards the ground.

He didn’t recognize the Artifact, but after destroying it, he could sense unusual waves of energy stored within it. The unique nature of the Artifact made it impossible for him to understand further, especially after his sword strike dispersed the blue clumps of light within it, destroying it without giving even a slight bit of leeway.

Micheal held his breath as he watched the shattered Artifact fall and hit the floor. His heart pounded as he waited with bated breath, nervous tension fluttering within him.

A second went by… and then another…

Finally, just as Micheal’s heart felt like it was about to explode from the tension…

Time froze and a flash of light covered Micheal’s vision.

The Duel was finally over.

The Clone of the Vile King was dead.

Micheal had won.

.