R-a - Volume 4 - Chapter 75 (Patreon)

R-a - Volume 4 - Chapter 75

—

Orion’s instincts shocked him into action, overcoming his surprise and pain in an instant.

‘Force Dispersal!’

Lightning gathered in Orion’s left hand as he hastily activated a martial art, gathering energy in a great vortex around him. It was a near-instant technique that only relied on his left hand, unhampered by the loss of his right arm.

In a great flash of light, the First Lord threw back everyone that was near him, creating a miniature shockwave as he cleared the area.

This shockwave had the effect of breaking his yet unnamed technique that had turned the world gray, placing immense pressure on the minds and Souls of those within range.

In a heartbeat, the world found its color again, like a ray of hope burning down from the heavens above.

Not a split second later, Orion turned his attention back to the hole that had been his right arm.

‘How is this possible?’

His intuition had failed him.

In that tense moment, Orion made the conscious decision to force those thoughts aside, focusing on the immediate present.

There was no changing what had already come to pass.

The Master Martial Artist grunted, searing pain lacing up his arm as he swiftly cauterized his wound and, in the same moment, hastily constructed a rough network of floating energy lines that vaguely resembled his right arm.

Lightning crackled in the air as Orion fought through the numbness sweeping through his right shoulder’s nerves, forcibly melding his right shoulder to the web of energy he had constructed, forming a secure, connected makeshift limb, all over the course of mere split seconds.

It was a painful process, reconnecting damaged and altogether missing nerves was arduous at best, agonizing at worst. The strange sensation of his right arm abruptly ‘settling’ inside a network of energy was uncomfortable to say the least.

Still, it was not as if this was the first time he had lost an arm.

The systematic purges he had authored against the Blue Drakes in his younger years had seen his previous body nearly shattered beyond repair. It was only thanks to his powerful Mastery of Elemental Lightning that he had managed to recover at all, drawing on its storied powers to gradually reform a missing arm, injured tendons, and more.

Even then, Arthritis had still plagued him.

In the short term, however, Orion used a mixture of Ki and Elemental Lightning to create a makeshift arm, good enough to meet his standards for at least one fight.

A loud ‘whoosh’ shook the air as the storm of wind settled, the air growing still as Orion held out his new, glowing right arm in front of him.

And then, finally, just as Orion managed to gather himself…

His entire demeanor changed.

For the first time in nearly a 1000 years…

Orion Thunderfist had felt the touch of Death.

‘Thunder King’s Martial Art - 1st Chapter, 1st Passage.’

‘Eye of the Storm.’

In a single frozen moment, joy, sorrow, rage, apathy - signs of any and all emotion immediately fled his visage, leaving the Dark Wraith with an unflappable mask, calm… almost tranquil.

Now, however, lay a gleam in Orion’s eyes, formed in that quiet interlude.

A cold light, filled with cool logic and an nigh-unbelievable amount of willpower and focus.

No longer was he a grand leader, of a host of tens of thousands of powerful warriors, worrying over hundreds of trite documents. No longer was he dragged down by grief and self-blame. No longer did he have to plan and plot, crafting a future to prepare for war.

All his struggles, all his pent up emotions… all of that seemed to leave him at this moment.

Now…

Everything was made simple.

Orion found his mind drawn to his past, to times when his goals were straightforward and clear.

The Great Hunt. The Great Purge of Dragons. The Shatterings.

All that mattered then, and all that mattered now…

Victory.

He must win.

No matter the cost.

He could not afford to lose.

The massive damage Orion had taken had sent his body into overdrive, his senses veritably screaming as he subconsciously tracked every living creature within eyesight.

From the Nirvana Saint’s backwards escape, the man nearly collapsing from Ki exhaustion as he stumbled back, to the unseemly struggles of Great Wizard Shahsta as she sought to stop her wounds, to the Lord Justiciar sitting down and, of all things, meditating, no doubt desperate to recover some of his flagging Blood Energy.

Most of Orion’s focus, however, lay on the man before him.

He was a Human, with brown hair and blue eyes, wielding a sleek, faintly blue blade coated in white energy in one hand, and the Scythe of Oryx in the other. The man’s body practically writhed with holy energy, his arms and legs bursting with waves of power.

What caught Orion’s notice was the man’s sword.

A sword coated in white…

Pure, alabaster white.

In that white, the First Lord sensed a power he had never quite touched, but yet, one that felt oddly familiar. It was a power that had haunted his dreams, power that had seen a much younger, a much weaker, and a much more foolish version of himself flee in fear.

A power that only 1 other being in the recorded history of the 2nd Layer had ever achieved, a being that broke past the limits of the Ancient World’s low energy density to obtain greatness.

Sion Swordsoul.

A Grandmaster of Old.

For a brief moment, the image of Sion Swordsoul overlaid with the Human Grandmaster in front of him, causing the First Lord’s vision to blur with suppressed emotion.

‘Maria…’ Orion thought as he took a slow, somber step forward.

‘Forgive me.’

Victory.

At all costs.

He would achieve it.

Even if he must sacrifice what was left of his dignity and pride, relying on powers gained from the same beings that made him lose everything.

‘Ruin.’ Orion thought as his eyes gradually began to turn gray.

Centuries ago, Orion Thunderfist had fled before a Grandmaster like a coward, abandoning his wife and child to inevitable doom.

It was a sin he could never wash off, a regret that would stay with him until the end of end.

But now…

That coward was no more.

‘Stay with me, Ruin.’ Orion commanded, feeling untold power condense within him.

‘Stay and…’ The First Lord abruptly transformed into a blur.

‘FIGHT!’

.. .. .. .. .. ..

Micheal never understood why countless people in the 7 Layers almost never chose to lead with their strongest attack.

Power pulsed in Micheal’s veins, energy and strength at a level Micheal hadn’t felt since he returned to the past. His body felt incredibly full, enhanced at a level far beyond its normal state.

Power granted to him by a Legendary Artifact: The Crown of the Angel King.

.

— - Divine Scan— -

Race: Heartflame Human

Title: -

Traits: Glass Cannon

STR:   B- → A-   (Growth Rate: Rare or lower)

END:   D  → B  (Growth Rate: Uncommon or lower)

REG:    F   → C+  (Growth Rate: Rare or lower)

SOUL:   B   → A  (Growth Rate: Rare or higher)

MANA:  C-  →  B+  (Growth Rate: Rare or lower)

Path Notes: A human that walks a cluttered Path. Traces of the Path of the Sword, the Path of Time, the Path of Rebirth, the Path of the Infinite, the Path of the Eternal, and the Path of Space are present.

.

It was an immense, albeit temporary, increase in stats, far beyond any reasonable level, jumping multiple levels in an instant. Micheal compared his enhanced stats to the Divine Scan he had taken of Orion earlier.

.

— - Divine Scan— -

Race: Toren

Title: The Herald of Ruin

Traits: (unassigned)

STR:   A-    (Growth Rate: Legendary or lower)

END:  B+   (Growth Rate: Legendary or lower)

REG:   B     (Growth Rate: Mythical or lower)

SOUL:  S-    (Growth Rate: Mythical or higher)

MANA:  A-    (Growth Rate: Mythical or lower)

Path Notes: A Toren with the Soul of a Dark Wraith that walks a cluttered Path. Traces of the Path of Lightning, the Path of the Fist, the Path of the Sword, the Path of the Spear, the Path of the Staff, the Path of the Dagger, the Path of the Axe, and the Path of the Mace are present.

.

He was not disappointed.

‘I’m on par with him in terms of Strength and Endurance.’ Orion was a physical fighter of unmatched prowess on the 2nd Layer, complete with a body and Ki that few beings could match.

As Micheal felt the terrible power his body had gained, he came to a brief pause.

Gregor traded blows with someone like this?!

When Micheal clenched his fists around Lightshorn and his Scythe Artifact, he could distinctly sense how incredibly unreasonable a task that was.

The Lord Justiciar was, perhaps, the only other man alive on the 2nd Layer that could go blow for blow with the First Lord.

Such powerful stats on the Second Layer of all places was practically unheard of.

And it was with those thoughts that Micheal reasoned how best to ambush Orion Thunderfist.

‘Always lead with your strongest attack.’

When you faced a foe greater than yourself, it was the only choice one had.

Orion Thunderfist was a true warrior.

An incredible warrior, with a thousand years of experience to his name, but a warrior nonetheless.

The Dark Wraith had trained and trained and trained some more, living a life obsessed with Martial Arts and power that was hampered only by the natural limits of the Second Layer.

From the fast words Gregor had shared with Micheal, and based on the knowledge he knew about the First Lord from the first timeline, Micheal had gauged an accurate image of Orion’s character and skills.

The man possessed intuition that rivaled Micheal’s own, a talent and gift that few beings in the 7 Layers possessed…

And that was exactly what Micheal took advantage of.

Intuition at a high level was a tricky thing, and yet, it was also quite simple.

If something endangered Orion’s life, the First Lord’s keen, almost precognitive, battle intuition would kick in and warn him. At the First Lord’s level, his intuition could pick up on even the most secret threats to his life, saving the Dark Wraith countless times over.

Intuition was a powerful tool… but one with an unavoidable weakness.

It could be manipulated.

Micheal had learned this from experience, high up in the Layers, where beings with extraordinary Souls were far more common. There, Micheal had faced foes with absurd intuition before, and he had learned how to counter it.

How to trick someone’s intuition in the middle of battle.

It was simple, really.

First, attack someone with all of your might, holding back nothing at all.

And then…

Don’t kill them.

Attack them, yes, but never with the intention to kill.

Not feigned intention, nor movements hidden with secret motives.

The counter to intuition is a genuine, wholehearted belief that, as you attack someone, you absolutely will not kill them.

For his first attack, Micheal truly held back nothing.

After Shin ferried him forward through space, Micheal immediately drew upon his Soul, relying upon the support from the Crown of the Angel King, and drew upon a power he had not touched since he returned.

Grandmastery.

Sharp, pure white Grandmaster Sword Energy flowed up and down Lightshorn, cutting through the air with a clear, crisp sound. As the energy formed into existence, Micheal felt an enormous strain settle upon his Soul, the powerful Sword Energy fluctuating around him.

It was a rare state of being, a level of Conceptual Comprehension that very few beings were capable of reaching.

And…

It was power that demanded respect.

Among Humanity, at the least, a Grandmaster was a warrior powerful enough to earn a place in Humanity's Final Army. While Micheal hadn’t been ranked among the absolute strongest in his first life, he was far from weak, well above the lower ranks of the military force.

Attaining Grandmastery was such a difficult feat, in part, due to the fact that one’s Soul had to undergo Enlightenment and attain a vast, energy dense foundation.

It was a state that was nearly impossible for the denizens of the Ancient World to discover.

As far as Humanity could tell, the 7 Layers were composed of countless worlds and realities, stacked all on top of each other.

The higher one climbed, the more energy-dense each world became, the greater gravity one experienced. High Energy Worlds, like the 5th, 6th, and presumably the 7th Layers, were known by the acronym ‘HEW’ among the scientists of Dark Void.

One thing led to another, and Micheal’s surprise attack struck through.

A blade, imbued with the power of a Grandmaster, slicing through everything in its path, including the right arm of Orion Thunderfist.

Pure intent to attack, with zero intent to kill.

An attack that crippled Orion, inflicting the most damage possible while minimizing potential risks.

And, now, Micheal’s gaze narrowed as landed on the ground, Lightshorn held at the ready after he was flung backwards. Patches of gray fog and white lightning obscured his vision as he looked forth.

Micheal’s heart grew still as his senses stretched forward, the hair on the back of his neck rising.

Abruptly, the Scythe of Chains disappeared, stored in a Spatial Ring.

In that scant moment, Micheal shifted his stance, his entire body projecting absolute confidence as he held his blade out before him. A bright, white Aura surrounded the Swordmaster, causing the air to pulsate around him.

This quiet interlude, a lull in the fight, however brief, seemed almost as if it would stretch on for eternity…

Alas, that moment died.

And with it, came the death of peace.

There was no time to activate his newly formed Mana Circles and cast any Spells, nor time to pull out any Artifacts and turn them on.

No, as that fateful moment met its end, Micheal’s world transformed.

In one moment, Orion Thunderfist hid behind a wall of fog and thunder.

In the next…

He was here.

Lightning flashed.

The air screamed.

The world trembled.

Sword met Fist.

And…

So began a dance of death.

.