Fairy Tail: Shinigami - CH253 (Patreon)
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[Adam C. POV.]
Killing Askin had been... easier than I had thought, seeing he gave me cockroach vibes, hard to kill and all, but a part of me suspected he was the weakest link of his group in terms of mortality, that and the fact... my All-Seeing eyes could see him.
The others however, seemed more along the lines of immortals.
Pernida.
Gerard.
And... Lille.
Three more to go.
"So, who's next?" I turned with deliberate slowness, my eyes sweeping over the remaining contestants.
Pernida was the first to move, a twitch of its fingers betraying an eagerness, or perhaps nervousness, that belied its otherwise unreadable appearance. "I will kill you!" His nerves extended out of his body like grotesque marionette wires, aiming to entangle me in their death grip. But speed was my ally and I sidestepped with a dancer's grace, feeling the air shift where I had just stood.
"You could try," I taunted, keeping my tone light, almost bored as the nerves hit my spatial barrier.
Something had changed... Pernida's speech had improve, significantly for that matter, and not only that... his attacks were reaching deeper into my barrier, not enough to warrant immediate concern, but enough to show he was somehow bypassing my defenses... no, he was adapting to them.
A laugh escaped my lips, an edge of genuine amusement coloring the sound. "Well, that's new," I remarked casually, keeping my gaze fixed on Pernida. "Learning on the job, are we?"
Pernida's nerves writhed and twisted in the air. The abomination didn't respond with words this time. Instead, it launched another barrage of nerves, each one faster and more precise than the last, reaching deeper into my barrier. "I said that I would kill you, and kill you I will!"
Another change... and right in the middle of a clash. A bigger change at that. There was no doubt, this little hand was adapting. Depending on how his... adaptability works, things could turn ugly for me, very ugly, meaning the longer I let that thing live, the higher my chances of actually losing this fight.
I was working on assumptions here, and lots of what ifs. But, if his gimmick was truly adaptation, my best course of action was to eliminate Pernida with a single devastating blow. Obliterating its body entirely would leave no room for adaptation, evolution or regeneration, and I had to do it without my Bankai, in order to keep my trump cards hidden.
With a predatory smile, I took a step forward, feeling the anticipation build within me like raging inferno . "You want to kill me? Then come closer," I beckoned with a taunting finger. "I'm right here."
Gerard, who had been observing until now, chuckled. "Such confidence," he boomed, his voice echoing across the battlefield.
"I'll get to you later," I said, blasting him away with a swing of my blade.
Pernida, reacted almost instantaneously, launching itself at me with incredible speed. I could see every minute adjustment in its form, the way it honed its approach with each passing second, a terrifying testament to its capacity for evolution. Its nerves danced wildly in the air, creating a deadly strikes meant only for me.
At this rate, he would bypass my Infinity soon enough.
I grinned, my grip tightening around Zanryuzuki's hilt. "I really wanted to save this attack for your King, but seeing I'm already saving my Bankai... I might as well use some of my other tools, right?"
My words seemed to unsettle the beast, or perhaps it was the sudden shift in my spiritual pressure. Nerves twitched more erratically now, as if sensing the danger that awaited them.
I closed my eyes for a brief moment, allowing my senses to fully grasp my technique. "Big Bang."
The silence that followed was short, a mere precursor to the tumultuous deafening roar that erupted from the space before me as reality seemed to warp, bending and twisting as if unable to bear the weight of the power I unleashed, creating an all consuming explosion that consumed Pernidas and everything else in its immediate vicinity.
It was a cataclysmic event in miniature, a focused singularity of destructive force that left no chance for adaptation or regeneration.
"That's two out of four," I said, as the explosion died down, the battlefield enveloped in a cloud of dust and debris. "Who wants to be next?"
The other two had moved out of the range before the explosion could engulf them, because they knew, that had they been hit by it alongside their friend, they would've died.
"Lille!" Gerard grinned, excitedly.
"I know," Lille acknowledged.
"Let's hurry this up," I said, starting to walk towards them. "I have a King to kill, and a girl to kiss."
"Vollständig!" Both Gerard and Lille shouted in unison, their voices slicing through the dusty air with a divine authority that immediately altered the dynamics of the battlefield. Light flared from their bodies, enveloping them in blinding radiance that bespoke their true power. Wings sprouted from their backs, each a manifestation of their transcendent abilities.
I might have to use that skill again. "Bring it on."
"I'm not done yet," Lille hissed, opening his tattoo eyed, which had remained closed until know, his power increasing once again, exponentially, as his body began to transform into something akin to a biblically accurate angel. His form elongated, his limbs stretching until he towered above me like a sentinel of judgement.
"You know, just because I killed you freak of a friend, doesn't mean you have to fill his role," I
replied, a chuckle escaping my lips.
Gerard, massive and imposing, laughed at my challenge. "You speak as if you've already won."
I grinned, the grin of someone who's walked through the fires of hell and come out unscathed. "And you act as if you've never faced defeat."
Time to kill the last two, and go for the main course. Yhwach.