Chapter 272 (Patreon)

“True Longinus, Balance Breaker.” I spoke with the Spear’s blessing.

The Holy Power from within the God-Slayer spear exploded outwards, enveloping me. Normally poison to a Half-Devil like me, but in this strange circumstance, it accepted me.

The Holy Light spread out, denying the wretched necrotic magics that were so intertwined with this Realm. The Remnants souls that were bound to this Ideal Master screamed and hissed as they flew around, unable to approach me any closer.

This spear was perhaps the perfect counter to whatever amalgamation that this thing was, even moreso than Dawnbreaker due to the elevated nature of its existence.

I loved my sword dearly, but I wouldn’t lie and say it was stronger than The Spear of Destiny.

The Holy light swirled around me, truly augmenting me. Wings burst out from my back, Twelve, Large, White Wings made of pure Holy Power. A Halo formed above my head, casting a healing touch upon my body, a protection from any Evil.

“Holy Spear of the Pure White Night.” I breathed out, saying its full name for the first time.

The real Balance Breaker for this spear, not the thing that Cao Cao used.

It was amusing, Balance Breakers were called ‘bugs’ in the system, not something that was supposed to happen. However, this spear was the exception.

This Spear was the only Sacred Gear that He intended a Balance Breaker for. Or rather, the equivalent of whatever he would have named it.

And It was the first time it ever came out.

It was normally supposed to pull upon the System of Heaven to power it, but with Him dying, things fell apart, barely held together. The main functions of the Spear went dormant and only Sub-Species Balance Breakers would be something that users could actualize.

Which makes it all the stranger that I was able to call upon it, being out of Heaven’s System’s reach.

There was only one explanation, and the implications left me…….hesitant.

The one who created the System of Heaven.

“Convince me.” I said quietly. “All three factions entered a state a relative peace. I rarely care about things outside my reach, but any issues that involve them will inevitably consume the world. Convince me that I’m not condemning an uncountable number of people to death.”

A faint voice entered my ears.

‘Peace.’

It felt warm.

“I’ll believe you for now.” I let out a breath, spinning the Holy Spear in my hand. The Holy Light cascaded out at my mere movement.

It wasn’t the time to get distracted.

This thing……what I thought before was correct. Holy Power burned through my pupils, I could see things more clearly than before.

“I see your True Nature.” I lifted my Spear up, addressing the monstrosity before me.

“SUBMIT.” A thousand different voices boomed at me, clearly not giving up even after my little display. “WE ARE GODS HERE.”

It held up its hand and – A spell Circle formed. A massive amount of power gathered at the precipice and was unleashed in a condensed burst.

Necrotic energies intertwined with the pure mass of soul power he had accumulated.

My new Wings ignited with a fervor of Holy Light, a star that had erupted within this bleak landscape, the void of death filled with a true light since its inception.

My Spear gathered the Holy Power and shot forward, extending towards the oncoming torrent. The Necrotic Powers were torn asunder from where my Spear pierced through, searing right into the heart of the spell and through the hand of this monstrosity once more.

And again, the Spear devoured a chunk of Soul that were within reach, to the point where the amalgamation staggered backwards, the spell of his veering off into the distance, tearing through the fogs and alighting the horizon in destruction.

“Magic.” I let out a laugh, taking to the skies, my Twelve Wings slicing through the air allowing me to take flight. “A God does not use Magic.”

The Wretched thing’s arms were throwing up towards me as I weaved between them, the wailing of souls flying by.

Raising my hand up, I forced the Holy Power into shape -- Spears condensed and fired off into the massive body. It launched its own attacks in response, Necrotic imitations that collided with my own spear. However, the majority of mine flew true, searing into the mass and dispersing souls that came in contact.

It reeled back, an amusing flash of annoyance radiated from its face. 

I stabbed the spear forward, slicing into its body, carting away more of these souls that were nothing but leftover husks. The True Longinus continued to drink them in happily and I didn’t care to stop it.

Though, every so often, I saw what looked to be one turn bright and fly away. An Actual semblance of self that still remained within the flickering soul.

I guess He too has lines he won’t cross.

The Massive body of the creature shuddered as souls were torn of, reshaped into Wraiths that filled the sky. They screeched in an unholy sound, coming right at me.

I spun my spear again, a mental image of Scáthach burned into my mind at how she handled her own. I was about to unleash an attack until I felt myself shudder, my eyes blinked uncontrollably as I looked up and a massive hand tore through the void and lashed out at me.

I quickly moved to block, but nothing happened, the hand disappeared as if it was never there.

The wailing wraiths regained my attention. My other Swords flashed out, slicing and stabbing through the air at the Wraiths that descended upon me.

Each of them more than capable of dealing with such insignificant undead.

The Monstrosity didn’t move, as if waiting for something.

I felt a sense of foreboding and my instincts flared up.

Instinctively, my Holy Wings covered me up, as a Massive Hand tore through the void again, slamming into me.

The impact sent my sailing into the ground, my Aura not able to absorb the entire impact and even my Holy Wings shuddered under the blow. Thankfully I activated my Semblance as well, mitigating a good portion of that.

I wobbled to me feet, wiping away the blood that trickled down my mouth. I noticed the landscape had completely changed, and the crater I was in was massive.

My Holy Light Flared up brightly again as I reorientated myself.

“Clairvoyance?” I muttered, realizing what just happened. That would have really hurt if it hit me head on and I was unprepared.

Was his abilities bleeding through the use of Balance Breaker or was it simply a power of the Spear when used correctly?

Regardless, I let out a groan, as I flew back up into the air.

This thing certainly packed a punch. It reminded me of Susanoo with how much pure power it was keeping contained within its form.

But it wasn’t just that, I didn’t perceive that attack at all until it was already upon me, and I could guess the reason after thinking it through.

“You regulate the Flow of Time in this realm.” I eyed it with annoyance. “You attacked me from outside the Flow of Time.”

That was much closer to how a God should attack, but even still.

“My Friend, I’m here to assist!” I suddenly heard Thorum running over. So too did the Monstrosity as it turned its head towards the Dragonborn. It didn’t seem to pay him much heed, but Thorum didn’t seem to care about that either. “Wuld!” He shout, encoating himself in a whirlwind as he shot forward. “Rii Vaaz Zul!” He shouted again as Gram in his hand suddenly got enveloped in a baleful aura not unlike the one that encompassed the entirety of this realm. And my eyes widened as he slashed into the leg of the monstrosity tearing out a chunk of it.

So too was the Ideal Master surprised at the sudden interference that it didn’t even react for a moment after the initial assault. “INVADER, BE GONE!” It roared with the fury of a million voices. Perhaps it could accept that I was fighting it, tearing into its essence, but it might have looked down on Thorum due to his closer to mortal nature.

I reeled my hand back, and gathered a significant amount of Holy Power around the Spear. But I didn’t stop there, my Divine Lightning enveloped it as well, intertwining with the Holy energy. My Lightning became Holy Lightning.

It threw it as hard as I could, the air exploding as it left my grip.

It impaled the giant hand that was about to slam down onto Thorum, severing it from the main ‘body’.

Thorum took the opportunity to Dash to the side, shouting once more to move at whirlwind speeds and getting out of immediate range.

I launched forward, holding my hand out as Dawnbreaker flew to my grasp, and I stabbed into the Torso of the amalgamation. The Holy Power of Dawnbreaker may be lesser in comparison, but it was still significant when fighting against something that Meridia so vehemently dislikes.

The explosion of Light sent the Monstrosity staggering back again and I took the opportunity to slide to the ground next to Thorum. The Divine Spear that was previously thrown came sailing back towards my hand with a clap of thunder, Lighting still crackling around it.

Interesting.

The severed Hand of the monstrosity collapsed into its baser materials – the souls that comprised it as they flew back into the sky before merging back with the owner, its body reforming completely once more.

“What shout did you use?” I questioned Thorum in this moment of respite.

“Durnehviir taught it to me.” Thorum laughed. “He continued to use it throughout our fight, as if he wished me to understand it.”

“Well, he didn’t seem like he wanted to be fighting you, did you kill him?”

“I –“

“DURNEVIIR.” The Monstrosity roared, shattering the very fabric of space as its hand opened up and the Dragon was then there. It looked like it was barely still conscious, Thorum having done a number on it.

The Ideal Master’s power burst out, a huge surge of Necrotic Energies swirled around its hand as they seeped into the Dragon.

Durnehviir stood up within the large hand. That sale baleful energy filling its body to the brim, visibly flowing off every pore, every hole and opening on its body. Its eyes glowing bright with a purple hue, and every movement it took left a necrotic miasma in its wake.

Durnehviir roared as it looked down at us. I don’t think its mind was the same as before.

“Can you take him?” I asked Thorum.

“Yes.” He nodded. “Are you sure you can handle this – Ideal Master? You took a hit earlier.”

Ah, he saw that?

“This thing, it’s a Necromancer that got its hand on too much power. It fights like a Necromancer and it’s trying hard not to overuse too much power.” I explained. “It must be difficult to sustain its existence in this elevated state without a constant source of Souls to feed on.”

Not to mention it probably stays in a state of hibernation most of the time, this realm they setup a sort of automated collector so they don’t have to waste energy. But even this requires a significant amount of power to keep going.

How long in its existence has it had to actually fight something that could fight back?

The Massive amalgamation of souls lifted its hand into the air, and the realm trembled around us. The cracked ground shuddered, and four large obelisks shot out of the earth. They were disgusting in nature, faces decorated every surface, ethereal limbs trying to escape from the monstrosities that held them.

I could hear the wailing of the damned souls.

The Obelisks lit up with a surge power, Necrotic Energy crackling off in every direction as a weight descended upon us.

I felt my Aura start draining at an alarming speed, and I realized what their purpose was.

My Holy Power exploded out again, covering me and dispersing the effect.

I looked at Thorum who frowned as well.

‘Blessing’

I blinked hearing a faint word echo in my head.

I reached over, putting my hand on his shoulder, and a holy light flowed out onto him, and he visible perked up.

Well then.

“Thank you, my friend.” He beamed. “I shall handle Durnehviir once more!” His Aura flared up, and ethereal wings sprouted behind his back as he took to the air.

……I didn’t know he could do that.

Why can’t my Aura do that!

Thoughts for later.

I trusted Thorum and didn’t pay him any more heed as he clashed with the Dragon again.

“Ddraig!” I shouted, waking up the lazy dragon as the Gauntlet appeared on my hand.

[About time. Even if I have to share this fight with that damn Spear. I’m also a little curious about it. Lets do this, brat!]

“Boost!” I called out as my overall Aura increased one fold.

My eyes glazed with a my newly acquired Holy Power and I felt another similar sensation as before. Images filled my head, a peek at the future.

Even if my perception was still thrown off in this realm, I could predict it.

My True Longinus shot out above, piercing through another falling hand that hid outside of the regular flow of time.

Though the Amalgamation wasn’t sitting idle. The Obelisks shifted their effect, they all shot a beam of light up into the air, all forming a cage of souls that descended upon me.

“I see, these aren’t just random constructs you made.” I Pulled out the Staff of Magnus, Runes flowing around me. “Just an upstart Necromancer with too much power on your hands! These aren’t mere pillars, their your Foci! Even in this state, you can’t control so many errant souls without help!”

“DIE!” It roared once more. The Cage of Souls started to contort around me.

“Lets trade.” I declared. “Thor’s Hammer!”

My own spell was unleashed above, Thundering Clouds forced into existence as my giant of Holy Lightning was coalesced above it.

A massive Necrotic Shield wailed into existence, covering the Monstrosity as my Spell slammed into it. The pillar of Divine Lightning fighting against an impossibly large amount of souls gathering to ward it off.

I clicked my tongue, seeing that it held firm even against my Divine Power.

Souls were something that existed at a very high state of existence, they could contend with Divine Power in the end. It was just a matter of bringing enough to bare.

With a grunt, My Spear lashed out, tearing through the Cage he tried to trap me in.

I took the opportunity as it was warding off my Spell to shoot forward, my Holy Spear shot right into its chest again, grabbing hold of hundreds, if not thousands more souls that sucked up into the Spear.

“ENOUGH!” The thousands of overlapped voices sounded out and the Giant collapsed into a cyclone of souls that spread out, enveloping the entire area in a sort of impenetrable wall.

My Spear extended outwards, piercing through it, taking hold of more souls, but it was immediately repaired.

[How many Souls does this thing have?] Even Ddraig sounded annoyed.

“It’s been alive for how many years? Millions upon millions probably.” I Glanced at Thorum at the side.

I put The Staff of Magnus way and took out Gae Bolg.

I aimed for a moment before Throwing it as hard as I could, nailing the Dragon right in the side, making it stagger in its movements. Thorum Saw, and took the opportunity to gain the advantage.

Without a second to think, images flashed through my mind again as I quickly let myself fall downwards, a massive Baleful hand sprung out from the cyclone of souls that still persisted.

My Wings flapped as I dashed to the side, another near miss.

I looked up and several more lashed out at me as I dodged to every side.

“Boost!” I called out again, my speed increasing as The True Longinus lashed out at every opening, drinking in more souls at every movement.

Even my Swords were sent outwards, sweeping through the air to take down any kind of undead that was being summoned.

Souls literally dripped to the ground, raising all manner of undead creatures that sought to attack me.

Wraiths, Ghosts, Skeletons, and a plethora of ones I couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge.

Just how a Necromancer would fight.

Whittle down an opponent with as minimal effort as possible.

Draining energies were coalesced and ripped through the air from the Vortex, beams of necrotic power slamming into me as I tried my best to defend from every angle. My Spear would shoot off at the sour, taking away more souls, but there was never an end.

Even adding a volley of spells – Divine Lightning Arrows numbering in the hundreds, did nothing to distort this continued Vortex

Little by little, my Holy Power would run out, my Aura would start to deplete, and even my Stamina would start to pitter out.

And I would admit, this continued use of the Spear was draining.

“This is getting us nowhere, it’s intentionally dragging it out and only responding when I present an opening.” Its strategy wasn’t exactly difficult to see through.

No, I needed to end this sooner rather than later.

My gut was telling me that dragging his on for a substantial amount of time would be very bad.

Despite how I was countering its existence due to the nature of this Holy Power, I didn’t feel comfortable continuing like this for much longer.

It was warm and welcoming, but at the same time, it sorta felt wrong.

“Should I use your true power then?” I looked at the Spear.

Cao Cao didn’t understand the real secret hidden inside the Spear. And I’m guessing none of its previous users did either.

I vaguely recall the ability the spear having – Truth Idea, or so it’s called. The concept that God’s Dying will would be invoked and judge the user and whoever his opponent was.

No, even that was incorrect. That was a……unintentional side effect of what happened to Heaven’s System.

A consolation prize.

The reason that Cao Cao would create so many abilities with his Balance Breaker.

The Spear always had a singular ability, besides the obvious manipulation of Holy Power.

That was – To Invoke Miracles.

I only learned that after using this Balance Breaker.

“Let’s test that then.” I gripped the Spear tight, dodging out of the way of another Necrotic Limb before it dispersed back into souls and rejoined the vortex.

‘Weak’

Another faint voice entered through my mind and I paused in my actions.

“Haaah.” I let out a long breath. “Too weak to attempt such a thing, huh? Or rather, you don’t want me to expend that much power you just accumulated?”

‘Alternative’.

Again, another faint voice, but this one was followed with information given to me and I couldn’t help but laugh at the thought.

“If the people back home could witness this.” I laughed, as my Swords rejoined me. “How ridiculous is a Miracle that this is a worthwhile alternative.”

Well, not my concern.

“Then I’ll use one of your techniques.” I briefly wondered if this was the result of the God from my home dimension interfering last time.

The amount of Holy Power flowing through me reached its apex. I wasn’t sure If I could handle anymore even with the help of the Spear.

I ascended as high as I could go before those Obelisks and the vortex of souls tried to stop me.

This would be the third method of Creation that I’ve dabbled with. The Five Elements of the Eastern Creation myth. The Tree of beginnings from the Norse Cosmology. And now……

That which brought about the birth of creation from nothingness

An obscene amount of Holy Power flowed out of the spear as it gathered around me, shaped and focused with a purpose.

“And so the Lord Sayeth…..”

‘Let there Be Light.’

Three words that flowed through my mouth had enough weight to them that my very soul trembled. Even my nature as a Campione felt the pressure imposed by them. Three words of power that were definitely not meant to be uttered by a mere mortal.

“O̭̊̀ͅh̷̞̼̘̟̮̻͕͊ͮ̒̀r͈̖̫̄͘ͅ ̛͖̥͙̫͎̓ͨEͥ̇͛ȋ̢͖̦͎̙̞͍̥ͅn̶̘̮̞̖̥͖̘ͯ͑ͪ ̻̟̄̊̐ͭ͢Ș̳̭̂̒̅̀o̸̫͉ͮf̰̜̙͉̹̭͉̒ͧ̈͝”

***

Not entirely happy with the chapter, i'll give it another look over soon.

Late chapter because I tried something different today, sleeping right as i got home instead of writing then sleeping. Thought i'd try this for a few days see if it helps with my lack of sleep.