Chapter 578: Let Your Soul Cry Out!
Wrock and Umin arose above the pillar's ascension. Pulling back a fist they punched simultaneously. A soaring Azure Phoenix shot forward, with two snake-like dragons twirling around it. Slamming against the Chimera an explosion of Azure and that strange energy occurred.
Tilia dashed underneath, raising her shield she caught the Chimera against it. Slamming against an immovable object provided a lot more impact force against the ordinary ground. Tilia threw the smaller shield to the side and reached above the bigger shield. Grabbing the face of the Chimera she lifted it off, spun, and slammed it into the ground.
An explosion of flesh leapt forward and pushed Tilia into the air. The Chimera stood up only for Tilia's smaller shield to slam into it from the side. Having bounced against the trees without splintering any, the shield moved to return to Tilia. Yet instead of returning to its place, it instead acted as a weapon against the Chimera!
With her newly gained Third Stage strength, this blow wasn't light either! This blow sent the Chimera sliding to the side, where it met Zenothoriath! Gripping the Chimera in their claws it began to tear the Chimera apart. Its mouth opened and a ball of crackling flame formed. Expanding several times it swirled and encompassed the Chimera, burning its flesh to pieces.
"A-gh!", the Chimera cried.
Yielya warned, "It spoke again! Watch for any new moves!"
Red energy crackled against the electric flame. Zenothoriath rapidly retreated as its powerful magic burst apart. The Chimera was revealed to be, seemingly at the least, incredibly injured. It's once rapidly regenerating flesh now only squirmed about as it attempted to repair the damage. However the Heretic energy continued its course. It even seemed to grow!
Wrock and Umin appeared by its sides and unleashed a flurry of blows. Each passing moment their synchronization increased through their vast experience. Both of them were amazed at the other's ability, but remained quiet about it. Unlike before however, the Chimera did not simply take the blows. Instead its body began to move rapidly to dodge each one. Finding an opening it took a step back to create some distance and began to block several of the blows.
With a spinning kick Wrock attempted to deliver a blow to its head. Umin followed with a sweep kick, creating their own form of a pincer attack. Contrary to expectation the Chimera dodged through their attacks with ease. As if barrel rolling in the air it suddenly extended its legs and kicked the two in their openings. Wrock and Umin shot in opposite directions from the blow.
Before it could land the ground beneath turned to burning magma. In response tendrils shot in several directions and boosted it into the air. Givale was quick to respond and teleported behind it. Her talons emitted a faint light as she swung them forward. The Chimera spun in the air and delivered a punch. Quickly making a portal to counter it Givale's eyes widened at the sight of the fist passing through the portal unaffected, as if it wasn't even there. The fist slammed into her and sent her crashing downwards.
A massive thunderbolt fell from the sky as wind slammed in all the other directions. Looking upwards the Chimera lifted both its hands and met the bolt with a ray of red crackling energy. Heresy fought against absolute authority and surprisingly the Sages were losing in terms of Authority once again!
Blasting against the wind the Chimera landed on the ground and immediately launched towards Zenothoriath. Its fist began to expand as it slammed against the Sages' body. Their voices mingled as they howled in pain from the blow. The Chimera's feet grazed the ground for a split second before dashing again. This time appearing behind Tilia. Quickly spinning Tilia blocked a blow with her shield, a move that gained a small sound of surprise from the Chimera.
Throwing her shield again Tilia gripped the Chimera's arm, "Now!"
Mira appeared from above and swung his axe down. Several more axes formed from blood-like energy and carved towards the Chimera. Without hesitation the Chimera severed its own arm and spun. Gripping the axe with its available hand it also stopped the blood ones with several tendrils. Mira's eyes widened as his strength became useless. Flinging Mira to the side the Chimera flickered behind Tilia again. Just as the Chimera was about to strike, Tilia's smaller shield was about to hit it first!
The shield passed through harmlessly and Tilia spun to defend. Upon noticing it she realized her mistake a moment too late. Several tendrils pierced through her body, and red energy coursed through her blood. Falling to the ground she struggled against the Heretic energy.
Yielya was next to fall, despite her participation in the battle being nearly none the Chimera still deemed her a threat. Even with her incredible spacial awareness, the Chimera's speed was still too beyond her grasp. In a second she was swiftly incapacitated.
Umin rose to his feet but immediately vomited blood. The energy that once swirled his body began to fade as he fell to his knees, "My. . . Qi!"
Mira and Givale acted quick. Despite a massive wound revealing itself on Givale's stomach, she still held an incredible tenacity. Their absurd strength for a Second Stage caused them to roar out! Performing a twin attack they aimed to obliterate the Chimera then and there! Magic and Spirit moved together in harmony towards the Chimera in a cube shape!
The Chimera flickered past the move and slammed its fist into Mira's head. The ground shattered as Mira crashed through several trees. Givale was a bit more lucky, but still received heavy wounds. Her gut was kicked and she was launched skyward, however she was too occupied with the pain coursing through her to stop her ascent.
Wrock's foot slammed against the ground. A fury boiled in his veins with the massive amount of power. If the world deemed him a threat so be it! Who needed Stages anyway?!
The blue energy skyrocketed. A massive pillar lifted far beyond the forest tops. Wrock's mere presence caused the mana to burn. Embers constantly fell around him because of it. His old trump card, spending everything he could in this one moment.
[Final Fight].
<Warning! Part of [Final Fight]'s effects are incapable of working!>
<There is no applicable skill for Skill Evolution!>
<There is no applicable skill for Skill Cooldown Refresh!>
<Rapidly calculating a suitable substitute. . .>
<Done!>
<Choose one of the options:
- [Final Fight] Skill Evolution
- [Final Fight] backlash removed
- Permanent regain of [Endless Fighting Spirit] (Warning! This option will remove the extra skill [Final Fight] Permanently!>
It would normally be a hard thought choice. All of the options were incredibly tempting. Regaining his old trump card would massively boost his power. A much needed thing after the World refused his ascension. However losing 5% of his stats permanently was also a bad thing, which meant he could only fight at 95% of his strength from this point forward. So choosing the backlash removal would be a significant option.
But these thoughts would only happen under normal circumstances. Perhaps if Wrock was an ordinary player he would've been stumped on the choice. Yet he clearly was not an ordinary player, so the choice was obvious.
<[Final Fight] Skill Evolution chosen!>
<[Final Fight] has evolved into [Final Purpose]!>
[Final Purpose:
This is it. Your moment, your path has led you here. You hold no more regrets, no more hesitation. You will spend every last drop of your existence to finish this fight here and now. No matter the consequence. No matter the cost. Everything ends here and now.
Cost:
- Does it matter? You've resolved yourself.
Effects:
- A temporary increase to all stats by 10,000%
- Condenses your Spirit to a new level
- Drains HP by 10% of total value each second
- Healing becomes ineffective
Time Limit:
- Until your final breath
Extra Skills:
{Just A Moment Longer - Every Critical Hit the user performs regenerates 1% of total health. This effect reduces by .01% each successful Critical Hit}
Aftereffects:
- The World's Fear
- ???
- Spirit undergoes ?
- Death penalty increased by 5000%]
Wrock felt no disappointment at the sudden increase in punishment. 5000% of the usual death penalty would cause his strength to drop more than 5% that was for sure. Yet the power that coursed through him!
This wasn't ten times his strength like [Final Fight]. No this was one-hundred times his strength! As the additional benefits of his Spirit ignited his power further, Azure flame began to touch the sky itself! A swirling pillar rose higher and higher, nearly breaching the atmosphere!
Wrock couldn't help but cry out, his voice leaked through as his body felt a monstrously unfamiliar strength course through it. The forest was almost blasted apart, a crater of incredible size formed from just Wrock's cry!
~~~
Travis immediately looked skywards. A chill rose in his spine and his senses screamed. Such a feeling, it came from someone of great power no doubt!
Averoth formed in the corner of his eye, a look of amazement on the old warrior's face, "This. . . I've never seen such an ability like this!"
"What?!"
"This guy. . . the power this gives is tremendous! I daresay this surpasses the power given by Synced Nexus!"
"Who. . . ?"
"You can't tell? It's that guy you fought! This is truly something!"
~~~
Givale couldn't help the way her senses tingled. As a Dragon she never felt inferiority when it came to bloodline or race. After all she was a part of the top. Even if she was outmatched by Stage, it was only a matter of time before she caught up to that too. Yet this feeling, it was alien.
A massive Phoenix stared at the world itself. Its body made of a myriad of flames. Its gaze told a story unfathomable, yet held disinterest. In front of such a being, Givale almost felt like it was a shame she was a Dragon. If she could be this being. . . just what kind of power would she be able to wield?
It was strange, this feeling of inferiority to a greater existence.
~~~
Mira's expression turned strange. Slowly he felt his mental strength being worn down by the chaos of the Hydra. Yet despite it being an Origin being, it seemed to shirk from something? Mira was unsure, but looked upwards out of instinct. Upon meeting the Myriad Phoenix's eye, he understood. This thing, this existence. It was unworldly. A foreign creature of untold power.
It felt like a god.
~~~
Zenothoriath watched in amazement. Despite its vast knowledge over a millennium, it's never once heard of a Phoenix of several colors. Yet faced now with such a creature, it knew for certain this thing was not of the World's desire. This creature, this being, this existence, it was an intruder.
Through a natural instinct they wished to chase it away, intruders that made the World feel anxious was not welcome. Yet they knew they couldn't stand against such a creature.
~~~
Wrock's gaze wandered towards the Chimera. For a fraction of a second time seemed to stop, and then everything vanished. Wrock's being appeared in front of the Chimera, his foot almost completely passing through the Chimera through sheer force. A shockwave formed that decimated the forest almost entirely.
The Chimera didn't even get a moment to shoot across the forest turned plain. Wrock vanished and reappeared behind it and delivered a kick upwards. In total the Chimera moved maybe an inch before it was redirected.
Due to Wrock already receiving multiple blows, and the fact that he wasn't healed by Yielya, Wrock's total HP was already incredibly low. Meaning the theoretical ten seconds he had originally was cut drastically short.
No matter, these few moves didn't even take a whole second.
Wrock swirled Spirit to his fist. Placing it towards his hip he primed his body for a powerful strike. Such a position was familiar, after all it had an incredible likeness to his [Mastered Basic Punch]. At least when he still had the Skill.
The blue energy ramped up further and Wrock sharply inhaled. Throwing the fist forward towards the Chimera a pillar of Azure flame launched towards it. The destructive force behind this punch was unlike anything the party had formed. The attack slammed against the Chimera, and the sky turned Azure.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone