Chapter 558 - Execution

Viers was a child at heart.

After being in a world of magic through some quirk of fate, he had the chance to recreate his childish fantasies with his own hands. His tendencies were even stronger than ever before.

Since he was still alive and his enemies died by the multitudes from his childish fantasies, so far so good. Since it worked, why would he stop?

Absurd cutting power was one of such chuunibyou fantasies. A sword that was capable of cutting anything? As a young boy, Viers wanted that, and he dared to bet he wasn't the only one.

Cutting through dimension, space itself, was often the ultimate peak of slashing attack.

Since he first took up a sword, Viers was slowly working towards this feat. Not only was it a highly desirable attack method to have, it was also cool as hell. There was no reason not to have this skill.

His Fable-rich brain was able to produce a few feasible methods before he was even Level 5.

Cutting the surrounding space was a tall order, however, what if it was a space of his own making?

A space of his creation, his Imaginary Domain.

Viers’ Imaginary Domain, Sea of Life and Death, was not about slashing. Its nature was different. Still, after conceiving the idea, Viers got to work. Thankfully, he had a lot of role models. Vergil, Sukuna, Mihawk, Atomic Samurai, etc.

One day, it was complete.

The Inheritance from Blade Demon Vaan from the Tower of Remorse made a solid bedrock.

Within his Domain, Viers was capable of unleashing a dimension-cutting slash. In a way, it was stronger than a Level 5 Arte as the Warbringers’ Magitek Wonder could attest to.

Its metal body could shrug off Level 5 Artes, but Viers’ Judgment Cut diced it to pieces.

Truly, it was Viers’ current ultimate.

However, there was a caveat. Since Viers was cutting dimension itself, he was effectively destroying his own Domain. It took time to recharge and used a fuckton of Victa. He also needed Arsène to achieve the desirable effect. Lastly, since he destroyed his Domain in such a unique way, he couldn't open his Domain again for a while.

In other words, there was still a lot of room for improvement.

Be that as it may, allies and enemies alike only saw he was constantly aura-farming. Even the most hardened veteran cultists were intimidated by Viers.

But he was not yet done.

Destroying the Horus allowed him to let out some steam, but his true anger lay on someone else entirely.

Today, he was going to crush him.

With his soul affinity movement Arte, Speed Ghost Run, Viers appeared in front of Red Eyes as if he teleported. Without an instant of delay, he drove his fist into his gut, sending Red Eyes flying.

Viers gave a nod of appreciation to Sakuya who had been keeping Red Eyes busy while he cut down the Horus. She was mildly injured. The cultist was too tough of an opponent for her.

He caught up to Red Eyes and was about to land a second hit. Red Eyes was able to defend this one. With glee, Red Eyes fought back. The two exchanged blows in midair until they landed far away.

“Okay, I’ll admit it,” Red Eyes wiped the blood on his lips happily, like he found a newfound love. “You’re more than I thought, Tanael. Now, let’s-”

“Hello!”

Sword slash.

“My name is Inigo Montoya!”

Soul blast.

“You hurt my girl!”

Forceful uppercut.

“Prepare to die!”

Flurry of blades.

Viers didn't care what Red Eyes wanted to say, he was just going to destroy him.

“Rrrrrgggghhh!”

With only one arm, courtesy of Ciel, Red Eyes struggled to defend against Viers’ chain of attacks. Viers attacked with full force. He wasn't playing around.

“You think you already won? Think again!”

Red Eyes had no chance but to respond with his full strength before Viers’ momentum became too great.

Darkness and fire. Those were his opponent’s elemental affinities according to Viers’ data. Yet now Red Eyes utilized another element: blood.

Arte - Nightmare Massacre!

The Arte blended all three affinities in harmony, creating a very lethal Arte. Viers who still had his water affinity sealed, was blasted away.

A person could only have two affinities, tops. Either Red Eyes was a using a cheat, or he was a mutant.

Viers cared not. Even if he got hurt, he pressed on. Attack was the best defense.

Arte - Opened Hell’s Gates!

Red Eyes felt how it was like to stand before a tsunami of spirits of the damned, desperate to escape hell. Such viciousness from Viers’ part. He was like a killing machine.

Viers knew he had a high possibility of fighting Red Eyes since they met in the Magisterium Tower. Viers prepared accordingly.

“It's time to d-d-d-d-d-d-d-duel!”

“You are a third rate duelist with a fourth rate deck.”

“You’ve activated my trap card!”

“Pot of Greed!”

“Graceful Charity!”

“The White Stone of Legend!”

“Summon Blue Eyes!”

“Burst Stream of Destruction!”

This text was taken from NovelPhoenix. Help the author by reading the original version there.

The original plan was to fight Red Eyes in a soul battle, with him utilizing Yugioh theme.

Viers’ dragon form was fittingly having blue eyes. Blue Eyes Blue Dragon against Red Eyes! An epic clash, before he defeated Red Eyes as per the rule, since he only had 2400 attack power against his own’s 3000.

He had prepared a lot of things, like planning a surprise Christmas party.

But after Red Eyes captured and tortured Ciel, Viers was no longer in the mood to play cards. He got no desire of messing around with his food to squeeze a few percentages for his Horizon. He had so much rage.

“Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You hurt my girl. Prepare to die.”

The line would suffice. It was an unplanned ad-lib. This was how it was going to be now.

Red Eyes lasting this long was beyond Viers’ expectation. His power was abnormal, small wonder Ciel was defeated.

An expected punch caught Viers off guard. That was because it came from Red Eyes’ missing arm. He manifested a limb of blood and shadow as a replacement.

“Hmhp! Now’s my turn!”

Viers got stunned a bit, which Red Eyes took advantage of.

Swallowing him in a Domain.

Imaginary Domain - Reign of the Shadow Lord!

In Red Eyes’ Domain, the cultist showed his true measure.

Being after being rose up from the mist-covered ground. Hundreds, thousands, more. Monsters and individuals cloaked in shadows and fire, using weapon of blood. They all had red eyes.

“Admit it. Impressive, isn't it?”

The cultists’ eyes were downright glowing with bloody light.

“My shadows will never die. They will never stop until you are a lifeless hunk of meat. Let the feast begin!”

A giant shadow beast dropped from above right on top of Viers.

Viers cut open a path through it using his blue Beam Saber. Since he was on the side of righteousness at the moment, he changed his weapon’s crystal color to blue, not red.

After he went through, he was surrounded by the attacking shadows. The beast also reformed and attacked Viers.

Viers fought against the horde, blade in hand. The light of the laser sword made fight scene very picturesque.

His power is similar to that guy from Solo Leveling! Wait, it is also a mirror of Freya’s Domain!

He keenly felt the hand of Fate in this. Red Eyes and Freya were set up for a big clash in the future. Fortunately or unfortunately, Red Eyes had been marked for death by Viers today.

And yet, fighting the innumerable shadow soldiers of Red Eyes was not an easy thing, even for Viers. Each one was strong and deadly. Viers was raking on wounds every second he fought. Meanwhile, the shadows were unstoppable and immortal.

“Just as I thought, you cannot use your Domain right now!” Red Eyes also joined the battle. He slashed Viers in the back before fading back into the darkness. Viers glimpsed he had a black crown now.

“Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya.”

Viers tracked him down using his Euryale Sight, and landed a slash on him. Usually, in games with opponent with this gimmick, the key was to defeat the caster. However, Red Eyes was not wounded in the slightest. One of his nearby shadow being had a cut instead, but since its immortal, it reformed without problem.

“Not so tough now, are you? Your death is near! Once you die, your shadow will serve me, like them!”

Viers managed to dodged Red Eyes’ clawed hand strike, but it grazed his cheek. Two shadows struck him with blades, on the arm and thigh. After losing his mobility, the shadows piled up on him, pining him down. It didn't look good for Viers. He spat blood to the side.

“You hurt my girl. Prepare to die.”

“You still on about that? Kudos for your spirit, at least,” Red Eyes shrugged. “Let me tell you a secret. My victory is guaranteed from the start. It is because I have an Aspect while you don't. Do you even know what an Aspect is?”

Red Eyes studied Viers’ eyes.

“You eyes tells me you know. Yep. Level 6 ability. Mine is about thriving in carnage... Darkness Devours All Creation.”

When he spoke of the name, the darkness of the Domain seemed even more real. Like it had substance and weight, weighing down on Viers.

“This tidbit is my gift for you for entertaining me so much. See you again, servant.”

Viers showed Red Eyes that he wasn't the only one with an Aspect or immortal.

Monster Transformation!

Viers broke free by becoming a Rank 4 monster crab. His big size was only rivaled by the biggest of Red Eyes’ shadow beasts.

“What’s this? You are full of surprises!”

Monsters were tougher than humans. Viers rampaged for a while, but he eventually got worn down.

“Over already? Not particularly-”

Arte - Suicide You!

A powerful explosion went off in this world of darkness.

It caught Red Eyes of guard. The act itself and the power of the explosion.

“Crazy. But with this-”

A Rank 4 crocodile monster stood in the epicenter of the blast.

In the darkness, seeing the scene repeating itself, Red Eyes frowned.

Again and again, Viers’ monster form enacted an explosive suicide. Viers’ monster forms were throwaway lives. He just needed a water element monster core and he could take the monster’s shape. He stockpiled many monster forms for moments like this.

Still, he didn't expend his invested forms, like the dragon and the orca. He had plenty of others.

For turning himself into a suicide bomber with maximum damage, he just needed to be a Rank 4 monster. The shattering of their core, combined with the Arte Suicide You, made Viers’ brand of living bombs even more destructive than it should.

Even though his opponents’ shadows were immortal, after they got destroyed, they needed time to reform. Also, Viers bet the reviving process had some cost to Red Eyes, kinda like the Solo Leveling guy’s paying with mana.

Red Eyes knew Viers’ strategy. It was now a battle of attrition. The cultist had long deduced Viers had only so much monster form to spare. The question was, which would ran out first? His opponent’s lives, or his Victa?

Maintaining an Imaginary Domain was not cheap, especially when it was in constant state of combat. Furthermore, unknown to Viers, Red Eyes was actually using a fourth element.

Darkness gave his shadows’ shape. Fire and blood were their exterior. Hidden inside, were the fell affinity, the opposite of holy. That was why his shadows were so strong, then there were the Domain itself giving a terrain advantage.

Red Eyes was pissing Victa into the air.

Big techniques had great cost. Viers knew this all too well. But he made the bet anyway.

Because he believed Red Eyes’ Victa reserves wouldn't be abundant. His fight with Ciel. Viers knew Ciel well enough she would give him hell during the fight. Also, how many big conflict had the cultists been on recently?

On the other hand, when was the last time Viers had a fight that truly drain his Victa? Even his fight against Freya didn't take that much. He had a lot of people to delegate, like the Seven Warlords of Carnage and the Arcanum Club.

Also, Viers had an Arte to replenish his Victa by converting souls.

Ergo, Red Eyes’ Victa couldn't be bigger than his!

Viers won the bet.

“...Seems like luck is on your side. However, my head is not so easily claimed. Come!”

Red Eyes fought to the end, because even if he took down his Domain, Viers would kept chasing him down, forcing him to spend his Victa. Once Viers had seen through his low Victa reserve, his defeat had been set in stone.

Even the greatest Pathseeker was easy pickings without their Victa.

Without Victa to maintain his shadows, the Shadow Monarch stood alone. Viers went back into his human form, and dueled him with his Beam Saber. They exchanged martial skills worthy to be put to song.

It ended with a blue laser sword piercing through Red Eyes’ chest.

The Domain broke apart along his death, returning them to real space.

“MY NAME IS INIGO MONTOYAAAAAAAA!!!”

Viers punched his own shadow with gusto! Wrenching out a struggling Red Eyes from inside it.

Red Eyes’ body had been killed by Viers, but he separated his shadow before that. He hoped he could survive this and one day had a revenge rematch.

Unfortunately for him, Viers knew a certain shadow, Lost From Light. His treachery truly knows no bounds. Red Eyes’ ruse was a cheap facsimile.

“Arrrrrgghhh! You fucker-!” Red Eyes let out a bestial growl, furiously resisting Viers who held him by the neck.

“YOU HURT MY GIRL!”

Viers coated his beam sword with Unreality Field and cut Red Eyes, shadow body or whatever, into pieces.

“PREPARE TO-”

The shadow pieces Viers scorched with Soulfire.

Then he bound them again together to a vaguely human shape using threads of Silksoul Bind Arte before forcibly manifesting Red Eyes’ soul into the open. He even applied healing technique so the soul became lucid after a traumatic death.

“Wha-!?” Red Eyes’ soul, awake and aware, courtesy of Viers, appeared shellshocked. “Oh, shi-”

“-DIEEEEEEEEEEE!!!”

Arte - Soul Snake’s Disintegration Decree!

With a crack of thunder, green lightning erased every last scrap Red Eyes’ soul in existence.

Shadows Die Twice and so Viers executed Red Eyes two times.

It was witnessed by a great many wide-eyed individuals.