Novel Full Chapter 2426: The Beginning Of The End [7]
Chapter 2426: The Beginning Of The End [7]
-----
Oberon laughed as he suddenly summoned a pair of swords resembling Muramasa and Celestia, swinging them down toward Drake with all his might.
"By the way! I can use any Concept I negate from someone. Amazing, right?"
"What?!"
Drake was even more shocked as he watched Oberon copy his techniques, swinging the blades with masterful precision before striking his body with pillars of light.
"{Ultimate Pinnacle}!"
"NGAAAAHHHHH!"
Drake screamed as dozens of Ultimate Pinnacles slammed into him, slicing his body into countless pieces before consuming him in a massive explosion of light.
"Hahaha! What a wonderful technique! To think it was wasted on someone like you!"
Oberon laughed, torturing Drake to test the limits of his regeneration.
"RAAAAHHHH!"
However, Drake was not the type to submit to torture.
His body surged with power. Every severed piece recombined in a split second. His hand shot forward, letting Oberon stab through it to halt his movement.
Then, from his torso, four more arms erupted, blazing with colorful flames.
"You took my precious swordsmanship, but so what?! I'VE GOT MY FISTS! CAN YOU TAKE THESE AWAY?!"
Drake showed no mercy, punching Oberon's handsome face with everything he had. He blew out one eye, sliced the long ears, tore scales away with sharp claws, and kept punching relentlessly.
"The knowledge from everything I've learned isn't gone…! I can't use a sword… and so what?! Muramasa, Celestia! Come to me!"
FLAAASH!
The swords materialized and rapidly twisted, warping into several glowing gauntlets lined with sharp metal and beautifully decorated with jewels.
"You're right, my apprentice! The blade is not the weapon but your soul! No matter what he steals, your soul cannot be taken!"
Muramasa roared, his gauntlets adorned with metallic dragons.
"Blade or not, I'll show him the light of Order!"
Celestia's radiance shone brightly, pressing down on Oberon as his swords shattered. Drake's punches battered his body relentlessly.
BAAM! BAAM! BAAM! BAAM!
"A-Ahahahaha!"
Yet Oberon laughed through the pain, kicking Drake's chin and sending him flying skyward before charging again with both blades, slicing him like sashimi.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
FLUOSH!
Drake regenerated instantly and countered with dozens of punches, gathering his energy and essence into his very being.
"{ULTIMATE PINNACLE}!"
Both roared at once. Their powerful attacks clashed. Drake manifested his Domains, fused them into all eight fists, and pummeled Oberon.
Oberon swung his two swords, meeting Drake with full force.
BOOOMMM!!!
The explosion from their clash shook the Underworld. A massive crater formed beneath the fighters, and the ceiling above burst open, leaving a huge hole on both sides.
"I've enjoyed this little spar, and I consider your swordsmanship a fine gift, but this isn't over."
Oberon glanced behind him and rushed toward his destination.
"STOP RUNNING AWAY!"
Drake roared angrily, chasing after him.
The man refused to engage in a full battle, fleeing from Drake as quickly as possible.
Perhaps he feared an endless fight, but whatever the reason, Oberon was clearly in a hurry.
He dove toward the ground, his Aura surging like countless black and red tentacles as he spread miasma everywhere.
"What is he doing?!"
Drake rushed down, catching Oberon with his fists, punching him to the ground while trying to cleanse the surrounding area.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"Hah!"
FLASH!
In an instant, Drake found himself on the ground, all his arms gone. Oberon was already far away, flying at full speed.
"This fucking bastard— Huh?!"
That wasn't all. Drake noticed a giant black-and-red vortex forming in the ground where Oberon had poured the miasma. It connected to not one but two parallel realms.
Drake instantly recognized the surge of Demonic and Chaotic Power flowing from the massive portal.
"Do you perhaps recognize this?"
Oberon's voice echoed from within the portal as a figure resembling his original form stepped out, composed entirely of chaotic black energy and demonic power.
Then another emerged, and another, and another.
Oberons poured endlessly from the portal.
"Unique Skill: Demon Gate. Unique Skill: Chaos Gate."
Oberon advanced with all his clones.
"I possess both powers as well. I took them from the fragments of Pandemonium and Chaos I hold. Amazing, right? When you combine them and add a little something, you can do this. After all, Chaos Spirits and Demons are born from the master's own desires."
Oberon exploited this effect, turning every demon and chaos spirit from the portal into perfect clones of himself—artificial split souls.
"I did the same with the elven gods protecting me. They were all my clones too. It's wonderful. I've never needed help from anyone else, except from Héluna, my dear apprentice."
"She's dead!"
"I know. She fought bravely, and that's beautiful. I'm glad she served her purpose well."
"…"
RUMBLE!
Drake vanished from the scene, wasting no more time on this monster.
Space warped, blocking him as the clones latched onto his giant body and dragged him down.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Didn't you want to kill me?"
"There's all the me you could ever want!"
"Come on, kill me!"
"You're not him! You're just his damn clones!"
Drake's fists glowed. Celestia's power manifested, creating pocket domains of Order. With a barrage of punches, he pulverized the clones in bursts of bright celestial light.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
His punches unleashed giant white fireballs that struck the portal, weakening it until it finally collapsed. Drake punched space itself, tearing it open to teleport rapidly. It wasn't as efficient as slicing space, but it worked.
"OBERON!"
As Drake chased him, he gasped at the sight of dozens of identical portals scattered along the path. Millions of Oberon clones poured out, destroying everything in their way, crushing wandering undead and devouring their souls.
"FUCK!"
Drake prepared to intercept them, further delaying himself. Then he heard the voices of his family and friends.
"Go after him, Drake! Don't waste time!" Amethyst cried.
"We'll handle them, master!" Surtr said.
"Please go. You're the only one who can face him!" Emerald urged.
"Drake, we trust you!" Benladann called.
"We'll catch up right after!" Miranda added.
"You can teleport us to your side anyway, so it doesn't matter!" Yuki said. "Keep going!"
"Daddy, we can handle this easy peasy," Kate assured him.
"Go!" Drakda roared.
"Dad, if you need it, channel our powers too! We're here to help!" Benladra said.
"Awawah! Wuuuh!" Yudra groaned cutely, her voice full of confidence.
"You got this!" Charlotte encouraged.
"I'm counting on you!" Drake nodded and surged forward, destroying or evading any clone that tried to stop him.
Andromeda quickly appeared at his side in her spiritual form, noticing something missing that was clear even in his System Status.
"Drake…! Your swordsmanship…?! It's gone?"
"Yeah. The bastard took it from me."
"W-What?!"
"I can still punch. It's fine."
"No, it's not fine! It's what you've worked so hard for…! It's…"
"Muramasa told me the blade comes not from the weapon but from the soul, the heart. As long as I have that, what I learned from swordsmanship won't disappear."
"Drake… I'll help as much as I can."
"You should support the others."
"I can do both. At the very least, count on me for this."
"Stay away from him, though. I don't want him stealing you too."
"Didn't he say there were things he couldn't take? Maybe your Unique Skills are Concepts he can't steal? He tried copying them, though."
"We can't be sure. Better not to lower our guard…!"
"Yes, I agree… but isn't this getting too out of hand?!"
Andromeda looked around with Drake, seeing large pools of miasma everywhere, seas of demonic flames burning parts of the Underworld, while demons and chaos spirits shaped like Oberon or monstrous versions of him roamed freely, spreading chaos and destruction.
"Why is he trying to destroy the Underworld so much?!"
His Aura surged. He knew his family and friends wouldn't be enough, so he quickly drew on the power of Creation and his Ascendancy Laws.
"{Primordial Dragon King Arts}: {Divine Elemental Spirit Dragon Gate}!"
Hundreds of draconic figures erupted from his Aura and rushed across the battlefield, attacking Oberon's clones relentlessly. Drake rapidly created more dragons, modifying his Demon and Chaos Gates into Dragon Spirit Gates that poured out additional spirits to fight the enemy army.
He continued opening gates as he advanced. His family and friends began catching up, using his spirits to close the portals much faster.
"Drake!"
"Huh?!"
Drake looked into the distance as Andromeda pointed ahead. They finally spotted him.
Oberon.
He flew through the skies as fast as possible, his draconic wings transforming into a hybrid of fairy and dragon wings.
Fairy wings seemed special, allowing him to move even faster than heavy dragon wings.
Despite his strength, he wasn't fully accustomed to his new body and transformations.
Drake had continuously analyzed Oberon for weaknesses, noting that constant consecutive attacks could break his focus, which was required for Reality Manipulation.
He also realized Oberon wasn't using the ability endlessly, meaning it likely consumed massive quantities of energy that needed time to recharge.
It probably had range and limits too, preventing him from destroying the world instantly.
But he was heading somewhere specific, toward his true target.
"Halt! We will not let you take another step, wicked fairy king!"
A mighty voice echoed through the Underworld. Drake saw thousands of tall, intimidating figures emerging, blocking Oberon's path.
Some remained on the ground, others flew, but they shared similar traits despite varying shapes and sizes.
Some had completely black scales with skull-shaped armor over their heads, while others were pure white, covered in bony scales.
They radiated immense Divine Power mixed with Nether and Miasma.
They were perhaps the most unique and powerful dragon family few had ever heard of.
The Underworld's Guardians, the last line of defense before Yggdrasil's roots.
"The Death Dragons!" Drake smiled, relieved they had finally arrived.
Leading them was the largest of all, with four long-necked heads and a body covered in sharp black scales and white bone.
"Oho? To think you would all gather to greet me. I am flattered, to say the least, Hel."
It was Hel, the Primordial Death Dragon Mother and ruler of Helheim, the Underworld.
The giant death dragon hissed at Oberon with her four snake-like heads, baring sharp fangs as her eyes glowed bright green.
Her body stretched over a kilometer, with four bulky legs and a long, serpentine tail.
"You monster! How dare you invade our sanctuary, where restless souls come to repent and lament their losses?! Was destroying half the world not enough?! Was summoning the calamities not enough?! Was causing countless tragedies not enough?! When will it end, Oberon? Or should I say… Loki?!"
"L-Loki?!" Drake heard Hel's words, his world shaking as he learned one of Oberon's deepest truths.
"T-That's… impossible! Isn't Loki an Ancient God from ages ago?" Andromeda wondered.
FLASH!
Two glowing figures suddenly stepped forward beside Hel. Despite having died long ago, their divine souls still carried sparks of ancient primordial divinity.
Both resembled enormous humans, over a hundred meters tall.
The first had a huge, muscular frame, long blonde hair, glowing blue eyes, and ancient Viking armor. He carried a spiritual hammer in his right hand, his Aura crackling with lightning and thunder.
The second was slimmer and taller, with short black hair and sharp orange eyes. He wore golden armor and held a longbow in his left hand. His aura shone as brightly as the sun.
-----