Novel Full Chapter 378: Inevitable
A few thin cuts marked his face and arms where the ice had grazed him, but they were already closing.
“You continue to disappoint me.” He said with a sigh.
Zenith’s eyes widened as Asmodeus moved toward her in a blur of motion. He appeared in front of her without warning, and his palm struck her chest with an explosive bang!
The impact folded her body around his hand and blasted her across the chamber. She crashed through one of the golden-veined pillars, stone exploding around her, before slamming into the far wall hard enough to leave a crater.
“Zenith!” Elion shouted.
She coughed violently, blood spilling from her lips, but she forced herself back onto one knee.
“I’m fine!” she shouted, though she clearly was not.
Asmodeus turned toward Elion, who was already moving.
He reached the second conduit and used earth magic to launch himself upward toward the thick golden vein climbing one of the chamber walls.
His blade flashed as he swung and struck down.
Shk!
[Primary Conduits Remaining: 5/7]
The chamber shook again. The Philosopher’s Stone pulsed violently, and the golden light around it became unstable.
With a single flick of his finger, Asmodeus split reality once again. Elion saw the attack coming this time, but barely.
He twisted in mid-air, but the spatial cut curved toward him. His pupils shrank.
It could change direction!?
[Substitute]
The attack passed through his fading afterimage and carved through the large rock that replaced him. Elion reappeared near the floor and stumbled as the sudden shift sent pain shooting through his newly regenerated arm.
Asmodeus raised a brow, “That ability again, how annoying.” He swung his hand again, and three spatial cuts formed around him.
Zenith threw herself forward.
Her horns glowed faintly as mana gathered around her body in a violent spiral. She crossed the chamber and slammed her fist into Asmodeus’ side.
Boom!
His body slid several metres across the floor, but Zenith did not let up. She followed up immediately, her fists wrapped in layers of frozen mana as she unleashed a brutal barrage.
One punch struck his ribs, another struck his shoulder, and a third caught his jaw. Each impact sent shockwaves rippling outward, reverberating booms, and cracked the stone beneath them.
Asmodeus blocked the fourth strike with one hand, his fingers wrapped around Zenith’s wrist. Her eyes widened as he twisted it calmly.
Crack!
Zenith screamed as her wrist bent at an unnatural angle. Asmodeus pulled her closer and drove his knee into her stomach.
Thud!
The air left her lungs, and her body folded once again. He raised his free hand, and a spatial line formed inches from her neck.
Elion’s eyes widened.
“Zenith!”
Blood magic.
Elion reached toward the outstretched hand, he seized the blood within it, and pulled. Asmodeus’s hand jerked slightly to the side.
The spatial cut missed Zenith’s throat by less than an inch and sliced through a lock of her lengthened hair instead.
Zenith moved instantly. She tore her wrist free despite the pain and kicked Asmodeus in the chest, using the force to throw herself backward.
Elion used the momentary freedom to reach the third conduit, effortlessly slicing through the strand.
Shk!
[Primary Conduits Remaining: 4/7]
Asmodeus turned toward him, “You are becoming troublesome.”
Elion landed lightly, “I’ve heard that before.”
Asmodeus raised both hands, and the air around the chamber froze with invisible pressure.
The golden veins along the walls darkened as crimson mana spread outward from his body, filling the chamber like smoke. The weight pressed against Elion’s chest, his lungs, and his bones. Even Zenith struggled to stand beneath it.
Asmodeus’ eyes glowed faintly, “You think severing the conduits will allow the stone to accept you?”
“Why not? It’s certainly worth trying.”
“You know nothing about what you are reaching for. You are a child grasping at a power beyond your comprehension.”
Elion smiled faintly, “Guess what fucker, that is the story of my life. As they say, the limits of one’s world become the limits of one’s imagination, and I have had plenty of imagination lately.”
Asmodeus stared at him with a deadpan look, “How ignorant.”
Then the floor beneath Elion suddenly erupted.
A massive spear of black stone shot upward beneath his feet. He twisted aside, but a second followed immediately, then a third that quickly became dozens.
Elion moved through them in a blur.
Earth magic rose beneath his boots, creating angled platforms that allowed him to leap between the incoming spikes.
Water magic wrapped around his body in thin streams, redirecting smaller fragments away from his face. Fire burst from his palm, detonating a cluster of stone spears before they could close around him.
The fourth conduit stood beneath the floor near the altar. Elion landed above it and stabbed his blade downward. The sword pierced the stone and struck the anchor beneath it.
Shk!
[Primary Conduits Remaining: 3/7]
The altar cracked, and golden light exploded outward. Elion was thrown back, and he was sent tumbling across the floor before catching himself with one hand.
His eyes widened slightly as he watched the stone move just a fraction. Asmodeus noticed it too; he watched on with interest, and then he vanished.
Zenith appeared between them. She crossed her arms just as Asmodeus’ fist struck.
Boom!
The shockwave shattered the ice still clinging to the walls. Her feet tore through the stone beneath her, but she held on, even as blood ran from her lips to her chin.
Her arms trembled violently beneath the force of Asmodeus’s fist, but she held.
“Elion!” she shouted through gritted teeth. “Move!”
He didn’t need to be told twice.
The fifth conduit ran along a raised ledge near the back of the chamber. Elion crossed the distance quickly, but the pressure around his body suddenly tightened.
Asmodeus’ gaze shifted toward him. Elion’s movements slowed. His body felt as though invisible chains had wrapped around every limb.
’Gravity!?’
No.
Asmodeus was forcing the entire domain to repel him. Elion grit his teeth and pushed forward.
One step, and then another. His armour groaned beneath the pressure as blood trickled from his nose.
Kurogoroshi hummed violently in his hand, [Heaven Defiance] resisting the suppression and weakening it just enough for Elion to continue moving.
Asmodeus’ eyes narrowed. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, though he didn’t seem annoyed, “Why must you be so difficult? Why try to avoid the inevitable?”
Zenith screamed as the Demon King’s second hand caught her shoulder and threw her aside.
She crashed through another pillar, and the unattended Asmodeus turned toward Elion, increasing the pressure on him without much difficulty. Elion’s knees almost buckled.
He activated [Undying Will], and it helped him to keep standing despite the feeling of having his own body try to act against him. His body shook, but he refused to fall.
[Enhanced Cognition]
[Temporary Stat Conversion]
[Strength ++]
Every ounce of available power surged through his legs, allowing him to take a brush off the pressure with great effort and step forward. The stone beneath his boot cracked.
He took another step, and another. Asmodeus’ expression finally shifted into disbelief as Elion reached the ledge.
He swung his blade in the momentary silence.
Shk!
[Primary Conduits Remaining: 2/7]
The suppression shattered around him, and Elion sucked in a sharp breath as the pressure vanished.
He suddenly felt danger and immediately turned. Too late. Asmodeus appeared in front of him and struck him across the chest.
Bang!
Elion’s armour flared.
The Legendary set absorbed part of the impact, but not enough of it. He flew across the chamber like a ragged doll, struck the altar, bounced off the stone, and crashed to the ground near the Philosopher’s Stone.
Pain tore through his entire body. His ribs screamed, his vision blurred, and for several seconds, he could not breathe.